Allegan County News & Union Enterprise

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial Staff Mar 12, 2025 6 min read

     A year ago, somewhere between Halloween and Thanksgiving, there was a slight crisis on the home front. It was during this time that Madame Dewey realized she was missing a stocking.  The default go-to response at other dire moments…

Mike’s Musings: Pat’s legacy will endure for many years

Mike’s Musings: Pat’s legacy will endure for many years

Editorial Staff Mar 12, 2025 3 min read

I lost a good friend and co-worker last week. Pat Maurer, has been a part of the Clare County Review since 1983, first as a sales rep, then a writer, then editor and finally as owner. Along the way my…

City Council discusses ballfield improvements, selling city property

City Council discusses ballfield improvements, selling city property

Editorial Staff Mar 12, 2025 7 min read

By Gari Voss The Allegan City Council addressed a variety of issues during their Monday, March 10, 2025, meeting. The Village Market and Juan Linn Restaurant moved officially to the C-2 General Commercial District Zone. The adjustments to Ordinance 528…

Gun Lake Casino hotel opens its doors

Gun Lake Casino hotel opens its doors

Editorial Staff Mar 12, 2025 2 min read

The Gun Lake Tribe has unveiled its long-awaited hotel addition to the Gun Lake Casino, marking a significant expansion for the property that opened in 2011.The 16-story hotel boasts 252 luxury rooms and suites, offering panoramic views of the surrounding…

Battle of the Books sets record for participation

Battle of the Books sets record for participation

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 3 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor It was a record-breaking year for the annual Battle of the Books competition.A total of 27 elementary school teams from four Allegan County school districts participated in the event at the Plainwell Performing Arts Center on…

Allegan girls beat Schoolcraft, fall to Hopkins

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 2 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor The Allegan girls basketball team hoped to end the regular season on a high note.Jayden VandenAkker and Maddie Antkoviak did their part to ensure that happened.VandenAkker scored a game-best 18 points and Antkoviak joined her in…

Plainwell wins SCC title, Otsego places runner-up

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 5 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor OTSEGO—During the regular season, the Plainwell boys swim & dive team used its superior depth to rack up a perfect 7-0 record in the Southwest and Central Michigan Swim Conference.That depth was on full display at…

“Justice for Otsego” founder succumbs to cancer

“Justice for Otsego” founder succumbs to cancer

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 3 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Mary Zack, founder of the advocacy group Justice for Otsego, passed away on Saturday, March 1. She was 43.An Otsego native, Zack was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1997 at the age of 17.In the years…

County residents dissatisfied with local propane company after buyout

County residents dissatisfied with local propane company after buyout

Jordan Wilcox Mar 5, 2025 4 min read

By Jordan WilcoxAssistant Publisher If there’s one thing rural residents rely on this time of year, it’s propane.Hopkins Propane is the area’s largest propane supplier. Founded in 1958, Hopkins served as the Grand Rapids Area’s premier independent propane supplier for…

Deer tries to crash through county medical care facility window

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 1 min read

By John RaffelCorrespondent ALLEGAN — Former Allegan County commission chairman James Story reported last month Allegan County Medical Care Facility Director Kim Turcott was walking to her car at the end of the day when a deer rushed by her,…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 4 min read

American psychiatrist William Glasser, mid-1960s founder of Reality Therapy and author of “Choice Theoryy,” died more than a decade ago. He was never well received by followers of Freud, Jung and others in his field. According to one story, Glasser…

Mike’s Musings: Send us those $5000 checks, DOGE

Mike’s Musings: Send us those $5000 checks, DOGE

Editorial Staff Mar 5, 2025 3 min read

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has received a lot of attention in the news lately. Led by Elon Musk, his minions of young computer nerds have found billions of dollars of waste and fraud taking place in our vast…

All three OHS choirs qualify for State Choral Festival

All three OHS choirs qualify for State Choral Festival

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 4 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor All three Otsego High School choirs—Chamber Singers, Bella Voce and Concert Choir—participated in a district choral festival on Wednesday, Feb. 19.And for the first time in at least four years, all three received 1 ratings, which…

Otsego Library eligible for donation match from ACCF

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 3 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor The Allegan County Community Foundation’s Third Annual Day of Giving—known as Allegan County Gives—is scheduled for Wednesday, March 19.And the Otsego District Library is one of the organizations that stands to benefit from the generosity of…

Otsego girls split pair of games

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 2 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor PAW PAW—The third quarter was the turning point in the girls basketball teams from Otsego and Paw Paw on Friday, Feb. 21.More accurately, the final portion of the third quarter was the turning point.With the Bulldogs…

Allegan girls pick up ‘huge’ win over South Haven

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 2 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Huge.No. Check that. Huge, huge.That’s how Allegan girls basketball coach Sharron Thompson described his team’s home win over a South Haven team that features one of the area’s top scorers in Ly’Nique Cunningham.“This was a huge,…

Obituary: Linda L. Wilson (Meade)

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 1 min read

Linda L. Wilson (Meade), 79, of Allegan, Michigan, passed away peacefully Monday, February 17, 2025, with family by her side. Born December 28, 1945, in Allegan, Michigan, she was the daughter of the late Lynn and Lillian (Waanders) Meade.Linda was…

Obituary: Gerald Franklin Nye

Obituary: Gerald Franklin Nye

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 2 min read

Gerald Franklin Nye 85 yrs of age passed through the gates of heaven on Feb 11, 2025 in Traverse city at Munson Medical Center.Born in Douglas community hospital and raised on the farm in Ganges the son of Roy A.…

Obituary: Jean Eleanor Tagg

Obituary: Jean Eleanor Tagg

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 1 min read

Jean Eleanor Tagg, 97, of Allegan, MI passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital.  Born April 15, 1927, in Trowbridge Township, she was the daughter of the late Harold David and Bertha Caroline (Hoskins) McKee and…

Obituary: Philip John Madalinski

Obituary: Philip John Madalinski

Editorial Staff Feb 26, 2025 2 min read

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Philip John Madalinski on February 20, 2025. Philip was born June 30, 1960, in Allegan, Michigan, to his late parents Phillip and Josephine (Oleksy) Madalinski. He would meet his bride and best…

By Mike Wilcox
Owner/Publisher

Every year, as the Christmas season draws near, I’m reminded just how generous our communities can be. For nearly two decades, Wilcox Newspapers has hosted what’s become one of my favorite traditions: our Annual Christmas Wish Program.

It started simply enough. We asked readers who were struggling to write in and tell us what would make their Christmas a little brighter. The idea was to connect local families in need with local people who wanted to help. Over the years, it’s grown into something truly special—and this year, we’re doing it again.