LANSING, MI-- The Michigan Senate has approved two bills sponsored by Senator Ed McBroom.
The first would allow the state to sell the former Ojibway Correctional Facility in Gogebic County. The prison was shut down in December of 2018. McBroom says once the state sells the property a private company can repurpose the site and reemploy area residents.
The other bill would rename the bridge on US-2 that crosses the Escanaba River the Senator Tom Casperson Memorial Bridge. McBroom says it would offer a lasting tribute to the Escanaba-area lawmaker who passed away in November.
The bill would also rename a portion of M-35 in Forsyth Township the Ben Lauren and Don Riling Memorial Highway. Lauren was a township firefighter who died while fighting a structure fire in March. Riling was a professional firefighter with the Air Force and volunteer with the Forsyth Township Fire Department. He died while fighting a house fire in 1988.
Both bills have been sent to the governor for her signature.