Local centenarian to celebrate birthday

Faith in God and a healthy diet that includes vegetables and walking are Ona Bixler’s keys to living a century. ‘Mom never thought she’d live this long,? laughs Joyce Brendel, speaking for her mother. ‘Her three brothers all died in their late 60s or early 70s.? Brendel, a 1954 Ortonville High School graduate, will be […]

Groveland Twp. opts for recreation user fee

Groveland Twp.-By a 4-0 vote Monday night, the township board of trustees agreed to dump an annual $15,000 fee paid to Brandon Recreation for township participants. Trustee David Ax was absent from the meeting. Instead, residents who want to participate will pay a $60 fee for an individual for a single program or an annual […]

Pets becoming latest victims of poor economy

Bandit is one lucky dog. Last December, Brandon Township resident Cynthia Strehle received a phone call from a Flat Rock, Mich. woman regarding a 9-year-old Shiba Inu dog, that reportedly was left alone in an abandoned home. ‘The neighbor kids had been feeding the dog for several months,? said Strehle, who owns several of the […]

Local soldier injured in Baghdad explosion

Ty Gucwa, 23, a 2003 Brandon High School graduate, was injured when a bomb exploded on Jan. 29 in the streets of Baghdad. According to newspaper reports, five Fort Carson, Co. soldiers including Gucwa were wounded in the blast. All are expected to recover. The bomb was detonated near a checkpoint where American and Iraqi […]

‘Each day I still feel the pain?

Army Spc. Jan Mayhew is proud of his more than five years of service in Vietnam. But 35 years after the conflict in Southeast Asia ended’the battles still rage in his mind. ‘I’m always fighting the Viet Cong,? said Ortonville resident Mayhew, 62, who was drafted into the Army in September 1966. ‘I was never […]

Township residents eye user fee for recreation

Groveland Twp.- Residents who play may have to pay. That’s the message more than 320 residents indicated through a survey from township officials after area residents were asked their input on funding for recreation services through the Brandon Recreation Department. Officials from Brandon and Groveland townships discussed the recreation funding issue last December. Brandon officials […]

Overfeeding deer sparks concern over possible TB case

Mary Dettloff, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources, said a deer harvested during the late antlerless season in Bennington Township in southeast Shiawassee County, about 30 miles west of Atlas Township, may have tested positive for bovine Tuberculosis (TB). The DNR is waiting for the final test results from Michigan State University before […]

Change in law to curb driver licenses for illegal aliens

According to police reports, Brandon Township resident Ramon Felix Pineda, 25, consumed numerous beers, climbed behind the wheel of his white Camaro before hitting the motorcycle and killing off-duty Flint police officer Vincent D’Anna, 26, in an Independence Township drunk-driving crash on Aug. 26. Pineda, who was driving on a suspended Michigan license, is also […]

Ortonville centenarian remembered for Crop Walk, family

A World War I survivor, an Italian immigrant, loving mother’local centenarian Alice Santulina will be remembered as a steadfast St. Anne Church member who put family and community first. Santulina died Jan. 27 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Oakland. She was 100. A funeral Mass was celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday from St. Anne Church, […]

Former Brandon Township Clerk, local bank teller remembered

Former township clerk and local bank teller Helen M. Jencks of Oxford, formerly of Ortonville, died Jan. 30. She was 89. Jencks attended Ortonville High School and served as Brandon Township clerk from 1953 until 1960. She also worked for many years at the Genesee Merchants Bank. ‘When I was a teenager I would go […]