
Hydrant flushing starts next week
It’s spring hydrant flushing time for Kalamazoo Lake Sewer & Water Authority customers. Work will start Monday, April 21 and continue weekdays from noon to 10 p.m. till complete. Additional flushing may take place the week of April 28 if…
Work brings more water to Riverside
By Scott Sullivan Editor Bringing water to Saugatuck Township’s Riverside Drive isn’t like taking coals to Newcastle. Homes along it and connecting Dugout Road have relied for nearly 100 years on a 2-inch water line patched together out of galvanized…
Old airport land has new name
By Scott Sullivan Editor Saugatuck’s old airport land has a new name: Saugatuck Wilds Nature Preserve. City council Monday agreed to its Parks & Public Works Committee top recommendation, chosen from recommendations made by 98 respondents to a March 11-25…
Douglas Easter festivities return Satuday
By Scott Sullivan Editor Traditional Easter festivities will return to Douglas this Saturday, April 19. Fun will include a bonnet contest, parade and egg hunt in the downtown area. The combined events will be held from 1 to 3 p.m.…
Missing woman found dead in river
By Scott Sullivan Editor A Saugatuck Township woman was found dead in the Kalamazoo River Friday morning after being reported missing the day before near her home. Nancy Eichler-O’Connell, 67, was last seen living Thursday afternoon at her secluded home…
Laskowski named First Team All-State
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorWith the loss of All-State guard Brook Simpson to graduation, Saugatuck girls basketball coach Kevin Tringali knew he had some big shoes to fill heading into the 2024-25 season.Enter Tali Laskowski.A junior who had previously been home-schooled,…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorMandatory LifeI read the news today, oh boy: “No mandatory life for 19- and 20-year-olds, court decides.”When I was 19 and 20, I never thought life was optional. At that age, why would I want to? Of course,…
Gas outage leaves thousands in the cold
By Scott SullivanEditorThe heat is on again for some 5,200 local homes and businesses after a natural gas line was ruptured April 9 southeast of Fennville.Michigan Gas Utilities, which owns the line, and TC Energy, which operates it, were joined…
Mike’s Musings: Give tariffs a chance, they may work
Let’s give the tariffs time to work. If they don’t work I will be the first to admit I was wrong. President Trump seems to be backing off his hardline positions with a 90-day reprieve for most, and taking tariffs…
Life as Performance Art
Sometimes we learn more about ourselves and our fu-ture by looking back in histo-ry.Today, we go back about a century to the Roaring ‘20s. Babe Ruth is slamming home runs, the Four Horse-men are playing for Knute Rockne at Notre…
Pipeline leak shuts down gas to 5K+ homes
A natural gas transmission pipeline damaged near Fennville Wednesday cut off service to some 5,200 customers in the Saugatuck/Douglas/Fennville area. More than 200 Michigan Gas Utilities and other crews from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois and continued working to restore service…
Interurban grows in uncertain times
By Scott Sullivan Editor In Saugatuck-Douglas the blue buses are ubiquitous. Starting soon the Interurban Transit Authority’s fleet will be venturing further into Fennville, Laketown Township and Glenn reaching to South Haven from expanded offices. The low-cost — 50 cents…
Police chase ends in Jars parking lot
By Jordan Wilcox Assistant Publisher Police Monday arrested a Northern Michigan man who fled briefly in the Jars Cannabis parking lot off Blue Star Highway south of Douglas. Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies and Michigan State Police answered a 2:27 p.m.…
Friends honor library head
Friends of the Saugatuck-Douglas District Library honored Ingrid Boyer (front and center on her 10th anniversary as library director. Shown behind her are (from left) Carol Carra, Jess Grey, Christi Allen, Kirstin Carr, Betsy York, Gini Cooper and Charlotte Stewart.…
CN funder May 4 honors Frederick legacy
By Scott Sullivan Editor The late Arthur Frederick’s spring benefits for Christian Neighbors, held in his art filled home and gardens, were a must on many calendars. For more than 20 years they raised upwards of $20,000 for the nonprofit…
Wiley to close April 14 for water work
By Scott Sullivan Editor Douglas will close Wiley Road 450 feet east of Blue Star Highway starting the week of April 14 and lasting 5 to 10 business days to install a fire-suppression line to its soon-to-be city hall/police station…
Douglas unveils new public marina plans
By Scott Sullivan Editor Douglas City Council Monday eyeballed plans to add a picnic pavilion, restroom with showers, firepit and handicap accessible sidewalks at Douglas Marina, thanks to a $100,000 Consumer Energy Foundation grant and help from ex-owners Bud Baty…
Bird’s eye view shows Ferry progress
By Scott Sullivan Editor If it looks like fitting together puzzle pieces from the sky, you’re not wrong. The Ferry Street culvert project continued advancing last week, as shown nearby, towards completion by Memorial Day weekend. Douglas closed Ferry —…
Dunn earns spot on Cincinnati’s opening-day roster
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorCINCINNATI—After getting his first taste of Major League Baseball with the Cincinnati Reds last season, Saugatuck High School graduate Blake Dunn entered spring training battling for a spot on the Reds’ opening day roster.Mission accomplished.Dunn won a…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorBug AcreYum, yum … maggots? A Washington Post story stops shy of saying maggo-roni and cheese will soon be a diet staple for humans. But it already is for pets.Grubs are beetle, not fly, larvae, but no doubt…