Local News Archives

Governor Snyder has been asked by a congressional committee to address when exactly he learned about the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint. In March of last year, Snyder testified under oath before the U.S. House Oversight Committee.. ...Read Full Story

This Saturday will bring another Bissell Pet Foundation Empty the Shelter event. That’s when the Grand Rapids-based Bissell will pay the adoption fees for animals at shelters all over the state. Taking part is the Cass County Animal Shelter in Cassopolis. Director Ron Butts tells WSJM News they’ve got lots of critters who need homes.. ...Read Full Story

The state of Michigan this week recognized 125 schools for achieving HeartSafe status. Under a program of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, schools in Michigan can be certified for having taken the right steps to be prepared for cardiac arrest on their grounds. In order to get HeartSafe status, the schools must have an AED on site and have trained their staff in its use. Included on the list of Heartsafe Schools are every major school in Van Buren County, thanks to an effort by the Van Buren ISD. They’ve been on the list since 2014. As for Berrien County, only the Benton Harbor Charter School Academy and the Blossomland Learning Center are on the list. You can find the list of all the state’s HeartSafe schools right here.. ...Read Full Story

Michigan State Police are making an extra effort to bust unsafe commercial drivers in the coming week. “Operation Safe Driver Week” is sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and is a national partnership between government and professional groups. State police are putting an extra effort into making sure commercial truck drivers are safe. The goal is to decrease the number of deaths and injuries resulting from crashes involving large trucks, buses and passenger vehicles due to unsafe behaviors like speeding and distracted and aggressive driving. The extra patrols start this Sunday and run for one week. State police tell us the goal is to reach zero traffic crash deaths. You can find out more at TowardZeroDeaths.org.. ...Read Full Story

Congressman Fred Upton is still holding out hope legislation to replace the DACA program can be approved within the time frame established by President Donald Trump. He told Michigan’s Big Show he was in Kalamazoo this week to hear from young people personally affected by Trump’s decision to end DACA.. ...Read Full Story

Discussions have started on the possibility of creating a new district library for St. Joseph and St. Joseph Township. The two already use the same facility in downtown St. Joseph, but St. Joe City Manager John Hodgson tells WSJM News the library might benefit if a joint authority were created with taxing power.. ...Read Full Story

The Michigan Department of Transportation is planning an open house in Edwardsburg for this month to tell everyone the details of an upcoming repaving project planned for US-12. Spokesperson Nick Schirripa tells WSJM News this work will affect traffic through town.. ...Read Full Story

State Representative Kim LaSata has introduced legislation to rename part of Red Arrow Highway in Berrien County after a fallen police officer. Her office tells WSJM News Michigan State Police Trooper Robert J. Mihalik was killed in the line of duty on September 9, 1984. He’d been arresting a suspect for failing to pay for gas at a Shoreham area station when he was shot. Representative LaSata’s bill would rename Red Arrow between Glenlord and Hilltop roads the Trooper Robert J. Mihalik Memorial Highway. It’s been introduced to the Michigan House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Mihalik was the 38th Michigan State Police trooper to be killed in the line of duty.. ...Read Full Story

Set for Saturday in Bridgman is the 8th annual Weko Beach Brewers Festival. Calli Berg with the Greater Bridgman Chamber of Commerce tells WSJM News the event celebrates one of southwest Michigan’s fastest growing art forms and industries.. ...Read Full Story

A Grand Junction man who hates the government, allegedly wrote threatening letters to local judges, and confronted a Michigan State Police trooper with a shotgun when the detective came to ask about the letters has now been found guilty on 14 felony counts for a 15-hour long armed standoff with police. Hundreds of rounds were exchanged during the stand-off between police and Jason Kohlhoff, but no one was hit. Kohlhoff took the stand to testify why he felt justified in having a gunfight with police. He could get up to life in prison when he is sentenced for attempted murder.. ...Read Full Story

An effort made this September by breweries across the region to raise money for Feeding America West Michigan has resulted in $45,000 going to fight hunger. Feeding America West Michigan’s Sean Little tells WSJM News Hops Against Hunger involved dozens of brewers who held fundraisers, sometimes for one day and sometimes for several. He notes hunger is a major problem here in west Michigan.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — A developer is testing two self-driving shuttles in downtown Detroit with an eye on the future of public transit and autonomous vehicle technology. Ann Arbor-based May Mobility has partnered with Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock real estate firm to bring the Polaris GEM e6 vehicles to the city as a way of improving access and safety for riders needing transportation
downtown. The shuttles are being tested on a pilot route for five nights ending Friday. The vehicles carry up to six people, run at 25 mph and are surrounded with sensors measuring distances from at least 320 feet away.The service is expected to officially launch in summer 2018.. ...Read Full Story

Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad says something must be done to deal with the city’s crumbling streets, and his suggestion is voters approve a new city income tax. A tax of 1% for residents and 0.5% for non-residents who work in the city will appear on next month’s ballot. Muhammad tells WSJM News the city comes nowhere close to generating enough revenue to fix streets, alleys, and sidewalks as things stand now.. ...Read Full Story

A new work of public art is going to be celebrated this weekend in Dowagiac. The city will dedicate a 67 foot mural along Pennsylvania Avenue that remembers the Orphan Train. The Orphan Train was a network set up in the 1800s to find homes throughout the west for New York orphans. Many of those orphans wound up in Dowagiac. Mural artist Ruth Andrews tells WSJM News the mural is in the form of three panels. The first shows the orphans’ rough life in New York. The second is a little more hopeful.. ...Read Full Story

Sensational Spas suffered some damage in a Thursday night fire. It was reported shortly before 8 p.m. and at least three fire departments, including Lincoln Township, Baroda, and Royalton Township, responded. The building suffered smoke damage. No word yet on the cause of the fire.. ...Read Full Story

A property tax loophole that allowed second homeowners in Michigan to get a reduced rate by claiming their second property is a homestead will now be closed. Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill Wednesday from state Representatives Dave Pagel and Kim LaSata to automatically rescind a property owner’s homestead status if they claim a homestead in another state. It also establishes a penalty requiring them to pay up what they owe. Representative LaSata tells WSJM News this is a good thing.. ...Read Full Story

Kinexus is now among the groups on record hoping to see an end to Michigan’s Driver Responsibility fees. Testifying in the state House Wednesday about a bill that would do away with them was Kinexus Senior Director of Innovation Duane Berger. He tells WSJM News Kinexus has seen many southwest Michigan workers get hit with the fees, be unable to pay them, and then lose their license.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — Michigan municipalities would be prohibited from levying local taxes on food and beverages under a bill advancing to Governor Rick Snyder’s desk for his expected signature. No local government in Michigan is now considering such a tax. But lawmakers say it is possible, pointing to Philadelphia and Chicago as places with soda taxes. Similar taxes have been approved in San Francisco and Oakland, California. The Republican-led Michigan Senate voted 30-5 Thursday to send the fast-tracked legislation to the governor. The Chicago-area’s penny-per-ounce tax on soda and sweetened drinks was repealed Wednesday after a monthslong conflict that included a court battle and millions of dollars’ worth of television ads on both sides.. ...Read Full Story

A group of volunteers will spend this weekend sprucing a St. Joseph baseball field, and they could use your help. Lars Petzke with the St. Joseph Baseball Association tells WSJM News they’ll be fixing up Wells Field on South State Street. That’s where local Little Leaguers play, and it needs some work.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — Two Michigan counties say they are suing about a dozen drug manufacturers and distributors for deceptive marketing and sale of opioids. The joint lawsuit was announced Thursday by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. It alleges that drug manufacturers are using a “concerted, coordinated strategy to shift the way in which doctors and patients think about pain and to encourage the widespread prescribing and use of opioids.” Officials say there were 817 opioid-related deaths in Wayne County last year, up from 506 the year before. Oakland County opioid-related deaths rose from nine in 2009 to 33 in 2015. Last week, Newark, New Jersey, announced it was suing several opioid manufacturers, saying they downplayed the risk of opioid addiction and overstated the drugs’ long-term benefits.. ...Read Full Story

The heatwave we had in the area recently was great for juice and wine grapes in southwest Michigan. Couple that with mostly favorable weather all summer, and St. Julian Winery vice president and winemaker Nancy Oxley says it means a terrific and early crop.. ...Read Full Story

The murder trial for Kalamazoo massacre suspect Jason Dalton appears to about to be delayed again. His defense attorney is appealing an appeals court ruling about the admissibility of statements Dalton made to police to the Michigan Supreme Court. The appeals court declined to hear a motion challenging a decision by Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Alexander Lipsey that some of what was told to investigators can be used at trial, but not all of it. Defense attorney Eusebio Solis wants all of the statements tossed, arguing the questioning should have stopped when Dalton asked to have an attorney. He’s accused of killing six people and injuring two others in a rampage over the course of several hours at three locations in Kalamazoo County in February 2016. Two of his victims were from Mattawan, and another was from Baroda. Dalton faces six murder charges among the 16 crimes for which he’s been charged. The trial is now likely to be pushed back to sometime in early 2018.. ...Read Full Story

A vacancy on the St. Joseph City Commission will remain just that until after the elections next month. City commissioners this week said a post left empty with the resignation of former member Chris Heugel should be filled by the new commission which will be seated after the election. Although that leaves more than a month with a vacancy, the sitting commission said the folks who wind up serving on the board next month should get to pick Heugel’s replacement. Applications will be taken at that time. Heugel resigned last month because he moved to the township. His term runs through 2019. The city commission election is November 7.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — Prosecutors say a girl charged after a social media prank led an 11-year-old Michigan boy to take his own life has been placed in a juvenile court program. Marquette County Prosecutor Matt Wiese said Wednesday that the placement came after a hearing Friday. He said the girl was charged with malicious use of telecommunications services for making a false death report and
using a computer to commit a misdemeanor. Details about the program weren’t released. Tysen Benz was found hanging in his room in March in Marquette after seeing posts and texts that his 13-year-old girlfriend killed herself. The posts were a prank. Tysen’s mother, Katrina Goss, has said he replied over social media that he was going to kill himself. On Wednesday, she said the girl charged in the case
should have gotten a harsher punishment.. ...Read Full Story

This Saturday will bring another Bissell Pet Foundation Empty the Shelter event. That’s when the Grand Rapids-based Bissell will pay the adoption fees for animals at shelters all over the state. Taking part is the Cass County Animal Shelter in Cassopolis. Director Ron Butts tells WSJM News they’ve got lots of critters who need homes.. ...Read Full Story

Coloma Community Schools Superintendent Pete Bush says this week’s lockdown situation caused by the reported sighting of a student with a gun was handled according to state protocols. He tells WSJM News as soon as a teacher realized what they were dealing with, a well-practiced plan of action went into effect. Bush credits teachers and other staff.. ...Read Full Story

Happening this Thursday through Saturday is an event organized by COSY radio, or SuperHits 103.7, to collect supplies for those in need around southwest Michigan. COSY’s Paul Layendecker tells WSJM News it’s Project Personal Care. COSY personalities will be at the Village Market in South Haven collecting personal items for the Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency.. ...Read Full Story

Testimony was taken in Lansing Wednesday about bills to eliminate some driver responsibility fees in Michigan. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson told the joint Competitiveness Committee she supports eliminating the fees, which have been in effect since 2003.. ...Read Full Story

Congressman Fred Upton is urging legislative leaders to do more to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic. He testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday as it held a proceeding for members to talk about the issue, share local and personal stories, and highlight solutions.. ...Read Full Story

St. Joseph Public Safety Director Brian Uridge is pleased with how his department’s summer safety strategy worked. Now, he wants to improve it for next year. At Monday’s city commission meeting, Uridge said the plan for this past summer was mostly met with positive reviews. His department implemented it after a series of meetings ahead of the summer. Uridge told WSJM News folks liked the more than 50 new parking spaces at Lions Beach Park created by making the upper drive one-way.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — Reaction has been running negative in public hearings toward Indiana Michigan Power’s request for a nearly 20 percent rate hike to improve its electric distribution system in Indiana. People living in the Fort Wayne area said during a public meeting Tuesday that they can’t afford the estimated $26 monthly increase, which could go into effect by July 2018. If the increase is approved, the utility would receive more than $260 million for electric infrastructure improvements. Those include replacing poles and
overhead and underground power lines, and trimming trees to decrease the chances of falling trees causing power outages. Another public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will rule later on the rate-hike request. The utility company has about 460,000 residential and business customers in northern and northeastern Indiana.. ...Read Full Story

With Berrien County experiencing an increase in opioid deaths in recent years, the health department is hoping more people will learn how to administer Naloxone, a drug that revives overdose victims. Berrien County Health Department Prevention Specialist Kerri Teachout tells WSJM News a class is being offered this week where anyone can learn to recognize an overdose and receive a free dose of Naloxone to keep around, just in case.. ...Read Full Story

A Grand Junction man who allegedly held police at bay for 15 hours at his barricaded home in June 2016 is on trial in Van Buren County. Jason Kohlhoff is charged with six counts of attempted murder. Investigators have testified he holds strong anti-government beliefs and had been writing threatening letters to a South Haven judge. A detective who tried to question him about it says Kohlhoff produced a shotgun and discharged it once as a warning. The standoff followed. Hundreds of rounds were exchanged but no one was hit. They had to assault the home with an armored vehicle to convince Kohlhoff to surrender. He was initially found to be incompetent to stand trial but with treatment, got better and day two of his trial will come today and the suspect may testify.. ...Read Full Story

Anyone interested in what it’s like to be a Michigan State Police trooper will have a chance to learn with a citizens academy set for the next few months. MSP Trooper Jesse Binns with the Niles post tells WSJM News those who sign up for the next session will learn about several aspects of being a state police trooper.. ...Read Full Story

The investigation continues into the Coloma Junior High School student who was possibly seen with a gun this week while at school. Coloma Township Police Chief Jason Roe tells WSJM News there were enough credible reports from other students that the 12-year-old had dropped a handgun that police are still looking for it. He says the student was in a gym area between the high school and the junior high when other students reported the handgun falling out of his pocket. The student suspected of having a gun then managed to run off for a brief period before being detained. Police searched the junior high for five hours Monday while the building was on lockdown and they did not find a weapon. Still, Roe says they’ll look again. In the meantime, the student in question is not attending the school. Once the police complete their investigation, the case will be turned over to the Berrien County Prosecutor’s office.. ...Read Full Story

A ban on bump stocks could soon be in the works. Congressman Fred Upton told Michigan’s Big Show this week most members of Congress didn’t even know what bump stocks were before the Las Vegas massacre shooter used one when he killed more than 50 people this month. Now, Upton thinks either a legislative or an administrative ban is coming.. ...Read Full Story

He’s been the state consent agreement consultant for Benton Harbor Area Schools since February of 2016, and now, he’s retiring. Don Weatherspoon, who is also the state’s consent agreement consultant with Pontiac Schools, steps down at the end of this month. Weatherspoon has helped the Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education stay in the state’s good graces with the district recently facing possible closure. Weatherspoon told WSJM News they’ve risen to the task.. ...Read Full Story

Berrien RESA and the Cook nuclear power plant near Bridgman are teaming up next week to teach local kids about nuclear power. The plant’s Irene Weaver tells WSJM News they’re holding an art contest, asking kids to make posters about what nuclear power means to them. There’s a reason for it.. ...Read Full Story

Set for Saturday in Bridgman is the 8th annual Weko Beach Brewers Festival. Calli Berg with the Greater Bridgman Chamber of Commerce tells WSJM News the event celebrates one of southwest Michigan’s fastest growing art forms and industries.. ...Read Full Story

The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department is looking for an 18-year-old woman in connection with a Friday morning home invasion and assault in Lawrence Township. It tells us 18-year-old Brittany Baham is known to have contacts in Hartford, Watervliet, and South Bend. She’s described as white, about 5 foot 6, and 160 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. The sheriff’s department tells us it believes she’s a person of interest while it investigates a home invasion Friday that led to the theft of a Cobra .380 semi-automatic handgun. Police believe the robbery also involved two males who they haven’t identified. Anyone with information on Baham’s location is asked to call the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — Coaches and others involved in youth sports would have to complete concussion awareness training at least once every three years under legislation headed to Governor Rick Snyder for his signature. The bill cleared a final step in the Michigan Senate Tuesday. It would update 2012 concussion laws that required a concussion protocol for youth athletes and an awareness program for coaches, volunteers and others. The legislation would add a requirement that concussion training be completed once every three years, unless the state Department of Health and Human Services recommends more frequent training. The state would have to periodically review the training program. The bill would also clarify that universities and colleges do not need to secure parental waivers for students participating in intramural sports.. ...Read Full Story

A Holland man suspected of killing his girlfriend yesterday is in custody this morning and is expected to be charged with open murder later today. The report of the killer at large triggered a shelter in place alert at Hope College, and warnings that 56-year-old Keith Williams was armed and dangerous and driving around in a silver SUV. Around 7 p.m., he was spotted by Michigan State Police and followed until they could get other officers in the area to join them in a felony stop. Police Chief Matt Messer says he was captured after he pulled over into the parking lot of an Arby’s in Holland. Williams is suspected of stabbing his 37-year-old girlfriend to death on 14th Street near Washington Boulevard at about 1:30 p.m. Monday. Witnesses say they saw him leaving the murder scene, bloodied and with a knife. He has a long criminal history and is a registered sex offender.. ...Read Full Story

A special prosecutor says he’ll add a charge of involuntary manslaughter against Michigan’s chief medical executive in a criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis. Dr. Eden Wells was in court Monday for a key hearing on other charges. But the hearing was postponed after the announcement by special prosecutor Todd Flood. Five other people have been charged with involuntary manslaughter tied to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area in 2014-15. The attorney general’s office says key officials in the Snyder administration knew about a spike in Legionnaires’ but failed to tell the public until January 2016. Some experts have blamed the outbreak on Flint’s use of the Flint River. Legionnaires’ is a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria that thrive in warm water.. ...Read Full Story

A Covert man says the shooting of his girlfriend last Friday was an accident. Jeffrey Howell was arraigned yesterday on a charge of assault with intent to murder. He told the judge during that proceeding he would never hurt his girlfriend, Guadalupe Hernandez. She considers their relationship over and admitted to grabbing the gun as it discharged into her midsection. The 50-year-old Howell has a criminal record and legally should not have been in possession of the weapon. Due to that, bond has been set at $1 million.. ...Read Full Story

A distinguished Vietnam veteran will be coming to Berrien County next month to share his experience. The Buchanan American Legion’s Larry Money tells WSJM News Captain William Robinson will speak at Michigan Lutheran High School and American Legion in Buchanan. Robinson is the longest-held enlisted American Prisoner of War in history.. ...Read Full Story

The Swift and Sure probation program in Berrien County is receiving a grant of $240,000 from the Michigan Supreme Court. The grant was announced Monday, and it’s part of a total of $3 million going to Swift and Sure programs in 24 counties. Swift and sure is an intensive probation program designed to help repeat offenders get back on track and turn their lives around. The Michigan Supreme Court tells WSJM News 67% of Swift and Sure enrolees are unemployed when they first sign up, but 14% are unemployed by the time they complete the program. Berrien County is one of 27 Michigan counties with a Swift and Sure program. It’s one of four specialty courts in the county. The others are the Drug Treatment Court, the Drug Court, and the Domestic Violence Court.. ...Read Full Story

St. Joseph City Commissioners are hoping residents make their voices heard to state lawmakers when it comes to new zoning legislation. A plan in the state House and Senate would strip a community’s ability to restrict short-term rentals. St. Joe Commissioners Monday night warned such a plan, if passed, would mean out of control summer vacation homes in town, something they’ve worked to avoid for years. City Commissioner Jeff Richards said neighborhoods sit empty for half the year when that happens, and schools suffer.. ...Read Full Story

The Berrien County Health Department recommends everyone start thinking about getting a flu shot. Deputy Health Officer Courtney Davis tells WSJM News now is the time to get the vaccine if you want to protect yourself from the influenza this coming winter.. ...Read Full Story

The Michigan Attorney General’s office has issued some recommendations to Michigan residents who are concerned their personal information may have been compromised in the recent Equifax hack. Attorney General Bill Schuette says Equifax has announced 2.5 million more consumers were impacted by the breach than originally thought, including almost 80,000 additional Michigan residents. In Michigan, the breach has now impacted the personal information of more than 4.6 million consumers. The website set up by Equifax for people to check whether they’ve been compromised was to be updated with the new information by the start of this week. Schuette’s office says the best way to protect yourself if you have been hacked is to order a credit freeze and sign up for credit monitoring. You can find more information right here.. ...Read Full Story

Over the last few months, a Michigan House task force dedicated to mental health has toured the state gathering input from residents. Now, lawmakers are coming together to write reform legislation. Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard spoke with Michigan News Network about the legislative effort about to begin.. ...Read Full Story

This week, fire departments all over Michigan are taking part in Fire Prevention Week. State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer tells Michigan News Network it’s important to plan with your family how to escape you home in the event of a fire.. ...Read Full Story

The Coloma Township Police Department continues to investigate after reports Monday morning of a student with a gun. Shortly before 10 a.m. officers were called out to the junior high on the report. The junior high school and the high school were both placed on lockdown. Police found the student in question and isolated him while the school and its surrounding grounds were searched. Coloma Township police were assisted by the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, which brought in a K9 unit. The search turned up no weapon. The lockdown at the high school was over by about noon, while the junior high’s lockdown ended by the end of classes for the day. Police say the case remains under investigation and will be turned over the Berrien County Prosecutor’s office.. ...Read Full Story

WSJM News has confirmed that Coloma High School no longer on lockdown. However, the junior high remains on lockdown. The two buildings were placed on lockdown this morning when there was a report of a weapon on the property. There are no reports of anyone in custody, and police are searching the property.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — Health officials say a child who visited a county fair in western Michigan last month is the first confirmed case of swine flu in the state this year. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Allegan County Health Department reported the child visited the Allegan County Fair that ran Sept. 8-16, 2017. They say that because the incubation period for the illness is
one to seven days, no new cases from exposure at the fair are expected. The flu is known as a variant of H3N2 and there’s currently no vaccine for it. Symptoms of swine flu in people can be similar to other flu viruses: fever, cough, runny nose, aches and nausea.. ...Read Full Story

Berrien County Clerk Sharon Tyler and her staff will show off some of the county’s new voting machines at a couple of open houses this month. Tyler tells us the new equipment will greatly improve the voting experience. There are some key differences.. ...Read Full Story

A new crowdfunding effort has been launched by the Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph. The goal is to raise $50,000 by December 1 so Krasl can receive a matching grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. On top of that, Krasl will get another match from the Frederick S. Upton Foundation and 1st Source Bank Foundation. The purpose of the crowdfunding effort is to pay for a new improvement project at Krasl that would include the installation of a winding sidewalk, a plaza, and gathering areas. A backer of the effort is state Representative Kim LaSata, who tells us the project will ensure “St. Joseph will remain a special place on the lake.” You can find the Krasl’s crowdfunding page right here.. ...Read Full Story

The Van Buren Conservation District is reaching out to duck hunters as the season approaches, hoping to stop the spread of an invasive plant species. The district’s Eleanor Serocki tells WSJM News there’s a European reed called phragmites that poses a threat to duck habitats because it’s too dense for ducks to movethrough. She hopes hunters will avoid the reed.. ...Read Full Story

Benton Harbor City Commissioner Juanita Henry is hoping to hear more from the city’s department heads about local business. She started last week’s city commission meeting off with a proposal to suspend the rules and introduce a resolution calling for regular reports from staff.. ...Read Full Story