Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, has died. He was 56. Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company said in a brief statement.

Spring Lake's varsity boys soccer team advanced to Monday's Lakes Eight Conference tournament title game with a mercy-rule shortened 8-0 win over Ludington on Wednesday. The Lakers' opponent in the championship match will be Orchard View, which held on for a 1-0 win over Fruitport on Wednesday. Riley Kammeraad scored twice for Spring Lake, while single goals came from Kyle Kendall, Kaleb Winter, Adam Clauss, Austin Gabris, Tanner Berg and K.J. Sanchez. Clauss added three assists for Spring Lake.

U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra said this week he raised $1 million in the year's third quarter in his campaign to become the Republican nominee to challenge Democrat Debbie Stabenow. Hoekstra's campaign said in a statement Wednesday that the former congressman's contributions came from more than 3,500 donors. The campaign for the Holland Republican has said he didn't loan it any money. The reporting period ended Sept. 30, but campaign finance reports aren't due until Oct. 15.

Thousands of people have viewed the Grand Haven ArtWalk 2011 entries and cast ballots during the past two weeks, event organizers said Tuesday. Voting for the second annual art contest officially closed at noon today. ArtWalk organizers will tally the public's preferences and a third-party accounting firm will verify the results. The winning paintings, sculptures, drawings/mixed media artworks and photographs will be revealed to the public late this afternoon.

The monthly siren test in Ottawa County will occur at noon Friday. Ottawa County Central Dispatch will coordinate the test, utilizing the county all-call activation tones and the cancel tone after approximately 2 minutes of activation. The tests are held on the first Friday of each month, March through November. The next scheduled test, the final one for 2011, is Nov. 4.

Residents can drop off unused or expired medications between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday at the Norton Shores Fire Department, 1100 E. Pontaluna Road. Unused or expired over-the-counter and prescription medications, as well as sharps, will be accepted. "The free program is a safe and effective way to dispose of unused drugs,' said Carrie Uthe, project chairwoman for the Muskegon Area Medication Disposal Program. Uthe said her group has collected more than 3,300 pounds of unused medications since 2010.