July 4
~ It was a jubilant time in downtown Lake Orion as the annual Jubilee came to town last week.
~ The Downtown Development Authority is considering the need for 20-minute parking spaces in downtown, a notion that is receiving both positive and negative responses from downtown business owners.
July 11
~ After a delay due to some drainage issues, Flintridge is closed to thru traffic for a resurfacing project. August end-date remains the goal for the project.
July 18
~ The township board unanimously agreed Monday night to continue getting their dispatch services from the village through 2009. This agreement comes after a long negotiation process between the two bodies. The Review first reported the discussion of a new agreement last December.
~ The Lake Orion Board of Education selected their new officers for the 2007-2008 school year at last week’s organizational meeting. Trustee Jim Weidman was nominated as the new board president, a position that became vacant when longtime board president, Leanne Bartley, did not run for reelection. Former board treasurer Mary Jo Burchart will serve as the new vice-president for the board, board trustee Janet Wolverton will fill the vacated position of board treasurer and secretary Tina Peterson will continue in her role for another year.
July 25
~ The Village Council adopted Ordinance 7.11, a parking amendment that would allow the council to develop short-term parking in the downtown Lake Orion. The new amendment allows the council to designate short-term parking (less than two hours) if they should choose to do so in the future.
~ In a bizarre twist, a Clarkston man was convicted on two felony charges for severely injuring a road construction worker last April in Orion Township. When the story first appeared in The Review last year, it was believed that Bryan Bette (aka Bryan Brette) was driving the vehicle, but after police investigation, it was found that his boss at Munro Custom Building, Kevin Ross Munro, 55, had been the driver. The charges against Bette were dismissed after a fellow employee recanted his alibi for Munro and told investigators that Munro was the driver. Munro was convicted of leaving the scene of a serious accident and felonious assault with a dump truck. He faces up to five years in prison.
August 1
~ The Lake Orion Boat Club hosted their annual Rib-Off last weekend. Ten cooks competed in the contest, and Jonny King, representing Whiskey’s Steakhouse, took home the trophy for best ribs.
~ A statue was erected in Children’s Park last Friday in honor of Benita L. Cole. Over $5,000 was donated for the memorial after Cole’s passing nearly six years ago, and the statue sits about a dozen feet away from the bridge that is named in honor of Benita’s late husband and former Village Council President Fred C. Cole.
August 8
~ School is once again back in session with the start of Carpenter Year-Round Elementary. The reminder of Lake Orion schools start school in early September.
~ A little rain Sunday morning didn’t stop the fourth annual benefit ride to Frankenmuth, held by Orion Lodge #46 F & A M and the Michigan Masonic Motorcycle Association. This year’s ride, for the first time, benefited the Orion Veterans Memorial.
~ Restoration work continues on the Howarth schoolhouse, as the bell tower, which was removed, repaired and repainted by Upland Hills students, has been reattached, as well as a school bell having been installed and secured within the tower. Other projects, including removing the concrete porch, painting and fixing the front wall, are in the schoolhouse’s future.
August 15
~ A new doggie mayor will be serving Lake Orion, as Jack Turnbull (aka Captain Jack Sparrow) was selected as the new mayor at downtown’s Dog Days.
~ A centrally located public safety complex has received the go-ahead from the Orion Township Board, and construction could begin within the year. The new complex will house the Orion Substation of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, the Department of Public Works and a central Township Fire Station.
~ On Monday, representatives from the GM Orion Assembly plant presented a $24,000 check to the Lake Orion Village Police Department, on behalf of the 911 center. The money was promptly used to update the village dispatch center, which handles emergency calls not only for the Village Police Department, but also emergency calls on behalf of the Lake Orion Fire Department.
~ Flashing lights, loud sirens and huge construction equipment, plus over 3,000 attendees, found their way into Friendship Park last Friday night as Orion Township Parks and Recreation hosted their annual Big Rig Gig.
August 22
~ A Lake Orion family is seeking help after a fire destroyed part of their Glenn Court home. While the family waits for repairs to occur on the house, they are struggling to find a place to stay.
~ The Lake Orion Board of Education received a petition last week signed by 39 parents to put a bus drop-off at the Boys and Girls Club on Waldon Road. School officials said there’s nothing they can do given the status of the club since it is not a licensed daycare facility, as the district rules and regulations require of a drop-off site.
August 29
~ The township board is investigating a claim that Parks and Recreation Director Rock Blanchard requested $2,500 from a contracted employee in order to extend the contract, among other claims. According to Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk, the board is also investigating a letter from the employees of the Parks and Recreation department, expressing additional concerns.
~ Last Saturday, homeowners in Bunny Run subdivision refurbished their community ballfield by bringing in their own equipment and spending the day cleaning, cutting trees and filling holes at the field on Orion Terrace.
~ At the request of the Village Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, the village council has okayed extending park hours at Green’s Park. Rather than shutting down right after Labor Day, the park will remain open through Oct. 14 so residents may enjoy fall there.
~ Village residents will head to the polls on Sept. 11 to elect four individuals to the Village Council. President Pro Tem Kenneth Van Portfliet is running for reelection, along with councilmember Douglas Dendel, who is running as a write-in. Newcomers David Churchill, Robert Reetz and Ron Zilka are also running.
~ Louise Cooley Sutherland, who lived in Lake Orion for around 60 years, celebrated her 100th birthday on Aug. 24. She currently resides in a nursing home in Rochester Hills.
September 5
~ Local teen, Cristi Fischer, 14, rescued a goat after a butcher at the Oakland County Fair purchased it. She raised $200 to buy the goat back, cared for it for several weeks and is donating it to Blake’s Orchard and Petting Farm.
~ Lake Orion residents will have a chance to enjoy nature as the Moose Tree Nature Preserve will be open to the public for the first time this year. Originally only used as a curriculum supplement for Lake Orion schools, the Nature Preserve will be open some weekends, as well as be hosting several community events for the whole family.
~ The widow of Brooks Stewart Patterson has filed a lawsuit over the February snowmobile crash that killed her husband, the son of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. Jesse Patterson filed a wrongful death lawsuit last Friday in Oakland County Circuit Court against six men, seeking $25,000 in damages. No criminal charges were filed in the case.
September 12
~ Douglas Dendel and Kenneth Van Portfliet will return to the Lake Orion Village Council, and will be joined by newcomers David Churchill and Robert Reetz, as voters chose four individuals during Tuesday’s (Sept. 11) election. Just 151 of the village’s 2,071 registered voters (or 7.29 percent) turned out for the election. Dendel, Van Portfliet and Churchill, having garnered the three highest number of votes, will serve four-year terms, while Reetz will carry a two-year term.
~ Over 100 residents turned out on Tuesday for the Lake Orion Patriot’s Day ceremony at the Orion Veterans Memorial.
~ The township is looking into what jurisdiction they have over a property dispute inside of the Sunset Hills #1 subdivision on Elkhorn Lake. The board heard a presentation during their regular meeting last week from lakefront homeowner Nick Cucinelli, who said his neighbor, Dale Kotila, has systematically filled in a state designated wetland, and then created a berm on a subdivision-owned road to prevent flooding on his property.
September 19
~ Oakview Middle School Principal Alice Seppanen has been awarded the State Middle School Principal of the Year award. She was honored at last week’s school board meeting, and will go on to compete in the national competition.
~ Construction is underway on a multi-purpose field project in the northern-most part of Friendship Park. Glencorp, Inc., received the contract to complete the field from the township board in August, at an amount not to exceed $387,357.50. Included in their bid was the cost of a ‘clean up? of unwanted debris that allegedly came in with some donated fill.
~ Lake Orion High School was dismissed for the day and two other schools were forced to move after a power outage in parts of the township struck shortly after sessions began on Monday. Students at Scripps Middle School were moved to Waldon Middle School, where parents had the option to pick up their students, and Stadium Drive Elementary students were transported to Blanche Sims Elementary, where school continued as normal.
September 26
~ A pair of Orion Township residents were killed in unrelated motorcycle accidents last week. The first crash, on Adams Road in Rochester Hills, involved Kyle Brett, an 18-year-old who was a recent graduate of Lake Orion High School. Brett was driving his 1985 Honda motorcycle west on Walton Road, when witnesses said he ran a red light and was struck by a 2001 Jeep Cherokee going south on Adams. The accident took place shortly before midnight on Thursday. The second crash occurred on northbound Baldwin Road, south of Clarkston Road, at about 6 p.m. on Friday. Kenneth Hornacek, 34, was operating a 2001 Honda CBR motorcycle northbound on Baldwin Road. A friend of Hornacek was riding another motorcycle in front of him said that Hornacek heavily accelerated past him and crossed the centerline, striking a 2007 Chevy Venture that was southbound.
~ New council members Robert Reetz and David Churchill will be taking active roles in the Village Council as both individuals were nominated and elected (4-3) to the positions of president and president pro tem, respectively.
~ Around 1,200 people turned out to Scripps Day last weekend, which raised money for the newly formed Friends of the Scripps Estate, a group that will help to protect the legacy of the 80-year-old estate. A special ceremony was held Saturday as part of the three-day event that celebrated the estate’s new listing on the National Register.
~ Union members at the GM Orion Plant walked out on Monday, as workers left their jobs at about 80 facilities across the country. Officials from General Motors and the United Auto Workers were negotiating just hours after the mid-day Monday strike became effective.
October 3
~ Described as kind and caring young men by those who knew them, a family and the Lake Orion community mourns the last of two brothers. Joshua Schrauger, 17 and a senior at Lake Orion High School, and his brother Timothy, 14 and a freshman, were involved in a fatal car accident in Riley Township, just outside of Lansing, on Saturday afternoon. They were pronounced dead on the scene. The accident comes after months of hardship for the Schrauger family, as their oldest son David, an Army specialist, was critically injured during service in Iraq earlier this summer, and the family lost their home to foreclosure. The community has rallyed to help the family financially, and a fund has been set up through the family’s church, Community Bible Church in Waterford. A funeral for Joshua and Timothy was be held Oct. 4 at LOHS.
~ Lake Orion’s biggest annual event was held last Saturday when Barn Daze took over Friendship Park. The event, hosted by Orion Township Parks and Recreation, had around 4,000 people attend and featured pony rides, a chili challenge, petting farm, inflatable amusements and much more.
~ Less than 48 hours after workers left their jobs at about 80 facilities across the country, including one in Orion Township, officials from General Motors and the United Auto Workers came to an agreement last Wednesday (Sept. 26). The strike was the first UAW national strike against GM since 1970 and affected 73,000 hourly workers.
~ The newest face on the LOHS administration team is one that many students may recognize from their elementary days, as the new associate principal in charge of students? last names Gr-Om, is Bev Tepper, who most recently was the principal at Paint Creek Elementary. She has been working in the district for 13 years.
October 10
~ Funds are continuing to pour in to help the Schrauger family. As of Oct. 6, $142,245.79 had been raised through the fund set up at Community Bible Church, and money continues to be donated. Several fundraising events were also being planned around the community.
~ Last Friday, Lake Orion High School seniors Joe Graffeo and Taylor Hammerl were elected as Homecoming King and Queen for 2007, during halftime of the Homecoming football game, where Lake Orion defeated Pontiac Northern, 28-6.
~ It’s been 150 days since Pvt. Byron Fouty, who has ties to the Lake Orion and Oxford areas, went missing. His family continues to pray for his safe return, and last week, the Beaumont Medical Center of Lake Orion paid tribute to Fouty by putting his portrait on display. His picture was the third displayed at the center, in honor of all Michigan Freedom Fighters and Fallen Heroes. The project began in August.
~ The township board continued to sort through the Sunset Hills mess, but couldn’t take any action until they received information and feedback from the Department of Environmental Quality.
October 17
~ A detailed display of future proposals for the township parks system was at the center of a public hearing earlier this month and has been available for public review since the end of August. A final plan was expected to be put forth for adoption at the board’s Nov. 5 meeting.
October 24
~ Orion Keg & Wine owner Mike Setto continued his boycott of all Miller products, which he began earlier this month after seeing a poster of scantily-dressed men imitating Jesus? Last Supper, as a promotion for the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.
~ Some residents were upset that the investigation into unwanted debris from a 2005 donated fill at Friendship Park has lasted months longer than agreed upon by the board. The investigation, according to Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk, centered on the involvement of a local contractor who completed court-ordered community service by providing rough grading for a multi-purpose field in the rear of Friendship Park. The board was awaiting a report from Dywasuk, which they authorized in June to be back within 60 days. Dywasuk said the report was delayed due to involvement of the township attorneys. There was still no timeline for when a report might come back to the board.
~ As expected, the Lake Improvement Board for Indianwood Lake raised the assessment by 23-percent for homeowners in a number of subdivisions near the lake. The increase will allow for treatment and maintenance of the lake, with a yearly fee now set for the next five years.
~ By a 4-2 margin, the Orion Township Board of Trustees approved the township’s 2008 budget during their regular meeting last week. Trustees John Garlicki and Matt Gibb voted against the budget, both saying that it leaves certain issues unresolved.
October 31
~ Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced yesterday that he has assembled a group of concerned business owners and citizens to build a 1,800-square-foot home for Cliff and Vicki Schrauger, who last their Lake Orion home to foreclosure over the summer. The end goal of the project is to have a home completed in six months, mortgage free, that the family can move in to. A registry has been set up on the county’s website where individuals can donate goods and services towards the home construction.
~ An outbreak that has plagued several school districts in Oakland County in the past month found its way to Lake Orion, as the school district reported two confirmed cases of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) last week. The confirmed cases came from Oakview Middle School, on Oct. 23, and Lake Orion High School, on Oct. 25. Both schools were closed those evenings for thorough cleanings and re-opened, as normal, for school the next day.
November 7
~ A month after workers went on strike at the General Motors Orion Plant, news was of a different nature. The automaker announced internally last week that the Orion Plant will begin some production of the Chevrolet Malibu line. Work will begin on the new vehicle starting Dec. 3. It will be the first Chevy produced by the plant.
~ The Lake Orion Marching Band capped their best-ever season with a second place finish at the Michigan Competing Band Association finals, held Saturday at Ford Field. Lake Orion easily set a new school record score, eclipsing 89 points from the Flight I judges. Plymouth-Canton continued their long streak as the state’s top band, earning a score of 91.70. Lake Orion’s 89.15 was closer to the Plymouth band than any school at any MCBA competition in recent memory.
November 14
~ Dr. Joe Mastromatteo was selected as Orion’s Citizen of the Year by the Orion Area Parade Group and The Review, and would serve as Grand Marshall in the annual Holiday Lighted Parade. Mastromatteo has been instrumental in the development of the Orion Veterans Memorial.
~ Lake Orion police searched for a bank robber that stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the TCF Bank (471 S. Broadway) shortly after 6 p.m. Friday. The robber, described as a male, six-feet tall, mid-20s to 30s in age, with brown hair pulled into a banded collar length pony tail along with a slight moustache, entered the bank and approached the teller, displaying a note demanding cash. The man did not speak and, after receiving the cash, left on foot, to the northeast. A tracking dog lost his scent on the roadway to the north of the bank.
November 21
~ By a 4-3 margin, the Lake Orion Village Council voted last Tuesday night (Nov. 13) to terminate the contract of Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel, after rejecting a motion to postpone the decision by the same count. The issue was not originally on the agenda, but was added by President Pro Tem David Churchill, who also made the subsequent motion. New President Rob Reetz (who along with Churchill was elected to the council two months ago) voted in favor of the termination, along with John Ranville and the recently re-elected Doug Dendel.
~ A strange odor swept through the township last Tuesday night (Nov. 13), prompting hundreds of calls from township residents to Consumers Energy. The odor came from a gas well operation involving an independent operation that was under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
~ Indianwood Golf and Country Club, as well as the Orion community, will be back on the national radar as the club and the United States Golf Association announced Thursday their agreement to host the 2012 U.S. Senior Open on the old course.
November 28
~ The Lake Orion Village Council listened to nearly three hours of public comments during a special meeting last week, before they voted down a motion that would have given them a chance to rescind Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel’s termination, and then outlined procedures for the next manager. Council agreed to give Van Tassel full managerial duties until Dec. 16, and a lump sum severance package, worth six months of pay and potentially $9,000 of vacation time, which would be paid following approval in January. Van Tassel recommended that Village Clerk Arlene Nichols serve as interim manager.
~ During their regular meeting last week, the Orion Township Board of Trustees continued their talks on a lawsuit filed by former assistant Jill Verros, the Friendship Park investigation and the Elkhorn Lake property issues. All three discussions took place during executive session, as one is considered pending litigation and the other two centered on attorney opinion letters.
~ The finishing touches were completed on several path projects across the township, which could mark the end of the work for the entire system. According to Township Parks and Recreation Director Rock Blanchard, these could be the last safety path projects for the township, as the millage expired in 2007.
December 5
~ This past weekend brought the Holly Jolly Folly, the Orion Holiday Lighted Parade and lots of snow to town.
~ The Schrauger family is coming to the Village of Lake Orion, as the family selected a home site last week in the Newton Meadows Subdivision. In the meantime, and during the construction, the family has been offered a home in Orion Township, by Robert Cicilian and family, to live in rent-free until the new home is constructed.
~ Written allegations submitted by a former employee against its director prompted the governing board for the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) to hire an attorney last week. The unsigned letter, submitted by former NOTA Operations Manager Danny Poole, detailed numerous accusations and allegations, ranging from verbal/physical abuse of staff and inappropriate use of NOTA resources to wasteful spending and policy violations, against NOTA Director Pat Fitchena.
~ St. Joseph Catholic Church joined those from St. Anne in Ortonville this past week in celebrating the life of the Rev. Bernard J. Mullen. Father Mullen, of Ortonville, who died last Wednesday (Nov. 28) after a long illness. He was 72. ‘Father Bernie,? as he was known as by friends and parishioners, served in Lake Orion for nine years.
December 12
~ After over 25 years in the Lake Orion school district, Superintendent Christine Lehman will say good-bye this summer. She made the announcement last week that she will retire June 30, when her contract is up.
~ The weather didn’t exactly cooperate, but that could not stop a project that’s been in the works since late October, as a groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday at the Village of Lake Orion site of the soon-to-be constructed home for the Schrauger family.
~ A proposed expansion on an Auburn Hills landfill had some township officials concerned, but what Orion can do about the situation remains to be seen. The landfill is just north of The Palace of Auburn Hills and runs up to Orion Township’s southern border, along Brown Road.
~ While Lake Orion took home a ‘B? on their Michigan Education YES! Program report card, they are among 23 county high schools to not make the grade when it comes to Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). AYP is mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law, and it judges a school on a variety of factors, such as test scores, percentage rates of students taking assessment and rate of high school graduates. While the high school missed meeting requirements, all of Lake Orion’s middle and elementary schools passed AYP standards.
December 19
~ A threat was found on the wall of a stall in the boys? bathroom at Lake Orion High School last Wednesday. The graffiti-message contained a threat to the general student body, specifically citing Thursday, Dec. 13. As a precaution, students were not allowed into school Thursday or Friday with backpacks.
~ A snowstorm over the weekend dumped around eight inches of snow around Lake Orion.
~ As of Jan. 15, Orion Neighborhood Television’s public, government and education access channels will be moving as Comcast attempts to put everything on a digital tier. Comcast analog customers will have to contact the cable company to receive a free converter (for one year) if they wish to be able to view the channels. For digital customers, the only difference for them will be the channels will now be a different number.
December 26
~ Discussion of the proposed centrally-located public safety complex has been put on hold, signaling apprehension on the part of some board members to proceed with the project.
~ The township has requested a public hearing through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality with regards to the proposed expansion of the Oakland Heights landfill in Auburn Hills. The township has no indication when the hearing will be held, only that it will be in ‘the vicinity of the proposed disposal area,? not necessarily the municipality of the requestor.