‘It doesn’t change who you thought you were?

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Fitness centers across the country are filled at this time of year with thousands of people who have made it their new year’s resolution to lose weight or get physically fit. At In Motion Anytime, 4 N. Ortonville Road, they could find some fresh inspiration in Barbara Delisi, a member […]

Board eyes return to semesters

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Brandon Twp.- After less than two years of using a trimester system, school district officials are considering a return to semesters to save money. ‘Just like everything else, trimesters are on the table,? said Superintendent Lorrie McMahon. ‘We’re very pleased with (trimesters) for academics, but we were a good school […]

Recommendation: Busing to home schools only

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Brandon Twp.- The finance committee is recommending that students in the district be offered bus transportation only to their home schools. The recommendation will be made to the board at their next meeting, planned for 6:30 p.m., Feb. 8, at the central district office, 1025 S. Ortonville Road. ‘We are […]

Smooth ride for Main Street

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Ortonville- There were no major bumps in the road Tuesday as the village received accreditation as a Main Street community. ‘It’s another feather in our caps that we are doing things appropriately in enhancing the downtown,? said Village Manager Bill Sprague. Bob Donohue and Julie Courtney from Main Street Oakland […]

After two years: Township seeks NO-HAZ alternatives

Due to budget constraints, for the second year in a row, Brandon Township is not participating in the NO-HAZ program, leaving residents without a designated place to safely dispose of household hazardous waste. ‘Communities are in these financial crises, I understand, but they have to get alternative information out to the community as much as […]

Ortonville Rotary aids Haitians with Shelter Box

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are sleeping outside after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the impoverished island nation Jan. 12. The Ortonville Rotary Club hopes to help ease their suffering with assistance from the community. A Rotary charity, ShelterBoxUSA, is providing disaster relief by sending ShelterBoxes to Haiti. The 49-gallon […]

Retirement incentive offered to Brandon Schools support staff

Brandon Twp.- The finance committee decided during their Jan. 25 meeting to recommend that the school board offer an early retirement incentive to school district support staff. The package would offer $20,000 to be paid over three years to secretaries, bus drivers, custodial and maintenance staff with at least 20 years of service in the […]

Historic township bobsled now on display in Olympic museum

Brandon Twp.- An early 1900s bobsled that spent three decades in township resident Bill Rathburg’s barn has found a new home and glory at an Olympic museum in New York. ‘It’s wonderful,? said Elizabeth DeFazio, curator of the 1932 & 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum, where the restored bobsled is now on display along […]

Community, area rallies for Haiti assistance

Local churches and schools are answering the global pleas to assist victims of an earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12. According to news reports, the quake registered a magnitude of seven on the Richter Scale, killed an estimated 200,000 people, injured 250,000, and left 1.5 million homeless as buildings crumbled in the impoverished Caribbean nation. […]

‘It was an eye-opening experience?

Prior to Kathryn Remm and her fellow Navy Seabees? arrival in Kitgum, Uganda in October, the local hospital had only sheets hung to give new mothers privacy. The area high school’s dining facility had been out of operation for 15 years, with more than 1200 students from all regions within Africa and 42 teachers forced […]