‘This surgery means freedom. It’s a victory?

Ortonville- At his heaviest, Tim Dibble weighed 467 pounds. He worried about breaking chairs, was unable to sit in restaurant booths, was uncomfortable in movie theater seats and bought seat extensions for plane rides. His weight even determined the car he bought. Emotionally, his feelings were hurt by jokes and comments people made about his […]

Board ousts Township library director

Brandon Twp.-The library board voted unanimously March 23 to terminate library director JoAnn Foster Gavey. The termination comes after a two-week long investigation into complaints about Gavey from staff members. ‘We found a widespread feeling that the library was an extremely poor working environment,? said Matt Ault, board vice-president. ‘The board felt that for the […]

Library note draws ire of parent

Brandon Twp.? A blue note sent home with students from Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School recently has at least one parent seeing red. The note informed students and parents that the Brandon Township Public Library would be closed to students 12 and under on March 24 (a half-day of school) unless they were accompanied by a […]

‘We are a family, no matter how different?

Brandon Twp.- When David Ollie Ray called to inquire about registering his sons at Belle Ann Elementary, he was told they would definitely be the minority. He thought she was talking about his children, who are black. She was actually talking about him and his partner, Willie Ray, who are gay. ‘We had two minority […]

Brandon Township Library woes mount

Brandon Twp.- The beleaguered Brandon Township Library’s problems continue. Library director JoAnn Gavey is on a two-week paid administrative leave as a fact-finding committee investigates complaints against her, while budget woes will have library employees working a week without pay this year. The six-member library board unanimously agreed during a closed session on March 8 […]

Man sentenced in drive-by shootings

Pontiac- Daniel Austin Hunt says he was drunk and ‘got a kick? out of shooting out windows on two homes on Granger Road last November. The choices he made on that night have resulted in a prison sentence for him and have changed the victims? lives and his forever. Hunt will serve one to four […]

S.T.A.N.D up at Brandon

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Brandon Twp.- Ripped phone books and broken bats are not items normally expected to be seen at school. But that is exactly what many students saw when the S.T.A.N.D. Strength Team visited the Brandon schools recently. The Brandon School District does not have a D.A.R.E. program, but the township and […]

Brandon senior tops at science/engineering fair

Brandon Twp.- Jessica Laviolette has done it again. On March 8, the Brandon High School senior won the grand prize at the Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit, along with eight professional awards, including a grand prize from DTE Energy; six first-place prizes and a second-place prize. The wins repeat Laviolette’s success last year […]

Township eyes M-15 parcel for complex

By Susan Bromley Staff Writer Brandon Twp.- What began as a public hearing for the proposed township purchase of a 14-acre parcel of land ended with another purchase proposal on the table? a separate 54-acre parcel also located off M-15. More than 50 people turned out for the March 6 public hearing, with some residents […]

Alone across the Arctic, one woman’s story

Not many people can face an angry polar bear, temperatures as cold as 40 degrees below zero, and breaking ice underfoot and live to tell about it. Pam Flowers can. Flowers, 59, will speak about those experiences at 7 p.m. March 20 and 21 at the Brandon Township Library when she presents, ‘Alone Across the […]