Allegan County News & Union Enterprise

Coffee with the Council

Coffee with the Council

Editorial StaffFeb 26, 20251 min read

Tom and Rosie Hunter met with Allegan Councilmembers Will Walker and Melanie Hooker at Mugshots on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. The council members are in their first terms on the city council and want to hear from the residents of…

Mike’s Musings: How do our public servants amass their huge new worths?

Mike’s Musings: How do our public servants amass their huge new worths?

Editorial StaffFeb 26, 20253 min read

I often wonder if I chose the wrong profession. Don’t get me wrong I love my work, but sometimes toiling 60 hours a week becomes kind of a drag at my age.I should have run for election and become a…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffFeb 26, 20255 min read

I find it hard to keep up with all the executive orders being signed by our President, then trying to understand how they might impact my life.One of Trump’s orders that caught my attention directed the people in charge of…

OHS senior helps Christian Neighbors with Share Table

OHS senior helps Christian Neighbors with Share Table

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20253 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor Well-known author and speaker Stephen Covey once said, “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”Otsego High School senior Lexi Gross is doing just that.When she noticed a large amount of fresh fruit being…

Bulldog Esports Club starts at Otsego High School

Bulldog Esports Club starts at Otsego High School

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20256 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor A group of 11 students recently made history at Otsego High School.They are part of the school’s inaugural Bulldog Esports Club, which held its first competition on Wednesday, Feb. 12.The Otsego team took on the team…

Plainwell hosts ribbon cutting at new field house

Plainwell hosts ribbon cutting at new field house

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20251 min read

The new Plainwell Field House hosted its first even about a month ago when the high school basketball team’s welcomed archrival Otsego. And on Monday, Feb. 17, the district held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility. Plainwell superintendent Matthew Montange…

Plainwell falls to Three Rivers in regional finals after beating Hamilton in semis

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20252 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor THREE RIVERS—After finishing second to Three Rivers in the Wolverine Conference standings, the Plainwell boys wrestling team got another crack at the Wildcats in a Division 2 regional final.Unfortunately for the Trojans, Three Rivers came out…

Allegan Co. wrestlers qualify for individual State Finals

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20253 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor When the Individual Wresting State Finals get underway at Ford Field on Friday, Feb. 28, Allegan County will be well-represented.A total of 36 local grapplers punched their tickets to the Finals by virtue of finishing in…

Obituary: Diane Kathline (Evans) Dietrich

Obituary: Diane Kathline (Evans) Dietrich

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20251 min read

Diane Kathline (Evans) Dietrich passed peacefully in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with family by her side. Diane was born in Allegan, Michigan to her late parents Robert and Marcelle (Ruhele) Evans on July 31, 1950. After high school Diane would work many…

Obituary: Earl Lee Gillette Jr.

Obituary: Earl Lee Gillette Jr.

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20253 min read

Earl Lee Gillette Jr. (86) passed away February 9 at 12:15am. He passed away peacefully with his wife by his side. Earl was born and raised in Allegan, Mi. He married Patricia Lodge in 1957 and went on to have…

Swan Lake residents gather to voice water quality concerns

Swan Lake residents gather to voice water quality concerns

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20255 min read

By Gari Voss Concerned residents around Swan Lake gathered on Monday, February 17, 2025, to examine taking the next steps in improving the water quality of their lake. Over the years, blue-green algae had increased, especially during hot weather. Algae…

Calkins Bridge Dam still in limbo

Calkins Bridge Dam still in limbo

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20254 min read

By Gari Voss Conversations and possible fate regarding Consumers Energy’s 13 hydroelectric dams that are spread across Michigan continue. Community meetings began during 2022 when community members came together several times to examine the condition of the dams and alternatives…

Mike’s Musings: Engaging with scammers- don’t follow my son’s lead

Mike’s Musings: Engaging with scammers- don’t follow my son’s lead

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20255 min read

I was talking with my son recently, and somehow we got on the topic of these pre-recorded prank calls he used to get. Unlike most of us he enjoys engaging with these pranksters. He know they are fraudsters but gets…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffFeb 19, 20254 min read

BY G.C. STOPPELI came to know John Thistle when we played bagpipes in the Fourth Battalion of the West Mosby Volunteers Band. The name came from a tiny village a few miles outside of Mosby, Mont. He was a good…

Otsego Hall of Fame welcomes three newest members

Otsego Hall of Fame welcomes three newest members

Editorial StaffFeb 12, 20256 min read

The Otsego Athletic Boosters welcomed the three newest members into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb., between the girls and boys varsity basketball games.The Class of 2025 included Jesse Blanchard, Charity (Knight) Newby and Jessica (Sheen) Strickler.A ceremony…

Plainwell MS Honors Choir performs at state conference

Plainwell MS Honors Choir performs at state conference

Editorial StaffFeb 12, 20253 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor GRAND RAPIDS—When Plainwell Middle School choir director Rachel Quillian applied to have her Honors Choir perform at the Michigan Music Conference, she wasn’t sure what to expect.“It’s usually high school choirs that perform at the conference,…

Allegan claims first district crown in eight years

Editorial StaffFeb 12, 20252 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor SOUTH HAVEN—They came. They saw. They conquered.That pretty much sums up the performance of the Allegan boys wrestling team at the Division 3 team district hosted by South Haven on Thursday, Feb. 6.After dispatching Hopkins by…

Plainwell gets past Allegan

Editorial StaffFeb 12, 20253 min read

By Jason WesseldykSports Editor The 200-yard freestyle relay couldn’t have been much closer in the SCC meet between the boys swim & dive teams from Plainwell and host Allegan on Tuesday, Feb. 4.The Trojans ended up prevailing in that event,…

Obituary: Patricia “Patty” Lee Parliament (Angle)

Obituary: Patricia “Patty” Lee Parliament (Angle)

Editorial StaffFeb 12, 20254 min read

Patricia “Patty” Lee Parliament (Angle), 63, of Iron Station, NC, passed away Friday, January 31 st , 2025 – a day before her 64 th birthday. Patty was born to the late Robert and Roberta (Kellogg) Angle on February 1…

Obituary: Domingo (Don) Canales

Obituary: Domingo (Don) Canales

Editorial StaffFeb 12, 20253 min read

Early Thursday morning, my father, Domingo (Don) Canales, passed away. He was born at home in Salineño, Texas to Candelario and Teresa Canales, where his family had lived for several generations after having settled there from Northern Spain, in the…