11:30 AM Aug 26, 2011
A youth soccer coach in Byron Center is charged with criminal sexual contact. Mark J. Carfine coaches 8 and 10 year olds in the Byron Center AYSO league. Police said he has been accused of assault by a 12-year-old neighbor girl - not a member of his soccer team. The girl told police she was molested on several occasions while visiting the Carfine home.
10:24 AM Aug 26, 2011
Authorities said a fire has severely damaged a large warehouse in southwestern Michigan. WOOD-TV and WWMT-TV reported the fire started early today at Bangor Industries in Bangor, about 50 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. Bangor Fire Chief Derek Babcock said no one was in the building at the time the fire started and there were no injuries. Explosions were reported in the building as firefighters battled the flames. Crews from about a half-dozen departments were at the scene this morning to assist Bangor firefighters in extinguishing the blaze.
2:00 PM Aug 26, 2011
State police raided two medical marijuana dispensaries in Ann Arbor on Thursday, but said the operations weren't connected with a previous day's appeals court ruling that pot cannot be sold through private shops, police said. The MedMar clinic and the A2 Go Green Corp. both were raided about noon, and officers seized computers, files and other items, AnnArbor.com reported. The businesses had been under investigation for at least a couple of weeks, said Detective Lt. Wynonia Sturdivant of the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team.
11:50 AM Aug 25, 2011
Police in West Michigan have a wedding band mystery on their hands. Michigan State Police Sgt. John Tillman said a woman from Muskegon County's Fruitport Township came into the Grand Haven post on Tuesday afternoon carrying a gold ring with the inscription "W.D.F to O' inside and two other worn-off letters. Also inside the 14-karat gold band is the date "8/14/40' that may be the wedding date of the ring's owner.
3:58 PM Aug 25, 2011
A Grand Rapids-area Baptist pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting two boys. Authorities said the alleged incidents occurred years ago in Ottawa and Kent counties. Tedd Butler, pastor of Gospel Light Baptist Church in Walker, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Lt. Mark Bennett of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department said the 46-year-old pastor was taken into custody Wednesday in Allegan County. Butler is expected to be transferred to an Ottawa County court today. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
10:49 AM Aug 25, 2011
Detectives are investigating the theft of cheerleading equipment from the Muskegon High School just days before the cheer season begins. The thief stole the equipment from the coach's sport utility vehicle sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning on Peck Street. The missing equipment includes 26 new pairs of Nike shoes. The coach said they cost $42 a pair - and the cheerleaders had not yet paid for the shoes, so the coach said she may be stuck with the bill.
10:38 AM Aug 25, 2011
A 7-year-old Hudsonville boy who went missing for more than an hour on Wednesday afternoon was found safe at Holland State Park. Owen Snoap went missing at the park's overflow campground at about 3:25 p.m., according to Sgt. Brent Converse of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department. Police said the child went missing when the family was setting up their campsite. They became distracted and the child walked away.
10:56 AM Aug 24, 2011
The second Crockery Township home in less than a week was struck by lightning when storms rumbled through the area Tuesday night. Firefighters were called to 17804 120th Ave. at 9:42 p.m. when the homeowners saw smoke in the laundry room after a lightning strike shook the area. Crockery Township Fire Chief Gary Dreyer said the lightning hit the house and followed a vent to the dryer, starting it on fire. The chief said the fire was contained to the dryer and was extinguished by firefighters.
12:00 PM Aug 24, 2011
A big-game hunter who legally killed a 7-foot polar bear more than a decade ago in Canada ran afoul of U.S. authorities after using a boat to ferry the trophy to Michigan. Rodger DeVries of Ottawa County's Georgetown Township faces sentencing Sept. 8 on a misdemeanor of knowingly and unlawfully using a U.S. port or harbor to import polar bear parts without obtaining a permit. Court records show he pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.
10:58 AM Aug 25, 2011
A 17-year-old Grand Haven boy was rescued from Lake Michigan near Grand Haven's south pier just as Tuesday evening's storm started rumbling through the area. His name was not available. "Witnesses said, if it wasn't for the surfers, the kid probably wouldn't have been rescued,' said Lt. Renee Freeman of the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety.

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