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.
Randall Miller pled guilty in St. Joseph County 45th Circuit Court Tuesday for the murder of Lori Norman on March 25, 2019. Norman was found unresponsive in her home, and police who responded at the time were unable to revive her. An autopsy report issue afterward suggested she may have died from strangulation. In addition, she had a variety of cuts and bruises she may have sustained at the same time. Appearing on Tuesday before Judge Paul Stutesman, Miller accepted a deal from St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough in exchange for his guilty plea on a charge of second-degree murder.
During the City of Three Rivers’ annual Organizational Meeting Monday evening, City Commissioners approved a measure to sell the former Carnegie Library building to the Carnegie Center for the Arts (CCA) and to excuse the Three Rivers Woman’s Club (TRWC) from any remaining obligations regarding its current lease of the building. Mayor Tom Lowry cast a “no” vote for the sale.
Members of the Lockport Township Board of Trustees approved St. Joseph County Equalization Director Josh Simmons to serve as the County’s new Designated Assessor at a regular meeting Monday evening. The other 15 townships in the county must also approve Simmons’s appointment to the position, which was required in a change to state laws two years ago. The position exists to take over a township’s property assessment duties in the event that the regular assessor has failed to perform in compliance with state requirements and the trustees do not step in to intervene.
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.
Downtown Three Rivers' annual Christmas Around Town (CAT) event is just a few weeks away, and organizers have assembled a collection of pandemic-friendly activities that families can participate in despite this year’s unusual circumstances. A few other events on Main Street were cancelled earlier this year, but with proper time to plan, the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Program (TRDDA) and the downtown merchants are ready to host festivities again on the weekend immediately following Thanksgiving.
An outdoor “Main Street Commons Social District” may be coming to downtown Three Rivers soon. At a regular meeting of the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Program (TRDDA) Friday, board members voted to approve recommending the district to the Three Rivers City Commission for approval. The district is a new opportunity under the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) to permit patrons at certain drinking establishments to consume alcoholic beverages outside.
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.
At a special meeting Thursday, the Three Rivers Board of Education (BOE) began an annual evaluation for Superintendent Ron Moag. Evaluation-related activities took place in closed session, and no action was taken pertaining to the evaluation. The purpose of the first meeting was for Moag to present a portfolio of his work and accomplishments. A follow-up meeting will conclude the evaluation process. Also at Thursday's meeting, a pay increase vote was retaken to correct a conflict-of-interest error in a previous vote on Monday. In other TRCS news, two schools reported positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
A NOTE FROM OUR EDITOR
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