Ortonville- The village council pushed through an ordinance in perhaps the fastest time ever at their Aug. 24 meeting. The council passed the dangerous animals ordinance by a 6-1 vote. Council President Ken Qusienberry was the sole dissenter. ‘This is the quickest an ordinance has ever gone through this council,? said Councilmember Melanie Nivelt. ‘It […]
Ortonville- The village remains without an official Department of Public Works, but the council will hire a seasonal employee to assist the current part-time employee who is taking care of critical village services. The village council voted 5-2 at their Aug. 24 meeting to hire the seasonal employee to ‘get us through as necessary,? said […]
Alicia Avery knows the hardships endured by a family battling cancer. She also knows how support in the fight is essential and Avery went on a journey of more than 300 miles to help ease the suffering of others, a mission that has not quite reached its end. In May 2013, Alicia Van Dis and […]
Brandon Twp.- The township will be joining with other local communities in an effort to control phragmites, an invasive weed that decreases property values and presents a fire hazard. During their Nov. 10 meeting, the township board voted 5-1 to participate with surrounding townships in the submittal of an application for funding from the Midwest […]
Brandon Twp.- The school board approved a first amendment to the 2014-15 budget which essentially balances the budget and leaves the district with a relatively healthy 8.14 percent fund balance; however, hefty cuts are coming in order to keep the district above the state’s critical threshold of a 5 percent fund balance. The amended budget […]
Brandon Twp.- Recreation is poised to move forward again after stalls and stumbles over the past few years. The township board approved 6-0 at their Nov. 10 meeting a motion to write a joint parks and recreation master plan with the Village of Ortonville. Trustee Ron Lapp was absent. ‘I think it is going to […]
Brandon Twp.- Alcohol is believed to be a factor in an accident that critically injured a 4-year-old township boy a week ago. Deputies responded at about 2:18 p.m., Aug. 15, to a single vehicle rollover accident in the 1100 block of Hurd Road. At the scene, they found a Ford Explorer heavily damaged in the […]
Two local nursing students recently got a crash course in caring for impoverished patients in the Dominican Republic. Susan Gajdos, a 2005 Brandon High School graduate, and Stacy Luttrell, a 2005 Goodrich High School graduate, were in the developing Caribbean nation from Aug. 2-9 as part of an annual mission trip with their church, New […]
Monica Lambert spends a lot of time thinking about food as a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar. ‘Volunteers are always thinking about or talking to each other about food, myself included,? said Lambert via e-mail from the world’s fourth-largest island nation, located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. ‘What did you […]
By Susan Bromley Staff Writer PFC Dan Rathburg enlisted in the Army in June of last year? at the age of 35. Unlike most new recruits, Rathburg, a 1992 Brandon High School graduate, had been married for 10 years, already had three children, and was established in the civilian world as a business owner. ‘I […]