The benefits of breastfeeding are the inspiration for an event planned for Saturday on the bluff in downtown St. Joseph. “Breastfeeding on the Bluff” is set for 10 a.m. The event is being organized by the Berrien County Breastfeeding Coalition and the county health department, and will feature moms from all over the area. Health department spokesperson Gillian Conrad says it’s better for both the baby and the mom when a mother breastfeeds.... [Read Full Story]
A federal judge won’t stop the process of resentencing hundreds of Michigan prisoners who are serving no-parole sentences. Judge John Corbett O’Meara on Wednesday turned down a request for an injunction that would have affected so-called juvenile lifers, prisoners who were sentenced
to life for murder committed when they were under 18. In the months ahead, they’ll be resentenced because the U.S. Supreme Court says automatic no-parole sentences for teens are illegal. The punishment still is possible but only after a thorough hearing at which a judge would learn more about the defendant’s background. Lawyers for juvenile lifers claim a no-parole sentence still would be an unconstitutional punishment. But O’Meara says any challenge should first be made at the resentencing hearings in state court, not in federal court.... [Read Full Story]
State Senator John Proos is promoting a new federal pilot program that allows some prison inmates to to take courses through community colleges. He says the goal is to get them a skill and a degree by the time they’re released so they can find a job and not wind up re-offending.... [Read Full Story]
The new home of the Detroit Red Wings has reached a construction milestone. A ceremony took place Thursday to mark the placement of the final piece of structural steel for the roof of Little Caesars Arena. Olympia Development of Michigan says the piece of steel, in keeping with tradition, bears the signatures of the project’s ironworkers. The arena is scheduled to open in 2017 after the Red Wings play a final season at Joe Louis Arena. It’s part of an entertainment district being built north of
downtown. Mike and Marian Ilitch co-founded Little Caesars in 1959 and bought the Red Wings in 1982. Mike Ilitch bought the Detroit Tigers in 1992.
Another free pet adoption day is coming up at the Van Buren County Animal Control Shelter. The event is thanks to support from the Bissell Pet Foundation out of Grand Rapids, which will pick up the cost of taking a critter home. The animal shelter’s Kasey Murphy says everyone can stop by on Saturday, August 13.... [Read Full Story]
The LOGAN Autism Learning Center is preparing to move from the First Congregational Church in St. Joseph to the former Stump School in Benton Harbor, and it’s chief strategy officer will be running 50 kilometers this weekend to help raise money. Dr. Josh Diehl will start at the school around 4 a.m. Saturday and run to South Bend to the start of LOGAN’S Run on the Notre Dame campus. He says the rules have him only drinking tapwater on the run unless donations are made for specific things.... [Read Full Story]
The Detroit Economic Club says Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak in Detroit next Monday. Club members and their guests must purchase tickets. Club spokesman Matt Friedman says Trump’s midday speech at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center will be open to the news media but not the general public. Other presidential candidates have given speeches at the Economic Club, including Mitt Romney in 2012 and Trump’s rivals during the recent primary season. Trump won the Michigan Republican primary.... [Read Full Story]
A federal appeals court is hearing a dispute over Michigan’s emergency manager law. In 2014, a judge in Detroit swept aside most claims in a lawsuit by critics. But he allowed the case to go forward on whether the law violates the U.S. Constitution by having a disproportionate impact on communities with large black populations. The appeals court will hear arguments Thursday in Cincinnati. Emergency managers have exceptional power to run local governments and school districts, while elected officials typically are pushed aside for 18 months or more. Michigan voters overturned Governor Rick Snyder’s first emergency manager law in 2012. But he and fellow Republicans in the Legislature came back with another version. The state has had a law allowing for the takeover of local governments and schools in a financial emergency since Governor Jim Blanchard signed Public Act 101 in 1988 due to a fiscal emergency in Hamtramck. It was amended in 1990 and replaced in 2011 by Public Act 4, which itself has been replaced.... [Read Full Story]
One robbery suspect is at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor and another is in the Berrien County Jail after their victim turned the tables at Harbor Towers. Benton Harbor Public Safety says the robbery victim opened fire on the suspects after one of them hit him in the face with a weapon when he refused to give them cash. The suspect who had to be airlifted to Ann Arbor was shot in the face and is expected to survive. The other ran off and was later arrested, and Public Safety Director Dan McGinnis says that person has confessed. No names have been released yet. Exactly when the incident happened has not been made clear.... [Read Full Story]
Southwest Michigan boaters will have a chance to get their watercraft cleaned while learning about invasive species prevention this weekend. On Saturday, Michigan State University’s Mobile Boat Wash will be in Paw Paw and Watervliet. The boat wash is used to show boaters how they can properly clean off their boats, trailers and aquatic equipment to get rid of invasive species that might be clinging to them. Anyone who wants a free boat wash can take their craft to Maple Lake in Paw Paw from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. or to Paw Paw Lake in Watervliet from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 6.... [Read Full Story]
Business owners are being warned not to fall for an email being sent around that purports to be from the Michigan Attorney General’s office. AG spokesperson Andrea Bitely says e-mail is not how the agency contacts people.... [Read Full Story]
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee is keeping up the pressure on the International Olympic Committee regarding the issue of doping and Russian athletes. Chair Congressman Fred Upton says members have been open with the Olympic organizers about their frustration.... [Read Full Story]
The big hill on Front Street in Buchanan will be transformed into a water slide this weekend for the community’s first ever Summer Thrill on the Hill event. Downtown Development Authority Director Debra Patzer says the usual winter Thrill on the Hill is so popular, she wanted to try something similar in the summer.... [Read Full Story]
Commercial business owners across Michigan could improve their bottom lines, as well as residents’ health, by embracing energy efficiency and clean-energy investments outlined in the Clean Power Plan. That’s according to a report from the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Public Policy. Dr. Marilyn Brown, with the institute, says one big step would be to require all buildings over 100,000 square feet to document and report their energy usage.... [Read Full Story]
A $160 million expansion for Lakeland Medical Center has been announced. The Lakeland Health Board of Directors this week voted to proceed with the new Lakeland Medical Center Pavilion at the facility on Napier Avenue in St. Joseph. The five-story pavilion will feature medical and surgical suites, a short stay unit, imaging centers, an intensive care unit, and education and community rooms. It will also include a new main entrance to the facility with a focus on amenities for visitors. Lakeland Health President Dr. Loren Hamel says the project comes from the organization’s long-term capital facility plan, and is intended to equip the hospital to continue providing for the needs of local patients into the future. A ground breaking ceremony for the pavilion will be held in October, and it’s expected to be completed in 2020. You can find out more at www.lakelandhealth.org/pavilion.... [Read Full Story]
Unofficial returns show professional wrestler “Rhyno” edging two other candidates in the Republican primary for a Michigan legislative seat.
Terrance Gerin of Dearborn led by just 54 votes out of more than 2,700 cast in Tuesday’s election. As the ballots were counted, Gerin, known as “Rhyno” or “Rhino,” was at a World Wrestling Entertainment event in Tennessee, according to the WWE website. The 40-year-old says on his campaign website that he attends Dearborn City Council meetings and is concerned about public pools closing. He wants local businesses to sponsor the pools so they stay open. Gerin faces an uphill climb in November’s general election against health care consultant Abdullah Hammoud because the district favors Democrats. Democratic Representtaive George Darany could not run again under term limits.... [Read Full Story]
Residents of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor get together with local law enforcement for an evening of food and fun. The thirty-third Annual National Night Out was held Tuesday, and law enforcement agencies from all over Berrien County celebrated with residents in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. St. Joseph has been observing National Night Out for at least thirty years, according to Rick Knapp of the St. Joseph Township Police Department.... [Read Full Story]
It’s a full week of music, entertainment and carnival rides on the waterfront as the city of Grand Haven presents their Coast Guard Festival. Marketing Director Annie Lengkeek says even though it’s all great fun, everyone remember the real purpose of the celebration.... [Read Full Story]
Republican voters have backed conservative outsiders to advance in Michigan’s open U.S. House primaries. Little-known retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jack Bergman upset two politically experienced candidates in northern Michigan’s Republican primary. He faces ex-state Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson in a competitive race in November. In the Thumb, victorious retired vocational school company CEO Paul Mitchell,
a Republican, will be favored in the fall general election over former Democratic state Rep. Frank Accavitti Jr. Mitchell spent millions of his own money to win the GOP primary that is open due to a retirement. In Detroit, Rep. John Conyers, the longest-serving member of the House, won
the primary in his heavily Democratic district.... [Read Full Story]
Pokemon Go players have been causing some issues nationwide including at a Novi cemetery. Police Chief David Malloy says they asked the game maker to remove Oakland Hills Memorial Gardens as a game site after people were showing up after hours to catch Pokemon. He says the game is still causing some other problems.... [Read Full Story]
The race for state House in the 79th District this November has now shaped up. Winning the Republican primary on Tuesday was Kim LaSata, who finished with a substantial lead over closest rival Ryan Arnt. She said she felt “numb.”... [Read Full Story]
Berrien County voters were feeling generous Tuesday. They approved almost all of the ballot proposals before them in primary voting. The only things to go down were Southwest Michigan Regional Airport millages in Bridgman and Lake Township, but millages for the airport passed in the communities most closely surrounding it. Elsewhere, voters said yes to local ballot proposals in Bridgman, Eau Claire, New Buffalo, Watervliet, Coloma, New Buffalo Township, Royalton Township, Sodus Township, Watervliet Township, St. Joseph Township, and Baroda Township. As of late Tuesday, some results were still not yet available for some proposals in Buchanan Schools and Niles Township. ... [Read Full Story]
Kim LaSata’s campaign is calling it a victory in the GOP primary for state House in the 79th District. With most Berrien County precincts reporting, LaSata has a healthy lead over closest primary rival Ryan Arnt. She says she now knows what it’s like to feel humbled by winning an election. LaSata added voters can expect her to represent them well if she makes it to Lansing in November.... [Read Full Story]
The race for state House in the 66th District is shaping up in Van Buren County following Tuesday’s primaries. Republicans picked Beth Griffin to run as their candidate in November to replace outgoing state Representative Aric Nesbitt. She beat out Matthew T. Nilson, and will face Democrat Annie Brown. The GOP primary for sheriff, meanwhile, resulted in a win for Daniel Abbot over closest challenger David Walker. A variety of ballot proposals also passed in Van Buren County Tuesday night. Voters countywide approved proposals for roads and for the Van Buren Conservation District. Locally, voters were in a mood to say yes in Arlington Township, Bloomingdale Township, Decatur Township, Porter Township, South Haven Township, Hamilton Township, Hartford Schools, and Lawrence Schools.... [Read Full Story]
Congress could approve funding to fight the Zika virus as soon as next month. Congressman Fred Upton says a previous House effort to approve about $600 million in spending while allowing another $385 million earmarked for other priorities to be reprogrammed was rejected by the Senate. He says the two chambers will be negotiating.... [Read Full Story]
Berrien County officials say a demand from the Federal Economic Development Administration to pay back more than $783,000 the county gave to Whirlpool in 2001 is unacceptable. A press release issued Tuesday says the county used $610,000 of EDA money to help Whirlpool move its technology center from Dayton to Benton Township, requiring Whirlpool to guarantee it would maintain its employment levels in the area for at least ten years. In 2011, after Whirlpool had met the loan’s terms, the loan was forgiven. Then, in a letter dated June 30 of this year, the county was ordered by the EDA to pay back the $610,000, plus interest. County officials say the EDA was told several times about the loan and its terms, and never objected. The county now says “it is unacceptable for EDA staff to demand repayment of these funds 15 years after this venture was initiated, nine years after the EDA was notified of the very loan structure to which it now objects, and 5 years after the terms of this loan were fully satisfied.” The press release goes on to say Berrien County “is not inclined to submit to the EDA’s recent demands” to pay the money back.... [Read Full Story]
Money has been raised to buy gifts for children in Berrien County’s foster care system, thanks to an event held Tuesday at Slumberland Furniture in Benton Township. “Christmas in August” featured games, a dunk tank, a bounce house, and food and refreshments. Heather Hoffman, with the Berrien County Department of Health and Human Services, says the money goes to its Operation Good Cheer program.... [Read Full Story]
Benton Harbor’s 150th birthday is coming up, and a celebration is planned for this Thursday to mark the occasion. The Morton House Museum on Territorial Road will hold a party starting at 7 p.m. It’s to feature a birthday cake for the city, tours of the house, refreshments, and local speakers who will talk of their experiences in Benton Harbor since the 1950s. They’re set to include Mamie Yarbrough and Janet Dasse Frazier. There will also be an exhibit called “150 Years of Benton Harbor History,” featuring historic photos of the community, artifacts from as far back as 1866, and information on the House of David. Everyone is welcome to the party, and if you can’t make it, the Morton House notes that the exhibit on the city’s history will be up through October 29 every Saturday. You can find out more at www.facebook.com/MortonHouseMuseum.... [Read Full Story]
Lake Michigan College will ask voters for a new millage to pay for a variety of facility improvements come November. At a Tuesday meeting, the board of trustees approved moving forward with the ballot question. LMC President Dr. Bob Harrison says the roughly $4 million per year raised by the millage would make many things possible.... [Read Full Story]
