Local governments around the country are starting to feel the pinch from the partial shutdown of the federal government. Benton Harbor City Manager Darwin Watson told city commissioners Monday night that U.S. Housing and Urban Development funds are missing in action right now from Washington.. ...Read Full Story
Watervliet police are asking for help finding a missing teenage girl. Jaci Duncan is 14 and has not been seen since around 10 pm on Wednesday, January 2nd and is believed to have run away from home. In a Facebook post, police say they believe she may be with a Dowagiac man named Casey Carter, and add she has a history of running away. Duncan also took her dog with her when she left home. Anyone with information on where she and Carter might be is urged to call Watervliet police.. ...Read Full Story
There will be no varsity boys basketball game Tuesday for the South Haven Rams, as they are forfeiting the contest against Dowagiac. The move stems from the brawl that erupted during the Rams game on December 21 against Paw Paw, during which not only did the benches clear, but spectators also got involved. South Haven Public Schools superintendent Kevin Schooley has released a statement saying the players are being “disciplined consistent with MHSAA and local athletic code guidelines” and adds the team has met with the Paw Paw team to talk about how athletes need to support each other as part of healthy competition.. ...Read Full Story
A man charged with killing 6 people and injuring two other in and around Kalamazoo has pleaded guilty to murder charges. Uber driver Jason Dalton, charged with the shootings in between picking up Uber passengers in 2016, pleaded guilty to all charges in front of a Kalamazoo County judge on Monday, saying he’d wanted to enter the plea for “quite a while.”. ...Read Full Story
(Lansing, MI – AP) – Governor Whitmer has signed an executive directive to prohibit discrimination against LGBT people by state government, contractors and others, superseding an order that former Governor Rick Snyder signed just days before leaving office. Whitmer’s directive, like Snyder’s, requires all recipients of state contracts, grants and loans to extend protections to their employees. But hers does not provide an exemption for religious organizations. The Democrat signed the directive Monday at an LGBT community center in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. It clarifies that employment protections cover all state employees and prohibits discrimination in state services, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. LGBT advocates and civil rights groups are applauding Whitmer’s move.. ...Read Full Story
The federal government shutdown has been a mixed impact on one national park in northern Michigan. Kerry Kelly of the Friends of the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore says they are helping pick up trash and clear trails as much as they are allowed.. ...Read Full Story
A crash between a van and a horse and buggy in Van Buren County is resulting in charges for the van driver. The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department said over the weekend that 69-year-old Robert Rawson of Bloomingdale Township was charged late last week for the September 11 crash. The horse was killed, and the driver of the buggy suffered critical injuries. Police say Rawson’s van crossed the center line and hit the buggy head-on near the intersection of 46th Street and County Road 388 in Bloomingdale.. ...Read Full Story
There’s word from South Haven Area Emergency Services that the search for a missing woman in the Black River this weekend was all for naught. SHAES officials tell WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids that Van Buren County Undersheriff Chad Hunt located the woman in the woods along the Kal-Haven Trail around 9 a.m. Saturday. After talking to the woman, who first said she was not the person they were looking for, they determined that she was, and she had never fallen into the river. Additionally, the woman hadn’t actually been missing.. ...Read Full Story
The Berrien County Conservation District is taking registrations for a produce safety training session it’s offering for free to those who bring food from the farm to the consumer. This is the first such class it’s offered, and it’s designed to get those workers compliant with federal requirements. Conservation District Produce Safety Technician Victoria Toney tells WSJM News us a good number of people in Berrien County could use the training.. ...Read Full Story
This is the time of year when tax scams are on the rise. The Michigan Department of Treasury warns scammers are likely to hit at the beginning of the year — right before tax season — so they can get personal information, file fake income tax returns, and steal that money. Spokesperson Ron Leix told Michigan News Network more.. ...Read Full Story
