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Muskegon Heights police sergeant charged with assault. George Hubbard also faces a count of malicious destruction of property, accused of ramming his truck into his girlfriend’s car yesterday, at her home at Forest Ave. and 7th St., near downtown Muskegon. She said he followed her to the Muskegon police department when she went to report it, and rammed her car again. He was off-duty. Muskegon Heights Police Chief George Smith was shocked, saying Hubbard is one of his “more reliable people, a counselor” for young officers, and very “mild-mannered.”
Engler declines to sign Allegan casino compact, figures it will happen anyway. With less than 48 hours left in his term, Governor John Engler yesterday announced he will NOT sign a compact with the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomie Indians. He said his long-time relationship with some of the investors has already triggered speculation about conflict of interest. Engler believes the gambling house is inevitable, with or without agreement from Lansing, because the federal government can authorize one, regardless of what the state or local citizens want. Supporters of the tribe want to open a casino in Bradley, south of Wayland. They pushed a “sign here” resolution through both chambers of the Michigan legislature earlier this month, hoping to get the governor’s signature before January 1 and start construction. Now they’ll have to start over after Jennifer Granholm takes office. Engler already sent a recommendation to Granholm that she sign the resolution, but her aides say she hasn’t taken a stand either way. Opponents say the casino will cost the state more than it will take in: for every dollar in tax revenue, it costs the state $2 in oversight and social services.
Granholm names Grand Rapids child-protection activist to lead FIA. Nanette Bowler was appointed yesterday to Governor-elect Jennifer Granholm’s cabinet. The mother of five will direct the Office of Child and Family Services, the new name for the Family Independence Agency, formerly the Department of Social Services. Bowler made national headlines in 1993 as director of the Children’s Law Center, when she represented Jenny Yang in her custody fight in court. The 11-year-old Grand Rapids girl kept her biological parents from taking her from the foster parents who’d raised her since she was a baby. It was the first case in Michigan where a child got legal recognition to defend her own interests. Bowler’s biggest challenge in her new job will be finding more federal dollars to fix state budget cuts. She said she’ll keep living in Grand Rapids, and commute to Lansing. She’s done that for five years, directing a child development program at MSU.
Cornerstone University economics professor says U.S. economy is sound, but don’t expect a big improvement. Dr. K. Brad Stamm this week issued his 2003 economic outlook, and says America’s production will make only a slow gain, 3% to 4% next year:
Marty Mornhinweg and Matt Millen still work for Detroit Lions. Owner Bill Ford said he’d wait until the end of the season, to decide whether to fire the coach and president — and nothing happened yesterday. Mornhinweg, who has 5 wins and 27 losses in two seasons, said, “It’s business as usual.” Three other NFL head coaches were canned yesterday: Jacksonville’s Tom Coughlin, Cincinnati’s Dick LeBeau and Dave Campo of the Dallas Cowboys. Detroit Lions cornerback Todd Lyght retired yesterday, after a fine performance on Sunday. The 12-year NFL veteran scored on a 75-yard return after a blocked field goal. And he still has his Super Bowl ring from St. Louis.
Jet makes emergency landing at Gerald R. Ford Airport. United Airlines Flight 928 took off from Chicago on Saturday evening, bound for England with 290 people on board. Around 7:30 p.m., some smelled smoke, and noticed the cabin floor was getting hot. Pilot declared an emergency and landed the Boeing 777 here, and everybody got out. Cause is still not released. Passengers got on another plane and flew back to Chicago, and finally left for London yesterday.
Fire damages elementary school classrooms in Fruitport. It started around 11 p.m. Saturday at the west end of Edgewood Elementary School on Pontaluna Rd. Firefighters contained it, and only two rooms were damaged. They don’t know how it started. Administration says the rooms, both “alternative ed” classrooms, will be cleaned up and ready for students when school starts next week.
Gleeson sends letter to media, slamming mother of his dead children.
In Ottawa County jail, Michael Gleeson wrote a letter and on Saturday had
his lawyer fax it to newspapers and TV stations. The seven pages are littered
with profanity. Most of his hostility is aimed at Sue Smith of Dwight,
Illinois, mother of his two dead children. He implies that she mentally
and physically abused them, and says they’re better off dead. The letter
was apparently phrased carefully to avoid any admission that Gleeson killed
his daughter and son.
He is charged with the murder of Dena
Fuglseth at the home they shared near Holland. Her body was found on November
29. He is NOT yet charged in the deaths of his two children, Ashley and
Joshua (ages 5 and 3), whose bodies were recovered from a river in northern
Illinois two weeks ago. First hearing will be January 15.
State lawmakers return to Lansing for last-minute session. They’re allowed to work for us until midnight tomorrow night, but expect them to wrap up today. State senators will vote on Governor Engler’s proposal to authorize 15 new charter schools in Detroit over the next five years, plus give Detroit Public Schools a pile of money, to make up for the revenue they’ll lose when students jump to the new charters. The state senate is also scheduled to approve nearly two-dozen last minute Engler appointments. If they don’t, Governor-elect Granholm can cancel them when she takes office, and name her own. Your state House of Representatives worked until almost midnight on the Friday before Christmas, and will meet at 11:30 a.m. today to wrap up loose ends.
Governor-elect kicks off inaugural week. Jennifer Granholm will
take the oath of office at noon on Wednesday on the steps of the Capitol
Building in Lansing. Also swearing-in will be John Cherry as lieutenant
governor, Mike Cox as state attorney general, and Kent County’s Terri Land
as secretary of state. Parade will take them to Lansing Center for speech
and reception.
Parties started in Southfield on Saturday,
where several thousand attended a “family celebration.” Granholm and Cherry
will greet citizens at a similar event from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday in the DeltaPlex.
That night they’ll attend a formal inaugural ball at Frederik Meijer Gardens.
Grand Rapids minister recovering from heart attack. Rev. Charlie Jones of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church on the east side of downtown is in “serious” condition at Spectrum-Butterworth this morning, after being stricken in Holland on Saturday. The congregation has canceled its New Years Eve dinner.
Muskegon picks developer to fix downtown mall. It was to re-vitalize Muskegon’s retail economy when it opened years ago. Muskegon Mall enclosed a downtown street, literally putting a roof over it, and paved surrounding parcels for parking. Now it’s closed and dark, and what little life it had left, went to the new suburban mall near the freeway junction on the south side of town. This week Muskegon’s Downtown Development Corporation, the non-profit board that owns the site, announced it hired Charter Development of Southfield to figure out what to do with it. They will take surveys and do a study for six months, and what happens after that is anybody’s guess. Downtown businesses seem ready to welcome any activity. City leaders favor a mix of retail, residential, offices and entertainment — anything but a gambling casino.
Dorr Township to build a park. The 19-acre cow pasture a mile south of Dorr, on the southwest corner of 140th Ave. and 18th St., is owned by the father of the township treasurer. He’ll be paid $125,000, once the sale is finalized next Thursday, January 2. The township board decided to buy it in October, and in December re-zoned it from agricultural so it could be developed. Parks committee expects to hire a designer in 2004, and go after state and federal money to pay for trails, a picnic area, and fields for soccer, football and baseball.
Ottawa County renews Kandu Industries contract for 6 months. The agency employs about 200 developmentally-disabled people in Holland and Grand Haven, providing a safe and appropriate environment for them. The county’s mental health department got a loud, angry reaction from their families earlier this year, when it said it wanted to end direct employment programs. Included in the cuts were day programs at three other facilities that serve about 150 others. The Ottawa Community Mental Health board said Lansing will be cutting funds for that sort of thing, encouraging “mainstreaming” to save money. The board extended the contract to give hem time to meet with Kandu leaders and state community health administrators, to find ways to meet new Medicaid funding guidelines. Ottawa County puts about $1.2-million a year into Kandu, which makes mostly wood parts for furniture makers.
Wealthy Theater will stage “1001 Black Inventions” for Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. The award-winning play, for 20 years and 3,000 performances, has been refuting the misconception that African-Americans have not contributed to our culture. It profiles black historical figures, then shows a typical American family trying to get by without the products of their ingenuity. Equality Magazine and the Community Empowerment Center will present two performances, at 5 and 8 p.m., on Thursday, January 16, at the Wealthy Theater. Tickets are $15 at the door, or $12 in advance at:
Volunteers serve downtown homeless, surprise firefighters and police.
Mel Trotter Ministries hosted Christmas dinner yesterday for several hundred
clients and neighbors. Servers were volunteers, and food and preparations
were gifts from local businesses.
Salvation Army workers, not needed at
their kettles or band instruments yesterday, paid a visit to Grand Rapids
police headquarters and eleven fire stations. They dropped off packages
of food and gifts, to thank them for keeping watch through the holiday.
Recycle your Christmas tree. Firefighters say house-fires from
dried-out cut trees are among the most discouraging, because they’re so
preventable. Keep the water supply in the base filled. Once the tree starts
dropping lots of needles, it’s time to get it out of the house.
Grand Rapids will grind up Christmas trees for free, on the two weekends
after New Years Day. Make sure all ornaments, tinsel, hangers, lights and
decorations are off. Bring a bag or container if you want mulch, and take
all you want. Crunching will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. next Saturday
and Sunday, January 4 and 5, and again on January 11 and 12, at two places:
Suspected terrorist in jail in Kalamazoo. State police and federal agents arrested Mohamed Alajji of Detroit near Springfield in Calhoun County a week ago today, and are keeping him locked up for holding two Social Security numbers. They believe he was planning a terrorist attack in Michigan. Police say he quit his job as an engineer a month after the September 11, 2001, tragedy, started a trucking business and got a hazardous materials permit. He was driving his truck when he was arrested. In court on Monday, prosecutor showed enough things from his home and former job to convince the judge to hold him. They included recordings of speeches by radical Islamic leaders, and a letter that talks about martyring oneself with explosives. Police started watching him closely after his ex-brother-in-law told them he was planning something, and was ready to die. Alajji is from Yemen, and has lived legally in the US since 1995.
Central West Michigan prepares to inoculate critical health workers against smallpox. It’s been thirty years since Americans have gotten shots for smallpox, because. Two weeks ago President Bush ordered vaccinations to be given to hospital workers, EMTs and specialists, so there would be a core of protected responders in the event of an outbreak from a terrorist attack. First phase will poke about 600 people in a 13-county area from Holland, Grand Rapids and Ionia, north to Ludington, Reed City and Clare. It includes 1.4-million people and 26 hospitals. At each of three of those hospitals, 150 workers will be vaccinated. Eventually, everybody in the health care industry will get shots, and they could be available for the general public late next year. Since there’s a chance of side-effects, it’ll be voluntary.
Home of Grand Rapids Civic Theatre will turn 100 next year. The Majestic Theater opened at Division Ave. and Library St. in November, 1903, and hosted live productions and vaudeville shows before adding films. It was one of the last movie houses in downtown Grand Rapids before becoming the home of one of America’s oldest and most respected local theatre groups. GRCT plans a big commemoration on the night of Saturday, February 1.
Kent detectives ask your help in finding armed robber. He used a knife to hold up the Amoco on Plainfield Ave. south of Jupiter Ave., just before 8 a.m. yesterday. Tracking dog followed the scent up Hunsberger Ave. to Coit Ave., and lost it near the gravel pits. Suspect was stocky, about 40 years old, and wore a ski mask, blue stocking cap and red-and-white Northview High School jacket. If you know anything call Kent sheriff, 632-6125. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345.
Fugitive wanted for cop-killing in Puerto Rico caught in Wyoming. Yelin Otano-Matos (age 26) will be charged in the March 2001 shooting of a police officer in San Juan. Police there believe he and a friend were about to rob a restaurant, and the off-duty officer was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They already have the other suspect in custody. FBI tracked Otano-Matos to New York, and believes he came to West Michigan last spring or summer because he has family here. He registered a car under the name of “Antonio Rivera Smith,” and got a Michigan drivers license just this month. His address was listed as Kentfield St., southwest of Burlingame Ave. and Prairie Parkway. Otano-Matos was spotted there early yesterday, and police put a detail together that included officers from Wyoming and Grand Rapids, state troopers, the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service. They boxed-in his car as he tried to flee, outside Peppercorn Apartments on Woodward Ave., south of 32nd St. between Clyde Park Ave. and US-131. People who know him apparently had no idea he was wanted, and were surprised by the arrest.
Davenport University to build new campus southeast of Kentwood. The business-and-technology school yesterday bought 43 vacant acres along Kraft Ave. near the Henry Freeway (M-6), and for starters plans to put up a building with classrooms, offices and a computer lab. They purchased the property from Amway co-founders Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos, after looking at several nearby parcels. Price was not disclosed. Davenport has raised $15-million since June 1999, and there’s still plenty left for construction. The college says the new facility won’t replace the downtown campus, but will draw more students from all over West Michigan. The 10-acre “home” campus on Fulton St. is crowded with 1,900 students, and there’s just no room to expand. Davenport was founded in Grand Rapids in 1866, and now serves 15,000 in thirty locations around the Lower Peninsula and northern Indiana.
Michigan jury duty pay will go up in October. In its last days, the state legislature passed the first increase in juror compensation since 1968. The old minimum of $15-a-day was upped to $25 for the first day, then $40-a-day after that. It’s still way below a day’s pay for most citizens, but it should cover day care and parking, and many big employers make up the difference. A few years ago Kent County helped ease its jury-pool shortages by upping the pay to $35, and may bump it again after the new rates take effect. The state House of Representatives first passed the bill back in October 2001, and the Senate just took it up last week. It will be funded by an increase in some court fees, like “restoration of suspended drivers license” from $25 to $45.
Grand Rapids free-ride-home program grows, no coupon required. Federal government says 3 out of 10 Americans are involved in an alcohol-related crash. Holiday “free-ride” programs help make our roads safer, by taking revelers home so they don’t drive while drunk. Last Call Ministries will give free rides to party-goers, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and next Tuesday (New Years Eve) from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., as long as it’s “home for the night” — no rides to another party or bar. If you need a ride, either walk to the Dog Pit restaurant on Monroe Center near Pearl St., or call 915-5200 and they’ll come to you. In years past, the program would pay for cab rides. This year drivers are volunteers from the ministry, and two dozen businesses contributed $150 each to cover insurance. Since Thanksgiving, Last Call Ministries has already given nearly 500 rides home to Muskegon, Holland and Grand Rapids.
Toddler burned in trailer fire. The 3-year-old is in “stable” condition with second- and third-degree burns. Apparently he started it himself, playing with a cigarette lighter in his bed while his parents slept. Firefighters found flames coming out the windows, when they arrived around 9 a.m. yesterday at Mona Lake Mobile Home Park, off Hoyt St. on the north shore of Mona Lake. They said there was no working smoke detector in the unit.
Armored truck robbed outside Holland Wal-Mart. The robber pointed a big handgun at the driver of the Guardian Armored Service truck, around 12:40 p.m. Friday, while it was parked in front of the store near James St. and US-31. In front of Christmas shoppers, he took the driver’s sidearm and a bag full of money, then jumped into a silver Suburban. The SUV was found, ditched, a few minutes later. Ottawa deputies and FBI agents have a warrant for Michael David Foreman, age 33, 5-foot 11-inches, 240 pounds, blond hair, blue eyes. He did six years for breaking and entering in 1989. He may have driven away in a 1994 Chevrolet “Gladiator” conversion van, possibly with a Florida license plate, F-77-CVD. Police say he’s armed and dangerous. If you know anything call Ottawa sheriff, 738-4010. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 392-4443.
Another porn shop wants to open on 28th St. southeast. His lawyer said the un-named owner wants to open a new adult merchandise store in the shopping center across from McKay Jaycees Family Park, just west of the Meijer store at 28th and Kalamazoo. It’s the same lawyer that’s keeping neighbors from closing the porn shop down the street, near Eastern Ave. Last week they got U.S. District Court Judge Richard Enslen in Kalamazoo to forbid Grand Rapids from using its outdated zoning ordinance against the store. A new ordinance is slowing making its way through city departments, and no one showed up at a hearing two weeks ago. Next hearing will be Thursday, January 9. If it’s approved by the planning commission, it’ll go to the city commission.
Judge today will sentence Zeeland mother to “life” for stabbing two daughters. Tracy Camburn was convicted of first-degree murder last month, for the deaths of Candice and Kimberly (ages 10 and 5) in September, 2001. On Friday, Ottawa Circuit Court Judge Calvin Bosman in Grand Haven turned down a request by her lawyer to throw out the jury’s verdict, on the grounds they ignored experts who testified she was insane. Prosecutor told the jurors the experts had ignored evidence in their evaluations. She was found “guilty but mentally ill,” which carries a mandatory life sentence without parole, with treatment.
Million-dollar bond set for Zeeland mother, accused of setting fire that killed 14-year-old daughter. On Friday the court turned down a request by the attorney of Karen Boes to let her out of jail on $5,000 bond. She faces an “open” charge of murder for the death of her daughter, Robin, who was found dead from smoke inhalation in their home in July. Firefighters say the fire started in the gasoline that was splashed outside her bedroom door. At the hearing in Grand Haven Boes said she didn’t do it, and her lawyer moved to keep her videotaped confession from being shown to the jury. Ottawa Circuit Court Judge Ed Post said her history didn’t convince him that she’s not a flight risk. Trial is set for February 4.
Desmond Tutu will visit Grand Rapids. The archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his leadership in the fight against apartheid. He will speak on Tuesday, March 25, in Van Andel Arena, as part of the World Affairs Council of West Michigan’s Great Decisions lecture series. It’s the same day as the fifth annual Grand Rapids Summit on Racism, sponsored by the Racial Justice Institute of GRACE (the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism.)
Overturned semi-truck closes downtown freeway. A flatbed semi-truck hauling huge steel rods and beams couldn’t quite make the curve, on the ramp from northbound US-131 to westbound Interstate-196 (the Ford Freeway) in downtown Grand Rapids, around 9:30 a.m. yesterday. It fell onto its side in the westbound right lane. The load spilled onto the other ramp, from southbound 131. A few more feet either way and those heavy beams would have fallen onto freeway lanes below. Both ramps and the right lane were closed until 12:30 p.m., and westbound was blocked several times to allow a forklift to pick up all the steel. No one was hurt.
Steelcase lays off 350 in “last round.” The world’s largest office-furniture maker got a little smaller yesterday, when 375 workers got two weeks notice of layoffs, effective January 6. Seventy work in wood manufacturing, the rest in steel. They were among 550 who got early warnings in November. The rest were advised yesterday that the warning now extends into March. CEO James Hackett said the company is “now as lean as we were in the early 80s,” and that this should be the last round of firings. Steelcase still employs 6,000 hourly people in West Michigan.
Former Wyoming city councilman in near-coma after beating. Wilbur Martin (age 63) is in “critical but stable” condition at St. Mary’s, and unable to speak. His daughter found him on Tuesday, unconscious and severely beaten, in his apartment on Woodward Ave. south of 32nd St. He owns the 12-unit building, and police think it started as a robbery. On Monday he reported that someone had stolen cash from his apartment, and may have come back, looking for more. That’s about the only lead they have. If you know anything call Wyoming police, 538-7300. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345. Martin served on the Wyoming City Council from 1974 to 1985.
Pete Hoekstra says he’ll run for re-election. The Lakeshore representative will begin his sixth term when the 108th Congress convenes in the nation’s capital in January. When it closes in 2004, he’ll have served 12 years, which is as long as he said he’d stay in office during his first campaign. Yesterday he announced he’ll run again in 2004, saying his supporters convinced him that his experience is too valuable to give up. He’s changed his mind on term limits, having seen effective lawmakers booted out, and watched term-limited legislators cast votes without being accountable to constituents. He even used the “W” word, saying he was wrong in 1992, and that voters of Michigan’s 2nd District should decide whether he’ll continue to serve.
Grand Rapids Public Library schedules move back home. The temporary library next to US-131 between Hall and Franklin Sts. will close at the end of February. Staff will take a month to haul books, materials and offices back to the remodeled Main Library near Bostwick Ave. and Fountain St. The Main closed in November, 2000, and after one slow month the circulation recovered and the library has been setting records in numbers of items checked out. The Main Library will now be called the Keeler Library, for the family who donated funds for the new exterior on the 1967 addition. The $16-million renovation included historically-correct restoration of the original Ryerson Library. GRPL’s system-wide $30-million renewal is wrapping up, and during the month that the Main Library is out of commission, its seven branches will take up the load. Users will be able to request holdings from the Main’s collection from any location.
Residents homeless after fire in Kentwood apartment complex. It started around 7:30 p.m. yesterday on the third floor at Holiday Garden Apartments, on Breton Ave. south of 32nd St. One unit was burned-out completely, and 10 or 12 others were damaged by smoke or water. Firefighters kept it from spreading to other buildings. Three were treated for smoke inhalation. Fire department figures more than a dozen people spent the night somewhere else.
Murder trial ordered for suspects in Jerry Steinberg killing. Witnesses In Wyoming district court yesterday described the incident and how the suspects bragged about it afterward. Steinberg (age 38) died a few days after a brutal beating in the early hours of November 17 in Godwin Heights. A car knocked him off his bicycle, then people got out and kicked and stomped on him, and returned to the scene several times to do it again. A teenage girl, who was in the car but did not participate, told the judge what she saw. Detectives learned the suspects spent a lot of time playing “Grand Theft Auto,” a realistic, animated computer game in which players get points for running over and beating up characters. Brian Davidson (age 24), Michael Emery (age 18) and Natasha Toothman (age 16) were ordered to stand trial for murder.
Family searches for killer a year after Riverside Park murder. Allison Burns (age 19) of the near north side was found severely beaten on December 22, 2001, and died the next day. Someone called Silent Observer on Christmas day, and gave information about the case. Police believe the caller knows more that could help them learn who killed Allison. Her family collected a $4,500 reward. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345, or toll-free (866) 774-2345.
Grand Rapids Catholic schools adopt “2.0 rule” for athletics. The school board of Catholic Central and West Catholic high schools last night voted to require sophomores, juniors and seniors to maintain a “C” average or better to play on school teams. Freshman can play with a 1.5. grade point average, or “C-minus.” The rule will take effect in September. Currently, Grand Rapids Catholic Secondary Schools have no academic requirement for athletics, beyond the Michigan High School Athletics Association’s guideline. That requires a “D-minus” to play. The school board’s education committee is still looking at applying the rule to other after-school activities, and even graduation. The board of education of Grand Rapids Public Schools two weeks ago voted to keep its “2.0 policy,” after months of lobbying by one board member to drop it. After the controversy started, parents at several nearby districts asked their schools to consider adding academic requirements for athletes.
Blue Angels visit Muskegon. The Navy’s acrobatic jet fighter team touched down in the Port City yesterday, to promote next summer’s appearance at the Muskegon Air Fair. The Blue Angels thrilled 100,000 fair-goers in 2001. They hardly ever return to any location so soon, but say Muskegon showed them such a good time, they couldn’t pass it up. They’ll perform at all three days of the fair in 2003. This will be the first time in its 20 years that the Muskegon Air Fair will have feature shows for three days, July 4, 5 and 6.
Meth lab busted in downtown Kalamazoo. Six people were arrested yesterday, after police found equipment for making methamphetamine in a home on Hilbert St. They’re looking for 14 more suspects. The Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team has been watching the house for several months.
Richland man’s body found in frozen lake. Robert Williams (age 53) was reported missing on Sunday. Yesterday searchers noticed what looked like a frozen-over hole in the ice on Long Lake, on the east side of Portage, and divers located his truck in the water. He apparently drove onto the ice, which was six inches thick yesterday.
Muskegon Heights police officer charged with punching driver in road-rage incident. Neil Siebert (age 26) of Grand Rapids is accused of hitting Luis Sainz after trying to run him off Interstate-96 near Fruitport on Saturday, December 7. Siebert was on his way to work, and apparently became angry when he couldn’t pass Sainz’s car. Sainz said Siebert bumped his car from behind and flashed his badge. Sainz pulled over, and Siebert walked up, grabbed his shirt and started hitting him in the head. Siebert was arraigned yesterday for assault with a dangerous weapon (his car), a four-year felony, and two misdemeanors. This is Siebert’s third road-rage accusation this year. A Muskegon driver filed a complaint in March, saying Siebert confronted him after a traffic stop. Michigan state police are investigating an incident in August, when Siebert was off-duty and allegedly threatened a driver on the Ford Freeway (Interstate-196) in Grand Rapids.
Wyoming police and Hope Network get a million dollars to help released convicts stay out of jail. Three out of four prisoners go back, and Hope Network wants to reverse that ratio. Their goal is to help 75 per cent of released prisoners in Wyoming remain “one-timers,” with job training, placement, transitional housing, mentoring, health and mental health counseling and substance abuse management. The federal community policing grant announced yesterday will provide a quarter-million dollars a year for four years. Hope Network already has a program for “ex-offenders,” and has 40 years experience in providing those kinds of social services.
FSU president leaves for Utah. William Sederburg yesterday announced he’ll start his new job as president of Utah Valley State College in Orem in May. Their board was impressed by Sederbug’s handling of fund-raising and $100-million worth of construction in his seven years at Ferris, and they’ll need that experience. UVSC was a community college ten years ago, and now has 23,000 undergraduates. They plan to add graduate programs while growing to 40,000. Like Ferris, it has strong technical and vocational programs. He beat out two finalists from nearby Brigham Young University for his new post. Last interview was on Monday morning, offer came at 2 p.m., agreement at 5. Sederburg represented Lansing in the state Senate for 13 years before taking over at Ferris State University.
Grand Rapids man dead after Muskegon Heights shooting. Albuel Dean (age 30) was shot several times outside a bar at Peck St. and Broadway, around 1 a.m. yesterday. He was sitting in a car, talking with people in another car, when a man walked up and opened fire. Dean died in the ER at Spectrum-Butterworth in Grand Rapids. Police think the shooter was also from Grand Rapids. If you know anything call Muskegon Heights police, 733-2111. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 722-7463 (72-CRIME).
Ashley Gleeson’s body found, not far from her brother’s. Police pulled the body of the 5-year-old girl from the Des Plaines River in Channahon, Illinois, south of Joliet, yesterday morning. It was not far from the spot where two men fishing found 3-year-old Joshua, on Sunday morning. Illinois state police confirmed they both died from two gunshot wounds to the head. Their father, Patrick Gleeson, faces a murder charge for the death of Dena Fuglseth in the home they shared near Holland. He is not charged in connection with the deaths of his children. Police are trying to figure out when and where they died.
Alto woman killed in crash near Lowell. Allison Brown (age 30) was driving her Chevy Lumina northbound on Segwun Ave., stopped at the stop-sign at Cascade Rd., and pulled into the path of a big eastbound pick-up truck, around 8:40 a.m. yesterday. She was flown by AeroMed chopper to Grand Rapids, but died from head injuries before reaching the ER at Spectrum-Butterworth. The pick-up driver, a 39-year-old man from Dorr, was not injured.
Grand Rapids sex offender is still on the move. David Siebers was living in a mobile home park just outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, until last weekend. The park was going to give him an eviction notice tomorrow, but late Saturday night his trailer up and left. Deputies were checking on him around the clock from the time he showed up, earlier in the fall. The mayor of Albuquerque offered to buy him a one-way bus ticket to anywhere else. Siebers did nine years for raping a woman in front of store workers during a robbery in 1979. After release he got 10 years for trying to give a ride to a Forest Hills 4th-grader at a bus stop. Just before he got out in September, Kent Prosecutor William Forsythe warned schools, because the prison psychologist said it’s only a matter of time before he offends again.
Meijer plans two stores near Henry Freeway (M-6). The two sites are about five miles apart. One is on Broadmoor Ave. (M-37) near 68th St., not far from the western end of the segment of the freeway that opened last year. The other will be in a shopping center south of the interchange yet to open on Kalamazoo Ave. Neighbors object to the size of that one, and the Gaines Township planning commission asked the developer, Ramco-Gershenson of Detroit, to set up discussion meetings with residents.
Kentwood plans farewell and welcome for mayors. The city will hold an open house to honor Bill Hardiman, mayor for 10 years, from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the City Center on Breton Ave. south of 44th St. Hardiman was elected to the state Senate in Lansing, and will be sworn in when the session starts in January. On Monday, December 30, the city commission will meet in special session at 8 a.m. to administer the oath of the mayor’s office to fellow commissioner Richard Root.
Gleeson boy’s body found in Illinois river. Joshua was killed by two small-caliber gunshot wounds to the head. Two men fishing in the Des Plaines River found the 3-year-old’s body around 8 a.m. yesterday. It was near Channahon, Illinois, about 50 miles north of his mother’s home in Dwight. Identity and cause of death were confirmed by autopsy last night. There was no sign of his 5-year-old sister Ashley, even though divers looked in the river for hours. They will resume at daylight, and police will also search the land for miles, on the ground and from the air. The children’s father, Patrick Gleeson, is in jail without bond, charged with the murder of Dena Fuglseth. Police found her body on November 29 in the home they shared near Holland. The children were reported missing on November 25, when he failed to return them to their mother after a weekend visitation. Gleeson had a small-caliber handgun when he was arrested in Florida last weekend. The FBI has it, but has said nothing about connecting that gun with the killings.
Pedestrian killed on downtown freeway. He was walking on the shoulder of eastbound Ford Freeway (Interstate-196) near the Ottawa Ave. exit, and appeared to jump in front of a car, around 11 p.m. Saturday. Police have not released his name, but said he was in his 40s. The freeway was closed for several hours during the investigation.
Crash on country road kills Twin Lake woman. Rachuel Krehn (age 27) was thrown from the back seat of her parents’ SUV, when it was hit by a pick-up truck at Bard Rd. and Pillon Rd. around 3 p.m. Friday. Both vehicles rolled into a nearby field. David and Sharon Krehen were driving to Whitehall, westbound on Bard. They were treated and released from Mercy General. The other driver, a 16-year-old from Twin Lake, was going home from Reeths-Puffer High School. He was northbound and apparently ran the stop sign. There were no other witnesses. Police do not believe alcohol was involved, but say Rachuel would have survived the crash if she had put on her seatbelt.
ATT Broadband will raise cable-TV rates in January. Standard packages will go up from 7% to 14%, starting in next month’s bill to ATT cable customers around Grand Rapids. Standard cable will go up from $35.50 to $38 (actually, $37.99), basic digital from $12 to $14 (actually, $13.99). They say it’s to cover the rising cost of program channels. To ease the pain, the Food Network will show up on expanded basic, and the Golf Channel will be added to standard cable.
Mecosta County golf course rated “Number One.” Golf Digest magazine names Tullymore Golf Club “Best New Upscale Public” course in the January issue, which is arriving in homes this week. The 7,200-yard course is owned by Robert Doerr and Norm and Judy Browning, who also own St. Ives Golf Club nearby. The magazine rated courses on shot value, variety, playability, aesthetics and memorability. Tullymore opened last year near Pierce Rd. and 100th Ave. in Morton Township, about 10 miles east of the Stanwood-White Cloud exit of US-131.
Lakers bring home national championship; quarterback named national MVP. GVSU’s football team beat Valdosta (Georgia) State Blazers on Saturday, 31-to-24, to take the NCAA Division II title. Four thousand Lakers fans traveled to northern Alabama to watch the game, and got their money’s worth: Grand Valley scored first and never trailed, but Valdosta kept catching up. The chant was “finish what we started,” because the Lakers lost the championship game last year in the same stadium, in the last 30 seconds. Quarterback Curt Anes of Kentwood had to sit out that game with a knee injury. The knee was working this year, and Anes kept heaving passes into the hands of receiver David Kircus, including the winning 10-yarder with one minute left on the clock. The night before, he accepted the Harlon Hill Award as the national top player in Division II.
Police dogs find nothing in search for Gleeson kids. About 20 canine teams scoured the woods and waters around Holland for five hours yesterday, looking for any indication of Ashley and Joshua (ages 5 and 3). Their father, Patrick Gleeson, failed to return them to their mother after a weekend visitation, three weeks ago. He’s in jail on a murder charge, after a nationwide manhunt tracked him down in Florida. Police found the body of Dena Fuglseth in the home they shared near the south shore of Lake Macatawa, west of Holland. A helicopter assisted the search team, which came from several law enforcement agencies in two counties. Officers wanted to make the search before snow covers the ground, and were relieved to eliminate one tragedy from the list of possibilities. If you know anything that could help find Ashley and Joshua, call the national hotline, (866) 935-8888.
Two charged in murder of Carl Sherington. The 88-year-old man was shot and killed in his home on Campau Lake in Caledonia Township last month. Yesterday Ryan Parrish (age 22) of Alto was arraigned for felony murder during a robbery. On Wednesday Wendy Dye (age 20) of Arkansas was also charged, and may be willing to testify against Parrish in return for being able to plead to a lesser charge. They match descriptions of two people who robbed Sherrington two weeks before the killing. They may have come back to rob him again, and it went bad. Detectives think they were selling guns that were stolen from a pawn shop in Arkansas. They were both armed when they were arrested a week after the killing for a disturbance outside a bar in Lake Odessa. Now that they’re both behind bars, police hope to hear from anyone who talked to Parrish and Dye. If they talked about Sherington, the killing or the robbery, people may have kept quiet because they were afraid of Parrish. Police also want to recover the stolen guns, and keep them — and two accused murderers — out of circulation. If you know anything call Kent detectives, 632-6125. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345.
Comstock Park man charged with stabbing girlfriend. Pablo Cardoza (age 27) yesterday went to Kent County jail on $50,000 bond, after arraignment in Rockford for felony assault. Kent deputies say he knifed the 18-year-old woman in her stomach during a fight around 10:30 p.m. Sunday. They were called to the apartment on Yorkland Dr. in York Creek, where they live with their two children, who were not hurt. He ran before they got there, but left the knife behind. Tracking dog couldn’t find him. He was arrested on Tuesday at a farm-labor camp in Alpine Township. She was in “stable” condition at St. Mary’s.
Allegan sheriff wants to charge jail inmates for room and board. Sheriff Blaine Koops yesterday gave the county board his plan to bill prisoners $35 a day, and allow early release for prisoners who work during their sentence. Allegan County jail is crowded, and recently it started paying neighboring lock-ups to house prisoners. Last fall it had to release some offenders early after it qualified as “overcrowded” for more than a month. The plan should save about $250,000 a year, at a time when the county is short on money. Commissioners are looking at balancing next year’s budget by taking $700,000 out of the county’s cash reserves. Most Michigan jails require inmates to pay for their keep, and the average daily rate is about $40.
State Senate passes casino resolution, 21-to-14. Supporters think it’s a safe bet the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomie Indians will open a gambling house in Bradley, south of Wayland, next year. Opponents have not yet given up. State Senator Ken Sikkema, who voted against it yesterday, said it shows “the legislature is afraid” to approve the casino before an election. Others resented the inclusion of the text of a compact in the vote. Now that both houses of the legislature have passed the resolution asking Governor Engler to sign the compact to allow construction of the casino, investors figure he’ll do it before his term ends in two weeks. The Department of the Interior still has to okay transfer of the site into a trust for the tribe.
Police dogs and helicopter will scour Lakeshore for any sign of Gleeson children. Patrick Gleeson should be back in Michigan today, and could be arraigned in Grand Haven for the murder of Dena Fuglseth as early as tomorrow. His two children, Ashley (age 5) and Joshua (age 3), haven’t been seen since November 22, and Gleeson isn’t talking. This morning about 20 police dogs and a helicopter will search for any sign of them around Holland. Ottawa detectives say they don’t have any new tips, but they’ll take advantage of the warm weather to comb the woods and waters before snow and ice cover everything. If you know anything that could help them find Ashley and Joshua, call the Ottawa sheriff’s hotline, 738-4687, or the national tip line, (866) 935-8888.
Police update southwest Michigan homicides. Autopsy yesterday
showed Chester Clark Jr. (age 53) and Janice McGee (age 52) died from stab
wounds. They were found dead on Tuesday morning by her son, in the basement
apartment on Merritt St. on the east side of Battle Creek. Police say they
have no suspect, no weapon, no idea why. If you know anything call Silent
Observer of Battle Creek, (269) 964-3888.
Van Buren deputies say the death of
Christopher Green (age 19) is a homicide. Autopsy confirmed he died from
injuries during a struggle. A passerby spotted his body on Monday morning
in a field near 60th St. and 16th Ave. north of Bangor, about two miles
from where lived with his parents.
Lakers leave for Alabama; GVSU alumni will watch across the nation. Family, fans and cheerleaders in Allendale last night gave the football players a championship send-off as they boarded the team bus, then cheered again as they filed toward the chartered plane at the airport. Grand Valley State University will play Valdosta State University (of Georgia) in Florence, Alabama, for the NCAA Division II championship at 4 p.m. Friday. The Lakers lost last year’s title game in the last thirty seconds, and haven’t forgotten the long trip home afterward. Alumni have organized viewing parties at sports bars in Los Angeles, Seattle, Tampa, Washington D.C., and points in between.
Royal Plastics asks for tax breaks, to add 830 new jobs in Ottawa County. The company employs 700 in three plants around Hudsonville, making parts for cars, office chairs and refrigerators, among other things. They want to build a new $15-million factory on Quincy St., but the state of Tennessee made them an offer they can’t afford to turn down, unless Michigan matches it. The company applied for what may turn out to be the biggest tax break in state history. Lansing will decide next week whether to give them a pass on corporate income tax, and for how long. Unless there are objections made at the public hearing at noon today in the Jamestown Township office on Riley St., the township will likely exempt them from property taxes for 12 years, at $300,000 or so a year. However it goes, the company says the existing operation won’t change.
DDA okays liquor license for religion bar in downtown Grand Rapids. The state and city hall still have to approve it, but Renee Visser yesterday got a “free” liquor permit from the Downtown Development Authority. She plans to open a restaurant-bar called “Graces” next to McKay Tower, overlooking Rosa Parks Circle. It will have ordained ministers on staff, even working the bar sometimes. Reverend Peter Winkle says they’ll be spreading the gospel where it may most need to be shared. Other pastors agreed that alcohol itself is not evil, and that the sin is in abuse of alcohol. Michigan's Liquor Control Commission lets DDAs authorize free liquor licenses to small businesses in areas that are sold out of the regular permits.
Kentwood names Police Officer of the Year. Civilian employee of the year is Sharon Haner, victim services coordinator. She is a GVSU grad, and came from the Allegan prosecutor’s office two years ago. Officer of the year is Michael Coval, a 10-year veteran who’s on the special response team and works drug cases. They were honored yesterday by Mayor Bill Hardiman and Chief Richard Mattice, who said they were selected by a panel of previous winners from nominations made by their peers.
Battle Creek vandals set grocery store fire. Nobody was hurt, but about 50 people were evacuated from the Felpausch Food Center on Capital Ave. on the northeast side around 4 p.m. yesterday. A passerby reported the fire, which was apparently started by kids who ran away. They lit a bound pallet of used cardboard cartons in the back of the store, and flames spread to other pallets nearby and a dumpster. The store opened for business as usual at 6 a.m.
Pope John Paul II sends Grand Rapids bishop’s relief. Bishop Robert Rose yesterday introduced Bishop Kevin Britt (age 58) to West Michigan’s 160,000 Catholics. He will become coadjutor bishop here, and prepare to become the 10th leader of the Diocese of Grand Rapids when Rose retires. Britt has been auxiliary bishop in Detroit for 8 years, and is respected and admired for his work there, including his handling of sexual abuse scandals. He has also served in the Vatican, assisting Cardinal Edmund Szoka, a Grand Rapids native and chief financial officer of the Catholic Church. Rose is 72 and must retire when he turns 75, but said he may step down before then.
Casino resolution passes state House; local representatives are mad.
It still has to get Governor Engler’s signature, but that could happen
by Friday. Cheers in the capitol yesterday afternoon came from investors
and supporters of the proposal by the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomie Indians
to build a gambling house by the Bradley exit of US-131 south of Wayland.
Approved was a resolution asking the governor to make a deal with the tribe,
including text of a compact similar to those already in place for other
casinos. Most West Michigan representatives voted against it, after some
tried stalling tactics. Final vote was 58-to-47.
Saugatuck Representative Patricia Birkholz
said she is “disappointed” with her colleagues for passing the resolution.
In September WOOD-TV Channel 8 polled West Michigan citizens and found
60 per cent of us are against building a new casino. Detroit News this
week reported that investors in the proposed casino donated $160,000 to
Michigan election campaigns over the past two years. The representative
who introduced the resolution and compact, Larry DeVuyst of Alma, said
he doesn’t like casinos, but they’re coming anyway and the state needs
to be able to control and regulate them.
Grand Rapids approves new master plan. City commissioners yesterday passed the visionary document that will guide development over the next 20 years. It took two years, a half-million dollars, and 250 meetings with 3,000 citizens. It replaces the 1963 plan that promoted driver convenience and the bulldozing of old homes. The new plan calls for “new urbanist” policies, including “walkable” neighborhoods as the foundation of the city, public transit, housing development in older areas, brownfield business development and coordinating land use plans with adjoining cities and suburbs. Now the city planning commission has to re-build zoning ordinances to match.
Kent public health report card shows people are still getting STDs. Kent County Health Department this week said teens and young adults still have the highest risk for sexually transmitted diseases. An epidemic of syphilis around Detroit spilled over here, and 12 new cases were reported in Kent County this year. That ended the all-time low of one case for all of 1999 and 2000. There are between 700 and 750 people known to have HIV-AIDS, but since symptoms sometimes don’t show up for years, it’s hard to know if education and prevention efforts are working.
Mickey Rooney will play Grand Rapids one more time, this Friday. “The One Man, One Wife Show” features the 82-year-old star and his wife of 30 years, Jan Chamberlain Rooney. They will sing, dance and tell stories at 8 p.m. Friday in the Wealthy Theater. They’ll also show clips from his movies, including the one that got him at Emmy. Tickets are $35 and include reception and autographs with the Rooneys afterward. Today, the theater will screen three Mickey Rooney films: “The Black Stallion” at 11 a.m., “National Velvet” at 2 p.m., and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” at 5 and 7 p.m. Admission to the movies is $2.
Still no sign of Ashley and Joshua Gleeson. Ottawa deputies are in Daytona Beach, Florida, assisting in the search for the children of Patrick Gleeson. He was arrested there on Saturday, on a warrant for the murder of Dena Fuglseth. Her body was found two weeks ago in the house they shared, west of Holland. His two children, ages 5 and 3, haven’t been seen since November 22. He is stalling on extradition, and has given police no information at all. The kids could be in West Michigan, Illinois or Florida, or anywhere in between. Daytona police have received tips from people who say they saw a child that looks like one or the other, and are tracking them all down. If you know anything that could help find Ashley and Joshua, call the Ottawa sheriff’s hotline, 738-4687, or the national tip line, (866) 935-8888.
Body found near South Haven. Van Buren deputies yesterday responded to a 911 call, and found a man’s body in a field near 60th St. and 16th Ave. north of Bangor. They have not yet released his name, or how he died.
Meijer worker sues over Sunday hours. Bakery worker Deb Kerkstra (age 37) of Allegan was fired from the Meijer store in Plainwell a year ago last May, for refusing to work on a Sunday. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit on her behalf in Kalamazoo, charging the company violated her civil rights. Kerkstra said she didn’t want to work on Sundays for religious reasons. Meijer said she had worked on a Sunday before, and workers agreed in the union contract to work on any day. Last week the court scheduled a settlement conference for June.
Cooley Law School will open in Grand Rapids. The Lansing law school will offer three classes next month at Western Michigan University’s building, on the Beltline south of Burton St. In May students will be able to take classes in WMU’s graduate facility at Ionia Ave. and Cherry St., near the S-Curve. If the American Bar Association approves Thomas M. Cooley Law School could confer law degrees in Grand Rapids starting in 2007. Last month, GVSU announced an agreement with MSU’s Detroit College of Law to start law classes in January, leading to a law degree or a business-law JD-MBA.
GRCC president named to national literacy agency. Dr. Juan Olivarez was appointed by President Bush to the 10-member board of the National Institute for Literacy, the federal government’s coordinator for reading programs. Its mission is make America completely literate by providing access to education, materials and technology. They estimate 14 per cent of the adults in Kent County, 21 per cent in Grand Rapids, can’t read a newspaper or the instructions on a medicine container.
Cornerstone University’s free Christmas concert is this Friday. Sing along and listen to organ and brass, trumpet choir, symphony winds, chamber choir, university chorale and chancel singers at the school’s “holiday gift to West Michigan” at 8 p.m. Friday at Wealthy Park Baptist Church, on Michigan St. between Plymouth and Maryland Aves.
Saturday election results: Cedar Springs passes school bond proposals,
Kenowa Hills says “no.” Students at Cedar Springs Public Schools will
be able to move out of the trailers, but not for a year or so. In a 20
per cent turn-out, voters approved selling $31.8-million in bonds, to finance
additions and improvements at most buildings. They also passed a $2.5-million
issue to build a new stadium for the Red Hawks. School leaders believe
the proposals were favored because they will not raise property taxes,
but instead will extend the current 7 mills for 10 more years.
Voters in the Kenowa Hills school district
defeated a $27-million bond issue by a clear 58-to-42 per cent margin.
Leaders wanted to add a property tax of 1.74 mills to pay for additions
or improvements to every building, to prepare for growing enrollment. They
expected it to pass based on their own polling of parents, and believe
only about half of those who favored the proposal actually turned out in
the 21 per cent showing. Kenowa Hills has passed bond proposals on Saturdays
before, and usually gets better voter turn-out than for some weekday elections.
This may have been the last Saturday election in Michigan, because the
legislature wants to do away with them.
Police search for southeast side shooter; victim in “fair” condition. Rolanda Strickland (age 32) took a bullet in his neck after an apparent robbery attempt a little after 6 a.m. Saturday, on Bates St. near Neland Ave., northeast of Franklin and Eastern. Family took him to Spectrum-Blodgett. Suspect is black, late teens, 6-feet tall, medium build, wore a black coat with a hood. He drove away in a silver Dodge Intrepid, good condition, fairly new. Witnesses thought there were two other people in the car. If you know anything call Grand Rapids police, 456-3604. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345.
Cedar-Rock man killed in hit-and-run on Northland Dr. Steven Ross (age 43) was walking south near Indian Lakes Rd. south of Cedar Springs, and hit from behind some time early yesterday morning or late Saturday night. His body was found on the shoulder around 8 a.m. yesterday, about a mile-and-a-half by foot from his home on Summit Ave. Deputies think they have the car that hit him, a 1991 Dodge Colt, found abandoned a short time later. It was apparently stolen from Cedar Springs, so they don’t have a suspect yet. If you know anything, call Kent deputies at 632-6125. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345.
Elderly Kentwood man dies in crash in Gaines Township. Bernard McCullough (age 78) was northbound on Eastern Ave. around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, when his Honda Civic was hit on the driver’s side by a Ford Explorer that apparently ran the stop sign on 84th St. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the SUV, a 32-year-old Cedar Springs man, and the two teenage brothers who were his passengers, were not injured. Kent deputies do not think alcohol was involved.
Mini-van stolen with baby aboard in southeast Grand Rapids. The child is fine, found a block away a short time later. The mother left the keys in the ignition and the van’s door open while she carried boxes from the parking lot into Burton Quick Stop, on Burton St. near Kalamazoo Ave., around 1 p.m. Saturday. The thief ditched the car around the corner on Newark Ave. He was between 16 and 20 years old, about six feet gall, wore a white cap and a jacket with lettering on the front. When the weather gets cold, car thefts like this happen more than you’d think: drivers leave their cars running outside a convenience store or daycare center “just for a minute,” and somebody comes along who happens to need a quick ride across town. In Grand Rapids, city ordinance prohibits leaving your car unattended while the engine is running.
Body found yesterday morning on Charlevoix County beach is believed to be Judy Bellamy. The former Newaygo County resident and her husband Melvin disappeared while flying from Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin, to Beaver Island on November 10. Their single-engine Cessna never arrived, and Coast Guard and Civil Air Patrol searched Lake Michigan for days. No trace of Melvin has been found yet.
Dunkers spoof at 7:28 this morning. Coffee Dunkers of America hold their annual “fun-raiser” in the Eberhard Center on GVSU’s downtown campus today. Admission is $4.96, two for the price of three, and includes stale donut and freeze-dried instant coffee. Theme of the satirical local year-in-review is “Help, We’ve Been En-Robbed,” and you should expect them to make fun of the retirement packages of Old Kent Bank executives, the stress between Kent County and city hall over John Ball Zoo, and the GRPS school board members who tried to drop academic requirements for student athletes. Masters of ceremonies will be Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Bert Bleke and Operations Chief Ben Emdin.
Search for Grand Rapids tax lawyer is over; he died yesterday in
Mississippi. George Reid was on the run since November 21, wanted on
charges of kidnapping and rape. An Alpine Township woman called 911 that
morning, and told Kent deputies that Reid and his wife assaulted her at
their home near Rockford. He called the Grand Rapids Press on Wednesday
and told a reporter they got together with the woman five or six times
over the last year-and-a-half, and events were consensual. This last time,
she wanted money, got into a fistfight with them, and stole $1,000 out
of his wallet. He said his business was ruined, the charges were false,
he wouldn’t get a fair hearing, police would never find him. He shot and
killed himself while driving on a freeway in Jasper County, Mississippi,
yesterday afternoon, after a state trooper tried to talk to him. Connie
Reid is still in Kent County jail. At hearing yesterday she heard her accuser
admit to the court that they had a standing relationship, but on that night
it went too far. Judge ordered trial for kidnapping and three counts of
first-degree rape. He also agreed to a half-million dollars bail, but ordered
her to wear an electronic tether.
Kent detectives want to talk to anyone
who had any contact with George Reid since November 21. Call them at 632-6125.
You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345.
Gleeson manhunt gets more tips. The search for Ashley and Joshua (ages 5 and 3) is all over radio, TV and newspapers, so the police task force has been getting calls but hasn’t found them yet. They think Patrick Gleeson is hiding somewhere in Illinois, where he lived before moving to Holland this year. He’s wanted for the murder of Dena Fuglseth, who lived with him in Holland. His two children haven’t been seen in more than a week, since he failed to return them to their mother in Dwight, Illinois. Searchers can’t understand how anyone would help Gleeson, with the two little children still missing. He was driving his blue Ford Aerostar mini-van, Illinois license CKT-764. If you know anything call 911 or the national toll-free hotline, (866) 935-8888.
FBI subpoenas Granholm campaign records. They don’t have any problem with the governor-elect, but are investigating her old boss, Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara. The feds want to know if county employees worked on election campaigns while on the job, and what’s up with contracts at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Agents raided county offices two weeks ago and seized files. The Granholm campaign got one of 18 court orders, looking for more paper trails. Before she was elected Michigan’s attorney general, Jennifer Granholm was Wayne County’s legal counsel.
Legislature passes budget cuts. State Senate appropriations committee last night approved Governor Engler’s changes, reducing the state budget by $337-million to meet the shortfall in projected revenues. There was some resistance at first, but most of the package went through. All state government departments lose 3 to 4 per cent, including college funding (but not K-12). Revenue sharing with local governments was cut 3.5 per cent.
Casino supporters try to ram resolution through last-minute session. The state House of Representatives will vote on a resolution on Tuesday. It would ask the governor to make a deal with the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomie Indians before he leaves office at the end of the year, to let them build a casino in Wayland. If Michigan doesn’t approve the casino, the tribe could apply for federal recognition and build one anyway, and the state wouldn’t get a cut.
2003 dog licenses are on sale. Your owner has until March 1 to purchase or renew your license, which would keep you out of the pound if you get loose. This year Kent County Health Department renews licenses on-line at www.accesskent.com, as long as the rabies certificate is more than a month from expiring. Licenses can be bought at the health department, and city and township offices. It’s $20 for breedable dogs, $8 if spayed or neutered. Fees double after March 1. Kent County Animal Shelter on Ball Ave. south of Leonard St. will hold adoption fairs tomorrow and the next two Saturdays, with on-the-spot licensing.
Grand Rapids prepares budget-cutting options. City Manager Kurt Kimball yesterday told the city commission it’s going to hurt, and they just have to decide how much and where. The city’s annual budget this year is $130-million. Next year they’ll have less money: between $13-million and $32-million, or 10 to 25 per cent, less. Worst-case would result in cutting 100 of the city’s 1,250 workers. Expect reductions in street repairs and snow plowing, and spending on police and fire departments. City commissioners told him they preferred cutting budgets to raising taxes. One suggested city officials look for public input, and think about giving up raises.
Kent libraries start huge book club with Minnesota author’s work. There are several “firsts” here:
New convention center will open six weeks early, in less than a year! DeVos Place was originally scheduled to open for business on January 1, 2004. Yesterday the visitors bureau announced a deal with the contractor: they’ll get a bonus of $275,000 if the exhibit hall opens in time for the Midwest Woodworking Expo, on November 25. That’ll pay off big-time, because the 8,000 convention-goers are expected to drop more than a million dollars into local hotels, restaurants and stores.
President of Palau will speak at GVSU winter graduation this Saturday. Tommy Remengesau was the youngest person ever lected senator, vice president or president of the western Pacific island republic. He is also a member of Grand Valley State University’s Class of 1979, and will be the keynote speaker at commencement at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Van Andel Arena. Among the 600 undergraduates and 90 master’s candidates receiving degrees will be Senovia and Sophia Guevara, twin sisters from Fennville. They both majored in political science and plan to go to law school.
Holland announces new community art project: “Take a Seat.” Last time it was pigs. This time it’s Adirondack chairs, those big, wooden folding resort lounging seats that are being replaced by plastic. Area artists will design and paint them, and they’ll be displayed in strategic locations. Then they’ll be auctioned off, and proceeds will support the Holland Area Arts Council. Call them if you want to doody-up an Adirondack chair, 396-3278.
Frederik Meijer Gardens unveil Christmas tree display. Fancy shindig-goers last night got a look at “Christmas Around the World,” trees decorated to represent a variety of cultures, plus holiday traditions of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, running through January 5. The botanical gardens on the East Beltline north of Interstate-96 are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week, noon to 5 on Sundays, and this year stay open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays with kid activities from 6 to 8, and a chance to “ooh and aah” for the 200,000 tiny light bulbs. Admission is $7 adults, $3.50 kids. For scheduled groups of 10 or more kids it’s $2 a head.
Another Amber Alert: 2-year-old boy found safe in Battle Creek. Around 6:15 a.m., West Michigan police got word from Calhoun County that Tahveayr Boykins is safe and home again. He was reported missing yesterday afternoon, last seen on Calhoun St. with his grandmother, Rose Mary Armstrong (age 41). Family told police she’s a crack user and has disappeared for days at a time, so they were very worried about the boy.
Rockford police officer fired for charges of drunk driving and child endangerment. Nicole Abbott (age 29) is accused of having an open container of alcohol in her car when it hit a tree in Plainfield Township. Her 7-month-old daughter was also in the car when a passerby found them early in the morning, a week ago Saturday. She faces a charge of felony child endangerment in Rockford district court, to which her lawyer this week entered a plea of “not guilty.” On Monday she was fired by the Rockford police chief, apparently for violating employee policy. She pleaded “guilty” to misdemeanor drunk driving in Grand Rapids in August, and had her baby in the car that time, too. She was suspended from her job for two weeks and given a year’s probation, and the latest incident apparently is a violation of her probation.
Kenowa Hills Public Schools will ask voters for $24-million bond issue on Saturday. The district is proposing a property tax of 1.74 mills, meaning the owner of a $150,000 home would pay another $130 a year. Every building in the district would get improvements, and most would get more classrooms. Enrollment is expected to increase over the next five years, from 3,400 to 3,800. Kenowa Hills has passed bond proposals on Saturdays before, and usually gets better voter turn-out on Saturdays than for some weekday elections. This may be the last Saturday election in Michigan, because the legislature wants to do away with them.
Lansing gets last-minute push for Allegan County tribal casino. A bill was introduced yesterday in the state Senate, calling for a resolution to ask Governor Engler to negotiate a compact with the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomie Indians before he leaves office at the end of the year. The House of Representatives will probably see one in the next few days. The compact would allow the tribe to build a casino in Wayland Township. Engler said he wouldn’t allow another casino here, but faces a dilemma. If Michigan doesn’t approve the casino, the tribe could apply for federal recognition and build one anyway, and the state wouldn’t be able to tax the profits. Lansing is scrambling to finish work on a pile of bills before the session closes.
Kentwood picks city commissioner to be next mayor. Last night the city commission unanimously voted to hire one of their own to lead their government: Richard Root, 2nd Ward commissioner for 10 years, and planning commissioner for 7 years before that. The other contender, Michigan Lasercut president Steve Shroeder, was a close finisher, but Root has more experience in how the city runs. Shroder said he may apply for Root’s place on the city commission. Kentwood has a “strong mayor” form of government, where the job includes responsibility for operations. Root, former distribution manager for a local manufacturer, was laid off last month during a downsizing. He’ll start his new job before the end of the year, when Mayor Bill Hardiman resigns to take a seat in the state Senate.
GRPS holds onto “2.0 rule.” Five months after one member took aim at the district’s academic requirement for athletes, the board last night voted 5-to-4 to keep it. That means students still have to keep a “C” average to play on school teams and after-school activities. The fuss started in June, when the board’s only black member charged the “2.0 rule” was discriminatory. (He had to sit out two semesters when the policy was passed in 1984.) Over the summer a loud response came from a large number of African-American parents and community leaders, some of whom worked to create the rule 18 years ago. They again asked the school board uphold academic standards. The controversy brings some benefits:
Local governments brace for big cuts as Governor Engler prepares to fix state budget. Because of the slow economy, Michigan’s tax revenue is about $400-million below projections. The governor is trying to fix the current spending plan before he leaves office on December 31. Big cuts probably will come out of the $80-million the state had planned to send to cities and townships. Some get half their operating budgets from those revenue-sharing programs.
Allegan County commission votes to move out of Allegan. They need more room, so administrators are preparing plans to expand the Human Services Building on 122nd Ave. near Dumont Rd., three miles north of the city line. County offices and departments will move there over the next year or two, leaving only the courts in the courthouse. The city of Allegan has been the county seat since it was set off in 1834. City leaders are looking at state law, trying to figure out how much of the county government has to stay inside the city. About 30 county workers are expected to move away, but some of those jobs eventually will be replaced as the court expands.
Supreme Court takes UM discrimination case. In 1997 a white Detroit woman filed suit, charging she was denied admission to University of Michigan’s law school because minorities were getting preference. Federal judge in March agreed, and ruled the admission policy was unconstitutional. The school appealed to the nation’s highest court, which yesterday agreed to hear the case and should rule in June. The last time the Supreme Court dealt with affirmative action was in 1978. However it decides this time, expect more controversy over affirmative action.
West Michigan teams bring back three championships from the Silverdome.
And all three were by wide margins. The two other games were hard-fought
heartbreakers. On Friday, Lowell crushed Birmingham’s Brother Rice, 31-to-14,
for the Division-2 title. Senior quarterback Mark Catlin scored all four
touchdowns and set a new title-game record for offense, throwing and running
411 yards. Then South Christian, still dealing with the loss of teammate
Derrick DeYoung in a car crash just before last weekend’s playoff, demolished
Riverview, 42-to-13, in Division-4. On Saturday, Division-3 East Grand
Rapids smashed DeWitt, 55-to-14, breaking the record for championship scoring.
In Division-6 on Friday, Hopkins fell
to Negaunee, 28-to-20. And Detroit’s Catholic Central beat East Kentwood,
36-to-26, in Division-1 on Saturday.
GVSU clobbers Indiana University of Pennsylvania in quarter-finals, 61-to-21. The Lakers dominated Lubbers Stadium in the wind and cold on Saturday afternoon, and learned that night that they’ll host Northern Colorado in the semi-final NCAA Division-2 game next weekend.
Jackson man killed in Calhoun County crash. Joseph Hepner (age 24) was a passenger in the car that rolled over on Condit Rd. near F Dr. South, between Albion and Homer early Sunday morning. Calhoun deputies believe the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and that she lost control on the icy pavement. Arraignment is scheduled this morning, where she could be charged with “driving under the influence of alcohol causing death” and manslaughter.
Michigan legislature hits the home stretch today. Fixing the budget deficit should be a top priority. Bills not passed by the end of the year will die, because the “lame-duck” session will close on December 31. A flock of new senators and representatives will take their seats when the new session begins in January.
Libraries launch Kent County-wide book club. They’ll reveal the title for “Read Along the River: One Book, One County” at 10 tomorrow morning at Wyoming Public Library on Michael Ave. near 32nd St. It’s a joint venture of Grand Rapids Public Library and Kent District Library, patterned after popular programs in Chicago and Seattle. A committee picked the book for readability and appeal to all ages of grown-up readers. Libraries will encourage readers to give it a spin, and invite them to review groups (with refreshments, probably). If you borrow the book from your library, the whole thing will be free!
Thanksgiving Day fire destroys Muskegon County landfill storage barn. A police officer passing by noticed the flames coming from the pole barn near Apple Ave. (M-46) and Swanson Rd., about half-way between Casnovia and Muskegon, and called in the alarm shortly after 11 a.m. yesterday. Fire-trucks and volunteers from 13 departments in Muskegon and Kent counties were on the scene for hours (and missed turkey dinners). Heavy smoke and the danger of explosion from acetylene tanks made it hard to get inside and put it out. The county’s solid waste facility lost front loaders and other heavy equipment. Damage estimates run from $1-million to $1.5-million. Nobody was hurt. Fire-fighters still don’t know how it started.
Suspects in Campau Lake murder may have been robbers. Carl Sherington (age 72) was shot and killed at his home on 66th St. in Caledonia Township two weeks ago. On Wednesday Wendy Dye (age 20) of Arkansas was charged with felony murder. Kent detectives say she admitted that she and Ryan Parrish (age 22) of Alto went there to rob him, and say they match the description of robbers who broke in two weeks earlier. Parrish is in Ionia County jail on a weapons charge, and has not been arraigned in Sherington’s killing.
West Michigan stores open early. Many started at 6 a.m., and most opened for business by 8 a.m. Commuter arteries will be quiet during the time of the regular morning and afternoon rushes, but the shopper streets will be busy all day. Heaviest corridors:
K-Mart slows sales decline. The Michigan-based department store, which started the tradition of opening for business on Thanksgiving Day twelve years ago, kicked off sales at 5 a.m. today. They got protection from creditors last year by declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Last month they reported a drop of 6.9 per cent at their cash registers, compared to the same period last year. Back in August the difference was 11.9 per cent.
Mel Trotter serves Thanksgiving dinner to 2,000 in Grand Center. It was the sixth annual turkey dinner for people and families, many of them inner-city residents, who wouldn’t get one otherwise. Staff and volunteers of the Heartside ministry provided entertainment, in addition to serving turkey. Call 454-8249, extension 222, if you can give money or your time to help their downtown residential facility.
GVSU football goes on the Internet again. Last week 10,000 computers around the world logged onto the live web-cast of the first-round playoff between the Lakers and C.W. Post, the world’s first live audio-visual Internet transmission of a college playoff game. The most remote viewer may have been Arthy Nena, class of ‘83, who woke up at 3 a.m. to watch in Micronesia. And Grand Valley State University won! Tomorrow at 1 p.m. they’ll do it again: netcast the quarter-final game from Lubbers Stadium in Allendale against the Indians of Indiana-Pennsylvania, at www.gvsu.edu and www.ampmsports.com.
Kent drug team busts meth lab near Greenville. DEA and local police arrested an Oakfield Township man yesterday during a sting, in which an undercover agent bought an ounce-and-a-half of high quality stuff. Once they got a search warrant, they found the makeshift methamphetamine lab in a home near 14-Mile Rd. (M-57) and Lappley Ave. The investigation started several months ago. Kent Narcotics Team has officers from Kent sheriff, Walker police and Grandville police.
Morton House shooter pleads “guilty” to involuntary manslaughter. Robert Benson (age 29) admitted pulling the trigger on his .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, and killing his friend, Michael Fryling (age 24), on November 9. They were playing a violent fantasy role-playing game in the apartment of Benson’s mother, Sharon Benson. He and another player told police Fryling asked to see the weapon, for which Benson has a concealed-carry permit. He was trying to eject the clip when it went off. Prosecutor originally filed an open murder charge, because it looked like fantasy crossed into reality. Benson could have gotten life if convicted, but this week pleaded to the lesser count. He’s still in Kent County jail without bail, reportedly on suicide watch, and could get 15 years.
Gaines Township car-fire death not “suspicious.” The body of Michael Chapdelaine (age 48) of Kentwood was found inside his car, behind a building at Kalamazoo Ave. and 84th St., just after midnight last Wednesday. The back seat was folded down, opening to the trunk. Autopsy showed he died from asphyxia, either from carbon monoxide from the exhaust or smoke from the fire. Kent detectives yesterday said there were no signs anyone else was involved, so it’s not a homicide. They still don’t know how the fire started, but labs are looking over the car for clues.
Grand Rapids man “guilty” of building private arsenal. Ken Pearce (age 44) could get 10 years, after a jury this week convicted him of being a felon in possession of firearms. He had an earlier gun conviction in state court, plus police found 19 guns and lots of ammunition in a self-storage unit on Jefferson Ave. in May. Testimony didn’t cover motive, but federal agents said he talked about the end of the world. When they asked about the parts for making pipe-bombs, he said: “What else are you going to do if you can’t get dynamite?” Pearce was turned in by his 19-year-old son, who was under supervision for a juvenile offense in another state.
Grand Rapids will take residents’ leaves for free until December 14. The city’s collection site on Butterworth Ave. SW near Veterans Memorial Dr. will take yard waste, rakings, sticks and foliage from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (except tomorrow, Thanksgiving), for the next three weekends. More than 2,000 people already left leaves there. A homeowner with many trees can save a lot of money over the city’s paper-bag yard-waste program, at $4 for five bags. To dump, show proof of residence and don’t look like a contractor. The city wants residents to take up leaves, rather than let them wash into storm sewers and cause big clogs.
Two apply to become Kentwood’s next mayor. Richard Root, Kentwood city commissioner, and Steven Schroder, president of Michigan Lasercut, filed this week for the job of running their city’s government for the next two years. Mayor Bill Hardiman will resign some time in December, to represent greater Grand Rapids in the state Senate. City commission (minus Root, who is also mayor pro-tem) will interview both candidates and probably make a decision at their meeting next Tuesday. Kentwood has “strong-mayor” form of government, and the job is full-time.
Kent County Circuit Court will get another new judge. Judge Richard Soet will retire on February 1, and his replacement will be appointed by Governor-elect Granholm. It will likely be a Democrat. A good possibility is Steve Pestka, who barely lost his bid for the state Senate in November. In that election, Kent voters sent James Redford and Daniel Zemaitis to the same bench. Redford will likely be moved into Soet’s position in criminal court, in which case Soet’s replacement will sit in family court. Soet told reporters he thinks judges should be appointed and not elected, because campaigns are too short for voters to get to know candidates. They’re all lawyers with no real platforms or issues, and the job calls for things that can only be evaluated up close and over time. Plus campaigns can get nasty and damage respect for the court. Soet himself was appointed, by Governor Blanchard in 1988.
Granholm announces inaugural events in Grand Rapids. Frederik Meijer Gardens will be the site of a formal inaugural ball on Tuesday, January 3. Ticket price is not set yet. Families will be entertained at a free event from 2 to 5 p.m. that afternoon in the DeltaPlex at Turner Ave. and West River Dr. Jennifer Granholm will take the oath of office on the steps of the capitol building in Lansing on the morning of January 1.
Wyoming beating suspects charged with murder. Jerry Steinberg (age 38) died on Saturday morning from injuries he got the weekend before. Police say a car knocked him off his bicycle near Division Ave. and 36th St., and people got out and kicked and stomped him, drove away, then came back several times to do it again. Last week Brian Davidson (age 24), Michael Emery (age 18) and Natasha Toothman (age 16) were charged with the assault, and today will be arraigned on open murder charges.
GRPS launches school closing committees. Parents and neighbors met last night at the headquarters of Grand Rapids Public Schools, to begin the job of making cuts. Student enrollment has declined, resulting in a surplus of buildings, so the district needs to mothball classrooms to save money. Over the past few years the administration created several plans that met with angry responses from parents at schools targeted for closing. Some of the anger came out at the meeting last night. School board president Jim Rinck told them the district has to: “find a number that works economically, or we won’t be around.” Committee volunteers got a pile of information on paper, then Superintendent Bert Bleke gave them their initial charge: to identify options and describe creative solutions. Seven committees, each with its own geographical area, will start work next week.
Ottawa puts off cuts to disability programs. Michigan’s mental health department is pushing local agencies to end occupational programs, move developmentally disabled clients into group homes, and encourage them to find work in the mainstream. Last month Ottawa County Community Mental Health rolled out their plan to close satellite offices and cut programs like Kandu Industries, and got a loud and fast response. Families packed last month’s meeting and (sometimes emotionally) told the board they felt blindsided, then asked them to reconsider. They rallied again last night in the county building on Fillmore St. and presented petitions of support with 6,000 signatures. The board voted unanimously to drop the cuts, and invited the input of families in making plans. In years to come Lansing may give local agencies less leeway, and could even start forcing cuts.
Police add patrols in West Michigan, watching for seatbelt violators. The holiday traffic enforcement season started yesterday, with kick-off of a two-week national campaign to strictly enforce seatbelt laws. The Department of Defense and the Michigan military affairs department joined the effort, because traffic crashes are the most common cause of death of U.S. military personnel. About 80% of drivers statewide wear their seatbelts. Federal grant money for overtime was prompted by numbers that show 7,000 lives would be saved if the other 20% followed the law. In Michigan the fine for a driver not wearing seatbelt is $50, and child-restraint violation is $65.
Hometown author-illustrator Chris Van Allsburg packs booksigning. He lives in Rhode Island now, but was born in Grand Rapids and grew up here. Last night he greeted 500 fans at Schuler Books and Music on 28th St. east of Breton Ave. The crowd was twice the size they expected, so they handed out refreshments as the line snaked through the stacks. He’s promoting Zathura, which picks up where Jumanji ended. Winner of two Caldecott Medals for children’s books, his Christmas classic The Polar Express is being made into a movie with Tom Hanks as the conductor. Van Allsburg was scheduled to leave at 9 p.m., but stayed until after 11 p.m. to make sure everybody got an autograph.
Tracy Camburn “guilty.” The jury in Grand Haven deliberated for eight hours, and convicted the Zeeland mother of killing her two daughters. The verdict they returned on Friday night was “guilty but mentally ill,” which carries a mandatory life sentence without parole, plus treatment. Prosecutor showed that the 39-year-old woman understood her actions were wrong when she stabbed Candice and Kimberly (ages 10 and 5) in September 2001. Defense attorney said they’ll appeal.
Beating victim Jerry Steinberg dies. The 38-year-old Wyoming man was riding his bicycle near Division Ave. south of 36th St. when a car knocked him down, early in the morning a week ago yesterday. Police say two men in the car got out and kicked and stomped him, and came back several times to do it again. Investigators say during a break they drove away and picked up two teenage girls, one of whom is believed to have joined in. Steinberg died after being taken off life-support on Saturday morning. Brian Davidson, Michael Emery and Natasha Toothman are behind bars without bail. Prosecutor will decide today on murder charges.
Holland names interim Tulip Time director. Tamara Bowman will run the office as it prepares for May’s big flower party. Mary Duistermars resigned in August for personal reasons, just as two other staffers also left. Holland Tulip Time Festival faces a three-year loss of $350,000. This year’s hit was the smallest of the three, $57,000.
Election results become official today; Michigan may have to recount attorney general votes. Unofficially, Republican Mike Cox leads Democrat Gary Peters by 5,200 votes. The state board of canvassers in Lansing is scheduled to certify the November 5 balloting today. Peters has not yet conceded, and still has the right to call for a recount.
GVSU will offer law school courses in downtown Grand Rapids starting in January. The agreement announced on Friday with MSU and MSU’s Detroit College of Law means you will be able to take classes here for a law degree, advanced legal training or law-related business education. Grand Valley State University already has programs with Michigan State and the law school, for business-law degrees (JD-MBA) and fast-track pre-law students. The three schools are joining the Grand Rapids Bar Association to create the Legal Education Institute of West Michigan, which intends to bring more law classes here.
Allegan County pole-barn home blows up, burns down. Two propane tanks exploded just as firefighters arrived on Round Lake Dr. between Allegan and Fennville around 6:30 a.m. yesterday, and turned a small fire into a disaster. It was heard all around Round Lake and on M-89, and debris shot 150 feet into the air. Everybody got out okay, but the blaze destroyed the apartment, a workshop, a motor home, two pick-up trucks and a semi-truck that was parked next to the structure. The flames were discovered by the grandmother, who came from next door to check on her daughter and grandkids. Volunteers from five departments worked to put it out. Damage total is around $100,000. It may have started from an electrical problem.
Richard Sischo, attacked by stranger in Norton Shores, is finally released from hospital. George Maki (age 42) hit him over the head with a golf club, then stabbed the retired police officer in the throat outside a motel near Muskegon Race Course on October 30. Maki had three encounters with police in Grand Haven earlier that day, and walked into North Ottawa Community Hospital and asked for help, but was released and given a ride to Muskegon. His father says he was diagnosed with bi-polar disease, but never got violent before. Maki is charged with attempted murder.
Steelcase gets into car seats. The world’s largest office-furniture maker yesterday announced a partnership with auto parts giant Johnson Controls, to apply Steelcase’s technology and experience in chairs to the design of car interiors. Products will be unveiled next month, but Steelcase won’t be doing the manufacturing. Milwaukee-based Johnson employs 5,000 workers in Holland, but doesn’t make car seats there. This took both industries by surprise. Steelcase cut nearly half its workforce in the past two years and sales for this quarter will drop below the break-even level. The furniture industry is in a huge slump, and faces technology shock: wireless networks and “smart utensils” will likely make pre-wired divider panels, formerly the hottest product, obsolete. And car makers aren’t exactly in a boom right now, either.
Car-theft ring broken after a year’s investigation. Five men are charged and 26 cars were identified as having been “chopped up” in home garages near Holland. State troopers and Ottawa deputies yesterday said they’re looking for more suspects, and figure a lot more vehicles were involved. Some of the thieves were part of an Asian street gang in Holland and Chicago, and are also suspected in burglaries in Holland Township. Last year police noticed an increase in thefts of Honda and Acura cars made between 1993 and 1998, up to two or three a week. (In 1999, better anti-theft systems showed up.) Then, hulks of stripped cars started showing up in strange places. Some were stolen as far away as Minnesota.
Former Byron Township Boy Scout leader busted in Florida for molesting. Shane Czetli was arrested last month in St. Petersburg, and charged with sexually abusing two boys, ages 9 and 10. They are not Boy Scouts, but through the 1990s Czetli was a volunteer leader with Troop 250 in Byron Center. There were no complaints about him, but local Scouting headquarters in Walker sent a letter to troop families, asking them to contact them directly at 785-2662 if they had any concerns. Since the mid-90s, every Scout leader gets a police background check.
Camburn murder trial should go to jury today; closing arguments this morning. Defense offered insanity, saying Tracy Camburn of Zeeland was delusional when she stabbed her two daughters, Candice and Kimberly (ages 10 and 5), in September 2001. Prosecution witness countered, saying her actions immediately after show knowledge, awareness, remorse and shame. Circuit court jury in Grand Haven will likely being deliberations right after lunch time. If they find her guilty, she could get life.
Goodwill toasted at Meijer Gardens. Five hundred donors, leaders and workers celebrated the 100th anniversary of Goodwill Industries last night at Frederik Meijer Gardens. Honored was Fred Meijer himself, who helped create the first West Michigan chapter. EGR High School alumnus John Hockenberry, now NPR Washington correspondent, was keynote speaker. The gala raised $75,000 for Goodwill to help families and disabled people.
Grand Rapids Jaycees Santa Claus Parade will march tomorrow.
A hundred units in the 34th annual will step off at 10:30 a.m. from Jefferson
Ave. and troop west on Fulton St., across the river to the S-Curve. Grand
Marshal will be ultramarathon swimmer Jim Dreyer.
In Holland, the Spirit of Giving Parade
will start at 11 a.m. on 8th St., and march from College Ave. to Pine Ave.
Parade-goers are invited to bring non-perishable food donations for the
Salvation Army.
Grain elevator pops, burns, closes downtown Fremont. A silo at the Fremont Co-Operative split a seam around 12:30 p.m. yesterday, and it collapsed when workers started to clear the grain. That was so loud they thought it was an explosion, then the fire started when the moving pile damaged the natural gas-powered dryer. Everybody got out okay, but it took hours to put the fire out, even after the gas was turned off. Fire-trucks blocked Main St. (M-82) between the Gerber plant and Stone Rd. until last night. Nobody was hurt, and M-82 is open again. With the help of neighbors the co-op expects to open for business nearly-as-usual this morning, with no interruption in service. That’s good news, considering it’s the end of harvest time. Damage and loss will come to around $750,000.
Kentwood man found dead in burning car. The car-fire behind the new building at Kalamazoo Ave. and 84th St. was so big, it still burned after Kent deputies emptied their fire extinguishers into it around 12:30 a.m. yesterday. Dutton firefighters finished putting it out a few minutes later. Then they found the body of Michael Chapdelaine (age 48). Autopsy will show cause of death today, and in the meantime it’s being handled as “suspicious.” Kent detectives need to talk to everyone who had any contact with him on Tuesday, up to the time of his death. If you know anything call them at 632-6125. You don’t have to give your name if you call Silent Observer, 774-2345.
Three in jail, accused of hitting Wyoming cyclist, then stomping and kicking him nearly to death. Jerry Steinberg (age 38) was pedaling down Walter St. near Division Ave. in Godwin Heights around 6 a.m. Sunday, when a car knocked him down. It drove away, leaving him semi-conscious on the pavement. The car came back several times, and each time two men got out and kicked and stomped Steinberg. Brian Davidson and Michael Emery were charged yesterday for assault with intent to murder. Police believe the same car tried to run down two people walking near Division Ave. and 39th St. a short time earlier. In between episodes of beating Steinberg, police say the two picked up two teenage girls, one of whom is believed to have participated in the attack. There was no robbery, and the attackers were not acquainted with the victim. Steinberg is still in “critical” condition at St. Mary’s.
Expert recommends historic status for John Ball Park; city commissioners still debating. Land Ethics Inc. of Ann Arbor this week told them the park qualifies as a “historic landscape.” They said the attached zoo has no significant architecture or structure, but should be included because it’s been part of the park for so long. Neighbors and city leaders are trying to get the zoo designated historic, to limit and control its expansion into the park. Kent County, which owns the zoo, is considering an offer to move it to Grand Rapids Township if they can’t expand. If the zoo leaves, ownership will revert to the city — which would have trouble making any changes if it’s protected as “historic.”
Lost in Byron Center: gold diamond Mason ring, along with 35 years of memories, probably in trick-or-treat bag. Lester Wellendorf (age 83) started wearing the yellow-gold ring with a Masonic emblem in 1967, when he got it as a gift from his wife, daughter and son. He joined the Masons, the world’s oldest fraternity, in the late 1950s, and rose to the rank of 32nd-degree, second-highest. He lost his wife to cancer in 1979. His finger is smaller now, and the ring was getting loose. On Halloween night he was handing out candy to trick-or-treaters at his daughter’s home on Ridgebluff Dr., and figures the ring slipped off and fell into a bag, and he didn’t notice until later. There’s a half-carat diamond next to the Mason emblem. The family is offering a reward. If you found it, call them at 261-4208 or 878-4034.
East meets West: GVSU and China launch medical exchange this weekend. Chinese doctors and professors will tour Mary Free Bed Clinic, the Van Andel Institute and the Wege Center tomorrow and Saturday. In June, health profession students from Grand Valley State University will go to Beijing for three weeks, to study traditional Chinese medicine. The China-Japan Friendship Hospital, a 1,300-bed facility in the capital of China, integrates old and new treatment techniques. It will share with GVSU its expertise in thousand-year-old practices like herbs and acupuncture, and learn about things like radiation therapy and high-tech surgery.
Gentex to build new plant in Ottawa County. The Zeeland auto-parts maker yesterday announced it will break ground next year for a new factory that will employ 625 workers and cause the creation of 800 more positions at suppliers and supporters, in addition to creating jobs for construction workers for two years. The plant should open in 2005 and be up to full production by 2010. They were thinking about building in Georgia, but Lansing offered $10-million in tax breaks. Gentex makes self-dimming mirrors for car-makers around the world, and employs 1,700 people in four locations around Zeeland. This is a welcome change for