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‘Just sitting there silent’: Sturgis Hospital closure impact goes beyond loss of health care
Former patients now have to travel farther to access hospital care. But residents and experts say the impact of such a closure goes beyond inconvenience. The loss of a rural hospital can exacerbate barriers to health care, even to the point of endangering lives. It can dent the economies of entire communities. Perhaps most devastatingly, a rural hospital closure leaves emotional scars for the residents and care workers who relied on it as a place of comfort, connectedness, and safety.
About Watershed Voice
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Watershed Voice is an independent, nonprofit civic news magazine based in Three Rivers, Michigan. We seek to highlight solutions to your pressing concerns in an effort to make our community a better place.
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Sturgis approves Summit Polymers tax break; WBET offer raised during SYCA contract discussion
Commissioners held a public hearing and unanimously approved a resolution supporting an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate (IFEC) for Summit Polymers, a plastic injection molding company for the automotive industry. The certificate would reduce the tax liability on the company’s new addition by approximately 50%. The IFEC is expected to save Summit Polymers approximately $110,000 annually in taxes. The exemption was approved for 12 years.
How to vote in Michigan’s 2026 November election
This guide is intended to help voters understand how to register, choose a voting method, and make a voting plan ahead of the November 3 election.
Watershed Voice will publish additional election coverage closer to Election Day detailing the candidates, races, and ballot proposals voters will see locally and statewide. Since ballots differ depending on where a voter lives, readers can view their sample ballot through the Michigan Voter Information Center once it is available.
Kalamazoo commissioners seek broader oversight of surveillance technology
During the Kalamazoo City Commission meeting on Tuesday, September 8, commissioners decided to delay the formal adoption of a policy that would require contracts involving automated license plate reader technology to come before the City Commission, regardless of cost.
Vice Mayor Drew Duncan proposed expanding the amendment, asking that the policy incorporate all law enforcement surveillance technology, not just license plate readers.
Letter to the editor: The loss of Beacon’s gym will be felt generationally
Reverend Nicole Smith of Three Rivers writes, “A healthy human being is healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. Health Trac sought to be a place where everyone from families with small children to octogenarians could gather safely and not just exercise but also socialize, interact on an intergenerational basis, and find not just a healthier body but release from stress, anxiety, fear, and loneliness.”
OutCenter announces move to downtown Dowagiac
OutCenter Southwest Michigan has announced its new office location in downtown Dowagiac, Michigan. For nearly 15 years, the OutCenter has made its home in the Arts District in Benton Harbor, providing a welcoming and visible presence for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
Local meeting primer: Sturgis City Commission
The Sturgis City Commission will meet Wednesday, September 9, at 6 p.m. Commissioners will work through a light agenda with three new business items. They will consider three tree maintenance and forestry contracts, a $60,000 marketing contract for the Sturges-Young Center for the Arts, and an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate for Summit Polymers’ facility expansion.
