Saugatuck/Douglas Commercial Record

White named Saugatuck project manager

Editorial StaffJan 12, 20223 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Deputy Clerk Kate White has a new job in Saugatuck City Hall: Project Manager. White, who started there as a graduate student and summer intern June 14, 2021, never left, advancing to deputy clerk responsible for,…

Longtime Butler Owner Had Vivid Life

Longtime Butler Owner Had Vivid Life

Editorial StaffJan 12, 20227 min read

BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Patti Beery is blessed and cursed with the legacy of her father Verse White, who died Dec. 10 at age 90 after owning The Butler restaurant … well, forever. Blessed because his story is rich, cursed…

Obituary: Phyllis Cassady

Editorial StaffJan 12, 20222 min read

Phyllis Cassady, 94 Phyllis Evelyn Cassady (Haraburda) of Douglas passed away Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022 in Holland Hospital. She was born Feb, 14, 1927 (Valentine’s Day) in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Stanley and Marie (Anuskiewicz) Haraburda. Mom graduated from Sacred…

Crash Corner

Editorial StaffJan 12, 20225 min read

Are Blue Star lights warranted? BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR A traffic analysis conducted by Allegan County Road Commission consultants shows traffic volumes may warrant signal lights at corners of Blue Star Highway and Old Allegan Road, aka “Crash Corner,” and…

Year in review: 2021 one last time

Editorial StaffJan 5, 202211 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorJust because we’re a week into 2022 doesn’t mean our need to fill space as result of the news-starved holiday season is quite over.Last week’s “2021 Rear in Your View” extended into mid-July, i.e. wait, there’s more. Let’s…

Gerrymandering lives, county chair complains

Gerrymandering lives, county chair complains

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20223 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorAllegan County Commission chair Jim Storey (R-Holland) is not impressed by redistricting that divvies the county among three U.S. Congressional districts and places Saugatuck-Douglas in a state House district that truly resembles a salamander.The latter (see map) slithers…

Fennville to seek public safety millage

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20222 min read

Fennville will seek a 4-mill levy for public safety in a special May election to cover rising police, fire and ambulance costs, Commercial Record correspondent Jim Hayden reports on his Bicycle Base Fennville blog.The city commission, of which he is…

Township weighs dog park upgrades

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20222 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorSaugatuck Township Manager Joe Frey was scheduled Wednesday to pitch the parks commission on a plan to expand services and trail access at its 6-acre Tails ‘n’ Trails Dog Park, 6359 134th Ave.Opened in 2004 thanks to a…

Obituary: Jeffrey Richards, 75

Obituary: Jeffrey Richards, 75

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20224 min read

Dr. Jeffrey E. Richards of St. Joseph passed away at 75 from COVID complications on Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.He was born on May 17, 1946 to Donna (nee Finnegan) and Edward Joseph Richards in Plymouth. He attended a one-room school…

Maggie’s Pantry

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20223 min read

By Maggie ConklinMakin’ BaconMy dear husband has annual health checkups with local boy/now man done good, Dr. Jason Meyers,They were perusing my husband’s current blood work when Dr. Meyers noticed the total cholesterol scores. “Gee, your cholesterol has always been…

Require politicians to first work in private sector

Require politicians to first work in private sector

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20223 min read

By Mike WilcoxPublisherHere’s a novel suggestion: require persons running for Congressional seats to spend a few years in the private sector.This idea was presented to me a few weeks ago, and the more I thought about it the more it…

Township OKs $358K in 2022 road work

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20222 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorThere will be a whole lotta crack sealing going on this summer with the Saugatuck Township Board last month approving work orders for an estimated $358,000 worth of road improvements in 2022.The Allegan County Road Commission will seek…

Life as Performance Art

Life as Performance Art

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20225 min read

By G.C. StoppelI read Mike Wilcox’s father’s reflections on small town life with delight.I grew up in a city of some 30,000. After ordination I moved to a church in a hamlet of 92 people, with one gas station, one…

Thanks for column on gratitude

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20221 min read

To the editor,Bravo and congratulations to columnist G.C. Stoppel for daring to share your thoughts/observations on the topic of expressing gratitude!It seems like this “old-fashioned” courtesy has simply been discarded by the younger generation(s). “Just give me whatever, because I…

Letter to the Editor: More guns piece made no sense

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20222 min read

To the editor,It seems that a day can no longer go by that I don’t get angry about the “More Guns” opinion piece (by publisher’s son and IT support person Jordan Wilcox) that ran in The Commercial Record recently.Oxford shows…

Blue Star

Blue Star

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20224 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorSpace JunkAstronomers, reports The Daily Beast, can’t agree whether the “GN-z11 flash” was a gamma-ray burst from the universe’s infancy or reflected light off junk orbiting the earth.Last year a Chinese team working in Hawaii glimpsed something in…

Driver flees New Year’s crash

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20221 min read

The driver of this rolled-over car New Year’s morning decided not to stick around for police and more to respond. “We were only six hours into 2022,” Saugatuck Township IT director Erik Kirchert reported, “when dispatched for a rolled over…

Douglas taps Toepper for council seat

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20223 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorDouglas City Council Monday appointed Phil Toepper to fill the seat of resigned member and former Mayor Pat Lion until her term expires in November.After a 2-2-2 first-ballot tie between applicants Toepper, Demetrhea Terrien and Jeremiah Whiteley, council…

Ox-Bow to occupy old library

Ox-Bow to occupy old library

Editorial StaffJan 5, 20226 min read

By Scott SullivanEditorOx-Bow will occupy the former Saugatuck-Douglas District Library building after Douglas City Council Monday agreed to lease the 137 W. Center St. structure to the Saugatuck art school for $1,200 monthly the next three years.An option to buy…

Mikes Musings – Gun violence can be solved by adding guns

Mikes Musings – Gun violence can be solved by adding guns

Editorial StaffDec 17, 20215 min read

By Mike Wilcox – Publisher I thought I would pass my opinion spot in this week’s newspaper along to my son Jordan Wilcox who is this newspaper’s tech manager. He wrote this unique perspective on gun violence and I wanted…