Allegan County News & Union Enterprise

Safety week returns to Otsego Schools

Safety week returns to Otsego Schools

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20243 min read

The safety of students and staff members is a top priority for Otsego Public Schools officials.That’s why, for the fifth year, OPS is recognizing School Safety Week beginning Monday, Oct. 14, and running through Friday, Oct. 18.This year, along with…

Otsego honors Guthrie with Cyndi Trobeck Award

Otsego honors Guthrie with Cyndi Trobeck Award

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20244 min read

Otsego Public Schools food service coordinator Julie Guthrie (middle) received the Cyndi Trobeck Community Service Award. (Photo provided) By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Serving others in the community—particularly the children and families of Otsego—is one of Julie Guthrie’s favorite pastimes.“I love…

Otsego tennis posts victory over Harper Creek

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20241 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor BATTLE CREEK—In a tune-up for regional play, the Otsego boys tennis team traveled to Battle Creek for a non-league match against Harper Creek on Monday, Oct. 7.And a successful trip it was.The Bulldogs cruised to the…

Allegan swim upends host Hastings

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20242 min read

HASTINGS—The Allegan girls swim & dive team secured a commanding victory over Hastings on Tuesday, Oct. 1, by a final score of 105-73.This win continues the Tigers’ undefeated streak, bringing their conference record to 4-0.The Tigers’ individual event winners included…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20247 min read

    An online religious news service recently featured an article that hunting was really a form of conservation, and the fulfillment of God’s instructions to Adam and Eve to take dominion over the earth.  That is an interesting perspective.    For…

40th Annual Fennville Goose Festival this weekend

40th Annual Fennville Goose Festival this weekend

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20245 min read

By Gari Voss Goose Festival Weekend has arrived. Fennville, Mi will open its streets from Thursday, October 10 through Sunday, October 13, 2024, to residents and visitors in celebration of the migration of geese through the fields around Fennville. This…

6th annual Melonhead Games explore Allegan Forest

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20246 min read

By Gari Voss &Scott Hageman On Saturday, October 19, 2024, the Allegan Game Forest will be alive with lights wielded by participants of the Melonhead Games. This is the sixth year that Scott Hageman will unveil five campfire stories that…

Mike’s Musings: Donate if you can, Helene a monster

Mike’s Musings: Donate if you can, Helene a monster

Editorial StaffOct 9, 20243 min read

We all are too familiar with it now. I am writing about the devastation that we witnessed in western North Carolina last week. Hurricane Helene, which swept through Florida quickly and then motored up to the Carolina’s within a blink…

Plainwell schools asks voters to approve bond

Plainwell schools asks voters to approve bond

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20244 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor A new preschool building and new gyms for two elementary schools.Those are among the main items included in a bond proposal that Plainwell Community Schools officials hope voters will pass in the November election.This marks the…

Otsego Band Invitational takes center stage

Otsego Band Invitational takes center stage

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20244 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor The annual Otsego Band Invitational is always a special event for Otsego High School/Middle School band director Mitch Piersma.This year’s edition—which was the 39th and took place on Saturday, Sept. 28—was even more so.That’s because when…

Allegan tennis places third at league tourney

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20242 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor With three teams ranked in the top 10 among Division 4 boys tennis teams, you’d probably think the SAC/Lakeland Conference Finals on Friday, Sept. 27, was a highly contested battle.And you’d be right.In the end, it…

Otsego tennis splits matches

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20241 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor The Otsego boys tennis team took on a pair of Wolverine Conference rivals on back-to-back days and came away with split results.The Bulldogs beat Three Rivers 7-1 on Thursday, Sept. 26, after falling 6-2 to Three…

Obituary: Marella Jean (Clawson) Norman

Obituary: Marella Jean (Clawson) Norman

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20243 min read

Marella Jean (Clawson) Norman, of Plainwell, MI, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, in Allegan, MI, at the age of 91. Born on August 8, 1933, in Hopkins, MI, to Grover and Florence Clawson, Marella was raised with…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20248 min read

    At one time or another, almost every child born in the United States has given at least a passing thought to the idea of being the President.  It is a noble idea, and more than anything else, it indicates…

Tech Center students design and build bike racks for downtown Allegan

Tech Center students design and build bike racks for downtown Allegan

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20242 min read

Take a walk around downtown Allegan, and you might notice three unique, eye-catching bike racks designed and fabricated by students at the Allegan Area ESA Tech Center. These custom creations, each tailored to the character of its location, showcase the…

Allegan City Council Ballot reveals five candidates

Allegan City Council Ballot reveals five candidates

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20249 min read

By Gari Voss The Allegan City Council will have a number of new faces after the November 5, 2024, election. As the term of councilmembers comes to an end, three current members will be retiring. Those are the current mayor…

Mike’s Musings: National debt crisis- here’s one lawmakers solution

Mike’s Musings: National debt crisis- here’s one lawmakers solution

Editorial StaffOct 2, 20243 min read

Readers of this column know I have been an avid proponent of balancing the federal budget. Our leaders simply refuse to turn off the money spending spigot, i.e., one has to only listen to the two presidential candidates and their…

Lee Township man faces 33 felonies for child porn

Lee Township man faces 33 felonies for child porn

JordanSep 27, 20241 min read

Jordan WilcoxAssistant Publisher Casey Allen Letts, a 33-year-old man from Lee Township faces 33 felony charges related to uploading and receiving child sexually explicit material, according to a press release from the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office. On April 16th, the…

Bicyclist killed in drunk hit and run near Pullman

Bicyclist killed in drunk hit and run near Pullman

JordanSep 27, 20242 min read

Jordan WilcoxAssistant Publisher On Thursday, September 19th, at 10:16 pm, 50-year-old, Tracey Lynn Decker was fatally struck by an SUV while riding her bicycle on 111th Avenue near 55th Street in Lee Township. Luckily, Decker’s teenage daughter was riding with…

Otsego students to be honored as part of Purple Week

Otsego students to be honored as part of Purple Week

Editorial StaffSep 25, 20248 min read

Otsego sophomore Christopher Harris (above) and Otsego seventh grader Remy Coburn will be honored before the Otsego football game on Friday, Oct. 4, as part of Purple Week. Otsego Public Schools’ Purple Week is almost here.The event, which the district…