Deputies apprehend intoxicated driver after near miss

On June 19, at 7:35 p.m., a Brandon deputy responded to Perry Lake Road at Granger Road after a vehicle drove through the stop sign and crashed into the ditch. A witness at the scene had been jogging eastbound on Granger Road at Perry Lake Road and stated if she had been 20 feet further, […]

Council OKs village budget, compensation

Ortonville- The village continues to be in sound financial condition, with a ‘healthy? fund balance. During their meeting June 24, village council members unanimously approved a municipal budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014 with revenues and expenditures of $570,651. The motion to approve the budget also included a 2 percent performance-based compensation […]

Brandon Board approves budget; building repairs loom

Brandon Twp.- The school board unanimously approved the 2013-2014 budget during a special meeting June 26 with little comment. Trustee LeAnne Schmidt asked only if the budget was the same one presented during the June 10 public budget hearing which carried the burden of a $621,790 operating deficit. Jan Meek, executive director of business operations, […]

Buddhist monastery: ‘The whole experience is mind-bending?

Matt Milligan hopes one day to be a professor of Asian studies at a prestigious university such as Harvard or Princeton. But his first teaching position will be far from the wealth and privilege of these schools on the East Coast of the United States. The 2003 Brandon High School graduate is traveling to the […]

Fighting for a cure

Ortonville- Party on. The area’s largest party, the 2013 Relay for Life of Brandon/Ortonville, was supposed to last 24 hours, from June 15-16. But stormy weather that rolled through in the early morning hours of June 16 interrupted the event that raises funds for cancer research. The Relay will now wrap-up at 6 p.m., Monday, […]

Ortonville area charter school plans continue

Ortonville- When one door closes, another opens. Mary Wilcox was disappointed when the Brandon School Board voted in April to decline an offer to purchase the vacant Sherman building for use as a charter school. Instead, the building will be demolished in November. However, Wilcox, president of Better Choice Development, Inc., believes she may now […]

Single garbage hauler, wage increases eyed in Brandon

Brandon Twp.- A single garbage hauler for residents, wage increases for township employees, and park development were all part of the discussion at a recent township board strategic planning workshop. The board is planning for 5-year and 10-year projections, said Supervisor Kathy Thurman, but is concentrating on objectives for the next four years. A workshop […]

Brandon Board takes aim at school bullying

Brandon Twp.- Last spring, a new policy regarding bullying was implemented in the district, which included reporting incidents to the state. At the June 17 school board meeting, Superintendent Lorrie McMahon announced the number of incidents recorded at each building in the district. ‘The terms come from the state and we report some to the […]

Brandon District in decline

Brandon Twp.- The school district has been losing students and funds at an increasingly alarming rate for the past eight years. Budget reductions have not stopped a steady depletion of the fund balance, which takes another $600,000 hit with the proposed 2013-2014 budget. During a public budget hearing June 10, Jan Meek, executive director of […]

From Oakwood to Finland: Secrets of educational success

For the past ten years, Finland has ranked number one in the world on a test that measures the competency of high school students in math, science and reading. Last month, Oakwood Elementary Principal Kristy Spann traveled to the Scandivanian country to learn the secrets of their educational success. The Brandon educator was able to […]

1 59 60 61 62 63 280