Are Blue Star lights warranted? BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR A traffic analysis conducted by Allegan County Road Commission consultants shows traffic volumes may warrant signal lights at corners of Blue Star Highway and Old Allegan Road, aka “Crash Corner,” and further south at Lake Street — but crash volumes don’t. This may surprise some given Read More…
Saugatuck/Douglas Commercial Record
Year in review: 2021 one last time
By Scott SullivanEditorJust because we’re a week into 2022 doesn’t mean our need to fill space as result of the news-starved holiday season is quite over.Last week’s “2021 Rear in Your View” extended into mid-July, i.e. wait, there’s more. Let’s put stake in the past year’s heart before it rears up again: JulySaugatuck Township agrees Read More…
Gerrymandering lives, county chair complains
By Scott SullivanEditorAllegan County Commission chair Jim Storey (R-Holland) is not impressed by redistricting that divvies the county among three U.S. Congressional districts and places Saugatuck-Douglas in a state House district that truly resembles a salamander.The latter (see map) slithers down the Lake Michigan coast all the ways south to New Buffalo. The term “gerrymander” Read More…
Fennville to seek public safety millage
Fennville will seek a 4-mill levy for public safety in a special May election to cover rising police, fire and ambulance costs, Commercial Record correspondent Jim Hayden reports on his Bicycle Base Fennville blog.The city commission, of which he is a member, approved asking Monday.“The public safety millage is to continue the level of service Read More…
Township weighs dog park upgrades
By Scott SullivanEditorSaugatuck Township Manager Joe Frey was scheduled Wednesday to pitch the parks commission on a plan to expand services and trail access at its 6-acre Tails ‘n’ Trails Dog Park, 6359 134th Ave.Opened in 2004 thanks to a community group raising funds to fence, make signs, parking, the park hosts four separate areas Read More…
Obituary: Jeffrey Richards, 75
Dr. Jeffrey E. Richards of St. Joseph passed away at 75 from COVID complications on Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.He was born on May 17, 1946 to Donna (nee Finnegan) and Edward Joseph Richards in Plymouth. He attended a one-room school in Canton Township through the eighth grade, then moved to Ypsilanti and graduated from Roosevelt Read More…
Maggie’s Pantry
By Maggie ConklinMakin’ BaconMy dear husband has annual health checkups with local boy/now man done good, Dr. Jason Meyers,They were perusing my husband’s current blood work when Dr. Meyers noticed the total cholesterol scores. “Gee, your cholesterol has always been good, but it’s really gone up since last time. What do you think is causing Read More…
Require politicians to first work in private sector
By Mike WilcoxPublisherHere’s a novel suggestion: require persons running for Congressional seats to spend a few years in the private sector.This idea was presented to me a few weeks ago, and the more I thought about it the more it makes sense.Too many of our elected officials are lifetime politicians. They spend their entire lives Read More…
Township OKs $358K in 2022 road work
By Scott SullivanEditorThere will be a whole lotta crack sealing going on this summer with the Saugatuck Township Board last month approving work orders for an estimated $358,000 worth of road improvements in 2022.The Allegan County Road Commission will seek and present project bids to the board in spring.Work carried over from the 2021 construction Read More…
Life as Performance Art
By G.C. StoppelI read Mike Wilcox’s father’s reflections on small town life with delight.I grew up in a city of some 30,000. After ordination I moved to a church in a hamlet of 92 people, with one gas station, one grocery store, the grain elevator and a county-chartered bank everyone called Bob’s Bank. The sign Read More…