Three Rivers High School students studying Applied Physics are conducting a large scale study of the town’s water quality. Led by teacher Joe Graber, the class will be using commercially available water testing kits. The students are asking for the public to obtain water samples from their homes to aid in the database they are building with collected results.

Watershed Voice sent out questionnaires to local candidates running for Three Rivers City Commission, St. Joseph County Commission, Three Rivers Board of Education, and Glen Oaks Community College Board of Trustees. In the days leading up to the election on Tuesday, November 8, Watershed will publish the questionnaires in the order they are received. Linda Baker, who is running for Three Rivers School Board, filled out WSV’s questionnaire. Here are her answers.

The Three Rivers Promise received a huge boost to its fundraising efforts this week when Kadant Johnson pledged $50,000 to the scholarship program. In addition, Kadant Johnson will match all corporate donations up to an additional $50,000. The locally based company will go a step further, inviting all its employees to donate to the Promise with the guarantee of a matching donation from Kadant Johnson. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS) administrators have had to make difficult choices concerning transportation services for their students. Watershed Voice spoke with Interim Superintendent Nikki Nash about those choices, and possible solutions to an all too common problem in Southwest Michigan.

Executive Editor Alek Haak-Frost writes, “We are a polarized nation, we pick sides, and more often than not choose hate over love. Kids have noticed and are taking their cues from the way adults in their lives behave. We have a responsibility as a nation, as human beings, to shift our focus from simple solutions brought on by knee jerk reactions in the heat of the moment, and instead start to do the real work.”

A protest against Three Rivers Community Schools’ recent Pride flag ban is scheduled for 4 p.m. today, Monday, December 6 in the south parking lot of Three Rivers High School. “100 Allies for Acceptance,” organized by Andrew George and Riley Mains, will take place during the two hours before Monday night’s Three Rivers school board meeting, which begins at 6 p.m.

Former Three Rivers Middle School teacher Russell Ball joins Keep Your Voice Down to talk about his recent resignation after Three Rivers Community Schools staff were asked to remove Pride flags from their classrooms due to an “external challenge.” Ball details the events leading up to his exit, what the flag represents to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and why the flags should remain in classrooms not only in Three Rivers but around the world.