Can they do it again? Baseball squad up for the challenge

No team has ever repeated at Division 1/Class A state champions in the history of Michigan high school baseball. Just moments after his team won the title last June, someone asked Coach Andy Schramek if his team could break that streak. It might have been too early to ask the question at that point, but […]

Talented soccer squad hopes to make deep playoff run

Most coaches will tell you it’s not about how you start a season, it’s about how you finish it. But if the Lake Orion girls? soccer team can finish like they started this season, it could be a very big year. The team tied two-time defending state champion Novi 1-1 in a scrimmage at the […]

Township likely to buy gravel again in 2008

Last year, Orion Township spent $100,000 improving some gravel roads. They purchased the 21AA limestone and the Road Commission of Oakland County applied it. Last week, the board approved the concept for this spring. The funding will come from the township’s capital improvement fund. No dollar amount was set, as the township engineers will first […]

DDA program getting national attention

‘Gurble, gurble, gurble, party of four.? Sound familiar? That’s a restaurant hostess letting you know that your table is ready, using one of those pesky intercom systems. We’ve all heard them before. But the annoying jibberish is no more at downtown Lake Orion’s Sagebrush Cantina. Instead, you’ll be handed a pager that lets you know […]

Human resources issue lingers

The township has identified a firm to handle their human resource functions. Maybe. The board selected Your Source Management Group at their March 3 meeting with the intent to iron out a contract that was supposed to be signed earlier this week. Issues with that contract, however, will delay the agreement by at least three […]

Situation ‘taxing? for long-time residents

Most property taxes went up this year despite lower assessments, though, for a select few, taxes actually went down. As a result of Proposal A, many long-term property owners are the ones feeling the pinch this year. Township Assessor John Attwell said most assessed values decreased, but as a result of the 1994 proposal, most […]

Dragons, Deeg earn pre-season diamond honors

Last year, he threw five innings of no-hit ball on opening day. In the first weekend of the playoffs, his team won a pair of shutouts thanks to his two home runs (one hitting left-handed and one hitting right-handed) and complete-game one-hitter. In the state championship game, he pitched a complete game again, as his […]

The king of the Palace

If a trip to Battle Creek wasn’t enough, the Lake Orion wrestling squad solidified its place among the state’s elite with six placers at the individual finals last Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills, including the school’s second-ever state title winner. Jake Varilek earned that distinction by beating Nick Kaczanowski, of Rochester, 1-0 in […]

The LO Down (on sports)

One of my very first assignments at this newspaper was covering an early-season boys? basketball game in December of 2005. I don’t remember what team the Dragons played, or what the score was, but I do remember Jim Manzo. The Lake Orion coach was rarely seated for more than 10 seconds, constantly communicating with his […]

Baldwin Rd. land creating controversy?

A parcel on the east side Baldwin Road, just north of Brown Road, remains in limbo, with the property owner intending to address the township board for the second time in as many months next week. Last week, the township planning commission upheld their action, denying a request to change the hours of operation stated […]