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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013
IS MICHIGAN’S BEST PIZZA IN GRAND RAPIDS? TODAY’S MUST-READS SPENCER TOWNSHIP
Arrest made in slaying, related house fire A man accused of killing his girlfriend in northern Kent County on Wednesday apparently planned to turn himself in but allegedly set fire to their Montcalm County home before he was arrested. Police say Danielle Scholton-Linderman, 29, was found dead in a relative’s home. Details, A3
The trident logo on a Maserati Quattroporte S Q4. (Chris Clark/ MLive.com)
GRANDVILLE
Everybody sing: ‘My Maserati does 185 ...’ Strange as it might sound, the Maseratis have arrived — just in time for winter — at the Zeigler Auto Group’s new Maserati dealership. Sales manager Ric Conkey says he is eager to show off the all-wheel drive Quattroporte made by the Italian automaker best known for high performance sports cars. Details, A6 HOLLAND
Former gang member sent to prison In the beginning, the Holland Latin Kings were a bunch of neighborhood kids who spent most of their time playing basketball or football. “It turned into something completely different,” Mario Herrera told a judge. Herrera was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to engage in racketeering. Details, A4
ROCKFORD R
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HOLLAND NATIVE NAMED MARINE OF THE YEAR FOR HEROICS IN AFGHANISTAN. DETAILS, A3
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magine standing in the bright Arizona sun with no sunglasses, dressed in a hot, scratchy sweater, with all the sights and loud sounds of city life ringing in your ears. The situation alone would be enough to make many miserable. We’d struggle to focus beyond our circumstances. This is how Kathy Ryan explains daily life for many children with autism. Ryan, who raised a son with autism, understands the challenges involved with processing sight, sound, smell and touch. Even a simple trip to the grocery store, with so many other things going on there, was difficult. “It was all too much for him,” said Ryan, executive director of the Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding in Rockford. Ryan first brought her son to the Equest Center, 3777 Rector Ave. NE, as a child and saw his immediate transformation amid a group of people who understood. “It was the first place that I felt like they saw my son as a boy who happened to have autism instead of an autistic child,” she said. That memory remains in the forefront of Ryan’s mind as the Equest Center recently unveiled a new onemile sensory riding trail. The trail, named the “Saddle
Jan Parker walks a horse named Dakota along the Saddle Safari Discovery Trail at the Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding in Rockford. Parker is a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship instructor. Below, Brad Darooge shows the “Wild Maze” activity along the trail. Darooge is the president of Baudville Inc., a Grand Rapids company whose employees spent more than 1,000 volunteer hours building the trail. (Cory Morse/MLive.com)
Safari Discovery Trail,” is considered among the top in the nation, Ryan said, and already is attracting national attention. Children and adults with all kinds of disabilities will be able to mount horses and ride down a quiet woodland trail that gently guides them through a journey of their senses. Different stations along the way introduce them to sights, sounds and smells. Through interacting with activities at the stations and
the feel of the horse moving beneath, riders will work on reflex and adjusting to motion, Ryan says. They will experience touch and sound naturally through the wind on their faces and the horses’ hooves striking the earth below. “All these things are going to be able to help them learn how to respond, to take in all these senses and respond appropriately to them,” Ryan said. SEE TRAIL, A2
GRAND RAPIDS
Snuffbox strikes again: Endangered mussel complicates project A newly listed endangered species that already has delayed the removal of a Grand River dam in Lyons is causing added headaches for the team behind the $27 million plan to restore the rapids in downtown Grand Rapids. Chip Richards, co-founder of the Grand Rapids Whitewater project group, said a survey team from Missouri has found five Epioblasma triquetra, commonly called the snuffbox mussel, in the Grand River between the Ann Street and U.S. 131 bridges.
Discovery of the freshwater mussel, added to the federal endangered list in February 2012, technically doesn’t delay implementation of the largescale river project, but does add a new wrinkle, Richards said. The mussels, which were tagged for an easy find later, likely would have to be relocated before any work could begin on the project, which involves removing several dams and restoring the natural rock rapids to the Grand River. The mussel joins the list of surveys, studies, agreements, approvals and other items
FAC T BOX
MEET THE MUSSEL
A snuffbox mussel up close. (Mlive.com file)
the team must hurdle before seeking a permit from the state to begin work. SEE MUSSEL, A2
INDEX Advice................ B4 Classified............ C7
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By Heidi Fenton
gellison@mlive.com
You can’t do everything on your own. You have a lot of people behind you ... and I realize there are a lot of good people out there.”
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Thursday, Oct. 24 - Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013.
New sensory riding trail offers therapeutic horseback experience
By Garret Ellison
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Name: Snuffbox mussel, Epioblasma triquetra Description: Females about two inches long, males slightly larger. Shells are triangular and thick, yellowish on the outside and covered with broken dark green rays. Status: On state and federal endangered lists. Added to federal endangered list in 2012 because of a population decline of 62 percent from habitat loss, dam construction, pollution and the impact from invasive species. Range and habitat: Historically found in 18 states and Ontario. In Michigan, mostly found in the southern part of the state. Primarily inhabits small and medium-sized rivers. Preferred habitat has sand, gravel or cobble substrate with a swift current. Individuals are often found buried deep in the sediment. Conservation/management: In order to maintain current populations in Michigan, rivers need to be protected to reduce silt loading and runoff. Source: Michigan Natural Features Inventory
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