Man accused of hit and run delays prelim; victim still recovering

April 30, 2014
Man accused of hit and run delays prelim; victim still recovering

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.  LUDINGTON — The man who is accused of a striking down a local teacher/businessman in a grocery store parking lot with his car and then fleeing the scene, has waived his right to have a preliminary court examination within 14 days of arraignment. Brian Keith Blackburn, 24, of 603 N. Delia St., was scheduled to appear…

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Sheriff’s refusal to allow abortion results in a new family

April 30, 2014
Sheriff’s refusal to allow abortion results in a new family

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief. PERE MARQUETTE TWP. — Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole’s refusal to allow an inmate to have an abortion while she was housed at the Mason County Jail means that a child is alive today. Cole spoke briefly during Tuesday night’s Mason County Right to Life dinner at Cornerstone Baptist Church. “Last summer, sometime in July or…

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Mother on quest to change perception of children conceived during rape

April 30, 2014
Mother on quest to change perception of children conceived during rape

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.  PERE MARQUETTE TWP. — Shauna Prewitt was a 21-year-old University of Chicago student in February 2004. She had dreams and hopes. Then 7 minutes changed her life forever. She was raped. A month later she discovered she was pregnant. Health officials and counselors immediately encouraged her to abort the child. But, the choice wasn’t so clear…

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WSCC to honor Dr. Sara Tanis with Alumni Achievement Award

April 30, 2014
WSCC to honor Dr. Sara Tanis with Alumni Achievement Award

VICTORY TWP. –West Shore Community College will honor Dr. Sara R. Tanis with the Alumni Achievement Award during the 44th annual commencement exercise on Fri., May 2, at 7 p.m., in the College’s Recreation Center. Dr. Tanis is a 1990 graduate of Mason County Eastern and earned an Associate of Science degree from West Shore in 1992. Thereafter, she attended Western Michigan University,…

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Rain most of today

April 30, 2014
Rain most of today

The weather report for Mason County is sponsored by Superior Electric of Ludington: 231-845-0126; www.supelectric.com. Wednesday, April 30, 2014: Sunrise: 6:39 a.m. Light rain early, then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 53 F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Wednesday night: Sunset: 8:48 p.m. Cloudy with showers. Low around 40F. Winds SSW at 5…

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COVE breaks ground; 90% of fund raising goal reached

April 29, 2014
COVE breaks ground; 90% of fund raising goal reached

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.   LUDINGTON — A capital campaign to build a new facility for COVE (Communities Overcoming Violent Encounters) is at 90% of its goal. However, the organization still needs to raise $300,000. A groundbreaking ceremony was held this morning at the Ludington branch of the Mason County District Library. The event was originally planned for the East Ludington…

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Cops and firefighters will take each other on in charity hockey game

April 28, 2014
Cops and firefighters will take each other on in charity hockey game

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief. VICTORY TWP. — Some rivalries are just natural. Cats and dogs. Michigan State and University of Michigan. Cops and firefighters. On Wednesday, area law enforcement and fire/rescue personnel will battle it out on the ice — for a good cause. The first Smoke Eaters vs. Law Dogs hockey game will be held at the West Shore…

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Wind gusts to continue tonight

April 28, 2014
Wind gusts to continue tonight

The weather report for Mason County is sponsored by Superior Electric of Ludington: 231-845-0126; www.supelectric.com. While there is no longer a wind advisory, strong winds are expected to continue this evening. Expect cloudy skies, wind and periods of rain. Low 44 F. Winds E at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Winds could…

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Weekend arrests include domestic violence, drug and alcohol, driving violations

April 28, 2014
Weekend arrests include domestic violence, drug and alcohol, driving violations

Weekend arrests of by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office included domestic assault, drug and alcohol violations, license suspensions and outstanding warrants. Below is the activity report of the sheriff’s office from April 25 to April 27, 2014: April 25:  – 7:30 a.m.: Car/deer crash, no injuries, U.S. 10 and Stephens Rd., Custer Twp. 12:09 p.m.: A 39-year-old Ludington man was…

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44th WSCC commencement is Friday

April 28, 2014
44th WSCC commencement is Friday

VICTORY TWP. – Nearly 200 West Shore Community College students are eligible to receive degrees and certificates at the college’s 44th commencement ceremony to be held on Friday, May 2, at 7 p.m. in the College’s Recreation Center Arena. Speakers for the event will be Guy Smith, president of the Student Senate, WSCC Faculty Association president and Professor of Philosophy Dr. Matthew Sanderson,…

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COVE groundbreaking Tuesday

April 28, 2014

LUDINGTON — COVE (Communities Overcoming Violent Encounters) will hold a groundbreaking Tuesday at 10 a.m. at its new location, 906 E. Ludington Ave. The organization is raising funds to construct a new facility in Ludington to replace the 112 year-old house that serves as the COVE shelter and the small, 36 year-old modular office building. COVE needs to raise $2.4 million for…

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Coming home: ‘There are so many things here that bring me simple joy’

April 28, 2014
Coming home: ‘There are so many things here that bring me simple joy’

Paula Jury Jarvis didn’t want her daughter to walk through metal detectors at school. Many people have traveled the world and have had life experiences that their hometowns could never offer them, but many of those people are choosing to leave those grand ventures behind to move back to their roots in search of a slower paced lifestyle. Mason County…

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Leelanau Landscapes at the art center

April 28, 2014
Leelanau Landscapes at the art center

LUDINGTON – Ludington Area Center for the Arts opens a new exhibit in its Main Gallery on Friday, May 2.  Artist Carolyn Damstra will be displaying her “Recent Paintings of the Leelanau Peninsula”.  This exhibit is scheduled to run through June, removed only briefly the first weekend of June for the Lighthouse Festival Arts & Crafts Show. Damstra is an…

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Ludington’s cold water challenge: The Lake Jump

April 28, 2014
Ludington’s cold water challenge: The Lake Jump

Raising funds for Mason County Veterans Endowment Fund. By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.  LUDINGTON — The latest viral trend going around social media is the cold water challenge, where moments before a person jumps into a body of cold water they shout out the names of three people they’d like to challenge to do the same. Ludington has had its own cold…

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Firefighters save Free Soil barn

April 28, 2014
Firefighters save Free Soil barn

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief.  FREE SOIL — Strong wind gusts never make firefighting easy. However, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a barn fire on North U.S. 31 Monday morning before too much damage was caused. Free Soil/Meade and Fountain fire departments were called to the scene between Townline and Freeman roads around 9:45 a.m. Within a few minutes they…

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Know the symptoms of autism

April 28, 2014

Renew. Rebuild. Recover. A blog written by the staff of West Michigan Community Mental Health. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, we reprint this information from the Autism Society of America (http://www.autism-society.org/). Autism Prevalence Rates Increase According to CDC, Autism Society Responds Bethesda, MD (March 27, 2014) – Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announce new autism…

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Standing up for what we believe in

April 27, 2014
Standing up for what we believe in

I am blessed with a pretty awesome book group.  There are twelve of us, a diverse group in age, life experiences, religious background, education, and, ironically, taste in books. What is fascinating to me is we can bring all of that into the circle we sit in once a month, and just have real dialogue.  I get to view the…

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Area under wind advisory

April 27, 2014
Area under wind advisory

The weather report for Mason County is sponsored by Superior Electric of Ludington: 231-845-0126; www.supelectric.com. The area is under a wind advisory from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday. The following has been issued by the National Weather Service: Areas affected: Mason, MI;  Lake, MI;  Osceola, MI;  Oceana, MI;  Newaygo, MI;  Mecosta, MI;  Muskegon, MI;  Montcalm, MI; Ottawa, MI;  Kent, MI;  Ionia, MI;  Allegan, MI;  Barry, MI;  Van Buren, MI;  Kalamazoo, MI THE NATIONAL WEATHER…

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Area Churches