Read The Daily News Funeral Notices for Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012

Eight Republican candidates are running for four contested positions on the Montcalm County Board of Commissioners.

Spectrum Health United Hospital’s Emergency Department will begin providing patient care services in the newly constructed portions of the Stanley and Blanche Ash Emergency Department. The move was set to begin at 7 a.m. today and will allow the existing emergency department to begin renovation.

Spectrum Health United Hospital held ribbon cuttings and an open house for the new Stanley and Blanche Ash Emergency Department and Heart and Vascular Center on Thursday evening. “It’s very beautiful,” said David Mack, Spectrum Health United Memorial’s board president. Mack said the community’s on-going support of the hospital is essential for the growth in the future.

An eight-year-old boy is being treated for non-life threatening injuries after he was struck by a vehicle while riding a bike Friday. Montcalm County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a car-bicycle accident at 6:23 p.m. on South Town Hall Road north of Sidney Road.

A first-place award for a series about small local businesses and entrepreneurship highlight several honors The Daily News received this week when the 2011 Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association contest results were announced. Daily News staffers were honored in four of the 18 contest categories, which encompass news and sports writing and photography, informational graphics and online blogs. The Daily News, with a circulation of approximately 7,000, is a Division I newspaper, which means it is measured against daily newspapers with a circulation of less than 15,000.

Warm spring weather brings out-door activities for all to enjoy. A flea and farmers market will take place at 7 a.m. every Friday and Saturday starting Friday at the Old Meijer located on 1220 N. Lafayette Street.

The Montcalm County dog census amnesty period is well under way and the response has been overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that Montcalm County Treasurer JoAnne Vukin can’t handle the phone calls.

Michigan has a number of municipalities and school districts going bankrupt, and the special interests most influential in bringing those institutions to that point are pushing for a state referendum to stifle the state’s emergency manager program. Their goal is apparently to sustain the unsustainable.

In a spoof paralleling Agatha Christie’s famous novel “And Then There Were None,” the Greenville Area Community Center 2012 Murder Mystery Dinner Theater presents “And Then There Was One.” An annual fundraiser for the center, the event is Friday and Saturday. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 at the community center located at 900 E. Kent Road. Tickets are $20 for both dinner and the show, or $15 for the show only. Tickets are available at the community center or by calling (616) 754-9163.