Clifford Kaja — the Gladstone man arrested in a cybersting at a Munising hotel in September — had a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 7. He is being charged with one count each of accosting a child for an immoral purpose, furnishing alcohol to a minor and using a computer to commit a crime. No action was taken on the charges due to the release of additional discovery evidence provided to the defense. Out on bond, Kaja attended the hearing over Zoom. The next hearing will be Jan. 18, 2023.
Ian Sean Badge was sentenced to two years in prison for a methamphetamine trafficking case. Badge had previously accepted a deal for possession of methamphetamine and a delivery/manufacturing of methamphetamine. Both defense and prosecution supported the boot camp program for Badge to receive additional help as part of his time served, pending Michigan Department of Corrections approval.
A person incarcerated at theAlger County Jail for over a year will be credited time served. Preston Pitawanakwat has served 464 days in the jail and accepted a plea for assault with a weapon and malicious destruction of fire or police equipment.
On the civil side of proceedings, Judge Brian Rahilly is expected to give two written opinions before the end of the year on high profile cases. The first is a response to a summary judgement motion from Munising Memorial Hospital Association in response to a wrongful termination lawsuit from Dr. Chelsea Ray. Ray was publicly ousted last year from the hospital, but the lawyers debated whether or not the firing was for cause or not for cause as well as numerous other questions of fact regarding the language of the contract.
A ruling should also be given regarding a confusing zoning issue between The Yak Shak kayak and canoe rental business in Au Train. Au Train Township is enforcing a fence mandate to separate the business from a neighboring residential property. Business owner Cory Cole represented himself, stating that a previous opinion from a past zoning administrator should take precedence given that the two properties are in the same town development zone.
