Grand Haven Tribune

4:00 PM Sep 15, 2011

Youth ministry to sponsor Friday bonfires

The first of several bonfires planned for Friday nights following Grand Haven High School football games will be held on Friday. The bonfires, which will be held following the game, are being sponsored by Freewater Experience, a youth ministry founded by Russ Gabel. Gabel said the first bonfire will be held at Derek Warner's home at 17082 Buchanan St.

2:00 PM Sep 15, 2011

Village Baker becomes social hub

Like the yeast in their homemade bread, business is on the rise for Sara Rathbun and Oran Rankin. The husband-and-wife team opened the Village Baker at 617 E. Savidge St. in early July. Rathbun said they're now selling more than 200 scones a day. "We're having a lot of fun here and I think our customers are getting into it,' she said. "We never expected to be this busy - but it's a central, inexpensive meeting place for people. I think there's nothing more socially satisfying than breaking bread with friends.'

1:00 PM Sep 15, 2011

United Way goal: $2.3 million

The Greater Ottawa County United Way officially launched its community campaign today with the annual "Day of Caring.' Close to 800 volunteers pitched in to clean county parks, landscape school grounds, stock food pantry shelves, and paint and pound for those in need. Locally, Grand Haven and Spring Lake school staffs swapped sides of the bridge to work on each other's landscaping projects. At a noon picnic for volunteers, Campaign Chairman Scott Remenschneider announced this year's campaign goal of $2.3 million.

12:01 PM Sep 15, 2011

Rest stop dedicated to late MDOT manager

The Michigan Department of Transportation has renamed a Muskegon County rest stop on U.S. 31 in memory of one of the department's managers, who died in a diving accident on June 30. MDOT Director Kirk Steudle was among the officials attending Wednesday's ceremony dedicating the Timothy F. Judge Rest Stop on southbound U.S. 31, just south of the White Lake Drive exit in Dalton Township. Judge's widow, Dawn, accepted the honor on behalf of her family.

11:30 AM Sep 15, 2011

Study finds 1 in 4 Ottawa third-graders are overweight

The Ottawa County Health Department says about a quarter of third-graders in the county are overweight or even obese.

11:23 AM Sep 15, 2011

Ravenna woman with Alzheimer’s is missing

UPDATE (11:23 a.m.): The woman was reportedly found about a mile from her home. The Muskegon County Sheriff's Department is searching for a missing woman, who is an Alzheimer's patient. The Sheriff's Department said Marilyn Baustert, 75, left a home on foot in the 200 block of North Bossett Road sometime between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 3 a.m. today. A family member woke up and found her missing. Marilyn Bastert is 5-foot-3-inches tall and weighs 165 pounds. She has brown eyes.

11:17 AM Sep 15, 2011

Tuesday Musicale celebrates its centennial

11:14 AM Sep 15, 2011

Support swells for Bucs' Pride game

To a young football player like 8-year-old Austin Barnes, the varsity players at Grand Haven High School are larger-than-life idols. So when Bucs' starting linebacker Aaron Gordon made it a point to meet with Barnes at a recent Young Bucs youth football practice, the Griffin Elementary student was obviously in awe. "He didn't say a whole lot but his eyes got really big,' Gordon said with a laugh about the encounter. "You could tell he was really excited.'

11:13 AM Sep 15, 2011

Police: 3 teens admit to damaging WOHS press box

Three teenagers have admitted to causing more than $25,000 in damage to the football field press box at West Ottawa High School. Sgt. Valerie Weiss of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department said tips generated from media reports led deputies to the teenagers. Investigators said the teens broke into the press box on Riley Street sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning. Every window in the press box was broken and the interior windows sustained serious damage. The stadium's sound system was also damaged.

11:12 AM Sep 15, 2011

Prep roundup: SL golfers widen gap in Lakes 8 standings

Spring Lake's golfers tightened their stranglehold on the Lakes Eight Conference race with a victory at the Fruitport Jamboree, played at Oakridge Golf Club. The Lakers shot a 189, followed by Ludington at 214, Tri-County at 215, Fruitport at 231 and Fremont at 254. Spring Lake now has a 137-stroke lead over Ludington in the league race, which was supposed to have wrapped up on Wednesday. However, Lakers' coach George Bitner said Tuesday's Tri-County Invitational will now also count in league standings.

11:11 AM Sep 15, 2011

Hudsonville edges GH girls cross country team

In a meet featuring three of the top 10 ranked teams in the state, Grand Haven's girls cross country team edged No. 10 Grandville on Wednesday but fell short against third-ranked Hudsonville at Johnson Park in Grandville. "Our girls took eight of the top 17 places, but only three of the top 10,' said Buccaneers' coach Greg Russick. "Hudsonville, the fastest team in the state at this time, placed four girls in the top seven and beat us up front.' The Bucs beat the Bulldogs, 26-32, but fell to the Eagles, 27-30.

11:08 AM Sep 15, 2011

GH's VanderWerp wins in Miami

Grand Haven native Stevo VanderWerp, along with his doubles partner Evan Engle, were crowned champions of the Volleyball ProAm Championship Cup, sponsored by Barefoot Wine, on Sept. 9 in Miami. VanderWerp and Engle beat out 22 other top men's players and won $5,000, as well as a chance to play a match later in the day against Olympic Gold Medalist Phil Dalhausser and his partner, Nick Lucena.

11:03 AM Sep 15, 2011

Lakeshore Cougers bow out in semifinals

The Lakeshore Cougars semi-pro football team came up short in its bid at reaching the championship game in the Great Midwest Football League. The Cougars fell to the Metro Detroit Wolverines in the league's playoff semifinals this past Saturday, 26-21. Lakeshore trailed 12-7 at the half, but regained the lead after three quarters, 21-18. But the Wolverines scored the eventual game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

10:58 AM Sep 15, 2011

Tribune's Picks of the Week

Matt DeYoung - Last Week: 5-5; Season: 19-11, 63.3 percent

10:53 AM Sep 15, 2011

Village’s Greenway project in limbo until actual costs become known

Village Council members didn't make any decisions Wednesday night on how to cut Grand River Greenway costs - but the construction project manager told them, if they don't give him direction soon, he'll send his crew to other work sites. Council members said they wanted to have all available cost estimates in place before making a decision.

10:50 AM Sep 15, 2011

GHT manufacturing companies receive expansion, IFT OK

Despite the economy, a local manufacturing company is nearly doubling the size of its plant. The Grand Haven Township Planning Commission recently approved site plans for an expansion at Commercial Manufacturing & Assembly, 17087 Hayes St. The company plans to add 45,000 square feet to its current 65,000-square-foot facility.

10:48 AM Sep 15, 2011

Man in bloody mattress case getting mental exam

A man who authorities said was found with a bloody mattress in the back of his pickup truck following a crash in southwest Michigan is getting a competency evaluation. Harold Ordway is charged with weapons violations after authorities said they also found a gun following the minor Sept. 2 accident near Plainwell. Defense lawyer Fred R. Hunter requested the competency evaluation. An Allegan County judge agreed to the request on Wednesday.