Michigan parents ordered to get rid of autistic son’s ducks
GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Parents of a 12-year-old boy with autism are fighting against a western Michigan township’s order to get rid of their son’s ducks that are used as emotional support animals.
WOOD-TV reports that Georgetown Township zoning officials issued a nuisance order to Mark and Jen Dyke after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors over the ducks straying from their property and their unpleasant smell. Township officials say they’re enforcing an ordinance that prohibits homeowners from having farm animals on their property.
The Dykes are requesting an ordinance variance and hope the township’s zoning appeals board will rule in their favor next month.
Jen Dyke says the ducks mean everything to their son, Dylan.
Dylan’s psychologist, Eric Dykstra, believes taking the ducks away from the boy would cause “significant emotional distress.”
Man found guilty in slaying; victim’s body dismembered
MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the slaying of another man whose dismembered body was found in a national forest by duck hunters.
A judge in Muskegon announced the verdict Wednesday for 29-year-old Anthony Blamer of Fremont following a bench trial last week.
Blamer testified that he shot 24-year-old D’Anthony Keenan as they sat in a vehicle at a car wash. Authorities have said money was taken from Keenan.
Keenan’s body was missing its head and hands when discovered nearly a year ago in the Manistee National Forest northwest of Grand Rapids. Blamer later led authorities to the missing body parts. He also faces a dismemberment charge in Newaygo County.
The Muskegon Chronicle reports that Blamer will be sentenced Sept. 10.
Ex-sports doctor seeks re-sentencing by new judge in sex assault case
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Lawyers for imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar are asking that he be re-sentenced by a different judge in the first of the major molestation cases he faced.
The Lansing State Journal reports Wednesday that the appellate lawyers filed motions Tuesday in Ingham County.
Nassar, who’s serving a 60-year federal sentence for possessing child pornography, was also sentenced to up to 175 years in state prison for molesting young athletes. He agreed to a 25- to 40-year minimum term. But his attorneys say they believe Judge Rosemarie Aquilina decided to impose the maximum allowed before the sentencing hearing even began.
They cite her statements, including that she might let people do to Nassar what he did to the girls if the Constitution didn’t prohibit cruel and unusual punishment.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
