The board had first rejected the annual inflationary adjustment to its base millage, a requirement under Michigan’s Headlee Amendment. The failed vote triggered warnings that the county would lose its ability to fund essential services, including law enforcement.
The Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ) will recommend universal masking for the upcoming K-12 school year, according to Health Officer Rebecca Burns.
With a 3-2 vote the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners approved a request from 3B District Court for an exception to the county's hiring freeze during its regular meeting Tuesday, April 20.
At its executive meeting on Wednesday, April 14, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to add a request from 3B District Court for an exception to the hiring freeze to the agenda for its meeting Tuesday.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners will meet in-person Tuesday, April 6 for the first time this year. Up to 25 people will be allowed into the room including members of the public but the meeting will also be broadcast live via Zoom.
The St. Joseph County Commission Tuesday decided it will return to in-person meetings on Tuesday, April 6.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners discussed the possibility of returning to in-person meetings after Tuesday's virtual meeting was interrupted by internet trolls in a practice called "Zoombombing" or "Zoom raiding." Unidentified persons briefly hurled racist and homophobic epithets at commissioners and those in attendance before Chairperson Dennis Allen temporarily stopped the meeting.
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.
Longtime Executive Secretary Pat Kulikowski is retiring after "nearly 34 years" of service for St. Joseph County. As a result of Kulikowski's impending retirement, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners approved a request for an exception to the county's hiring freeze from County Administrator Teresa Doehring to fill the vacancy.
First term St. Joseph County Commissioner Jared Hoffmaster, 38, sat down with Watershed Voice Wednesday (virtually, of course) to answer questions about his new role.
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