Thus far, winter has been mild and it is a good thing due to the number of Montcalm County children lacking warm winter wear. Evi Petersen of Great Start Collaborative and a group of parents recognized the need and joined forces with Terry King of the Ionia/Montcalm County Department of Human Services with the goal in mind to provide local youths in need with proper winter wear.

Gov. Rick Snyder did a lot of things right during his first year in office. His proposal to require drug tests for all welfare recipients isn’t one of them. Snyder argues the drug tests will determine whether welfare benefits are being spent in the right way — feeding, clothing and housing the neediest among us. That’s true, the drug tests would find anyone spending the public’s hard-earned money on a quick high.

This weekend Jordan Thomas cemented his status as not only one of Greenville’s best wrestlers ever, but one of the state’s best. With four wins on Saturday, Thomas set the Greenville career wins record and reached an incredible 200 wins. Thomas went undefeated at the Jackson Northwest Invitational to capture the 189 pound title and tournament MVP honors.

The Greenville Yellow Jackets wrestling team saved its best for last on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets — down by six points — won 11 of 12 finals matches to pull ahead of DeWitt and capture the Jackson Northwest Tournament on Saturday.

Belding wrestling coach Travis Meyer has a good outlook on the rest of the season after the way his Redskins performed this week. “I think we had a great week of wrestling,” Meyer said. “We hung tough with Sparta Wednesday.”

I read the whole Harry Potter series and saw the movies. Many of you did too, I’m sure. I felt I had to do it because I needed to stay current. So, when I read a quote by Ellen Degeneres last week, it made me laugh out loud and want to share it with others. Ellen said, “I can’t believe this is the last Harry Potter movie. It’s the end of an era. Who knows, maybe someone will turn it into a book.” That kind of humor that comes out of nowhere and is just darn silly – well, it’s golden. We all need it and we need to share it when we hear it.

I stand in awe of single moms who successfully juggle jobs and family. And I’m trying to figure out how they do it. Since my son was born 14 years ago, I’ve been lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom. Sure, I always had a freelance writing job or two perking, but those could be done any time of day. And my schedule was open for school drop-off and pick-up, last minute doctor appointments, sporting events, and play dates.

Officers from the Greenville Department of Public Safety saved a man trapped in his own burning home early this morning. GDPS officers responded to a reported fire at 313 E. Cass St. at 5:55 a.m. Upon arrival, Public Safety Officers Casey Huber and Eric Hoig observed light smoke coming from the roof area. Huber made contact with an 83-year-old female occupant in the residence and learned that a 65-year-old man was upstairs in the home.

January is School Board Recognition Month. The Montcalm Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) is joining 552 local and 57 intermediate school districts across the state to thank these community volunteers for their untiring dedication to public education. “Serving on a school board has been described as the toughest volunteer job in America,” said MAISD Superintendent [...]

STANTON — A medical examiner investigator for Montcalm County pleaded guilty Thursday to using a county credit/debit card for personal use. Jason Danford, 38, of Sheridan, entered his plea in 8th Judicial Circuit Court to stealing or retaining a financial transaction device without consent. The conviction is a possible four-year felony, but Danford likely will [...]