LANSING, Mich.—State Sen. Mark Jansen tops the list of West Michigan lawmakers who missed the most votes this year, according to the Missed Votes Report compiled by Jack McHugh, editor of MichiganVotes.org.

Jansen missed 46 votes between January and December of this year. The District 28 Republican represents a large portion of Kent County, including Ada, Algoma, Alpine, Cannon, Courtland, Grand Rapids and Plainfield townships, as well as East Grand Rapids, Rockford, Walker and Wyoming.

State Rep. Jon Bumstead, who represents Newaygo, Lake and Oceana counties, had the most missed votes among West Michigan lawmakers in the House, with 21 this year.  

Three senators and three representatives missed 50 or more votes this year.  The top offenders were Rep. John Olumba of Detroit, with 233 missed votes, and Sen. Bert Johnson of Detroit, with 187 missed votes.

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- A fire that destroyed a local family's home and nearly ruined their Christmas is sparking a powerful reaction from the community. Money and clothing donations are pouring in to help the family, after the fire which started around 1:30am in Plainfield Township.

At the front door, there's rain instead of snow. In the back yard, gifts turned to ashes. It's not what Christmas is supposed to look like.

"I don't know what to say, everything's gone," says homeowner Megan Langston.

Langston, her husband, and five children made it out of the fire when they heard the smoke alarm, but two other family members did not: their pet cat and dog.

"I panicked, I completely lost it," says Langston.

"I heard the house was a total loss, and my first thought was Christmas," says Kelly Heltzel, Langston's best friend.

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich.—More officers will be patrolling Planfield Township starting this spring.

During its last meeting, the Township Board recently approved creating a new contract with the Kent County Sheriff’s Department to add 16 hours of an additional daily road patrols and a new community policing officer.  Township Superintendent Cameron Van Wyngarden says the sherriff’s department needs to rearrange its staffing to honor the contract, so the new patrols will likely begin in March 2015.

Van Wyngarden says the biggest question for the board was how to pay for the additional patrols. He says the first year of costs will come out of the General Fund balance, then the normal budget will be adjusted to include the cost, beginning June 2015.

This is the township’s first law enforcement patrol increase in more than 40 years.