Ortonville- In the current economic times, it is rare to find a municipality that hasn’t had to make any cuts. Here in the village, not only did the council recently pass a budget with relative ease and no cuts, but officials are now looking at spending money on improvements. ‘I feel fortunate to be in […]
A budget bill recently signed by the governor and promoted as an $11 increase in per-pupil funding is not really an increase, says one local superintendent. ‘For fiscal year 2010, we are expecting to receive an increase of $11 per pupil from the state,? said Brandon Schools Superintendent Lorrie McMahon. ‘Technically, all it does is […]
Goodrich- Last August, on one of the hottest days of the year, Margaret Stump walked 22 miles. Sweating, exhausted, and with a blister on her right foot, the Goodrich resident, now 54, made it to her destination, a camp filled with a sea of pink two-person tents, all awaiting the participants in the Susan G. […]
Taylor Bottiglia’s ‘pet? weighs more than half a ton more than she does. The 8-year-old Brandon Township resident is just 60 pounds. The steer she calls ‘Checkers,? weighs in at about 1,080. ‘He is scary sometimes,? says Taylor. ‘I still like him. He’s nice more than he’s scary.? Taylor got Checkers in September from a […]
On a headstone in the Protestant Cemetery on Mackinac Island is engraved the words, ‘For whom God loves, he gives a home at Mackinac.? Shannon Larsen, a 2006 Brandon High School graduate, has found this to be true. Speaking by phone from the island this week, where she is spending her third consecutive summer, Larsen […]
Rachel Morlock was on a bus in Israel with her grandmother and about 40 other American tourists when their guide asked if anyone had family members who didn’t want them to visit Israel because they were concerned for their safety. Everyone on the bus raised their hands. He then asked how many had felt threatened […]
Brandon Twp.- The school district will have a developmental kindergarten class this coming school year, something not offered here in at least the past decade. Cindy Locey, a Belle Ann kindergarten teacher still excited over the district’s decision to retain all paraprofessionals this fall amidst budget cuts, is ecstatic over the new class. ‘I just […]
Brandon Twp.- The district will retain all 86 paraprofessionals currently working in the district? for now. Superintendent Lorrie McMahon said after a meeting with the parapros, a hybrid plan was developed where some will stay as direct employees of the district and others will be hired through a third-party contractor. ‘They have made their own […]
Brandon Twp.- Roger Goodman interacts with students throughout the school district every day, what he says is one of the number one joys of his job at every age level? yet he is largely unknown to the kids. ‘They’re always asking, ‘Who’s he??? says Goodman. ‘I tell them I’m the person in charge of keeping […]
Ortonville- In a time when municipalities everywhere seem to be struggling financially, the village is an oddity. The council passed a 2010-2011 budget Monday night without a single cut? a word that has become commonplace to the Brandon Township Board as well as the Brandon School District. In fact, the village council has a fund […]