Guilty verdicts in murder trial

On Friday afternoon, separate juries found Joseph Wells Stapleton and Lance Allen Schmitt, both 21, guilty of the second degree murder of Lapeer resident Peter Richard. The Clarkston men were charged after Richard, 44, died from a pulmonary embolism prosecutors linked to a 2002 beating by the defendants outside the Sashabaw Road McDonald’s. Last week, […]

Local band opens Concerts in the Park

11 Letters Long of Clarkston will open the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce’s Concerts in the Park series Friday. The band, composed of all Clarkston High School students, performs in the Local Talent Spotlight before the headliners take the stage. Band members include: Jon Brown, drums; Brandon Boozer, rhythm guitar and vocals; Greg Davis, keyboards; […]

Master named in Fortinberry hearing

The Michigan Supreme Court appointed Judge Robert A. Benson as master to Formal Complaint No. 78 filed against 52-2 District Court Judge Dana Fortinberry. Benson is a retired judge from Kent County Circuit Court. This action by the Michigan Supreme Court is the latest step in the formal proceedings against Fortinberry. As master, Benson will […]

At Ease

Recently, a game show host asked a contestant how she’d spend her prize money. Her response: ‘Get some plastic surgery.? This isn’t a rant on cosmetic surgery, but a scarier observation. Decades of technological know-how and good old American ingenuity have left us flawed. Not flawed in a physical sense, God knows we can fix […]

Springfield Township Fire Department hiring policy amended

During the Springfield Township Board Meeting June 9, changes were made to the Springfield Township Fire Department application process allowing officials to hire people who have committed felonies. As Fire Chief Charles Oaks noted, the application was not updated in years, and the paper application and hiring process needed to be realigned. An application for […]

Funding of traffic light approved

As part of an agreement approved June 9, Springfield Township trustees approved a plan to pay 12.5 percent of the cost of a new traffic signal at the Andersonville and White Lake Road intersection. The agreement is contingent on the Road Commission for Oakland County paying 75 percent of the total cost and developers paying […]

Neighborhoods deal with increasing traffic

With more development and subdivisions in the Clarkston area, Denise Sprock noticed an increased amount of traffic through her neighborhood. She is particularly concerned with the traffic going by bus stops in the neighborhood.. Sprock is not alone. Many once quiet neighborhoods now deal with frustrations from increased traffic. ‘We have people cutting through our […]

Island Sun Tanning now open for business

Nearly three years after signing the paperwork to bring a tanning salon to Clarkston, District Manager Nadia Lossia is ready and Island Sun Tanning is open. Island Sun Tanning is one of eight tanning salons managed by Lossia in the Metro-Detroit area. Lossia discussed the aspects of Clarkston that made the three year wait worthwhile. […]

Jury deliberates in murder trial

Prosecution and defense lawyers rested arguments Friday and jury deliberation began in the trial of Lance Allen Schmidt, 21, and Joseph Wells Stapleton, 20. The defendants, charged with the second-degree murder of Peter Richard, await their fate as separate juries deliberate. The case stems from the 2002 assault of Richard in a McDonald’s parking lot. […]

When ‘over? doesn’t mean over

The call came into Deputy Keith Overby of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department: an 11-year-old reportedly pointing a shotgun at neighbors. Arriving on the scene, Overby encountered the mother who alerted him her son was 10, not 11. Overby stood across from the gun-totting child in a standoff few could fathom. The child ran and […]