Family of Ron Truesdell, 20, of Sparta, pictured from left, cousin Lynnette Miller, parents Allen and Laurie Truesdell, background, and cousin Ian Miller, 8, hold signs and cheer as they wait for the arrival of their soldier – – a member of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 180th Transportation Co. – – to arrive by bus at Muskegon Catholic Central for a welcome home ceremony. The 42 members of the 180th were deployed for a year in Iraq. © Muskegon Chronicle
Date shot: 3/12/10

Two members of the Michigan National Guard Honor Guard prepare the American Flag to give to Dave Eling, director of Muskegon County’s Department of Veterans Affairs, during the military funeral of Andris Baltaisvilks on Friday, April 1, 2011. Baltaisvilks, 73, served in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963. When Baltaisvilks died March 15 at the age of 73 at Poppen Hospice Residence in Muskegon, he left behind no next-of-kin, no possessions, no one to make his final arrangements. The funeral was held at the Ever Rest Funeral Home and Chapel and Baltaisvilks will be buried in the Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta. © Muskegon Chronicle

“This is a very sad day,” said resource teacher Renee Petersen as she hugs her students goodbye June 11 on the last day of school. Aamon Sanders, 9, left, waits for his hug as Darryle Bell, 9, is embraced by Petersen. Muskegon Heights’ Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School will close its doors after this school year where Petersen had her current classroom for 10 years. © Muskegon Chronicle

Moments after being sentenced to 60 days in the county jail in, Evan Emory sits in the visitors booth for an interview. Emory was sentenced by Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge William C. Marietti on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Emory, a 21-year-old Ravenna-area man, posted on YouTube an edited video that made it appear he was singing a sexually graphic song to a class of first-graders at Ravenna’s Beechnau Elementary School, including closeups of their faces seeming to react to the lyrics. © Muskegon Chronicle

Daniel Poulin, 57, center, the resident who lives at 496 Abbey walks in front of his home cradling a cordless telephone as Muskegon firefighters put out the fire to his home March 11, 2010. The fire started after the homeowner set down a still-smoldering cigarette and left it unattended, according to a fire official. © Muskegon Chronicle

Newly elected mayor, Steve Warmington and his fiance, Judi LeMieux, embrace after hearing the election totals being announced at city hall. Warmington’s campaign manager, John VanWyck, is on the left. The three congregated at the city hall to hear the results and then went to Racquets to celebrate with supporters. © Muskegon Chronicle

Norton Shores resident Carol Silvernail, 70, wipes away tears as the hearse carrying the body of fallen soldier U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel E. Scheibner, 40, stops in front of his alma mater Mona Shores High School on a Thursday afternoon. “We just wanted to pay respects for saving our country,” she said as she stood with her husband Dan Silvernail. The school’s band and choir performed as the rest of the 1,380 students came to show their respects along side of Seminole Road. © Muskegon Chronicle

The two residents of the home at 9360 Mill Pond Trail in Whitehall Township were taken to an area hospital as firefighters from White Lake, Montague and Blue Lake fire departments battled the house fire that rests in the woods off the dead-end dirt road. The call was dispatched at 9:58 p.m. Monday, March 22. White Lake Fire Authority Lt. Jeff Holmstrom said the house was fully involved when they arrived so “we went into defensive mode.” The “major concern” Holmstrom said was the propane tanks on the property. The departments also had to deal with downed live electrical wires and several small spot fires. Consumers Energy, Muskegon Sheriff’s Department, ProMed and White Lake Ambulance Authority assisted at the scene. Stan Machowski, 61, who is retired from the Muskegon Township Fire Department, lives two houses down at 9442 Mill Pond Trail. “I heard a noise,” Machowski said. “I looked out my window and called Central Dispatch.” Machowski told the operator it was already fully involved. “I just hope they didn’t get hurt,” he said of his neighbors.
© Muskegon Chronicle

Muskegon County Administrator James Borushko is retiring after working for the county since August 24th, 1970. A county board room packed with well-wishers came to say goodbye to Borushko during a retirement party Wednesday afternoon. Program manager with Community Mental Health, Bernadette Arnold, gives Borushko a hug as the party winds down. © Muskegon Chronicle

Laura Pierce, 17, left, and Stuart Woods, 41, watch as a Muskegon police officer moves crime scene tape over his police cruiser at the scene of a fatal shooting in broad daylight. The shooting happened along Dyson Street near E. Forest Avenue in Muskegon. The victim ended up on an alley off of Dyson. © Muskegon Chronicle

Stacey Bernethy, 41, of Nunica, peeks into the window of Mrs. Shaw Walker’s mother’s home at 1635 Mills in North Muskegon December 7 while waiting her turn to be allowed inside during the estate sale of Muskegon industrialist L.C. Walker and his son Shaw Walker. Bernethy said she was just interested in “household stuff.” © Muskegon Chronicle

Barb VanBogelen, 51, right, hugs and kisses her daughter Amanda VanBogelen, 28, left, as they talk about David VanBogelen’s 1990 murder. David was Barb’s husband and Amanda’s father. Amanda was 7 when her father was murdered by Amy Lee Black, 16, and Amy’s boyfriend, Jeffrey Abrahamson, 19, on December 7, 1990. “I tried to block it out. It wasn’t until I got older that it really started to bother me,” Amanda said. Black was convicted on May 22, 1991 as an adult and is still in prison. Abrahamson was also convicted of the murder. Amanda now has a portrait of her father tattooed on her calf. © Muskegon Chronicle

After a year of duty in Kuwait and Iraq, 119 soldiers from Michigan Army National Guard 1436th Engineer Co. based in Montague were welcomed home at the Montague High School football stadium on Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. Missy McFarland wipes away tears as she sees her husband Sgt. Eric McFarland, background, while holding their sleeping son Cadence McFarland. “It’s been a long year,” she said. © Muskegon Chronicle

Franklin Contractors employee Derek Dyga, 25, is covered in dust from working on the demolition of the Sealed Power Corp. March 5. Sealed Power was one of Muskegon’s proudest industrial giants that made piston rings. © Muskegon Chronicle

“They’re still in shock,” said Josh Olson, right, as he hugs his daughter Amber Olson, 11, inside their Hesperia home. Olson’s 12-year-old daughter Brittany Olson, died the day before when the bicycle she was riding on was hit by a car driven by a 48-year-old Hesperia woman. Amber, left, along with soon-to-be step-siblings E.J. Richards, 7, background, and Abby Richards, 10, not pictured, were with Brittany when she was hit by a car. The four were on their way to go fishing – – Brittany’s favorite pastime. The accident happened at the intersection of South Bon and South Street. “She was my best friend,” said Amber. “She was my best friend too,” said E.J. © Muskegon Chronicle

Michigan State Police Troopers, from left, Brett Sova, David Ybarra, Hugh Welsh and Phil Marshall were assisting the Muskegon Heights Police Department to find shell casings in order to determine whether more than one weapon was involved a shooting the evening prior. Three women and one man, an innocent bystander, were shot during a street fight at Ninth and Columbia streets in Muskegon Heights. The truck pictured was not involved with the shooting. The apparent bullet holes along the side of the truck are just decals applied by the owner and are not related to the shooting. © Muskegon Chronicle

Anton Johnson, 17, balls himself into a chair at his Dalton Township home while his family talks about how his younger brother’s crack addiction has effected their lives. Rusty Johnson, 16, is currently at the County Youth Home. (Anton declined to be in the family portrait.) © Muskegon Chronicle

During Sean Michael Phillips’ preliminary examination, Baby Kate’s grandmother, April Lange, cries when her diaper bag is shown in the courtroom. Phillips was bound over for trial during his preliminary examination on Aug. 3, 2011 at the Mason County Courthouse. He is being held on $500,000 bond in the Mason County Jail. He is charged with
kidnapping who is believed to be his infant daughter, Katherine Shelbie-Elizabeth Phillips on June 29. © Muskegon Chronicle

“It’s pretty devastating that it caught fire like that.” said Jocquez Clay who was watching from the street on the afternoon of June 30. “I just hope no one is injured or is still in there.” Clay, 13, lives in the neighborhood where a fire started at 1249 Peck St. early that morning. The century-old, three-story brick apartment building, left, caught fire when a cigarette fell into a piece of furniture in one of the apartments. A partial demolition of the building was implemented for safety concerns. © Muskegon Chronicle

For 70 years, Buck Beadle has lived with the nightmare of Pearl Harbor.
The carnage. The fire. The fear.
“Some things you don’t want to remember,” Beadle says. “A lot of things you’d like to forget, but they’re there, you know.” Not even time, seven long decades, can erase the horror.
Now 91 years old, Beadle was a 21-year-old U.S. Navy Metalsmith First Class — just “a kid” from Hart — aboard the USS Hull moored in Pearl Harbor, the day the Japanese attacked the American fleet, plunging the country into World War II. © Muskegon Chronicle

Alyssa Kolbe, 18, of Whitehall strokes the cheek of her boyfriend Andrew Bos who celebrated his 19th birthday January 19 at Brookhaven Medical Care Facility where he is undergoing therapy after his April 24th motorcycle accident. “She’s been here through thick and thin,” said Andrew’s mother Myke Bos referring to Alyssa. © Muskegon Chronicle

Paul Robertson, 35, of Muskegon is overcome by emotion as his 13-year-old son, Jonathon, is put into an ambulance after a two-vehicle crash at Jefferson Street and Houston Avenue. Robertson’s son was treated at Hackley Hospital for injuries and released. His wife, Shelly Robertson, 37, was not injured. © Muskegon Chronicle

Jill Lynn, 32, carries her 21-month-old daughter Avery Lynn to their mini-van after Avery’s therapy session at Generation Care Tuesday morning. Avery suffers from a rare condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC) which effects her lower extremities. © Muskegon Chronicle

G & L Chili Dogs owner Peter Johnson, right, shares lunch with longtime patron Paul NeNio, 78, of Muskegon, at the downtown G & L location. The downtown G & L will be closing this Saturday, March 27. “I’m going to miss it,” said DeNio. “I’ve been coming here for years.” © Muskegon Chronicle

Melody Cassady holds onto the leg of “Coby” a mixed breed dog that she just injected with Euthasol. The vein “blew” causing Cassady to give him a second injection. Volunteer Liz Schaub, right, keeps a firm hold on him. Cassady, of Muskegon, is a volunteer for Bound Buddies Rescue where she frequently has to euthanize animals that are unadoptable. On this particular Tuesday evening, Cassady “put to sleep” four dogs. © Muskegon Chronicle

Steve Keglovitz, 55, of Muskegon, worked at the Sappi paper mill for 19 years until he retired in 2005. Keglovitz was one of four former Sappi employees that toured the plant which is now owned by Melching, Inc. Demolition & Dismantling out of Nunica. Sappi was in operation for more than 100 years until Sappi ceased operations in 2009. © Muskegon Chronicle

“They’re all hard for me to do,” said Melody Cassady. Cassady, of Muskegon, is a volunteer for Bound Buddies Rescue where she frequently has to euthanize animals that are unadoptable. On this particular Tuesday evening, Cassady “put to sleep” four dogs. © Muskegon Chronicle

“I wanted to be the all-American boy so I joined the Marine Corps,” said World War II veteran Flate Staples as he is interviewed by Orchard View students for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project through Grand Valley State University. Staples, 85, of Muskegon, told two Orchard View students about joining the Marine Corps in 1943, only a year after they allowed African Americans to enlist. Although Staples says he’s not bitter about the discrimination he endured, he said “we always had to prove ourselves.” Eighteen veterans were interviewed by Marv Bolthouse’s history students at Orchard View High School. © Muskegon Chronicle

Shirley Strandberg, of Muskegon, stretched her arms out to get George W. Bush’s attention but she never got to shake his hand. “I touched his back and I prayed for him,” she said. President George W. Bush spoke to 2,000 people at the Muskegon County Airport’s Executive Air Transport hangar. He mostly discussed affordable health care and the war on terror. © Muskegon Chronicle

Markeon Hardy, 12, center left, and Arionne Johnson, 11, center right, react as their teacher Ronace Zielinski-Hogan, right, puts duct tape on Darius Ricks’ hands before going into art class to make beaded necklaces during Community Read Day at Steele Middle School. The exercise was to raise awareness of child labor in Pakistan and other parts of the world after reading the book “Iqbal” by Francesco D’Adamo. The duct tape was intended to simulate having swollen fingers after child laborers are forced to work 14 hours a day. “It makes me grateful for, well, that I don’t have to do this anymore after today, ” said Hardy. © Muskegon Chronicle

Brandon James, 39, was shot in New Orleans in the early morning of Memorial Day, May 31, during an attempted armed robbery. James, of Muskegon, was working for Providence Engineering to help with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after being laid off from his Muskegon job. James is reflected in a mirror during a doctor’s appointment as his daughter Izabella James, 3, hugs her mother, Shellie James, 37. “We’re thankful he’s alive,” said Shellie. © Muskegon Chronicle

“I thought it would be here forever,” said Bill Randall as he watches the start of the demolition of Sealed Power on Sanford Street in Muskegon Heights March 5. Randall and Jim Hines, right, were both former employees of the company that made piston rings. Randall, 51, worked at Sealed Power for 17 years and Hines, 61, worked there 35 years. They are both from Egelston Township. © Muskegon Chronicle

Chad Martin shakes his fist at 60th District Judge Richard J. Pasarela during his video arraignment at the Michael E. Kobza Hall of Justice in Muskegon, Mich. Judge Pasarela had the deputy remove Martin from the room for refusal to cooperate. Martin was being arraigned on fleeing charges. © Muskegon Chronicle