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Can Newsweek really be serious? A3Wisconsin politicians walk out, A10

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TRACKING THE STORY

Budget reactionsMore on Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget plans:

Snyder’s sweeping fiscal blueprint relies on just three pieces of legislationÊthat aim to upend the way business is done in the Capitol. A6Educators shudder at deep cuts in state aid.Ê A6Reaction from West Michigan lawmakers.Ê A6Plans to end film tax credits means “killing the creative class in Michigan,”Êan industry advocate says. A8

EDUCATION OFFICIALS CRY FOUL TO CUTS PROPOSED IN GOV. RICK SNYDER’S BUDGET

DAVEMURRAY

ON EDUCATION

Local schoolchiefs react

Grand RapidsSuperintendentBernard Taylor: “Idon’t know how it canbe said that this isshared sacrifice whenyou hold harmlessadults and takeaway resources fromchildren.”

Forest HillsSuperintendentDan Behm: “Thereis no way to insulatestudents from the painthis budget will inflict,if approved.”

RockfordSupeintendentMichael Shibler: “Howare we ever going tobe able to improvewhere we need whenhave cuts proposedlike this?”

BY JOHN TUNISON

AND BARTON DEITERS

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

GRAND RAPIDS — In the livingroom of a relative’s home, RochelleJohnson and her children sharedmemories of the daughter and sisterthey only knew as a child.

Even at 8 years old, Lativia Johnson

talked about wanting to be a veteri-narian. She adored her pet rabbit,Snowball, and her dog.But the little girl never got the

chance to grow up.In 1993, Lativia was killed when

someone fired a shot through a win-dow at the family’s Ionia Avenue SEhome. The circumstances of the sec-ond-grader’s death— shewaswalking

to the refrigerator for a glass of milkwhen she was fatally shot — sparkedoutrage in the community at a timewhen the city’s murder rate alreadywas high.After 17 years, Rochelle Johnson

is confident justice is near now thatpolice have told her they cracked thecold-case homicide of her daughter.Tears flowed as shewas overwhelmed

by emotion Thursday.“It seems like tears just keep com-

ing. I’m just so joyful,” said Johnson,who added she always hoped some-one would be arrested for the crime.“I still can’t even eat. It’s like I’m stillin shock.”Prosecutors have issued a warrant

for the extradition of 36-year-oldSEE LATIVIA, A2

Educators are standing at theedge of a financial cliff they’veknown was coming for more

than two years — and did little toprepare for this day.Now, will the deep cuts called for

by Gov. Rick Snyder force schoolofficials to recast a system that somesay is long overdue for an overhaul?Or will parents be threatened

with larger class sizes and the lossof art, music, sports and busing —as in the pre-Proposal A millagebattles before 1994 — as districtsfight to continue as they have, butwith far less money?Tom Watkins, the former state

superintendent who warned of animpending budget meltdown as longago as 2004, said schools should usethis time to make bold changes.The state’s educational

establishment has frittered awaya two-year head start handed to itby the federal government throughbillions of stimulus dollars, followedby millions in “edujobs” money, he

said.“I actually think the stimulus

money was a disservice to thedistricts. All it did was postpone theday of reckoning,” he said. “A lackof money forces people to innovate.When they have resources, they justlook for ways to perpetuate whatthey already have. They will protectthe status quo.”Despite the reprieve, Watkins

said the schools refused to makestructural changes, expecting therewould be yet another bailout or taxincrease.Watkins sounded the alarm in

December 2004 by pointing out thatfor every $300 of new per-studentfunding, $250 of it is eaten up byincreases in retirement and healthcare costs. Those expenses wouldcontinue, he then noted, even asschool revenue from sales taxeswere to begin sliding.He called that report “a call for

dialogue, input and action,” but theeventual action was to have

SEE MURRAY, A2

BY JEFFREY KACZMARCZYK

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

GRANDRAPIDS—Michael Craw-ford was on stage at Muskegon’sFrauenthal Center, playing one of thetoughest solos for double bass in theorchestral repertoire, when he cameto a brief pause and felt vibrations

near his inner tuxedo pocket wherehe might carry his cell phone.It wasn’t a well wisher in the West

Michigan Symphony audience, callingto congratulate him for his solo inIgor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” Suite.It was a tiny monitor, implanted inhis chest, warning him his heart wasin trouble.Crawford, 53, finished the solo, put

his double bass down,walked off stageand called 911.“I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God,’”

he recalled. “I didn’t know how longit had been going off.”If it didn’t exactly save his life, the

SEE DEVICE, A2

Justice for Lativia?FAMILY CRIES TEARS OF JOY WHEN POLICE ANNOUNCE ARRESTS IN 1993 SLAYING

Sorry, schools,you were warnedFirst alarm sounded in 2004;changes should have begun

two years ago

AP PHOTO

Making his point: Gov. Rick Snyder presents his budget proposal during a joint Houseand Senate committee meeting Thursday in Lansing.

Experimental devicekeeps themusic playingSymphony member’sheart incident showstiny mechanism’s worth

Going strong: MichaelCrawford, middle, adouble bassist forthe Grand RapidsSymphony, practicesWednesday at DeVosPerformance Hallin Grand Rapids.Crawford uses anexperimental heart-monitoring devicecalled AngelMedGuardian System,which indicates if aheart attack may beabout to occur inhigh-risk patients.

PRESS PHOTO/CORY MORSE

MORE HOT WATERMiguel Cabrera’sdrunken-drivingarrest has Tigerswondering abouthis future. C1

NOT NO. 1“I Am Number 4” is ascience fiction movie

that has a littlesomething foreveryone. B1

Lativia Johnson

A2 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011 THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

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CONTACTS & MORE

CONTINUED FROM A1

Robert Lee Gaines and 38-year-old Robert “Bobby” Brownfor the Dec. 16, 1993, shootingdeath.

TheGrandRapids Police De-partment was to hold a pressconference today to discussthe investigation that led tothe arrests.According to an affidavit

seeking the arrest of the twomen — who were teenagers in1993—Brown had reported be-ing robbed near the Hall StreetParty Store, 110 Hall St. SE.Brown allegedly met with

his friend, Gaines, and the twocame to believe the robberysomehow involved people at1150 Ionia Ave. SE, where thelittle girl lived with her moth-er and siblings, according toGrand Rapids Major CaseTeam Sgt. Chris Postma, whoobtained the arrest warrant inGrand Rapids District Courtthis week.According to the affidavit,

Grand Rapids Police, with theassistance of the Kent CountyMetro Cold Case Team, gath-ered evidence from witnessesand recorded conversationsfrom at least one of the defen-dants, whomade incriminatingstatements linking the two tothe shooting.

Postma saidBrownconfessedto the shooting andGaines toldwitnesses he was there withBrown when it occurred.As she fought back tears af-

ter meeting with Grand Rapidsdetectives Thursday, RochelleJohnson talked about livingthe past 17 years without herdaughter.

“They took our life from us,”Johnson said of the suspects,describing the years of stressand turmoil that followedLativia’s death.Johnson said the same night

her child died, the familymoved out of the Ionia Avenuehouse forever. Only hours ear-lier, they had been decoratingfor Christmas.On Thursday, Johnson and

her six children knew littleabout the alleged motive be-hind the shooting. The detailswould come later — now theysimply were celebrating.Her daughter has remained

in her thoughts over the years,particularly on holidays andwhen her March birthdaycomes around.“I’m so glad justice has

come,” she said.Police say Gaines will be

extradited from Illinois andBrown from Nebraska, wherethey are in custody.Police followed numerous

leads and even convened agrand jury to look into thecase. For a long time, it was as-sumed the shootingwas relatedto the gang violence plaguingthe city’s Southeast Side at thetime.Roshnna Johnson, Lativia’s

sister, said she was questionedat one time about possibly be-ing the target of the shooting.She was only 14 then and saidshe never knew any reasonwhysomeone would fire into theirhouse.Michigan State Police crimi-

nal records show Brown’s onlyoffense was a guilty plea in a1996 attempted larceny from abuilding in Wyoming. Gaineshad a 1994 guilty plea tomisde-meanor retail fraud in RockfordDistrict Court and a 1997 guiltyplea to larceny in a building inGrand Haven Circuit Court.Nonteria Raybon, another

sister of Lativia, said she can-not imagine how the two sus-pects lived their lives the past17 years, apparently withoutremorse, knowing an 8-year-old girl had died. Raybon wasin the house when her sisterwas shot.“They have been living all

of these years, not caring how(Lativia’s) family felt. They’vebeen living a lie in their lives,”she said.“What have they told their

kids, if they have them?” sheasked. “I wonder what their

friends and family will saywhen they find out.”Rochelle Johnson said she

is excited and nervous aboutthe arrests. She had not heardthe suspects’ names as of lateThursday.“It’s kind of scary, whether I

know them or their families,”she said.Her family plans to release a

balloon into the air in Lativia’shonor in front of the Ionia Ave-nue SE home where she died.Roosevelt Gaines, an uncle

of one suspect, described theallegations as shocking. Helearned his nephew was ar-rested at his brother’s Illinoishome on Wednesday.“I didn’t know anything

about this. It shocked me todeath,” he said.He said his nephew worked

through a temporary employ-ment service at a tire manu-facturer and is the father ofone child. He said his nephewgenerally was quiet.“I’ve never known him to be

in trouble, except for child sup-port,” he said, describing howRobert Lee Gaines helped tocare for his partially disabledfather.The suspect and his family

once lived in Grand Rapidswith his family, but it wasn’tclear when they moved out ofstate.

E-mail: localnews@grpress.com

CONTINUED FROM A1

him nudged out of his jobafter the outcry.“The new governor realizes

the mission is to educate, notperpetuate,” Watkins saidThursday. “He is interestedin funding learning that willmake us competitive on theworld stage. Doing what wealways have done has notgotten us where we need togo.”Now that the safety net

has been removed, educatorsmight be forced to acceptradical changes.And they might prefer to

create changes on their owninstead of having lawmakersthrust reforms upon them.That’s not working out too

well in Wisconsin, whereschools in some cities closedthis week because employeesleft to protest bills that wouldstrip teacher unions of theirability to negotiate.Michigan will spend

$12.2 billion on K-12education, $1.4 billion for

universities and $269 millionon community colleges.If we took that money and

could start from scratch,would we design a systemwith 550 school districtsand more than 200 charterschools?Would you have a county

with 19 superintendents andabout as many food servicedirectors, business managersand transportation directors?Would you slice Wyominginto five districts, or carve awealthy enclave out of GrandRapids Public Schools?State taxpayers could save

$612 million a year after threeyears — all without closinga school — by consolidatingdistricts around county lines,according to a MichiganState University studycommissioned by The Pressand its sister newspapers.A shared services model

that puts all public schooltransportation, foodservice and operations andmaintenance at the county

level would save $328 million,the researchers determined.State Superintendent

Mike Flanagan has called fordistricts to start looking formore ways to share services,and some expect to seeincentives — or mandates —from Snyder when he pitcheshis local government andeducation plans later in thespring.Kent County schools have

taken some limited steps,including one superintendentcovering two districts andothers sharing some businessservices. But districts arereluctant to go much further,either fearing the politicalfallout or stating the potentialsavings are “exaggerated.”“You can consolidate

all you want, and you’renot going to come close tothe kinds of dollars we’re

talking about here,” KentIntermediate School DistrictSuperintendent KevinKonarska said.Konarska called Snyder’s

plan “over the top” and saidstate schools already havehacked millions from theirbudgets in the past five years.But Watkins said the

hacking came without realchanges. Schools won’t havea choice now, and they’vewasted two years that couldhave been spent preparing fortoday.“It is time for educators

at every level to step up,innovate to educate andplace teaching, learning andchildren ahead of power,control, politics and adults,”he said. “Change has arrived.It is called Governor Synder.”

E-mail: dmurray@grpress.com

CONTINUED FROM A1

AngelMed Guardian Systemdevice implanted in his chestminimized the damage thatmight have been done.“It did what it was supposed

to do,” Crawford said. “I didn’thave a heart attack, but I wason the edge.”

Crawford, who also has beena member of the Grand RapidsSymphony for more than 20years, is part of a clinical trial,seeking FDA approval for theexperimental device createdby Angel Medical Systems, ofShrewsbury, N.J.Crawford is one of 18 people

enrolled at Spectrum Health’sFred and Lena Meijer HeartCenter, and among 140 to 150people nationwide.“It’s potentially paradigm-

changing technology,” said Da-vidWohns, a cardiologist at thehospital.

The device, which has a wireimplanted into the wall of theheart, operates like a continualeletrocardiogram, monitoringand recording heart functions24 hours a day, seven days aweek.The unit told doctors Craw-

ford’s heart rate had shot upto 167 beats per minute ashe was performing Feb. 4 inMuskegon.Bad weather and car trouble

the day before led Crawford tomiss two doses of medicationthat contributed to the rapidheart rate he experienced dur-ing the performance. But thedevice told Crawford to seektreatment, and it told his doc-tors exactlywhat had happenedand when.

“Weknow some people, evenbefore the heart attack, canhave EKG findings that are theforerunner to the actual heartattack occurring,” Wohns said.“Earlier treatment saves livesand saves heart muscle.”

A little more than a year ago,Crawford found that out firsthand.In early February last year,

he was teaching a double bass

lesson at Grand Rapids Com-munity College when he sud-denly doubled over with whatfelt like indigestion, except healso was sweating profusely.He called an ambulance,

which transported him toSpectrum Health ButterworthHospital.In the emergency room,

his heart stopped because ofa blockage that later was re-moved and a stent inserted.“It’s called a widow maker,”

Crawford said. “I felt I was verylucky to survive.”The clinical study is expect-

ed to continue for another twoto three years before it moveson to the next stage in the ap-proval process. Wohns is op-timistic it eventually will beapproved.“Perhaps one day, this will

be available to people who arehigh risk,” he said.Crawford, who returns to

the stage tonight — the firsttime since the incident—withthe Grand Rapids Symphonyin DeVos Performance Hall, isgrateful for the tiny device thatis no larger than 2 centimeterswide and 4 or 5 millimetersthick.

“Without it, I could have hada heart attack on stage if I hadkept playing,” he said. “Whoknows?”

E-mail: jkaczmarczyk@grpress.com

MURRAY ‘THE NEW GOVERNOR REALIZES THE MISSION IS TO EDUCATE’

PRESS PHOTO/CORY MORSE

After all that time: “Happy tears,” said a teary-eyed Rochelle Johnson after Grand RapidsPolice told her they believe they have solved the 1993 shooting murder of her 8-year-olddaughter, Lativia.

COURTESY PHOTO

All those years ago: Lativia Johnson, pictured at a birthdayparty, was shot and killed in 1993 as she went to therefrigerator in her home to get a glass of milk.

LATIVIA SUSPECTS FACE EXTRADITION FROM ILLINOIS, NEBRASKA

COURTESY PHOTO

Coin-sized: The AngelMedGuardian System isimplanted in the chest andmonitors heart activity,alerting the patient anddoctors if a problem arises.

DEVICEABOUT 150 PEOPLE ARE IN TRIAL

PRESS PHOTO/CORY MORSE

Test case: Michael Crawford, a double bassist with theGrand Rapids Symphony, uses an experimental heartmonitoring device called AngelMed Guardian System, whichearlier this month helped alert Crawford during a musicalperformance, which he left to seek medical attention.

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