Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will host a musical recital and visual art display on Thursday evening. The church is at the corner of Quincy Street and 112th Avenue in Holland Township. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for the display, followed by a musical performance at 7 p.m. The vocal stylings will include straight opera (Puccini to Gershwin), musical theater and 1930s swing music. The artist mediums represented will include paintings, photography, sculpture, quilting and cross stitch. The event is free and open to the public.

Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma returned to his hometown of Grand Haven last week to vacation and run his annual youth hockey camp in Grand Rapids. On Friday, he enjoyed a morning of charter fishing aboard the boat "Reel Pursuit,' captained by Ken and Jason Steigenga. Joining Bylsma on board was Grand Haven's Jay Brace, who submitted the winning bid at the Grand Haven Christian School auction last spring for the opportunity to enjoy a morning out on the water with the reigning National Hockey League Coach of the Year.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch through 8 p.m. Saturday for much of the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, including Ottawa County. For up-to-the-minute weather information, visit www.wzzm13.com/weather .

Who thought there were more business opportunities in Spring Lake than Grand Rapids when deciding where to open a hardware store? Who gave a party on china plates to the children of Central School if they left their garden alone during the summer? These are just a few of the questions that will be answered on the Spring Lake Village Walk at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24.

Motorists are being warned not to let their summertime fun end with a drunk driving arrest. Law enforcement agencies in 13 West Michigan counties will be cracking down on drunk drivers through additional patrols from Aug. 19 to Sept. 5. The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning is coordinating the crackdown by administering federal traffic safety funds to more than 200 agencies in 35 counties. Grant-funded counties in West Michigan are Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo and Van Buren.

Today: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. South-southwest wind at 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Excavation for the Grand River Greenway and new restrooms at Mill Point Park has uncovered some contamination - but nothing significant enough to alter the project. Vinyl chloride exists under most of western Spring Lake (from Park Street west) and central Grand Haven, according to Village Manager Ryan Cotton. The substance is the result of decomposing solvents once used by area manufacturing companies, he explained.