Three Rivers City Clerk Melissa Bliss told Watershed Voice Wednesday she has taken a deputy clerk position in St. Joseph County’s General Clerks Division. Bliss’ resignation as city clerk was announced during Tuesday’s city commission meeting. Her last day will fall on January 8, 2021.
Three Rivers
At the tail end of an hour-long Three Rivers City Commission meeting Tuesday, City Manager Joe Bippus announced City Clerk Melissa Bliss had tendered her resignation.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners and the Three Rivers City Commission will both hold regular meetings as planned this evening, Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Check out this local meetings primer for a preview of tonight’s meetings.
Watershed Voice’s Michael Hogoboom writes about his late friend Spencer Minor, who he shared a birthday with and a decades long friendship. Tragically Minor died in a motorcycle accident in 2019, and at the time of his passing, Minor and Hogoboom were collaborating on an art project for downtown Three Rivers. The project quickly evolved into a tribute for Minor, the final form of which was unveiled earlier this month in downtown’s East Alley.
Local recording artist and producer Mitchie Moore released a new full-length album on November 27. Moore virtually sat down with Watershed Voice this weekend to discuss the album, which he describes as experimental hip-hop/rap, with inspirations from electronic music.
In a resentencing hearing held in St. Joseph County Circuit Court Thursday, Judge Paul Stutesman reduced the minimum sentence of 41-year-old Douglas S. Shuman, who was originally sentenced to two concurrent terms of life in prison and two additional years for a felony firearm conviction, after he shot and killed his parents James and Arunee Shuman in Three Rivers in 1997.
In an email addressed to Zoning Administrator Doug Kuhlman, Nottawa Properties, LLC and Nottawa Gas Company announced Wednesday it is withdrawing its request for a conditional rezoning of a parcel of land along Highway M-60 in Park Township.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners and the Three Rivers City Commission will both hold regular meetings as planned this evening, Tuesday, December 1, 2020.
The Three Rivers Library Board discussed the prospect of renting a room to the Three Rivers Women’s Club (TRWC) for the purpose of archival storage during its meeting on Tuesday, November 24. The board didn’t make a formal decision Tuesday, opting instead to weigh the particulars of a rental agreement and any liability the library might incur if it grants the club keyed access to a room in its basement.
If you’re seeking a calm reprieve from the turbulence of this year, Tom Springer’s The Star in the Sycamore is a balm. If you’re looking for wry, thoughtful nature writing in the spirit of Wendell Berry or Mary Oliver, nestle into these pages. If you’re feeling a bit adrift, the writings will deeply ground you in the forests and rivers of southwest Michigan.
Three Rivers native Andrew George, who recently ran for First District St. Joseph County Commissioner and occupies leadership positions with the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority and the Democratic Party of St. Joseph County, Michigan, will debut a new online talk show called “The Michigan Left” Wednesday.
The following poem was submitted by a Weekly Witness for Peace participant at the conclusion of the *culture is not optional event series held at The Huss Project in Three Rivers.
During a special meeting Thursday, the Board of Education (BOE) said it found Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) Superintendent Ron Moag to be “effective.” The statement came at the end of a closed session that lasted well beyond two hours. Thursday’s meeting concluded a two-meeting process wherein BOE members conducted Moag’s annual performance evaluation, facilitated by Rod Green of the Michigan Association of School Boards. During closing comments, BOE members also discussed the status and future of online instruction in the district.
Three Rivers and the surrounding area has a large community of current and former military service members. In honor of Veterans Day 2020, Watershed Voice reached out to find out about some of their lives and service careers. Staff spoke to three veterans representing three branches of the U.S. military, and who served during three different times. These are their stories.
At least 160 public schools and 32 colleges and universities are reporting Monday new or ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) data.
At an annual organizational meeting Monday evening, members of the Three Rivers City Commission heard about a year’s worth of work and progress from the city’s various department heads, ranging from the fire and police chiefs to the mapmaker and the grant writer. Commissioners also passed a series of measures to set various procedures for the coming year. City Manager Joe Bippus said the city has gotten “a lot of things accomplished” in the past year, and has been “very resourceful,” delivering “quality services” to the public through diligent frugality and with “very little waste” of money or other resources.
Three Rivers functions in much the same way that it has for years. People still work in specific places that everyone knows about. The town’s citizens shop in stores and visit businesses where they are as likely as not to see someone they know. They take part in social and civic activities and groups, some of which have been around for quite a while. Whether we are aware of it or not, life in Three Rivers centers on its factories, which have changed a lot over time, but which have set many of the same economic and social patterns for generations.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) said in a Friday morning bulletin it plans to fully close a section of Highway M-216, known locally as Marcellus Road or Marcellus Highway. The closure will last two days and will take place from 7 a.m. on Monday, November 9 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10. The closed section will be between Pulver Road and Bent Road in Flowerfield Township, a short distance west of U.S. Highway 131.