HB 8.12.2021 FINAL 2

VOLUME 167, No. 32 Thursday, August 12, 2021 PRICE $1.

1

THE

HASTINGS

Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

County commissioners ask sheriff

to elaborate on investigation

Rebecca Pierce

Editor

A probe into allegations of voter fraud

fueled several questions during the Barry

County Board of Commissioners meeting

Tuesday, but no answers were forthcoming

from Sheriff Dar Leaf.

For the first time since the investigation

was disclosed, however, the people asking the

questions were the county commissioners.

Leaf, just back from a week’s vacation in

the Upper Peninsula, delivered his depart-

mental annual report, but said nothing about

his highly publicized investigation into a

complaint of potential voter fraud.

That complaint was filed by one of his for-

mer employees who based it on an Antrim

County lawsuit that had been thrown out by a

judge the day after it was filed.

As soon as Leaf concluded his presentation

to the board, Chairman Ben Geiger said:

Few leads for police

seeking Nashville woman

Taylor Owens

Staff Writer

Rachel Hazen of Nashville has been miss-

ing for 21 days, leaving little trace of her

whereabouts.

Family and friends said Hazen, 41, was

planning to go to a drug rehabilitation facility

at the time of her disappearance, but police

have been unable to locate her at any facilities

in the area.

According to reports obtained by The

Hastings Banner, police were first notified of

Hazen’s disappearance at 11:05 a.m. July 26,

when a friend, Casey Bidelman, 40, of Battle

Creek, called police from Hazen’s home in

the Thornapple Lake Estates mobile home

park.

Bidelman said the place appeared to have

been ransacked.

An officer arrived to find a number of

Hazen’s friends and Thornapple Lake Estates

staff at her residence. The officer found “the

cupboards in the house had been gone through

as if someone were searching for something,”

but he did not see any signs of a struggle or an

abduction.

Witnesses told police they last saw Hazen

on Wednesday, July 21. She was driving her

2005 silver Ford Escape, which was missing a

license plate. That vehicle has not been found.

On that day, Hazen and her 18-year-old son

went to her friend’s residence in Nashville.

Hazen dropped off her dog with her friend,

asking her to watch the dog while she was in

rehab.

Hazen’s friend said she appeared to be

intoxicated; she was slurring her words and

difficult to understand. The friend told the

officer Hazen should not have been driving in

that condition.

Hazen’s son was helping her seek a poten-

tial rehab facility, but the places they contact-

ed were either full or wouldn’t accept her

insurance. So they made an appointment with

Barry County Mental Health for the next day.

After that, Hazen and her son went to her

eldest son’s house in Baltimore Township,

and all three of her sons talked to her about

Hastings schools owe

response to ‘no’ voters

See Editorial on Page 4

24-Hour Challenge

rides through area

See Story on Page 12

County’s COVID-

transmission rate jumps

See Story on Page 7

NEWS

BRIEFS

See NEWS BRIEFS, page 2

See MISSING, page 11

Foaming for fun

Hastings Public Library staff hosted a celebration Saturday in honor of its 125th

anniversary. Parents, kids and Stormy the Entertainer had fun outdoors at the free

event across from the library at Thornapple Plaza, with the sun shining and

temperatures in the 80s. Here, Loralye Heide, 5, holds on to Keenan Heide, 1, as they

slide down the hill. More inside. (Photo by Benjamin Simon) See story on page 3.

Sheriff Dar Leaf prepares to give his annual report presentation to the Barry County Board of Commissioners in the courthouse mezzanine Tuesday. (Photo by Rebecca

Pierce)

BIE luncheon

canceled

The Business, Industry and Education

luncheon that typically kicks off the new

school year in Hastings has been canceled.

The luncheon had been scheduled for

Aug. 17 at Hastings High School, but

school officials canceled the event because

of an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the

area.

Fountain, plaza

programs

wrapping up

Playing at the Plaza and Fridays at the

Fountain, two segments of the Hastings

Live free summer concerts series, will end

with these performances.

Mime Rob Reider will perform at 11

a.m. today, Aug. 12, as part of Playing at

the Plaza. A West Michigan native, Reider

has dedicated his life to training that

includes corporeal mime, pantomime,

clowning, Chinese movements arts, dance

and more. He has been performing mime

for nearly 40 years throughout Michigan

and the U.S.

Dede and the Dreamers will bring their

psychedelic, folk and jazz music to

Fridays at the Fountain at noon Aug. 13

on the Barry County Courthouse lawn.

The performances are free. Guests may

want to bring their own lawn chairs or

blankets.

Army band, Grumpy

Old Men returning

The 338th Army Band will return to

Hastings at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at

Thornapple Plaza.

The 338th is made up of musicians

from Michigan, Ohio and parts of

Kentucky. Stationed at the 83rd Infantry

Division Memorial US Army Reserve

Center, Whitehall, Ohio, and in Livonia,

members range in age from 17 to over 50.

The 338th Rock Band, a subdivision of

the 338th Army Band, returns to Hastings

with songs people know, can sing along

to, and leave the concert humming on

their way home.

The band performed here in 2019 as

part of the local American Legion’s anni-

versary celebration.

Next Wednesday, the local group

Grumpy Old Men will play at Thornapple

Plaza at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 18. Comprised of

local musicians Doug Acker, Tom

Alderson, Gene Greenfield, Mark Ramsey

and Terry Van Dien, the group plays clas-

sic rock songs from the 1960s and 1970s.

Both performances are part of Hastings

Live, the free summer concert series.

Attendees are encouraged to bring blan-

kets or lawn chairs. Thornapple Plaza on

the east end of downtown Hastings, a

short walk from local shops and restau-

rants.

More information can be found at face-

book.com/mihastingslive.

Blood donors

needed at area

drives

Eligible donors can help overcome the

critical need for blood and ensure blood is

readily available by making an appoint-

ment to give blood.

Upcoming blood donation opportuni-

ties locally include:

Delton – Monday, Aug. 16, 11 a.m.-

4:45 p.m., St. Ambrose Church, 11149

Floria Road.

Lake Odessa – Monday, Aug. 16, noon-

5:45 p.m., Central United Methodist

Church, 912 Fourth Ave.

See QUESTIONS, page 2

Gunman spoke

of ‘suicide by cop’

Taylor Owens

Staff Writer

A 48-year-old Hastings man was arrested in

the early hours of Aug. 5, after a high-speed

chase and a seven-hour armed standoff with

police at a gas station in Woodland.

Timothy Maloy Riddle was being sought as

a suspect in a recent Barry County break-in,

police said.

Hastings City Police spotted Riddle’s matte

black Chevy HHR at the Marathon gas station

on M-43 in Hastings at 6:48 p.m. Aug. 4.

After Riddle left the station and turned north

onto M-43, an officer stopped him. He detailed

his interaction with Riddle in a written report.

The officer told Riddle he was not under

arrest, but that Barry County Sheriff’s depu-

ties wanted to talk to him. He asked Riddle to

step out of the car and wait for the deputies.

Riddle appeared agitated at first, but he

seemed to cool down after the officer

explained the situation to him.

He shut off the car and pulled out the key

• but would not step out of the vehicle.
  He started talking about his ex-girlfriend, a
  40-year-old Hastings woman, and insisted to
  the officer that he did not go near her.
  “I did not do nothing to her, man,” Riddle
  said.
  The officer told him he was not being

See GUNMAN, page 2

Vote probe spurs questions