Monroe will pay deputy guardsman

MONROE - Monroe County commissioners agreed last night to pay the difference in salary for a sheriff's deputy who was called to active duty earlier this month to help tighten security at Detroit Metro Airport.

Deputy John Cregar, who has been a member of the department for the last five years and normally works as a road patrol deputy, could have lost nearly $2,000 a month in pay by reporting for duty with the Army National Guard contingent providing security at Michigan's largest airport.

His guard pay, Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield said, is about $600 a month, while his pay as a deputy is about $31,000 per year.

Deputy Cregar is the only county employee so far to be called to active service, though county officials said a number of other employees are members of the National Guard.

In other action, commissioners approved moving their Dec. 11 regular meeting out of the county courthouse to Luna Pier in what commissioners hope will be the first in a series of meetings to take place outside the county seat.