The Huron Valley School District will be rolling out Mandarin Chinese as a new course of study in foreign languages for the 2011-12 school year. The curriculum enhancement aligns with Oakland County’s coordinated effort to offer Mandarin Chinese as a portal to a global economy. “It’s a great option for kids,” said Huron Valley Director of Secondary Education David Maile. “Chinese is gaining great interest and is a major player in a global economy.” Unlike [...]

A helpful neighbor may have been the deciding factor between life and death for a West Bloomfield Township woman’s dog. The woman was walking her dog down Edgemore in Commerce Township around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 23, when two loose pit bulls attacked her dog, according to law enforcement officials. The woman told Oakland County Sheriff’s Department deputies that the older-looking pit bull went for her dog’s throat and would not relent. After hearing [...]

Helen Marya Ryan never ran for office or graced the cover of a magazine, but she will always be known as a loyal and hardworking individual, respected and loved by the Walled Lake community. Affectionately dubbed the “Paint Lady” at Melvin’s Hardware, where she worked for over 40 years, Ryan quietly passed away in her sleep on June 10. She was 84. Ryan first began working in the hardware business at Fitzgerald’s, Melvin’s predecessor. When [...]

A potentially lethal fungus has been rapidly spreading and has left over a million bats dead since its discovery in 2006 in upstate New York, but a recent statewide survey indicates that Michigan bats are safe — at least for now. White nose syndrome (WNS) was not found in any of the 24 known bat wintering sites in a recent statewide survey conducted by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in conjunction Dr. Allen [...]

The village of Milford will soon be getting a boost — an electric boost, that is — in the form of six new charging stations for electric vehicles in the downtown area. The Village Council voted Monday, June 20 to approved a proposal from the village’s Parking Authority to have three charging stations installed in the east municipal parking lot near Union Street and three charging stations installed in the village’s west parking lot. Village [...]

Robertson Local units of government would no longer be allowed to adopt a charter, ordinance or resolution that would enact a minimum staffing requirement under legislation that has received the blessing of the state Senate and now heads to the state House. The legislative package, Senate Bills (SBs) 485 through 492, would prohibit minimum staffing requirements for cities, counties, villages, and townships. SB 488 was introduced by state Sen. David Robertson (R-Waterford). “If a community [...]

Milford Village officials are looking into the need for increased safety measures along a local stretch of the Huron River after a teenager and a 48-year-old Milford resident both drowned near a dam in Milford Township on May 21, after the teen fell out of his canoe and the man tried to rescue him. “We’re still looking into it. The village owns the dam, but the dam isn’t in the village and is part of [...]

A 16-year-old girl was the victim of a hit-and-run accident the night of Monday, June 20 in White Lake Township. According to Police Chief Ed Harris, the girl was riding her bike northbound on Ormond Road near Duffield when she was hit by a vehicle around 8 p.m. The vehicle then proceeded to leave the scene but left behind its side mirror, which enabled the police to learn the vehicle is white. The girl was [...]

Over 15 Wixom businesses were victimized last weekend when perpetrators severed sprinkler system check valves to get away with brass and copper heads, valuable commodities these days. The reports came flooding into the Wixom Police Department on Sunday, June 26. Each case was identical. The incidents left each business with flooded grounds. Many of the businesses had on-site surveillance cameras. In one of the camera’s footage, a full-size dark green Dodge Ram pickup truck was [...]

The West Bloomfield Educational Foundation (WBEF) is giving Harry Potter fans the chance to see the final chapter in the Harry Potter movie series a day before it’s released. The WBEF is hosting a special screening of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II” at the Emagine Theater in Novi on Thursday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. There are only a limited number of tickets available and the deadline to apply for tickets is [...]