It was a tip from a teacher who avidly watches The Ellen DeGeneres Show that led to Baldwin Heights Elementary School receiving a $100,000 grant from Target. “(The Target representative) had to tell me six times over the phone that this was not a joke, that our elementary school really won,” said Michael Walsh, Baldwin Heights Elementary School principal.

Christina Beckman was told less than 24 hours prior to President Barack Obama giving his speech at the University of Michigan that she would be introducing him. That staff at the Office of Public Affairs on the university’s campus nominated their employee Beckman, 20, of Greenville, to introduce the president in front of a crowd of about 4,000 at Al Glick Field House on the school’s Ann Arbor campus. Beckman said she had so many emotions running through her when she was selected including being nervous, scared and excited.

The old Meijer building is fast becoming a focal point for community activities. Members of Jesus Non-Denominational Church on Peck Road accepted the donation of the North Lafayette Street building in 2009 with the goal of renovating it into a community facility.

The Greenville Planning Commission made a jump start to its master plan Thursday night by approving a work program. Most of the items on the plan come from a master plan that Planning Commission members have been working on to help make Greenville a better place.

Read The Daily News Funeral Notices for Friday, Jan. 27, 2012

The Daily News, using the Freedom of Information Act, acquired the audio from the 16-minute 911 call made on Jan.5, 2012, during the robbery of the Family Dollar in Greenville. This video includes an 8-minute portion of that audio, which has been edited to protect the individuals involved.

The first and second halfs for the Montabella girls basketball team were night and day.
The Mustangs couldn’t buy a basket in the first half, but unloaded in the the final two quarters to top MSAC rival Vestaburg 42-16 at home on Thursday night.

FENWICK — No one was seriously injured after a vehicle lost control Thursday night on M-66 near Snows Lake Road striking a second vehicle. At 11:31 p.m. the Montcalm County Sheriff’s Department responded to a two-car accident involving three passengers. Justine Bollinger, 25, of Orleans, was driving a 2010 Dodge vehicle southbound with one rear [...]

Lloyd Windjammer is dead, called to that great licorice mine in the sky! Born Donald H. Jones, he was my childhood neighbor, a quiet, friendly boy inclined to solitude. The Jones family lived at the end of Earle Street, which ended just short of York Street because of the Jones’ back door. It was normally closed and too narrow, as well, for vehicular traffic. Accordingly, Earle Street ended where Ben Jones’ Model T began. He always had at least one, and I remember being kicked off the property for jumping onto the running board of a roadster as he worked on it. Old Ben seemed not to like me, but I’m not writing about him, anyway. Donald commands the story today.

Motivated by recent crimes in the Greenville area, community members have stepped up to form a neighbor watch group. The group, which was started by a Facebook group page on Jan. 13, is called Greenville Area Neighborhood Watch-Book. The Facebook page already has more than 600 members. “I am very pleased to see how fast the group is growing,” said page creator David Hendrick. “The more eyes out there, the better.”