Muskegon Heights News Archives

On July 10, 2008, Robert Lee Shine was paroled from prison. Robert L. Shine He had served exactly three years, the bare minimum of two concurrent sentences: three to 30 years for receiving and concealing stolen property, three to five years for attempted breaking and entering a building.

Jose "Big Joe" Loera wants young people to know there's nothing glamorous about incarceration.

Another school district faced with dropping enrollment and declining revenues has to make painful budget cuts.

The murder trial for a 20-year-old Muskegon Heights man - so far peppered with unexpected events - is set to resume Tuesday.

Muskegon Heights fire investigators have determined that one recent fire was arson, and a second was the result of a child playing with fire.

A Muskegon Heights family is asking for help in solving a 7-year-old murder case.

The cause of a Friday night fire that damaged a home at 3212 Eighth has yet to be determined, but fire officials said they believe it began in the kitchen area.

The pain of a community with 16 percent unemployment came spilling out when Michigan Gov.

Seven years. That's how much time has passed since 23-year-old Georgette Latrice Diggs was murdered in her apartment while her three young children slept.

The city of Muskegon Heights is aiming the wrecking ball at 22 dilapidated houses and buildings in an ongoing effort to fight blight.

Roosevelt Park currently has a fire services contract with Norton Shores, but the city of Muskegon is offering a fire services contract and long-term water contract.

The night he was gunned down, 69-year-old Willie C. Rice was doing what he loved best: frying a big batch of fresh-caught fish for a group of old friends.

Muskegon Heights city leaders are stepping up their fight against blight. The city has been plagued in recent years with a growing number of vacant and abandoned properties.

A tip to police led to the sidewalk arrest of the parole absconder suspected of robbing or trying to rob five Muskegon-area businesses at gunpoint since Saturday.

Each morning, Shalunda Churchwell and her fiance, Shawn Ford, walk their 7-year-old son to school at Muskegon Heights' Martin Luther King Jr.

Within about a month, dozens of students will be rerouted to other schools and several staff positions will be eliminated due to "radical" budget cuts at Muskegon Heights Public Schools.

A 54-year-old woman has been arrested two years after police say she confessed to planning the arson of her Muskegon Heights home.

Enjoy an evening of great food and music and know you're doing so in support of a good cause.

Divers suited up Friday in the cold rain and plunged into Muskegon Lake to search for a weapon that police believe is linked to the June homicide of Willie C. Rice.

In connection with the Muskegon Area Arts and Humanities Festival , a student art exhibit is also on display in the the Bettye Clark Cannon Gallery in Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts.

Anyone with further information on the fire on Park Street is asked to call the Muskegon Heights Fire Department at 733-8896. FROM LOCAL REPORTS A fire that produced heavy smoke inside a single-family dwelling in Muskegon Heights Monday caused $20,000 in damage, but no injuries, authorities said.

October 5, 2009 -- Ellen Grace Loftis Elementary School in Muskegon Heights will celebrate the completion of a sidewalk improvement project this Wednesday at 9 a.m., coinciding with National Walk to School Day.

A fire Wednesday evening in a Muskegon Heights apartment drove an 82-year-old woman from her home and caused an estimated $5,000 to $7,000 damage.

Two brothers have been charged with unarmed robbery for allegedly walking into a Muskegon Heights clothing store and stealing merchandise while the owner was struggling on the floor with a robber he had disarmed.

A fire Wednesday evening in a Muskegon Heights apartment drove an 82-year-old woman from her home and caused an estimated $5,000 to $7,000 damage.

The plot thickens. Muskegon Heights police have arrested two men they say entered a clothing store while the owner was wrestling on the floor with a robber - and stole valuable merchandise rather than heed the owner's wife's frantic pleas for assistance.