Unconscious bias in medical care and a history of experimentation and exploitation of Blacks for medical knowledge has left many in the Black community questioning everything about the vaccines — from the racial demographics of who has been inoculated already, to whether people of color were studied in the safety and efficacy trials and whether the vaccines even work. State officials hope to ease those concerns and erase racial disparities in COVID vaccination rates.
Category Archive: News
WSV’s Michael “Hogey” Hogoboom writes, “Truly, Starbucks is not your place to go for quality artisan coffee. You’ll never hear a coffee connoisseur mention the Seattle-based chain as their favorite place. It’s really more of the gateway toward good coffee in most people’s experience, and again—isn’t that similar to Budweiser? Many beer drinkers tried a domestic lager long before summoning the courage to try their first IPA.”
States will see another increase in the COVID-19 vaccine doses they receive, with the Biden administration announcing Tuesday that the federal government will distribute 11 million doses next week.
The St. Joseph County Career & Technical Education (CTE) Consortium congratulates students who have distinguished themselves in their CTE programs and have been selected “CTE Student of the Semester” for the first semester of 2020-21.
The NODE (Niles Outdoor Dining Experience) has been voted “Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining” by MLive and its readers. Over the weekend, Watershed Voice caught up with Niles Mayor Nick Shelton via email to learn more about The NODE, and the impact it has had on Niles’ restaurants.
Transparency and accountability have been buzzwords on both sides of the aisle in Michigan. Michigan scored an F in the Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 State Integrity Investigation and ranked worst in the country for state government accountability and transparency. Since then, dozens of measures have been introduced, but many haven’t been signed into law.
WSV’s Aundrea Sayrie writes about the man behind the March on Washington, Civil Rights icon Bayard Rustin. This event and plenty more surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.’s achievements fail to recognize his right-hand man. It was Rustin who had strategically organized the march in only eight weeks.
Doug and Alek are joined by Layne Deuel (Spartans, Wolverines, and Beards Podcast) to discuss Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, their favorite Matthew Stafford memories, the triumphant return of the NCAA Football video game franchise, and MLB The Show’s upcoming debut on Xbox.
During their first month in office, members of the 101st Michigan Legislature have introduced 275 bills, and several more resolutions, addressing topics ranging from gun control to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A decision on the abandonment of a section of Haybridge Road by the St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) has been delayed pending review by Florence Township officials. The section under consideration runs eastward from Sevison Road, and ends at a condemned bridge over the Fawn River. On the other side of the bridge, Haybridge Road continues past a connection with Block Road, and ends at Engle Road. That section would remain active if the abandonment goes through.
Southwest Michigan has officially administered more vaccinations than its number of COVID-19 cases, a trend in line with the rest of the United States.
A downtown Three Rivers storefront has added shelves of dry goods, pantry essentials, and refrigerated and frozen foods to its selection. World Fare, a volunteer-run nonprofit store that has made its home on Main Street for 17 years, mainly carried fair trade home goods, décor, jewelry, and gifts until recently.
A new trend of favorable COVID-19 metrics in Michigan has led the state to allow youth contact sports to resume, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday.
WSV’s Deborah Haak-Frost recently interviewed St. Joseph County Drain Commissioner Jeffrey Wenzel to learn more about what exactly a drain commissioner does.
WSV’s Kay Davis writes, “During my first visit to (Sturgis’ Timm Preserve), the exposed roots and ground were wet and looked slippery. That day was warm with heavy, misty air which caused a steady tapping in the tree leaves and thick vegetation, similar to the Star Wars scene in which we were first introduced to Yoda. The fact I recognized it as such was the indicator that my entire walk on that summer day would be associated with the original movie trilogy.”
WSV’s Eddie Leboeuf writes about the “strength” and “incredible legacy” of Black American abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.
“Never in a million years could you have told me that there would be a day when I’d be walking through an angry mob with nooses, Confederate flags and folks dancing around in blackface,” Rep. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) said of the armed protest at the State Capitol on April 30, 2020.
In a reflection of statewide pressure to reopen winter athletic programs and other school activities, the Three Rivers Board of Education (BOE) adopted a resolution in support of lifting statewide restrictions that are currently in place. The resolution asks Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to approve restarting school winter athletic programs. BOE President Erin Nowak clarified that the resolution would not actually reopen Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) sports programs and other extracurricular activities, but instead would ask the state to lift restrictions.