Elisabeth Waldon began interning at The Daily News in 2001 during her senior year of college. She was hired as a reporter in 2002 and was named news editor in 2012. Her beat includes Montcalm County government, local townships/Planning Commissions and courts/crime. Contact Elisabeth at ewaldon@thedailynews.cc or (616) 548-8726.
Thanks to a member of the Maple Valley Township Parks Committee reaching out to Tri County Area Schools, parks in Coral and Trufant will be receiving playground equipment for free.
Tri County Facilities Director Thomas Phinney said he was contacted by Melissa Stout on the Maple Valley Township Parks Committee asking about the school district’s plans for playground equipment at the now-shuttered Sand Lake Elementary School and whether any could be donated.... READ MORE >
Montcalm County officials may look into creating a weapons policy after a county employee was found to be carrying a pistol in a county vehicle.
Montcalm County Controller-Administrator Brenda Taeter brought up the incident at Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting while she was talking about updating the county’s policy manual, including adding some language to it about social media in the government workplace, as well as bringing weapons to work.... READ MORE >
The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners approved submitting a second deficit elimination plan involving a drain maintenance fund after the state of Michigan rejected the first one. After the county’s auditor Gabridge & Co. submitted the county’s audit to the state at the end of March, the county received notice from the state that the drain fund had a $613 deficit.... READ MORE >
This past week’s election filings had more plot twists than an Alfred Hitchcock film.
The Montcalm County prosecutor race saw the chief assistant prosecutor being disqualified from the August primary election ballot and his colleague making a last-minute filing instead.
Meanwhile, local township election filings saw either multiple contested races or the absence of anyone filing altogether... READ MORE >
A proposal to merge the Stanton Community Fire Department with the Sheridan Fire Authority appeared to be an extinguished idea earlier this year, but was resurrected at Tuesday’s Stanton City Commission meeting.
At January’s meeting, Stanton City Manager Rachel Coffey said the Stanton fire department was not prepared to move forward with the proposed merger as firefighters wanted more information.... READ MORE >
Tuesday’s election filing deadline resulted in a host of contested races for local townships as well as the absence of anyone filing altogether for multiple township seats.... READ MORE >
Two years ago, the Montcalm County Board of Commissioners decided to give $2.5 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to the county Road Commission.
On Monday, Road Commission Manager-Superintendent Mark Christensen updated commissioners about how those funds were spent.... READ MORE >
Firefighters were kept busy on Sunday battling four different structure fires in Crystal Township, Montcalm Township, Stanton and the Vestaburg area.... READ MORE >
The Montcalm County Drain Commission Office going $613 over budget has resulted in the county having to file a deficit elimination plan with the state, which the state has since rejected.
The issue is bringing to light a lack of communication between the Drain Office and the Controller-Administrator’s Office, as well as concerns from county officials that Drain Commissioner Todd Sattler doesn’t follow the county’s expenditure policy — he has spent nearly $340,000 on large equipment since 2020 without going out for bids or obtaining permission from the Board of Commissioners, saying he’s in charge of drain funds per state law.... READ MORE >
In an unexpected move, Montcalm County’s longtime prosecutor will not be running for reelection this year.
Andrea Krause of Greenville announced her retirement on Friday after 35 years of working in the Prosecutor’s Office, the last 26 years as the elected head prosecutor.... READ MORE >
