A Lake Odessa man pleaded no contest on Monday to shooting an 83-year-old woman over a Proposal 3 dispute. Richard Harvey, 74, shot Joan Jacobsen, 83, of Lake Odessa in the shoulder outside Harvey’s home on Bipley Road on Sept. 20, 2022 after Harvey’s wife Sharon Harvey and Jacobsen got into a verbal altercation about Michigan’s Proposal 3, which was set to be on that November’s general election ballot to determine the future of abortion legality.
An Ionia man who described himself to an Ionia County judge as “a great guy, an all-around good guy” was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl in her home. Joesph Ray Rushford, 26, was sentenced by Ionia County 8th Circuit Court Judge Ronald Schafer on March 22 to serve up to 35 years with the Michigan Department of Corrections, with credit for 505 days previously served. He will be subject to lifetime registration and GPS monitoring under the Sex Offenders Registration Act.