INSIDE
Volume 2, Issue 43 MARCH 21, 2025 Total Raised: $57,606 Lead this Legacy
: Montague FFA earns national chapter award
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CASE DISMISSED READER:
Lovedia Miller
Depending on the circumstances, the term “dismissed” can be dreaded or welcomed. For the board and staff at Echo Publishing Inc., this dismissal brought great joy and relief. Only a portion of our readers have been aware of the burden we have labored under for almost a year. At that time, MLive Senior Reporter Matt Miller informed us, before we were even served, that a lawsuit for $1.8 million had been filed against us by Shoreline Media’s parent company, Whitewater Valley Publishing Company, in U.S. District Court. Shoreline Media consists of the Oceana’s Herald-Journal, the White Lake Beacon and the Ludington Daily News. The lawsuit sought damages for unfair competition, but mainly copyright infringement regarding the use of
Dean Gentel
some photos that the Echo published, of which Shoreline Media claimed ownership. Months before the lawsuit was filed, we received a letter regarding these matters. We apologized for any supposed wrongdoing and hoped we could move on. But that was not to be - because the case was not really about the photos. The case was really about the survival of a new nonprofit newspaper that was finding a loyal readership in the same counties that Shoreline Media was losing readers. The lawsuit over the photos was the first of several efforts to thwart the Echo’s progress and challenge our success. Our legality was questioned. Our right to print public notices was challenged. Our membership in the Michigan Press Association was denied. The financial cost was
Barry & Vicki Tyrrell
staggering. But the stress and emotional cost were worse. After contacting us, Matt wrote an article about our plight that was published across many of MLive’s newspapers last year. Circulating in major Michigan markets, and even outside the state too, the article brought us new friends. Past President of the Michigan Press Association Ed Wendover read that article and our phone rang. Matt’s article mentioned Swift Lathers. Ed was a personal friend of Swift’s, who as many of you remember was editor of The Mears Newz. Ed has written features on Swift and the Lost Village. He came to us with knowledge, advice and words of encouragement. We became friends with a common cause: Freedom of the Press. This all leads to the final analysis:
Publisher:
Anonymous
Case Dismissed. There were no winners. We settled this $1.8 million lawsuit with a total cost to us of almost $100,000, most of it our legal fees. But we have Angels on our shoulders. Faithful readers who send us notes of encouragement and gratitude for covering local stories. Faithful readers who send us checks to support our work. We are a non-profit, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Without your support, we could not exist. Please consider including us on your list of favorite charities. Your gifts will allow us to continue to print this paper each week and put it in your mailbox for free. Thank you so much!
- Paul Erickson
President of the Board Echo Publishing Inc.
Area robotics teams have good showing at FIRST event in Muskegon By Sharon Hallack
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Senior High, Team 3538 RoboJackets of Avondale The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent High School and Rookie Team 10654 - Tiger Bytes Two Oceana County of Shelby High School! high schools were part Second place went to of winning “alliances” Alliance 3 and included at Saturday’s FIRST (For Team 10606 - The Foley Inspiration and Recogni- Flare of Bishop Foley tion of Science and Tech- Catholic High School, nology) robotics events Team 2834 - The Bionic in Muskegon. First place Blackhawks of Bloomwent to Alliance 1, made field Hills High School up of Team 3572 - “Wave- and Team 6128 - Team length” of Mona Shores M.O.T.O.R. (More Than Our Robot) of Hart High School. “I am (so proud) of the students that make up our Shelby robotics team, the Tiger
Bytes. They were the main reason why the top alliance team picked our rookie team to be their third member. I also can’t say enough thanks to our sponsors, Advance Architectural and Gentex, for their support. Lastly, to the parents, thank you for your support and for allowing your children to be part of our team,” said Shelby Coach Jan Michael Biyo. “We struggled a bit early in the qualification matches, but the team worked on their robot between matches and were able to improve
their robot by the time we got to our last three qualification matches on Saturday morning. Our improvement led us to be chosen as part of the third-seeded alliance for the playoff round,” Hart Coach Matt Werner reported. “They saw that we had been improving, and our overall rank of 37 of 39 was underrated. We won our first playoff match, lost the second, and then won the rest of our semi-final matches to get to the final. So being runner-up at the Muskegon event was a pretty good showing.”
Shelby Team 10654 - Tiger Bytes earned first place at the FIRST Robotics Competition last Saturday in Muskegon. Pictured, above from left, are Sydney Reed, Adelide Fleming, Coach Laura Castonia, Ayden Whitehill, Coach Jan Michael Biyo, Kasey Oberlin, Coach Angie Setlak, Cael Omness and Chrystian Hoyt. • Contributed Photo
FIRST Robotics, a worldwide organization with teams located across the state, nation and world, competes for five weekends from late February to mid-April every year. Michigan is its largest district, with almost 500 teams participating. Other upcoming robotics competitions for Oceana County teams this year include this weekend’s event (March 21 and 22) at Grand Valley State University, with 40 teams scheduled to compete, including Team 9752 - Walkerville Wildcats
(coached by Susan Schwarz) and Team 6128 - Team M.O.T.O.R. On March 28 and 29, Team 9756 - the Robo Panthers of Hesperia (coached by Dan Postema) and the Walkerville Wildcats will compete at Ferris State University; while Team 10654 - Tiger Bytes will compete in Kentwood. Spectators are welcomed and encouraged to attend competitions. Admission is free. For more information about FIRST Robotics, please visit https://frc-events. firstinspires.org/
Hart Team 6128 - Team M.O.T.O.R. took home second place at the recent FIRST Robotics Competition in Muskegon. Seen above, front from left, are Brandon Mohl, Nicolas Ramirez, Theo Palmer, and Silas Jones. Middle row, from left, are Coach Andy Riley, Faith Vander Vlucht, Owen Vander Vlucht, “Louis” (software mentor), Austin Hosking, Clayton Riley, Gaige Gallop and Coach Matt Werner. Back row, from left, are Mason Guikema, Peter Tuinstra and Cole Slotman. Not pictured are Maddox Mullen and Aiden Oomen. • Contributed Photo