 From our friends at the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office: On November 24, 2021, at approximately 8:58pm, Deputies with the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the 2500 block of S Fawn Ave, Big Prairie Township, on a report of a possible death. When deputies arrived on scene, they found a deceased 35-year-old female, from White Cloud, inside the residence. After an investigation was performed, a 65-year-old male, from White Cloud, was lodged at the Newaygo County Jail on homicide charges. All names are being withheld at this time as the investigation is ongoing. The 65-year-old male is scheduled to be arraigned at the 78th District Court on Monday November 29th 2021. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted on the scene by the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, Life EMS, Mid Michigan Medical Examiner Group and Newaygo County Central Dispatch.
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 Reduces number of people who can visit in hospitals and outpatient care sites
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Nov. 23, 2021 – As a result of increasing numbers of patients admitted with COVID-19 and hospitals at or near capacity throughout West Michigan, Spectrum Health is revising its visitor policies to reduce the number of people in its Grand Rapids and regional hospitals and outpatient care sites. “Spectrum Health is happy to welcome visitors who want to be with their loved ones,” said Chad Tuttle, senior vice president, hospital and post-acute operations, Spectrum Health West Michigan. “Like hospitals across West Michigan, Spectrum Health is experiencing high demand for our services and our hospitals are very full. While our teams focus on care, visitors can help their loved ones feel more comfortable during their stay and keep everyone healthy and safe by following our updated visitor guidelines.” Effective Tuesday, Nov. 23, patients are allowed only one adult visitor in the following areas: All inpatient rooms, emergency departments, urgent care, walk-in clinics, surgery, radiology and lab locations, as well as labor and delivery. Adult COVID-19-patients are allowed only one adult visitor, who must be the same person throughout the patient’s stay and must follow personal protective equipment guidelines. Spectrum Heath pediatric patients may have two adult visitors in the emergency department, urgent care, surgery and lab. Pediatric radiology patients can have one adult visitor. Pediatric inpatient areas allow two adult visitors, who must be the same people throughout the patient’s stay. In double occupancy rooms, a pediatric patient is only allowed one parent. Pediatric COVID-19 patients are allowed two adult visitors, who must be the same people throughout the patient’s stay and must follow personal protective equipment guidelines. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the care teams involved based on end-of-life care or special needs. Adults are individuals ages 18 and older. Children and minors will be allowed as visitors only in limited circumstances. Patients must identify visitors to their care teams. For pediatric patients, adult visitors’ names must be on file. Visitors will be screened. More information about visitor guidelines can be found here. Spectrum Health’s COVID-19 resource center can be found here. The restrictions apply to the following Spectrum Health hospitals and nearby physician offices and ambulatory care sites:
 Julie Burrell named Economic Development Director for Newaygo County The Right Place debuts new county partnership model
(GRAND RAPIDS, MI) – After several months of listening, planning, and examining best practices, The Right Place, Inc. announces it will debut a new and improved model of regional economic development partnerships in 2022 for participating counties across West Michigan. The new format is expected to amplify economic development efforts across the region by empowering full-time county executive directors to drive long-term growth opportunities with the support of The Right Place. Newaygo County's 7 year partnership with The Right Place will continue under the new model and Julie Burrell will be the Economic Development Director. Ms. Burrell has served as Business Development Manager in Newaygo County the past 3 years. “We’re pleased to offer a more sustainable and robust new model to our partners that will boost economic outcomes in each county and the region as a whole,” said Randy Thelen, President and CEO of The Right Place. “Regionalism is a cornerstone of our people, place, and prosperity strategy, and I’m confident our innovative new approach will increase the entire region’s competitive advantage.” “The partnership with The Right Place has been impactful in Newaygo County since day one, but it’s really hit a new level in the last three years,” says Ryan Coffey Hoag, Chair of the Newaygo County Economic Development Committee and MSU Extension Educator for Land Use, Government & Community Vitality. “This new partnership model will ensure a long-term, sustainable future for proactive economic development efforts in Newaygo County. Building a community’s resiliency and prosperity is a marathon and not a sprint, and this enhanced partnership will even better align the passion and insight of our local leadership and the deep strengths of The Right Place regionally.”  Board members and volunteers from Open Arms & NC PCA Child advocates unveil new one-stop center to fight abuse, empower families in 4 W. Michigan counties WHITE CLOUD, Mich. – Two organizations championing the safety and wellbeing of children today unveiled a new one-stop facility providing comprehensive services designed to help fight child abuse and empower families. Open Arms Child Advocacy Center and Newaygo County Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect’ new Center for Hope and Healing is a 23,000-square-foot building in White Cloud that, once fully renovated, will provide a welcoming, safe and private environment for families in Newaygo, Mecosta, Osceola and Lake counties. “The Center for Hope and Healing is a safe sanctuary where trained experts and professionals can provide a range of services that are designed to empower families and children against abuse and neglect,” said Tara Nelson, executive director of NCPCAN. “We are truly excited to begin the work of upgrading our facility so we can welcome children and their loved ones across the four counties that we serve. The Center for Hope and Healing will be a state-of-the-art facility that promotes trust, calm and a sense of security for children and their loved ones. The center represents a landmark step forward in the fight against child abuse and neglect in West Michigan, and we can’t wait to get started.” The Center for Hope and Healing will feature dedicated spaces for a range of services to prevent abuse and neglect, including:
 A quartet of attendees at the gathering strike a pose in the building that will house the Center for Hope & Healing “Thanks to the generosity and support of the communities we serve, the Center for Hope and Healing will become a reality that can help more children stay safer and enjoy a brighter, more hopeful future,” said Amy Taylor, OACAC executive director. “The Center of Hope and Healing is the result of true community collaboration and the hard work of champions for children across four counties. While we still have work to do ahead of us, the Center for Hope and Healing is now a reality that sends a powerful message, that we are committed to protecting children, giving them a voice and empowering them so every child is safe and has the opportunity to thrive.” OACAC and NCPCAN are launching a capital campaign to raise funds to complete the renovation of the building, located just north of White Cloud on M-37, at 601 N. Evergreen Dr., White Cloud, MI 49349. The renovation plans include replacing the building’s roof, upgrading heating and cooling, updating the ceiling and floors, and pouring new asphalt. Though the capital campaign was launched just a few weeks ago, the effort has already raised financial and in-kind donations to begin work on upgrading the building, originally built in the 1980s as a shopping center. “You sort of exponentially benefit if you can find safe, risk-free environments for children,” said Dennis Adama, a major donor to and supporter of the Center for Hope and Healing. “Their opportunities to develop, to be responsible, independent, self-directed people are greatly enhanced. Those are the reasons I think people should be involved with this and should contribute to this."  OPen Arms Board Chair Wendy Samuels addresss the crowd at the groundbreaking event held November 17th. “With the growing need for services that can support the safe and healthy development of children, the Center for Hope and Healing will serve as a sanctuary for more kids and families across the four counties we serve and where they can feel secure and comfortable,” said Wendy Samuels, chair of OACAC’s board of directors. “For years, the communities we serve have worked tirelessly using resources we had to fight abuse and neglect. The Center for Hope and Healing can now build upon the trust of our families and provide more services to more children and families, in a convenient one-stop location so we can help our communities move toward a stronger, more secure future.” OACAC and NCPCAN recognizes with gratitude the many businesses and individuals who have already provided in-kind and financial support toward the Center for Hope and Healing. Child abuse and neglect investigations in OACAC’s and NCPCAN’s service areas continue to go up. OACAC’s existing facility in Big Rapids and NCPCAN’s facility in Newaygo are too small to accommodate the growing number of families or more abuse and neglect victims. The existing facilities also offer only minimal privacy and comfort to children. Additionally, during disease outbreaks, cramped locations increase the risk of infection spread. OACAC and NCPCAN also launched a 6-minute video highlighting the Center for Hope and Healing and its benefits to children, families and the community. To contribute to the Center for Hope and Healing: www.center4hopehealing.org.   Spectrum Health sees COVID surge system-wide
At a press conference Tuesday Spectrum Health officials expressed great concern with the rapid rise in COVID-19 patients, straining hospital resources and creating a ripple effect including limiting the transfers made to a higher level of care hospital and non essential surgeries being deferred. A pandemic high of 367 beds are currently being filled with COVID patients system wide. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital currently has 18 kids admitted with COVID-19 with 6 in their ICU. Prior to this recent surge the average number ranged from 1 to 5 patients. Spectrum Health of West Michigan President Dr. Darryl Elmouchi shared a chart depicting the recent rise in hospitalizations and spoke to the high acuity of non Covid-19 admissions creating a perfect storm when combined with the dramatic increase in COVID-19 patients. He also referenced a recent spike in testing positivity now averaging over 22%, higher than at any time during the pandemic. “What we’re experiencing is unprecedented,” he stated. “We have not experienced anything like this throughout the pandemic. A combination of high non-Covid acuity and dramatic increase in COVID care.” Chief Operating Officer Brian Brasser addressed questions about the influence of the vaccination requirement on staffing. “99.7% of our team are compliant. Our staffing needs have to do with the acuity of our patients. If there is information saying it’s the vaccination requirement that is absolutely not the case.” He also stated Spectrum has added 50 ICU beds and have upskilled their staff for those beds to plan for the coming weeks. Asked about the influence of schools in the recent surge Dr Elmouchi replied that because kids are at high risk of contracting and spreading the virus, youth have been the primary drivers. The Spectrum Health officials stated 85% of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have not been vaccinated and of the ICU patients and those on a ventilator 95% are unvaccinated. Dr Elmouchi encouraged people to do what they can to keep from having to go to the hospital, including getting vaccinated and using common sense prevention methods. “Believe me you don’t want to have to go to the hospital right now. That being said, if you need to come to the hospital by all means do. You just need to know there’s going to be a longer wait.”  River Country Chamber of Commerce, Velocity and the Newaygo High School Cross Country Team would like to invite you to the 2021 Velocity St. Nick Kick on Saturday, December 4, 2021.
Events include a 10K and 5K run and a 1 mile fun run/walk. Sign up online at this RUNSIGNUP link. Prizes include overall prizes for top men and women in the 5K and 10K as well as masters divisions for the 5K and 10K. Additionally, age group winners will receive prizes. Race t-shirts are included in your registration fee.a Races begin at 10 AM at Newaygo High School with day of registration beginning at 8:30 AM. Packet pickup will this year be at Velocity in downtown Newaygo on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (if you go at this time, you will receive a 10% discount to purchase items at Velocity!) and Saturday morning prior to the race at Newaygo High School. Post-race food and drinks, including Wendy’s chili, are included in your race registration! Come enjoy a fun, competitive and unique race experience that will get your holiday cheer off right! Questions can be directed by email to [email protected] or by phone to race director Alexis Mercer at 231.286.0593.  Emergency agencies invite community to show support for hospital workers with blessing/lights/horns. Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 6 p.m. – all are invited to join
FREMONT, Mich., November 11, 2021 – Area law enforcement, fire departments and others are holding a “Lights On” celebration of gratitude for hospital workers on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 6 p.m. Families and members of the community are invited to participate and display messages of thanks, as well as honk their horns and flash their lights during the event. For safety, everyone is asked to stay in their vehicles. Participants are invited to arrive between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. just prior to the 6 p.m. start. Community members are asked to use the north large parking lot across from the Emergency Department. First responder emergency vehicles will be using Maple, Gerber and Oak streets for staging. Local company Sounds R Us will broadcast the event on radio station 99.3, so participants can follow along and stay up-to-date with announcements by tuning in. Community members, hospital staff and others are invited to share messages of gratitude and inspiration, which will be read during the event, and can email them to Fremont Police Department Officer Matt Hendrie at [email protected]. “I’d like to thank Matt Hendrie of the Fremont Police Department for organizing this event for our hospital team and all of the participating emergency services agencies,” said Drew Dostal, president of Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial. “We are nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing the longest sustained surge of COVID-19 patients yet. It has been tough on our teams and especially our frontline workers. Our teams are dealing with challenges at work, but also dealing with challenges at home and—for those with children at home—at school or with daycare. This has been a long and tiring effort. To have the community’s support means a lot to our team members.” Throughout the month of November, Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial has participated in a month of gratitude events and celebrations as part of Spectrum Health’s Grateful Giving campaign focusing on team member support. “We have really tried to utilize this month of Thanksgiving to communicate to our teams how valued they are, how much everyone appreciates their hard work, and just to recognize the extra effort in this latest COVID-19 surge where we have high census, our highest numbers of COVID-19 patients, and patients that are very sick,” said Kaley Petersen, director of foundation and community services at Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial. “We appreciate our emergency agency partners and especially want to thank Matt Hendrie.”   Heroes United event honors those who served Photos by Lil De Laat Story by Ken De Laat They arrived early. And they arrived in droves. With Sounds R Us providing some patriotic plays as a backdrop, a huge horde of humanity streamed onto Main Street and piled into the park more than an hour before the festivities would begin. Fremont, always known for producing some seriously fine parades, hit it out of the park Wednesday afternoon as folks from throughout the area and beyond filled the sidewalks to take part in the festivities. Yes, the Clydesdales were coming. A chance for an up close look at the most famous and recognizable team of horses to ever haul a beer wagon drew massive crowds to the downtown streets. But they also came to honor those who have served. The men and women who wore the uniforms of our military and helped provide and preserve the freedoms we hold today. A number of veteran organizations provided a prelude to the much anticipated equine appearance, punctuated by a pair of impressive performances by the high school marching bands from Fremont and Grant. From the honor guard that led the parade to the bus from the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans the crowd applauded the groups of former servicemen and women from all branches of our military who proudly took in the well deserved accolades. Then came the Clydesdales. And talk about your pièce de résistance… The impressive beasts, decked out in their Budweiser finest and overseen by the watchful eye of a well mannered Dalmatian from atop the carriage, drew an audible and appreciative reaction from the citizenry. They cantered by at a pretty fair pace, coming to rest after circling the park and stood proud, taking in the admiration of those gathered about the team. The United Way of the Lakeshore made this event happen as part of their season of caring annual campaign. Heroes United would be repeating the parade performance in Muskegon on Thursday with a concert to follow. But on Wednesday, the eve of the day itself, the celebration was centered in this Newaygo County town and filled with folks of all ages who came to honor the men and women who spent parts of their younger years in service to this country. Oh, and the horses. They came to see the horses too.    Newaygo County RESA is accepting sealed bids for the construction of a pole barn to be used for the Agriscience program. Interested contractors are encouraged to attend a pre-bid meeting that will be held at the building site at 4747 West 48th Street Fremont MI 49412, behind the Career Tech Center on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. November 23, 2021. All sealed bids to be mailed or hand delivered to the Education Service Center building at above address no later than 2:00 p.m. December 6, 2021. Bids shall be clearly marked “Ag Pole Barn Bid”. Questions regarding this project should be directed to [email protected].  A short chat with the Supe
Superintendent Jeff Wright announced Monday afternoon that Newaygo Schools would be closed beginning the following day until reopening Tuesday November November 16th. We contacted Mr. Wright to ask about the closure. “We have been short staffed to begin with and substitutes are pretty much unavailable these days. Combined with a number of staff being out for a variety of reasons including illness it left us without the ability to be able to provide what we needed for our students. We really made an effort to try to see if we could have other staff do some multi tasking and take over some of the duties but no matter how we worked it we just did not have the coverage we needed. “With the elementary closed and 36% of our students in the elementary school, we would not meet the 75% attendance threshold to have the day count as a school day.” N3-Why not go into virtual learning? “Connectivity issues prevent us from moving over to virtual learning. Our teachers continue to check in on students that might be needing some help during this time but going virtual on such short notice wasn’t really feasible.” Superintendent Wright added: “I want to express appreciation to our parents. We realize this presents a great deal of challenges for them but for the most part they have really stepped up and been very supportive. "This is an outstanding school district and our parents and families are a huge part of making it so.” And again, school will resume on Tuesday November 16th.  Applications open today for a bipartisan $350 million grant program to support childcare businesses and provide bonuses for thousands of childcare professionals.
LANSING, Mich. Nov. 8 — Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the launch of the Child Care Stabilization Grant that will distribute $350 million in grants to give every full-time childcare professional a $1,000 bonus and keep childcare programs open and serving kids. “Childcare is the backbone of a strong economy, “said the Governor. “Childcare professionals and programs go above and beyond every day to care for our kids, helping them learn and grow in a safe environment,” With the Child Care Stabilization Grant application now open, licensed childcare providers are eligible to apply and should visit Michigan.gov/childcare to review frequently asked questions and apply. Childcare professionals will be awarded bonuses directly from their employer and do not need to apply. “Childcare professionals are trusted to help our youngest children learn and grow, but their compensation doesn’t reflect the value they bring to our children and communities,” said Kimberly Zehnder, owner of EduPlay Discovery Center in Frankenmuth. “Most teacher’s assistants make a little over minimum wage because that is all that the programs can afford. I’m grateful these grants include bonus pay for childcare professionals because they work very hard caring for our littlest learners. Parents need us so that they can keep working, and it breaks my heart to hear of good programs closing, and parents unable to find care.” Child advocates to unveil new one-stop center to fight abuse, empower families in 4 W. Michigan counties
WHITE CLOUD, Mich. – Two organizations championing the safety and wellbeing of children will unveil a new one-stop facility providing comprehensive services designed to help fight child abuse and empower families at an unveiling and groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Open Arms Child Advocacy Center and Newaygo County Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect’s new Center for Hope and Healing is a 23,000-square-foot building in White Cloud. The new center will be at 601 N. Evergreen Dr., White Cloud, MI 49349, just north of White Cloud on M-37. Once fully renovated, The Center will provide a welcoming, safe and private environment for families in Newaygo, Mecosta, Osceola and Lake counties. The Center for Hope and Healing will feature dedicated spaces for a range of services to prevent abuse and neglect, including:
Child abuse and neglect investigations in OACAC’s and NCPCAN’s service areas continue to go up. OACAC’s existing facility in Big Rapids and NCPCAN’s facility in Newaygo are too small to accommodate the growing number of families or more abuse and neglect victims. The existing facilities also offer only minimal privacy and comfort to children. Additionally, during disease outbreaks, cramped locations increase the risk of infection spread.  Says MCCA surplus $$ should go to residents with auto insurance
LANSING, Mich. — Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer called on the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) to deliver refund checks to every Michigander with auto insurance. This refund is possible in part because of the historic, bipartisan auto insurance reform signed into law by the governor in 2019 and would return money to every Michigander with auto insurance. Gov. Whitmer: “The over $5 billion surplus accumulated by the MCCA belongs to Michiganders and should be put in people’s pockets immediately with a refund check As we stay-laser focused on growing our economy and ushering in a new era of prosperity we need to use every resource we have to help people thrive. A refund check to working families will help us continue to put Michiganders first and drive down costs.” Auto Insurance Reform In May 2019,the Governor signed Senate Bill 1 into law, instituting historic, bipartisan reforms to fix Michigan’s broken auto insurance system. The bill saves drivers money by:
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