Muskegon
Homicides in Muskegon County rose to 20-year high in 2014
MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) - The number of homicides in Muskegon County rose to a 20-year high in 2014, prompting efforts by law enforcement agencies and community members to boost efforts to stop more killings.
The Muskegon Chronicle reported its tally shows 12 murders or non-negligent manslaughters in the year, not counting one shooting of an intruder by a homeowner that hasn't resulted in criminal charges and may soon be ruled justifiable.
Muskegon and Muskegon Heights saw the most in the county. The total is up from nine homicides in 2013, excluding one justifiable homicide as well as three violent deaths classified as accidental or negligent. In 2012, Muskegon County had four non-justifiable homicides.
Still, the newspaper reports that the 2014 homicide rate for Muskegon County is only slightly higher than the statewide average.
Law-enforcement officials offered no single explanation for Muskegon County's spike in numbers. Prosecutor D.J. Hilson mentioned "a combination of many factors," among them high unemployment and truancy, cuts in police budgets, breakdowns in the family structure and drug-related crimes.
Bloomfield Hills
Girl, 10, pushes posh suburb to allow chickens
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (AP) - A 10-year-old girl is pushing officials in her posh Detroit suburb to allow residents to keep chickens in their yards.
Caroline Baxter has appeared before the Bloomfield Hills City Commission to promote the idea, and her plan is to come up for discussion again at its next meeting Jan. 13.
Caroline is an animal lover with quite a collection already.
"I have five gerbils, a guinea pig, two dogs, four fish, a bunch of snails," the fifth-grader told WDIV-TV.
She said she thinks chickens make ideal pets.
"I went to farm camp and we got the opportunity to hold a chicken, and so I just really bonded with them," she told the station. "They're so passionate, and they're really social."
A number of Michigan cities, including Lansing and the Detroit suburbs of Ferndale and Madison Heights, allow people to keep chickens on their property. Bloomfield Hills, a community of 3,900 that is among the nation's wealthiest cities with a per-capita income of $105,000, does not.
Caroline decided that should change and took it up with her city's leaders at their meeting last month.
Published: Tue, Jan 06, 2015
