11:44 AM Aug 2, 2011
Several Coast Guard Festival events scheduled for today and Wednesday have been canceled or postponed due to the high possibility of rain and thunderstorms. Coast Guard Festival officials announced this morning the cancellation of tonight's Youth Ambassador Program and Wednesday night's performance of the Ransom Street Band at Waterfront Stadium.
11:29 AM Aug 2, 2011
Despite flaming objections from one councilman, Spring Lake Village Council on Monday voted 6-1 to attempt to rekindle grant funds for the purchase of land adjacent to Mill Point Park.
11:22 AM Aug 2, 2011
The four Coast Guard ships in Grand Haven for the Coast Guard Festival are open for tours. Following is the basic schedule. Actual schedules are posted at the individual ships. The schedules are subject to change. Today: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday: 6-8 p.m. Thursday: 10 a.m. to noon, 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Friday: 10 a.m. to noon, 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. to noon, 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. All ships are docked at Escanaba Park. Different ships may be open at different times. In port for the festival are:
11:09 AM Aug 2, 2011
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga on Monday night voted in support of the debt and spending deal worked out over the weekend. Huizenga, who represents Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, which includes Ottawa County, said the consequences without finding a solution were too high. The Zeeland Republican said the House-passed legislation is a step toward reducing spending and restores "fiscal discipline to our country' without raising taxes.
11:07 AM Aug 2, 2011
A 50-year-old Holton man, arrested following the armed robbery of a Ferrysburg convenience store on Saturday, demanded preliminary examination when he was arraigned by video late Monday afternoon in Ottawa County's 58th District Court. Bond was set at $250,000 for John Lee DeJong, after he was charged with armed robbery and fleeing a police officer. Joe Legatz will serve as DeJong's court-appointed attorney. A charge of operating under the influence of drugs is still pending the return of a blood test, Spring Lake/Ferrysburg Police Chief Roger DeYoung said.
11:03 AM Aug 2, 2011
Downtown Grand Rapids was hit by a 3 1/2-hour power outage this morning that left many major buildings, hotels and the police station without electrical service. The outage happened about 4:45 a.m. and generators were used to power buildings. Consumers Energy said the outage included about 700 customers, and was blamed on an equipment failure at a substation. The utility said power was restored later this morning. Police said traffic lights weren't affected.
11:01 AM Aug 2, 2011
Authorities said part of a man's arm was severed by a boat's propeller while he and his son were tubing Monday on Sanford Lake in Midland County. WNEM-TV reported the man was taken to a hospital for treatment following the midday accident at the lake. A Midland County Sheriff's Department dive team searched the lake for the arm for several hours Monday without success. The accident happened near Sanford Lake Park. Authorities said waves pushed the boat toward the man and his son.
10:38 AM Aug 2, 2011
Several area residents recently finished a nearly 500-mile bike trek as they participated in the Register's Annual Greater Bike Ride Across Iowa. Included in that group is Randy White, now a five-year veteran of the RAGBRAI. "This is my fifth year to complete the event, which was my original goal when I started,' said White, a PGA golf teaching professional and executive director of First Priority of the Lakeshore. "It was hard to believe I made it after being asked to join Bob Whipkey five years ago. It just gets in your blood.
10:34 AM Aug 2, 2011
To be the best, Grand Haven's Matt Burns realized he needed to play against and with the best. As an attacker on the Grand Rapids-based True Lacrosse travel team, Burns is making the most of that opportunity. The team recently captured the championship at the National Scholastic Club Lacrosse Association Summer Championships, held in Metuchen, N.J. In the championship game on Sunday, True Lacrosse scored a 10-6 victory over a team from New York. Burns flourished during the three-day tournament, scoring 11 goals and dishing off five assists.
10:28 AM Aug 2, 2011
Ignacio and Johnnathan Ybarra speed past each other, weaving circles on their motorcycles inside of a giant spherical cage - the Globe of Death. In the center stands their mother, Jeane Ybarra. She looks worried, but stands calmly in one place as one of her sons takes her purple top hat from her head and continues to race around her before placing it back where it belongs. The crowd roars. The trio is part of the Fantazia Circus, who performed at Waterfront Stadium on Saturday as part of the 2011 Coast Guard Festival.
10:27 AM Aug 2, 2011
With just hours left before the national debt bumps against its ceiling, emergency bipartisan legislation to allow the government to borrow more faces one final test in the Senate. Expected passage there sends the bill to President Barack Obama, averting a potentially disastrous, first-ever government default and making a down payment toward taming out-of-control budget deficits.
10:26 AM Aug 2, 2011
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been released from prison after serving 14 months for violating probation in a 2008 criminal case. A relative escorted Kilpatrick from a state facility in Jackson to a waiting vehicle shortly after 6 a.m. today. The 41-year-old Kilpatrick is free on parole but still faces a federal corruption trial that could send him back to prison. He plans to re-join his family in Texas.
7:14 AM Aug 2, 2011
A 50-year-old Holton man was expected to be arraigned today on charges of armed robbery and fleeing and eluding police after he allegedly robbed The Reef convenience store in Ferrysburg on Saturday evening, Spring Lake/Ferrysburg Police Chief Roger DeYoung said. More charges, such as operating under the influence of drugs, could be added.
7:13 AM Aug 2, 2011
A list of the nation's top party schools and top "stone-cold sober" schools, according to Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 college students, was released today. Calvin College in Grand Rapids is No. 7 on the list of "sober" colleges; while the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., is No. 4. Topping the list of the nation's party schools is Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. No Michigan college made the top 20 party schools this year.