Neighbors fear huge hissing cat roaming Detroit streets

Residents of a northeast Detroit neighborhood have been cautious when venturing out on their local streets because a huge hissing cat has been spotted roaming the area for a month. Resident, Reginique Williams described the cat to WJBK Fox 2 news, “It’s tall. It has long arms, a very long tail, and a small head.” Witnesses in the area around Joann Street south of 8 mile say it is as tall as 4 feet and the extra large 30-pound feline walks around unafraid of humans. Another young resident said, “I was just looking at it and that’s when it looked like an evil thing. So I just, I just ran.” However experts from Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue, who are trying to trap and save the cat, say the feline is likely more afraid of humans than the neighbors are of it. Matt Bruzek, Director of the organization, identified the breed saying, “It’s a Savannah cat. They’re bred with an African Serval and a domestic cat and depending on how far down the breeding chain they are they can be fairly wild.” Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek added, “My guess is someone had it that wasn’t familiar with the breed. Thought it was a really cool thing to have. Decided it wasn’t for whatever reason, and threw it outside.”

Vondell Boyer, vice president of the Greenbrier Council neighborhood association where the cat was seen, echoed concern of the residents and is worried that once the large cat runs out of prey like squirrels, rabbits and small animals, it may target children. Reportedly Detroit Police and Animal Control were called but allegedly did not respond. Recently, the Michigan Humane Society said they would investigate. Tom McPhee of Ann Arbor’s World Animal Awareness Society said that there are 10-20 stray cats in Detroit for every stray dog. McPhee added that the recent reports of 50,000 stray dogs in the city were over estimations. However the number of felines still amounts to a substantial figure, and has not been helped by budget constraints of nearby Oakland County, which has forced the discontinuation of programs to round up stray cats.

More information: WJBK, Detroit Free Press, and WDIV

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Billboards give wrong date for Detroit election

DETROIT (AP) — Billboards promoting Detroit's upcoming general election offered up some erroneous information about when to go to the polls.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/14J4HEc ) that many of the 14 billboards gave a September date for the election. The vote will actually take place Nov. 5.

City Clerk Janice Winfrey says the billboards were updated Saturday with information about the general election, and she calls the September date "a mistake" by the business that handles the billboards.

Winfrey says she noticed the error and was angry. Winfrey says she was told all the billboards would be fixed by Tuesday.

The November election includes races for Detroit mayor and city council.

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Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com

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Detroit advertised wrong date for upcoming election on billboards

DETROIT (Reuters) - Renting billboards to tout Detroit's upcoming election was a good idea until the wrong date was put on 14 of them over this past weekend, city officials said.

Detroit, which has filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, chooses a new mayor in the next general election, on November 5. But billboards that the City of Detroit commissioned read that the election would take place on September 2.

The billboards were initially put up to pitch a previous election. Detroit City Clerk Janet Winfrey said on Tuesday that the local billboard company on Saturday updated the signs to highlight the general election, but with the erroneous September date.

Winfrey, who as city clerk also heads the Detroit Department of Elections, said her department approved samples of the initial billboards but did not see samples of the updated ones. The sign company, International Outdoor Inc based in suburban Detroit, was given the correct date from the elections office, Winfrey said.

"Everybody makes mistakes," Winfrey said on Tuesday, "Every time there is a human element involved, there is a chance of a mistake. Newspapers put out corrections all the time."

The city clerk said Tuesday afternoon that by the end of the day all of the billboards would have the correct information showing.

She remains happy with the billboard company, which charged the city for 11 of the signs, and threw in three free ones as an incentive. Winfrey said that after the mistake, "they threw in two more freebies," which she said would increase the number of billboards, with the correct information, to 16 in the city.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Greg McCune and Leslie Gevirtz)

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Man swims across Detroit River, prompts rescue

DETROIT (AP) — A man who wanted to prove he could swim across the Detroit River from Canada to the U.S. after a night of drinking ended up prompting an international rescue operation.

John Morillo told The Windsor Star that Monday night's swim from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, was "really stupid" and said in retrospect he shouldn't have done it. He was cited for being intoxicated in a public place and released from jail Tuesday.

"I was drinking, but I wasn't really drunk," Morillo, 47, of Windsor, said Tuesday. "The thing is, I've been telling people I'm going to swim across the river for years and they're like 'yah, yah, blah, blah, you can't make it.' So, I don't know, last night I just decided it was the time to go."

Morillo said he regrets causing problems for authorities, including Windsor police and Coast Guard crews from the U.S. and Canada. Three boats and a helicopter responded, The Detroit News reported, and authorities warn the river's current makes a dangerous place to swim.

"As soon I saw the helicopters going by and the boats looking for me, I was like 'oh, this is really stupid,'" Morillo told The Windsor Star.

Police in Windsor initially responded around 11:30 p.m., when a neighbor of Morillo called to say she had lost sight of him about a half-hour earlier.

Morillo made it across to Detroit, getting out of the water near downtown's Renaissance Center, and was swimming back when he was found about 12:50 a.m. Tuesday by the U.S. Coast Guard. During his stop on the Detroit side of the river he said people wanted to take his picture.

"There was one woman, she said she was from Windsor and she thought I was crazy," he said. She was right."

Morillo said he was told that he'll also likely be fined for swimming in a shipping channel, which could be $5,000 to $25,000.

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