Courier-Leader, Paw Paw Flashes, & South Haven Beacon

Area News Briefs

Editorial StaffMay 15, 20242 min read

Adventure begins at the Van Buren District Library DECATUR – Starting Saturday, June 8, the Van Buren District Library extends an invitation to everyone to pick up a reading log and begin a great summer adventure. This year’s summer reading…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20245 min read

Someone figured out a better idea. No more hose drinking or palm lapping. We had to have our water in a sanitary container – a thin, one-time-use bottle – so we would be safe from all those evil germs. We…

Mike’s Musings: Taxes just keep piling up

Mike’s Musings: Taxes just keep piling up

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20243 min read

Like many of us I struggle with having to pay taxes each year. I often wonder why I put aside more and more each year to pay the government yet get lesser and lesser services.For instance, I’m drawing social security.…

Obituary: Betty Turner

Obituary: Betty Turner

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20242 min read

Betty Turner, 84, of Paw Paw, passed away peacefully, April 28, 2024, at White Oaks Nursing Assisted Living, Lawton. Betty was born in Danville, Alabama, Oct. 3, 1939, to Adell and Arley Weaver.She married Bobby Turner Oct. 10, 1955, in…

Obituary: Mary F. Sutherland

Obituary: Mary F. Sutherland

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20243 min read

Mary F. Sutherland, 91, of Almena, passed away Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at her home. She was born Nov. 18, 1932, in Scotts, Michigan, the first child of Lee Phillip Schau and Gertrude Carrie Brooks.She attended McCain’s Corners Primary School…

Arnold honored by Mattawan Fire Department

Arnold honored by Mattawan Fire Department

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20241 min read

Phil Arnold, a member of the Mattawan Fire District since 1983, was recently named as an Honorary Lifetime Mattawan Fire District member.Photos courtesy/Mattawan Fire District

National Day of Prayer observed in Paw Paw

National Day of Prayer observed in Paw Paw

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20242 min read

Two Paw Paw schools took part in a local National Day of Prayer service on the steps of the Van Buren County Courthouse here, Thursday, May 2. Trinity Lutheran School and St. Mary Catholic School students took part in the…

Paw Paw ties Edwardsburg

Editorial StaffMay 8, 20241 min read

By John RaffelCorrespondent PAW PAW – Paw Paw’s girls soccer team continues to improve.Last week at home the team tied Edwardsburg 2-2Megan Cox and Victoria Lopez scored for Paw Paw.“We played a great possession game with 15 missed shots on…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffMay 1, 20245 min read

Democrats and Republicans will hold national conventions this summer in Chicago and Milwaukee, respectively.I advise you avoid traffic snarls at these mutual admiration society meetings. Prices are apt to inflate then and there as well.Protesters are sure to turn out…

Mattawan senior shortstop eyeing huge season

Editorial StaffMay 1, 20242 min read

By John RaffelCorrespondent MATTAWAN – Mattawan baseball has several talented players this season including Connor Walsh.He’s a senior for Mattawan and plays shortstop. He was moved up at the end of his freshman season. It’s the third year he’ll be…

Mattawan School District voters will go to the polls May 7

Mattawan School District voters will go to the polls May 7

Editorial StaffMay 1, 20243 min read

MATTAWAN – On Tuesday, May 7, residents who live within the Mattawan Consolidated School boundaries will have the opportunity to vote on a comprehensive school bond.In a press release from the Mattawan Board of Education and District Superintendent Randy Fleenor,…

Paw Paw High School names Academic Elite students for Class of 2024

Paw Paw High School names Academic Elite students for Class of 2024

Editorial StaffMay 1, 20241 min read

Paw Paw High School has announced its Academic Elite students for the Class of 2024. These 21 students are graduating with a weighted Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 or higher. From a class of 152 students, this represents just…

Mike’s Musings: Wanna make millions, become a politician

Mike’s Musings: Wanna make millions, become a politician

Editorial StaffMay 1, 20243 min read

Like most of you, I chose the wrong profession if my goal was to make a lot of money. It seems the best way to achieve financial success is to run for elected office, in particular a federal office.It would…

Obituary: Patricia Ann Price

Obituary: Patricia Ann Price

Editorial StaffApr 24, 20242 min read

Patricia Ann Price, passed away peacefully at her home in Lawton, MI, on April 7, 2024, at the age of 86. Pat, as she was affectionately known, was born on January 13, 1938, in Battle Creek, Michigan.Patricia’s life was marked…

Obituary: Jeanne Grevelding

Obituary: Jeanne Grevelding

Editorial StaffApr 24, 20242 min read

Jeanne Grevelding, 95, of Paw Paw, passed away Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Maple Lake Assisted Living, Paw Paw. She was born Sept. 1, 1928, in Bath, New York, the daughter of Henry Kleckler and Blanche (Ray) Kleckler.Jeanne met her…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffApr 24, 20244 min read

Fifty years NBC television began broadcasting “Little House on the Prairie” based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s series of young reader novels of the same name.Some of us of a certain age practically grew up reading her stories of growing up in the…

Mike’s Musings: Nothing new about college students protesting

Mike’s Musings: Nothing new about college students protesting

Editorial StaffApr 24, 20243 min read

What goes around, always comes around again.I remember the early 1970’s when college students as well as others took to the streets of campuses and cities to protest what they thought was an unjust Viet Nam War. It was a…

Paw Paw sweeps Parchment

Editorial StaffApr 24, 20241 min read

By John RaffelCorrespondent PAW PAW – Paw Paw varsity baseball traveled to Parchment on Friday for a nonconference doubleheader and swept a pair.In game No. 1, the Red Wolves bats were on fire and collected 17 hits and the Red…

New judge takes oath of office

New judge takes oath of office

Editorial StaffApr 24, 20241 min read

The Investiture and Administration of the Oath of Office for Susan Metzger as probate judge for Van Buren County, was held Friday afternoon, April 19, at the Van Buren County Courthouse. Judge Metzger was appointed to the position, following the…