The Van Buren County Sheriffs website now has the link to add your house to their watch list. 
Please note that this is for homes in areas regularly patrolled by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office. If you do not live in an area patrolled by Van Buren County Deputies, please contact your local police department to have your home placed on their watch list. 
Here is the direct website.  Just click here:  http://www.vanburencountysheriff.com/10-24-2014watch.htm
Bob Richter, LOW 

Enjoying the stillness of a sunny September morning.

Just a reminder for all those people who will be leaving for the winter or do not come up to the lake house that often in the upcoming winter. The Van Buren County Sheriffs office will have a tab on their site where you can add your house address to a list of homes that the officers will check on while you are out of town for the winter season.  They will come out at random times and physically walk the perimeter of your home and look for anything suspicious, windows broke, doors open, etc.  Check the below website in the upcoming months to register the dates you will be gone and your address.
Bob Richter
http://www.vanburencountysheriff.com
 

Around our lake golf carts help seniors, individuals with handicaps and people with mobility problems get around easily.  Children and teenagers love to drive golf carts (which can be a good reason for going to grandmothers cottage at the lake)!  Children and teenagers often do not realize that golf carts can weigh 600 pounds or more and can easily cause property damage, personal damage, personal injury or death.  Around lake neighborhoods, the careless use of golf carts can present safety hazards, tear up lawns and landscaping and stoke tempers.  For the property owner or renter who owns a golf cart, make sure that you have good liability insurance in effect for its use.  You should also determine whether such liability insurance will cover drivers other than yourself, and if so, which drivers.  If a grandparent allows his or her teenage grandchild to drive the golf cart alone or with friends and someone is injured or killed by the golf cart, it is highly likely that the grandparent will face significant personal liability.  Adequate liability insurance will help protect the owners of golf carts and their assets. 
Bob Richter, LOW resident

Information reprinted from summer 2015 issue of The Michigan Riparian magazine