1975 in Michigan

1975
in
Michigan

Decades:
See also:

Events from the year 1975 in Michigan.

The Associated Press (AP) selected the state's top news stories of 1975 as follows:[1]

  1. The disappearance of former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa on July 30 from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township where he had planned to meet with organized crime figures, Anthony Provenzano and Anthony Giacalone;[2]
  2. The resignation of Michigan Supreme Court Justice and former Governor John Swainson on November 7, five days after his conviction on three counts of perjury charges for lying to a federal grand jury investigating Swainson's role in a bribery conspiracy involving an effort to secure a new trial for a convicted burglar;[3]
  3. An upturn in the automobile business following a major slump in 1974;
  4. The June 6 escape by helicopter of con man Dale Otto Remling from the nation's largest walled prison (Southern Michigan Prison in Jackson, Michigan) and his capture one day later at a bar 10 miles away in Leslie, Michigan;[4]
  5. The Michigan Legislature's struggles with a budget deficit;
  6. Flooding in southern lower Michigan reported to be the worst since 1947;
  7. The sinking of SS Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore carrier, in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10 with the loss of life of all 29 crew members;[5]
  8. Continued fallout from the Michigan PBB contamination incident in which a flame retardant chemical feed was mixed with livestock feed, distributed to Michigan farms, and fed to 1.5 million chickens, 30,000 cattle, 5,900 pigs, and 1,470 sheep;
  9. The Ann Arbor Hospital Murders in which 10 patients at the Veterans Hospital in Ann Arbor died mysteriously from respiratory failure, later resulting in the 1976 trial and conviction of two nurses, Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez; and
  10. The automobile industry introduces rebates to spur sales.

The AP also selected the state's top sports stories as follows:[6]

  1. Hudson High School setting a national high school record by extending its winning streak to 72 games (before losing to Ishpeming in the Class C championship game);
  2. The trade that sent Mickey Lolich from the Detroit Tigers to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub;
  3. The NCAA investigation into Michigan State Spartans football;
  4. The opening of the Pontiac Silverdome, a domed stadium built at a cost of $55.7 million;
  5. The Detroit Tigers have a 19-game losing streak to set a modern American League record;
  6. The Northern Michigan Wildcats football team won the NCAA Division II Football Championship;
  7. The 1975 Michigan Wolverines football team compiles an 8–1–2 record in the regular season, loses to Ohio State, and goes on to lose to Oklahoma in the 1976 Orange Bowl;
  8. The 1975 Detroit Tigers compile a 57–102 record, the second worst season in club history to that time;
  9. Ten black players from the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team were suspended after walking out; three white players later transferred;
  10. Michigan high school football begins a playoff system with championships won by Livonia Franklin, Dearborn Divine Child, Ishpeming, and Crystal Falls Forest Park;
  11. The trade of Dave Bing for Kevin Porter;
  12. Mount Pleasant declaring itself the "City of Champions"; and
  13. Marcel Dionne signing with the Los Angeles Kings and the Detroit Red Wings get Terry Harper and Don Maloney as compensation.
  1. ^ "Hoffa, Swainson top state stories of year". Lansing State Journal. December 26, 1975. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Jimmy Hoffa Is Missing: Mystery Call Leads To Car". Detroit Free Press. August 1, 1975. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Swainson quits supreme court". Lansing State Journal. November 8, 1975. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Bizarre Copter Plot Flops: Con Captured After Daring Jailbreak". Detroit Free Press. June 8, 1975. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Ore Carrier Sinks In Lake Storm". The Holland Evening Sentinel. November 11, 1975. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Hudson's streak state's top '75 story". Lansing State Journal. December 28, 1975. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.