The Allegan County Sheriff’s Department says a woman whose body was found at a Saugatuck Township playground this week died as a result of hypothermia. The woman has been identified as 40-year-old Jamie Jon Dollar, from the Saugatuck area. She was discovered Sunday by some children at the playground near a mobile home park on Blue Star Highway. Police are waiting for toxicology results to find out if alcohol and drugs were a factor. They don’t believe the death is the result of foul play.... [Read Full Story]
More charges have been filed by Michigan’s attorney general in the investigation into the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint, Michigan, including against two former state-appointed emergency managers. Attorney General Bill Schuette on Tuesday charged former emergency managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose with multiple 20-year felonies for their failure to protect the residents of Flint from health hazards caused by contaminated drinking water. Schuette also charged Earley, Ambrose and Flint city employees Howard Croft and Daugherty Johnson with felony counts of false pretenses and conspiracy to commit false pretenses in the issuance of bonds to pay for a portion of the water project that led to the crisis.... [Read Full Story]
(Kalamazoo, MI – AP) Charitable donations reported to the IRS show that the average household in Michigan donated about 3% of their income to charity. The most recent data from the IRS shows that Michigan residents who filed taxes deducted almost $5 billion in charitable contributions on their 2014 tax returns.... [Read Full Story]
(Flint, MI – AP) The Michigan attorney general is announcing more criminal charges in the Flint water investigation. Attorney General Bill Schuette has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday. Nine people so far have been charged in an investigation of Flint’s lead-tainted water system and an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Those nine are eight current or former state employees and a Flint water plant employee.... [Read Full Story]
General Motors will temporarily close five factories next month as it tries to reduce a growing inventory of cars. Spokeswoman Dayna Hart says the factories will close anywhere from one to three weeks due to the continuing U.S. market shift toward trucks and SUVs. Just over 10,000 workers will be idled. The company’s Detroit-Hamtramck and Kansas City, Kansas, factories will be shut down for three weeks, while a plant in Lansing, Michigan, will be down for two weeks. Factories in Lordstown, Ohio, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, each will be idled for one week. The factories make just about every car in the General Motors lineup. Last month, almost 62 percent of all U.S. vehicle sales were trucks and SUVs.... [Read Full Story]
The Benton Harbor City Commission has saluted a local success story. At Monday’s meeting, a key to the city was presented to Psychelia Terry, the founder of UI Global Brands. She graduated from Benton Harbor High School, went to Western Michigan University, worked for Whirlpool, and then started a lingerie company that’s now a multi-million dollar cosmetics and apparel operation. Terry told WSJM News she was thrilled to come home for the honor.... [Read Full Story]
Michigan lawmakers have wrapped up all voting for the year, and groups from both sides of the aisle are commending them for managing to get a few things done in a bipartisan way. Rachel Richards, with the Michigan League for Public Policy, tells us one bright spot is a plan to ease some of the rules for expelling students.... [Read Full Story]
The city of Benton Harbor could start working with a local bank on helping more residents buy homes. At Monday’s meeting, commissioners heard from Linda Allen, branch manager at Chemical Bank in the city. She asked them to work with her on finding folks who would like to own. From there, the bank would help them.... [Read Full Story]
Time to pick up your holiday gifts is quickly running out. Walmart spokesperson Molly Blakeman tells us some items are also getting a little hard to find. Take Hatchimals, for example.... [Read Full Story]
The Salvation Army of Benton Harbor is putting out a call for extra help this holiday season. Local Administrator Major David Womack tells WSJM News their annual Red Kettle fundraising effort is coming up short for the year. They’ve raised $25,000 less than they did by this time last year. It’s a common problem.... [Read Full Story]
AAA of Michigan has been plenty busy the last several days. They tell us calls for roadside assistance were up every day throughout the weekend as frigid wintry weather clobbered Michigan. On Friday, calls were up 112%, on Saturday, they were up 81%, and on Sunday, they were up 33%. When it’s extra cold, the most common type of call is about a dead battery. AAA reminds everyone to get their car batteries checked, be aware of the travel and weather conditions before heading out, and to not travel is it’s not necessary. If you get stranded, you’re advised to stay in your car if it’s safe and make sure the exhaust pipe is clear of snow.... [Read Full Story]
State Representative Al Pscholka has made it through all six of his years in the Michigan House without missing a single vote. The last day of voting was last week, and throughout that session, Pscholka cast 1,263 votes. In total, Pscholka has voted more than 4,100 times in the House. He tells WSJM News lawmakers accomplished some big things since 2010.... [Read Full Story]
The U.S. Coast Guard has started ice-breaking operations in response to developing ice conditions in commercial ports along
western Lake Superior and the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Officials say Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie started Operation Taconite Monday. It encompasses Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, the Straits of Mackinac and the St. Marys River. Coast Guard Cutter Alder is directed to manage the ice-breaking needs of western Lake Superior. Coast Guard Cutter Biscayne Bay has been dispatched to break ice in the St Marys River. Additional Coast Guard icebreakers will join the operation as ice growth continues on the Great Lakes in the coming days and weeks.... [Read Full Story]
Charitable donations reported to the IRS show that the average household in Michigan donated about 3% of their income to
charity. The most recent data from the IRS shows that Michigan residents who filed taxes deducted almost $5 billion in charitable contributions on their 2014 tax returns. MLive reports the IRS numbers are the best window to individual giving, but the data is limited to taxpayers who file a Schedule A, which allows them to itemize deductions such as home mortgage interest, state and local taxes and charitable deductions. About 27% of tax returns in Michigan included a Schedule A in 2014.
The remainder of Michigan residents who filed taxes took the standard deduction. The IRS doesn’t have information on charitable giving for those tax filers.... [Read Full Story]
A Covert Township home has suffered serious damage in a fire that broke out Monday morning. Firefighters from four departments were sent to the scene on 77th Street, south of County Road 376, around 10 a.m. South Haven Area Emergency Services tells our newsroom a neighbor reported the fire when he went to feed the pets of the woman who owns the place. The dogs, cats, and birds appear to have died in the fire. It broke out in the basement, and the cause is still under investigation. The homeowner wasn’t there at the time. One South Haven Area Emergency Services firefighter was injured when he fell off a ladder, and he was taken to a local hospital. He’s expected to recover.... [Read Full Story]
The Allegan County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the discovery of a woman’s body on a playground in a trailer park in Saugatuck Township over the weekend. Children found the woman’s body around 2 p.m. Sunday near a trailer in the Shangrai-La Mobile Home Park on Blue Star Highway. Deputies say the 40-year-old woman appeared to have been dead “for some time.” An autopsy will be performed Tuesday, and police plan to release more information at that point. The woman’s name has not been released.... [Read Full Story]
The Cass County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a deadly weekend crash in Newburg Township. Deputies tell WSJM News the head-on crash on M-40 yesterday just after noon killed 18-year-old Matthew Miller of Middlebury, Indiana. He was a passenger in a car driven by 17-year-old Lucas Lambright of Millersburg. Lambright lost control on M-40 and went into the path of a southbound vehicle driven by a Grand Rapids woman. That woman and her passenger were taken to Three Rivers Hospital, as was Lambright. Miller was pronounced dead at the scene.... [Read Full Story]
(Lansing, MI – AP) – Electors in Michigan are in line to obey state law and vote for Republican President-elect Donald Trump. The state requires the 16 members of the Electoral College convening Monday at the statehouse to vote according to the results of the Michigan’s presidential election, which Trump won by .2 percentage points. Still, electors surveyed by The Associated Press say they support him regardless. Elector Joseph Guzman, a Michigan State University assistant professor, says Trump is “my candidate,” and he would vote for him even “if there were no rules.” Electors say they aren’t swayed by missives from people urging votes for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton or another Republican. Hank Fuhs, an elector from Grand Rapids, says it’s their right to express opinions but “they don’t understand” or “appreciate” the electoral process.... [Read Full Story]
If you’re looking for Michigan’s lowest price on gasoline, you’re not going to have to go far. Triple-A Michigan says the Benton Harbor-St. Joseph area is the lowest in the state to start the week at $2.20 on average. Our prices locally have fallen 8¢ a gallon from a week ago, far more than the statewide drop of 2¢. The state average is $2.25, a penny higher than the national average and up 41¢ from this time last year. The most expensive gas in Michigan is in the U.P. in Marquette at $2.30.... [Read Full Story]
With the low temperature Sunday night possibly dipping to zero, AAA of Michigan is reminding drivers to take some steps to make sure their cars will start. Spokesperson Gary Bubar tells WSJM News you should do a few things to help out the battery.... [Read Full Story]
With news this week that another billion Yahoo e-mail accounts have been hacked, we thought we’d check in with some Lake Michigan College security experts to find out what you can do to keep your information safe online. Derrick Griffin is LMC’s Assistant Security Engineer, and tells WSJM News one big tip is to have a good password.... [Read Full Story]
With Christmas just about here, many families have their trees up, and fire officials want to remind them to be safe. St. Joseph Director of Public Safety Brian Uridge tells WSJM News the biggest fire safety tip involving a Christmas tree has to do with where it’s placed.... [Read Full Story]
The cold expected this week is a reminder for pet owners not to leave their animals outside. Jill Svoboda, with the Humane Society of Southwest Michigan, tells WSJM News if you leave Fido outside, give him a good shelter.... [Read Full Story]
14 lives have been saved in Berrien County over the last year, thanks to the sheriff’s department’s use of Narcan. It’s a nasal spray that can revive someone having an opioid overdose which sheriff’s deputies started carrying last year. Chief Deputy Robert Boyce tells WSJM News it’s not difficult for a deputy to use the drug.... [Read Full Story]
It was a busy week, but the Michigan House is now all done for the year. State Representative Al Pscholka talked with WSJM News about the last couple of weeks, and says he thinks lawmakers got most of the biggest priorities, including passage of a new state energy policy, taken care of.... [Read Full Story]
The Allegan County Sheriff’s Department K9 program has gotten a boost from some local businesses. This week, a check for $1,370 was presented to Undersheriff Mike Larsen from the owners of Pet Klips and Studio H Pet Photography. The two businesses teamed up for their second annual fundraiser by taking photos of dogs and donating the proceeds. Pet Klips is the year-round groomer for the sheriff’s department K9s. The undersheriff presented both businesses with a certificate of appreciation for their help this holiday season.... [Read Full Story]
CPR will be part of the Michigan school curriculum under legislation headed to Governor Rick Snyder. The plan from state Senator Tonya Schuitmaker would require at least 30 minutes of CPR instruction for students before graduation. She tells WSJM News that could make a big difference.... [Read Full Story]
The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning is asking holiday revelers to avoid driving while tipsy, buzzed, or Blitzen this month. Spokesperson Melody Kindraka tells WSJM News extra officers are now out and about.... [Read Full Story]
Scott Hagerstrom, the Michigan Campaign Director for President-elect Donald Trump, says the appointment of Ronna Romney McDaniel as the Chair of the Republican National Committee is a great move.... [Read Full Story]
If you’re interested in what it’s like to work in law enforcement, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department is offering a chance to find out starting next month. Its 20th annual Citizens Police Academy begins January 11, and runs for 11 weeks. The goal is to promote a positive relationship between the sheriff’s department and the public by teaching regular folks all about the things a police officer has to do. Those who sign up will get to learn about different positions in the sheriff’s department, ask questions of staff, and see demonstrations. To learn more or sign up, just go to VanBurenCountySheriff.com to submit an application. You have to be at least 18, and the academy is free.... [Read Full Story]
