Old home may soon sell shaved ice
By Scott Sullivan Editor Part of an 1873-built home at 453 W. Center St. across Ferry Street from the Old Root Beer Barrel may soon sell Italian shaved ice if its owner’s plans are realized. Douglas City Council Monday approved…
Douglas to sell 1870s church to Ox-Bow
By Scott Sullivan Editor Douglas City Council agreed Monday to sell the 1870s-built wood-frame former church at 137 W. Center St. to the Ox-Bow School of Art for $430,000. Nonprofit Ox-Bow in 2022 began leasing the space, which had previously…
Saugatuck soccer upends Constantine
By Jason WesseldykSports EditorIt was quite a day for Saugatuck senior Kennedy Gustafson when the Trailblazers hosted SAC rival Constantine on Wednesday, April 16.Not only did Gustafson play half the game in goal and stop two shots, but she also…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorSearchLily Tomlin won a Tony Award 40 years ago for Best Actress in the one-woman play “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in Universe.”Now NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided a sign, but only that, on…
Firefighters snuff blaze near propane tanks
By Scott SullivanEditorSaugatuck Township Fire District crews joined mutual aid partners from Ganges, Graafschap, Fennville and Hamilton knocking dousing a storage building and vehicle fire in the 2500 block of 63rd Street Friday morning.Firefighters responding to the 5 a.m. call…
Local group plans to reopen Mermaid site
By Scott SullivanEditorSaugatuck’s Dockside Marketplace, home of the former Mermaid Bar & Grill and Baldy’s Smoked Meats, has been sold to local investors who plan to reopen it with a fresh look and new restaurant concepts.Boat Shed Properties LLC —…
Life as Performance art
On the whole, as things go, this past week’s surprise natural gas outage, wasn’t really all that bad. It could have been worse; a lot worse. Fortunately, the disruption came when the weather was moderate, so we did not…
Mike’s Musings: Quicksand drama turns in to romantic relationship
I was flipping channels the other night when a question was asked. What did you fear most as a kid? There were a variety of answers but one of the answers was quicksand.I immediately concurred. Quicksand was fear of mine…
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…
