Grand Haven Tribune

10:49 AM Sep 14, 2011

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Keep skateboarders off streets

10:31 AM Sep 14, 2011

Salmon Festival returns this weekend

The Grand Haven Salmon Festival, in its eighth year, celebrates the passing of summer while welcoming the fall harvest season and salmon migration, highlighting Grand Haven as an autumn destination. It takes place this weekend along the city's waterfront. Grand Haven Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Marci Cisneros said with the event approaching the decade mark, they've been able to tweak it to benefit those who attend.

8:38 AM Sep 14, 2011

Fruitport Trojan Volleyball vs Spring Lake Lakers

7:06 AM Sep 14, 2011

Today's forecast

Today: A 30-percent chance of showers, mainly after 2 pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 64. Northwest wind between 6 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Tonight: A 30-percent chance of showers, mainly before 8 pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. North-northwest wind at around 7 mph. Thursday: A 20-percent chance of showers after 8 am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. North-northwest wind at 7 to 10 mph.

6:00 PM Sep 13, 2011

Coast Guard closes area’s air stations for season

The Coast Guard's Great Lakes air stations closed their seasonal air facilities in Muskegon, Mich., and Waukegan, Ill., on Sept. 6. The air facilities are open during the traditional boating season, which runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, to provide enhanced search-and-rescue services due to the high volume of summer boaters off Chicago, Milwaukee and other southern Lake Michigan areas.

4:00 PM Sep 13, 2011

Cribbage society to meet in GH this weekend

The 12th annual Cribbage Board Collector Society convention will be held in Grand Haven on Friday and Saturday. Collectors of cribbage boards from all over the country are expected to bring some of their prize boards for the show-and-tell portion of the convention. Convention attendees will be playing tournaments both days. Prizes will be awarded to the tournament winners; as well as for boards voted most desirable, most unusual and oldest cribbage board. Some of the entries date back to the Civil War.

2:00 PM Sep 13, 2011

Kiwanis honors GH man with Extra Mile Award

Earl O'Brien, who started the annual Tri-Cities Kiwanis Club Salmon Fishing Tournament to benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is being honored for his work with the local club. The Council of Past Lt. Governors for the Michigan District of Kiwanis International has awarded O'Brien its Extra Mile Award, which is given annually to a Kiwanian "who, without any expectation of recognition, goes the extra mile to enhance the principles of Kiwanis.'

12:30 PM Sep 13, 2011

SL Twp. seeks more funding for $5 million sewer project

Spring Lake Township officials are piecing together funding to help with a $5 million sewer project, which is expected to break ground next month. On Monday, the Township Board approved seeking a $75,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Earlier this month, the DEQ awarded the township a $2.5 million low-interest loan toward the replacement of 16 wastewater pump stations and a defective sewer. The township was also awarded a $1.2 million federal Economic Development Administration grant earlier this year.

12:00 PM Sep 13, 2011

Man pleads guilty to soliciting teen online, texting

A Vicksburg man is facing prison time after admitting he sent Internet and text messages to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl seeking sex. Christopher Sparks, 27, entered a guilty plea Monday to charges including accosting children for immoral purposes, and using a computer to commit a crime. Wyoming Police arrested Sparks at a park on June 6. They said he had arranged to meet a teenage girl at the park for sex, after meeting her through online social networking sites. Officers said Sparks switched to text messages to set up the meeting spot.

11:30 AM Sep 13, 2011

Community foundation launches matching grant program for lighthouses

The Grand Haven Area Community Foundation announced Monday that it has launched a challenge grant program to assist a local group maintain the Grand Haven lighthouses. The foundation's $100,000 grant, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, will help kick off the "Keep The Light On' campaign by the Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy. The grant will match each new gift to the community campaign up to $100,000. The matching grant program was presented Monday evening at the foundation's 40th anniversary celebration.

11:22 AM Sep 13, 2011

College Showcase: Potter earns MAC honor

Grand Haven graduate John Potter was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Special Team Player of the Week after his outstanding performance for Western Michigan on Saturday. It's the third time in Potter's career that he's earned Player of the Week honors. In the Broncos' 38-7 win over Nicholls State on Saturday in Kalamazoo, Potter was a perfect 5-for-5 on his point-after-touchdowns and also connected on a 40-yard field goal. Potter has now connected on 78-straight PAT's at Western, extending his school record.

11:18 AM Sep 13, 2011

Prep roundup: SL tennis settles for tie

Spring Lake and Ludington played to a 4-4 tie, the first blemish in Lakes Eight Conference play for either team. The Lakers suffered a big blow when sophomore Ryan Fedewa had to forfeit his match at first singles because of an injury. He was leading Ludington's Jake Perez 5-4 at the time.

11:02 AM Sep 13, 2011

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Israel is our democratic ally

10:54 AM Sep 13, 2011

Vandals cause $25k in damage to WOHS press box

Police are looking for suspects who caused more than $25,000 in damage to West Ottawa High School's football field press box over the weekend. Sgt. Valerie Weiss of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department said the damage was discovered Sunday. Police believe someone caused the damage late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Weiss said the vandals destroyed the building's sound equipment and items left inside the press box, and they also smashed all of the windows in the building.

10:46 AM Sep 13, 2011

Benefit for Cathy Stephenson is Thursday night

A benefit for the family of a late downtown Grand Haven businesswoman will be held from 7-10 p.m. Thursday. Cathy Stephenson of Grand Haven died Aug. 23 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was the owner of the Ceramic Cafe in downtown Grand Haven. Stephenson's family has incurred significant medical bills during her illness, according to the benefit's organizers. The fundraiser at Seven Steps Up Event & Banquet Center, 116 S. Jackson St. in Spring Lake, aims to help the family get back on its feet.

10:41 AM Sep 13, 2011

Ex-state senator may keep pension despite charges

One of Michigan's top Republicans in the 1990s is allowed to continue getting his $79,000 a year state pension regardless of the outcome of his trial on sex charges involving children. Documents obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act state Phillip Arthurhultz has a monthly pension benefit of $6,620, or $79,440 annually, from his 15 years representing the Muskegon area, according to The Associated Press.

10:32 AM Sep 13, 2011

Allegan sheriff releases photos of 2 bank robbers

West Michigan authorities are asking for the public's help in finding two gun-toting men who robbed a Grand Rapids-area bank and who were caught on a security camera. The Allegan County Sheriff's Department has released photos of the suspects in the robbery, which happened about 10:30 a.m. Monday at a Chemical Bank branch in the unincorporated community of Moline. It's in Leighton Township, about 15 miles south of Grand Rapids. Police said the bank's employees and customers weren't hurt.