11:00 AM Aug 26, 2011
Two men were arrested on outstanding warrants following a traffic stop early Thursday morning at the intersection of U.S. 31 and VanWagoner Road. Spring Lake/Ferrysburg Police pulled over a 1972 Chevrolet which officers observed weaving all over the road on northbound U.S. 31 about 3:15 a.m. Police said four people were in the vehicle, and two of them were observed attempting to hide or destroy pills, alcohol or suspected crack cocaine during the stop.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
10:56 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.
8:30 AM Aug 24, 2011
Federal prosecutors have accused a northern Michigan man of killing his 3-month-old daughter while he was sexually assaulting her. Steven Deuman, 26, is charged with murdering his infant daughter while sexually assaulting her. He has a hearing scheduled for today in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. The case is federal because the Aug. 12 death happened on a reservation of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Leelanau County, northwest of Traverse City. Records say Deuman, his wife and children live on the reservation.
7:34 AM Aug 24, 2011
An autopsy has been completed on the body of a man pulled out of the Grand River Saturday evening, but the cause of his death is still undetermined, Spring Lake/Ferrysburg Police Chief Roger DeYoung said late this morning. Michael Kirby, 51, of Coopersville, died sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning when he fell into the water behind his boat docked at the Village Cove Marina, 900 W. Savidge St. in Spring Lake. Kirby was last seen by friends after 10:30 p.m. Friday at the Holiday Inn, police reported. He was discovered missing Saturday morning.
12:00 PM Aug 23, 2011
The investigation into a fire that destroyed a Crockery Township home on Saturday helped officials determine that lightning was the cause, Fire Chief Gary Dreyer said this morning. Dreyer returned to the scene on Monday with insurance investigators. All of the witness statements and weather reports added to that confirmation, he said. The fire appeared to start in the roof area of the house at 9878 Taft Road, Dreyer said. "We did not see any signs of an electrical issue in our examination,' he said. The house is owned by Bob and Theresa Kary.
11:30 AM Aug 23, 2011
Authorities in southwestern Michigan said they're getting more reports of cornfields being trashed by drivers - apparently for kicks. The Kalamazoo Gazette reported that last week neighbors chased down a sport utility vehicle full of teens and cornered them with their own vehicles until deputies could arrest them. Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Pali Matyas said there's been a "rash of this' recently. In another case, an off-road vehicle was driven through a corn field.
10:26 AM Aug 23, 2011
The body of a 51-year-old Coopersville man was recovered from the Grand River after a friend reported him missing late Saturday afternoon. Emergency personnel were called to the Village Cove Marina, 900 W. Savidge St. in Spring Lake, at 5:36 p.m. on a report of a missing person, Spring Lake/Ferrysburg Police Chief Roger DeYoung said. Village Cove Harbormaster James Cunningham called police to report that Michael Kirby, who had a 41.5-foot Sea Ray at slip No. 19, was missing and that one of his sandals was found floating in the water.
10:25 AM Aug 23, 2011
A 17-year-old charged in the stabbing of his 55-year-old grandmother at her southwest Michigan home said he was high on meth when he attacked her, and that he hopes she can forgive him. Michael Loerch told WWMT-TV from the St. Joseph County Jail on Monday that he smoked methamphetamine the day before the Aug. 18 attack and that he lost control after arguing with Georgeanna Sparks at her Burr Oak Township home.
5:23 PM Aug 22, 2011
A lightning strike may have started a fire which destroyed a Crockery Township home early Saturday afternoon. "It is appearing, with the weather data, highly likely it is lightning,' Crockery Township Fire Chief Gary Dreyer said. Firefighters from eight area departments responded to a rural home at 9878 Taft Road at 1:45 p.m. when neighbors saw smoke in the area after the storm passed through. Dreyer said a meteorologist told him there were between 20 and 30 lightning strikes in the area when the storm went through between 1:15 and 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
2:00 PM Aug 22, 2011
Police in Kalamazoo have reported a string of burglaries in vacant homes in which the thieves seem to have been mainly interested in stealing copper pipes. Lt. Dave Ostrander said that "there have been 15 burglaries of vacant homes in which the property taken is primarily copper piping from the basements' since June 1.