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.
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.
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.
Area polling stations have reported busy, steady traffic this morning for General Election Day. In the city of Three Rivers as well as in Lockport, Park, and Fabius Townships, officials said absent voter ballot returns have been high, and in-person voters waited in lines that stretched out of buildings.
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.
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.
For those who have not yet turned in absent voter ballots or who are planning to cast their vote in person on Election day, Watershed Voice has compiled the following guide to races that will appear on area ballots to provide readers with information about who is running and where to go for voting.
Following an Executive Committee meeting Wednesday morning, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners held a workshop to start planning the 2021 fiscal year budget. For the last several years, the county has operated under a balanced budget, but only by making up shortfalls through drawdowns from the Delinquent Tax Fund (DTF). This year, possible revenue impacts from the ongoing pandemic and a slowed economy brought the imbalance to the front of many of the commission’s conversations about money.
A NOTE FROM OUR EDITOR
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