Local News Archives

The city of South Haven has adopted its new short-term rental regulations. The rules cover those homes which are rented out to vacationers for short periods of time. The issue has been a hot button in South Haven due to concerns about the noise tourists can bring to neighborhoods, along with the effects short-term rentals have on maintaining a year-round community. The regulations, adopted after a seven month process, define two basic kinds of short-term rentals — personal STRs and business STRs. The personal STRs can be rented up to six terms per year for a total of 28 days, while business STRs can be rented an unlimited number of times per year. The two face different inspection requirements and fees. There are more inspections and higher fees for business STRs. The rules also set up the permitting process. South Haven City Manager Brian Dissette says the rules “will best serve our community and the short-term rental owners within South Haven.”. ...Read Full Story

Lake Michigan College is starting a truck driving program. At this week’s meeting of the LMC Board of Trustees, the sale of 6.5 acres of excess LMC property at the Bertrand Crossing Campus was authorized for a price of just under $148,000. The buyer is N&M Transfer Company, a trucking firm out of Wisconsin. LMC VP of Academic Affairs Leslie Kellogg tells WSJM News the deal allows for a public-private partnership for the college to use a facility the trucking firm intends to build there. She says students will be able to get a CDL at LMC.. ...Read Full Story

Congressman Fred Upton remembers former President George H.W. Bush as someone who could work with others and get things done. With Bush’s services this week, Upton tells WSJM News he knew the former POTUS well. When Upton worked in the Reagan White House, then-Vice President George Bush’s office was right around the corner from his.. ...Read Full Story

From the Associated Press — The Republican-led Michigan Legislature has passed bills that would delay a minimum wage hike and scale back paid sick leave requirements. It is an unprecedented lame-duck strategy that was endorsed legally by the state’s conservative attorney general Tuesday despite criticism that it is unconstitutional. The fast-tracked legislation was pushed through on largely party-line votes.
Changes were made at the request of Republican Governor Rick Snyder, who stayed mum on whether he will sign the measures but whose involvement was seen positively by their supporters. To prevent minimum wage and paid sick time ballot initiatives from going to the
electorate last month, after which they would have been much harder to change if voters had passed them, GOP legislators — at the behest of business groups — preemptively approved them in September so that they could alter them after the election with simple majority votes in each chamber. Democrats say the maneuver is unconstitutional.. ...Read Full Story

The Michigan Department of Transportation is looking for some help keeping an eye on the roads this winter. The agency says it’s seeking Road Watchers to report on conditions around west Michigan highways. Volunteers will be polled about highway conditions following winter storms, and their input will be used to deploy winter maintenance crews and identify best practices. Specifically, MDOT needs those road watchers in Allegan, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, and Ottawa counties to report on M, US, and I routes. Anyone who’s interested in signing up can go to Michigan.gov/RoadWatchers. Those who volunteer will be randomly polled throughout the winter.. ...Read Full Story

By Doug Cunningham. ...Read Full Story

Gas prices in the state stand at an average of $2.27 a gallon according to GasBuddy, with Triple-A Michigan noting it’s the lowest they’ve been for nearly a year and a half. However, those prices are on the rise this afternoon. Triple-A spokeswoman Nancy Cain says changes are on the horizon globally.. ...Read Full Story

There have been plenty of complaints from Michigan residents over the past seven years since the state expanded what fireworks are allowed, and state lawmakers have heard them. Representative Jim Lilly of Park Township, just outside Holland, has legislation he hopes to have approved during the last few weeks of the year to give local governments more authority and control over what is allowed and when they can be fired off.. ...Read Full Story

A pregnant woman and her seven-year-old son have been killed in a house fire in southwest Michigan early this morning. White Pigeon Fire Chief Troy Andrews says six others, mostly children, were taken to the hospital and a dog was also killed. He says the house is a total loss and it’s tough.. ...Read Full Story