Tim McAllister

A community food charity has been approved for a $500,000 appropriation in the 2027-2028 state of Michigan budget. IM Kids 3rd Meal will use the funds to move into a new facility in Belding, as it has outgrown the current headquarters at 409 S. Bridge St.

The Grattan Township Board considered but took no action Monday on doing a sewer feasibility study for Grattan Center, the most heavily-traveled area of the township. For a proposed $14,800 fee, Grand Rapids-based engineering and architecture firm Fleis & VandenBrink would evaluate the possibility of extending sanitary sewer service to Old Belding Road between its two intersections with M-44. Grattan Center is the site of most of the businesses in the township, and installing the new infrastructure could potentially cost millions of dollars and may attract a data center to the area, according to township officials.

A standing-room-only crowd peppered Ionia Township township officials Tuesday with questions about the alleged theft of more than $747,000 in taxpayer money, but the board offered few new details, saying the matter remains before the courts. Marilyn Harp, the former township treasurer, is alleged to have withdrawn hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money and used it to build herself a vacation home and pay personal bills. She has been charged in federal court.

Judges selected recent Ionia High School graduate JoAnna Platte of Muir as this year's Ionia Free Fair queen, along with first runner-up Dalilah Tubergen of Ionia and second runner-up Katelyn Bignall of Belding Platte, 18, served as her high school class president and was active in Interact Club and the National Honor Society. She plans to attend the Radiant School of Ministry in Kalamazoo this fall to become a minister.

The city of Ionia Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Monday approved reimbursement agreements for two housing developments under construction in the city. First, the authority considered a reimbursement agreement related to the Heritage Row housing development, as submitted by Coopersville-based Ionia Development Co. This development, by Kapenga Properties LLC, will transform the vacant lot on the former site of Ionia Sparrow Hospital, 520 E. Washington St., into 14 residential units.

The Belding City Council voted on Tuesday to approve an engineering proposal from Fleis & VandenBrink to clean and televise the sewer on Front Street while the area is being renovated between W. Center and Beulah, a .3 mile stretch. The total project cost of $484,000 will be offset by a $387,200 "Surface Transportation Program Urban” grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation, leaving a $96,800 bill for city taxpayers. Construction will likely take place in 2028 or 2029, depending on various factors.

The new Belding city manager resigned effectively immediately on Friday after just four months on the job, and a twice-fired Belding city manager will return to the job for at least a year. Adam Poll was hired on March 5. He resigned via email on Friday morning. Belding has gone through four city managers in the past five years, not counting two interims.

The Ionia Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Monday evening to hire a new principal and assistant principal for Ionia Middle School, just a few weeks before the beginning of the new school year. Dustin Gill, the principal of Emerson Elementary School since May 2025 and the former assistant principal of Ionia High School, is the new middle school principal. Former assistant principal Ryan Mitchell left the position this June after he was hired as the assistant principal of Hastings High School.

A proposed 312-address housing development that supporters say could diversify Portland's housing stock and boost the local economy took its first public step before the Ionia County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday.

The Detroit Lions came through in a big way for local cheerleaders on Wednesday with the purchase of $5,000 worth of new uniforms and equipment for the Ionia High School Unified Dance and Cheer Team.