Normally, Glen Oaks Community College (GOCC) announces the recipients of its Special Recognition awards during its spring commencement ceremony. However, after the ongoing pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 ceremony, GOCC President Dr. David Devier said the college “made the decision to include the 2020 graduates as part of the May, 2021 commencement ceremony.” In the meantime, Devier said, “the college wishes to announce several individuals who are being recognized this year.” Devier’s announcement came in a press release issued by GOCC Tuesday. There is a total of five awards. Four of the awards each has one recipient, while one award has two recipients.

The St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) voted Wednesday to pay half the total amount to replace sprinklers damaged by road work equipment in White Pigeon Township earlier this year. Residents in the Wahbememe subdivision had sprinklers installed outside their own property lines and within the property of adjacent, county-owned throughfares when road work required use of a grader, which uses a long, narrow, horizontal blade to scrape roadbed surfaces level. After discussion, commissioners agreed to pay half the replacement costs and to warn that items placed in roadway property in the future could be subject to damage without compensation. Commissioners also approved health plans, received updates on road work, and conducted an annual evaluation for Managing Director John Lindsey.

At a work session Monday, members of the Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) Board of Education (BOE) participated along with staff and administrators in an instructional dialogue on racial disparities and justice in schools. The session was facilitated by Dr. Brandy Lovelady Mitchell, who is the Director of Diversity, Belonging, Equity, and Inclusion for Kent Intermediate School District. The session was structured around a key priority identified in the TRCS strategic plan, assuring a safe and secure environment for students, both physically and emotionally.

As of 10:59 p.m. Tuesday night, with just under 72 percent of St. Joseph County precincts reporting, Republican Steve Carra led Democrat Amy East for the seat of 59th District Representative in the Michigan Legislature by a margin of approximately two to one. At that time, Carra carried 12,200 votes in the county to East’s 6,775. He also held a significant lead in Cass County. Speaking from St. Joseph County Republican Party Headquarters in Three Rivers around 11 p.m., Carra said his campaign was declaring victory. Results are also in for several other contested, local races.

Three Rivers Health (TRH) has signed a letter of intent to join northern Indiana-based Beacon Health System. Pending final approvals, the agreement would take effect in the spring of 2021. In a press release Tuesday, TRH said the new partnership “will provide expanded access to care across our region.” TRH operates a 60-bed hospital in Three Rivers serving St. Joseph County, Kalamazoo County, and surrounding areas.

During closing comments at a regular Three Rivers City Commission meeting Monday, City Manager Joe Bippus said the Three Rivers Woman’s Club (TRWC) is seeking alternatives to its current space in the Carnegie Building, which it shares with the Carnegie Center for the Arts (CCA). The City currently owns the building but leases it to TRWC, which subleases it to the CCA. Earlier this year, the CCA and the city entered into a Buy-Sell Agreement that set initial terms for the CCA to buy the building. That agreement stipulated that the CCA and TRWC agree to a new lease, but the parties have been at an impasse for several months over questions of building access.

On behalf of American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM), the City of Three Rivers will be applying for a grant to help fund an expansion project at the company’s Three Rivers plant. At a regular meeting of the Three Rivers City Commission Monday, commissioners approved the measure after a public hearing. In cooperation with Southwest Michigan First (SWMF), which is helping coordinate the project, the city will be applying for a Federally-funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Commissioners also improved changes to zoning language that will permit multiple single-family homes per parcel of land in R4 residential districts.

A 39-year-old man was transported by Air Care to an area hospital after an accident in Colon Township this past Saturday morning. According to a press release by St. Joseph County Sheriff Mark Lillywhite, Deputies responded at about 7:23 a.m. to a location near Burr Oak Road and West Palmer Lake Road. Craig Holman of Angola, Indiana had crossed the center line of the road, left the roadway to his left, and struck a series of trees.

A “Trunk-or-Treat” event at YMCA Camp Eberhart took place this weekend, drawing several hundred carloads of trick-or-treaters. Families came in vehicles of all kinds from St. Joseph County, surrounding counties, and northern Indiana to take part in the socially distanced Halloween event. Roughly 40 organizations and private individuals hosted “trunks,” wherein they passed out candy to the families that came from the trunks of their vehicles. Some set up elaborate Halloween displays.

A major overhaul is in the works for a document that helps set the future character of downtown Kalamazoo. At a regular meeting of the Kalamazoo City Commission this past Monday, City Planner Christina Anderson detailed proposed changes to the city code that will introduce a concept called form-based zoning to the city. A public hearing on the proposed changes is scheduled to take place this coming Monday, November 2.

Larry Miller, a popular former Three Rivers art teacher who later became a school administrator, passed away at his home in Illinois earlier this month. He began teaching in Three Rivers in 1959. Miller was an educator for thirty years, and after retirement in 1989, he returned to Palestine, Illinois, his hometown. There, he opened a downtown art gallery and studio called Coon Hollow Studios in honor of the St. Joseph County throughfare where he once lived.

A White Pigeon man died early this morning in a collision between a pickup truck and a bicycle in Constantine Township. According to a Sheriff’s Office press release, deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department responded just before 5 a.m. to the area of Riverside Drive and Blue School Road. The bicyclist, a 35-year-old White Pigeon resident named Timothy Slabaugh, was pronounced dead at the scene due to injuries he received in the collision.

Watershed Voice sent out questionnaires to over 30 candidates in contested local, state, and national races in St. Joseph County and the surrounding area for the November 3 General Election. In the days leading up to Election Day, Watershed will publish the answers it has received. Andrew George, a Democratic candidate for the First District seat on the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners, filled out our questionnaire. These are his answers.

Watershed Voice sent out questionnaires to over 30 candidates in contested local, state, and national races in St. Joseph County and the surrounding area for the November 3 General Election. In the days leading up to Election Day, Watershed will publish the answers it has received. Marcia Squier, a Green Party candidate for Michigan’s open seat in the United States Senate, filled out our questionnaire. These are her answers.

Effective a 3:15 p.m. Thursday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a new pandemic health order in response to sharply-rising COVID-19 case numbers. The order’s language limits the number of attendees that may gather at indoor and outdoor gatherings in a variety of settings, particularly those where health officials have observed the most rapid spread of the virus. In related news, In a press release Thursday, Office of the St. Joseph County Administrator announced that the county’s Courts Building is closed to the public.