2018-02-22

NOT SO MUCH SUNSHINE



Wave action from passing vehicles hinders Roscommon County Road Commission Operator Jeff Jeske, who donned waders to clear a storm drain which had become clogged with leaves, trash and even a piece of building insulation near the intersection of M-55 and Sunshine Alley at Houghton Lake Tuesday morning. Traffic had to share one westbound lane while the drainage problem, in […]

WAKING UP NEXT TO A LAKE



Joei Dillon, 2, gets a ride over the water from her uncle, Brian Ledbetter, Tuesday afternoon on Middle Drive in Houghton Lake’s Woodland Hills Subdivision. Melissa Johnston-Ledbetter said there was “nothing” on the road in front of their home when they went to bed Monday night, and they woke to find they “suddenly had lakefront property.” She said their son, […]

Thompson reaches 25-year milestone as first Central Dispatch employee




Twenty-five years ago today (Thursday, Feb. 22), Marie Thomp­son was hired as Roscommon Coun­ty’s first emergency dispatcher and since then, she has been the first voice many people hear when they are in need of assistance. “When I started this wasn’t a career,” Thompson said of her Feb. 22, 1993, hiring. With “no experi­ence” other than getting her “feet wet” […]

Stefanko suggests ‘conservative’ approach to millage




Instead of requesting that Roscom­mon County voters consider a restora­tion millage that, if approved, would increase the millage from 3.583 mills to 4.6 mills, Commissioner Gary Stefanko (District 5) said the county should con­sider a more “conservative” millage fig­ure. Stefanko said at a Feb. 14 work ses­sion that the county needs to provide the public with more information on how […]

Three selected for second round in HLCS leader search




The Houghton Lake Community Schools Board of Education narrowed its field of superintendent candidates from five to three Monday. In a series of interviews, the board met applicants Julie Brown, Tommie Saylor, Laura VanVorhis, Natalie Davis and Rick Heitmeyer and selected for second interviews Brown, Davis and Heitmeyer. Led by Michigan Association of School Boards Consultant Dr. Rodney Green, the […]

Weight restrictions on roads now in effect



The Michigan Department of Trans­portation (MDOT) and local agencies are enacting spring weight restrictions, an annual move to protect roads. Roscommon County Road Com­mission Manager Tim O’Rourke said restrictions in Roscommon County will begin 8 a.m. today (Thursday). Effective Feb. 19, weight restric­tions were imposed and enforced on all state trunkline highways from the Mich­igan/ Indiana and Michigan/Ohio state lines […]

Beck leads officials on jail tour



Roscommon County Commissioners had an opportunity to get a firsthand look inside the Roscommon County Jail Feb. 14 as Jail Administrator Lt. Laurie Beck gave them a tour of the facility. Beck took the group, which in­cluded all five commissioners, Clerk Michelle Stevenson and Controller Jodi Valentino from the District Court courtroom, through a hallway called the “Green Mile” and […]

CREATING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT



There were several questions about the chair (foreground) located in the section of the jail that contains the observation cells. RCSO Undersheriff Ben Lowe (second from left) told those on the tour that the restraint chair is not just about restraining inmates, it’s about safety. He said at times inmates can cause harm to them­selves and by placing them in […]

TO THE JAIL



Lt. Laurie Beck (right) leads of­ficials Feb. 14 down the “Green Mile” which is the hall inmates are taken through that connects the courts to the jail.

REC ROOM



(From left) Commissioners Gary Stefanko (District 5), Vice Chair Ken Melvin (District 2), David Russo (District 1), Chair Bob Schneider (Dis­trict 3), Controller Jodi Valentino, Lt. Laurie Beck and Clerk Michelle Stevenson check out the recreation room at the Roscommon County Jail. Lt. Beck told those on the tour that allowing the inmates to have time out of their cells […]