By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma WKTV Managing Editor joanne@wktv.org
In March, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety installed license plate readers. Within six months, it has been able to identify and recover 13 stolen vehicles and arrest 18 suspects.
“The real story is that we are able to find missing persons,” said Chief Kim Koster. “If an older family member gets into a car and takes off and the family cannot find the person, we can enter the person’s license plate number into the reader. If the person has passed a reader, it will let us know and give us an idea where to start searching for that missing person.”
From left, CALEA Executive Director Craig Hartley, Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt, Wyoming Public Safety Chief Kimberly Koster,, Wyoming Sergeant Jeremy Walter, Wyoming Captain Eric Wier, Wyoming Lt. Brian Look, and CALEA Commissioner Marcus Brown. (Supplied)
Through that process, the department has been able to find two missing persons since March.
It is because of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety‘s commitment to utilizing best practices in law enforcement that it has earned its fourth in a row accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This includes implementing new technology, such as the license plate readers, as well as reviewing policies and procedures.
Meeting the standards
CALEA is considered the “gold standard in public safety.” Of the approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety is one of 770 agencies nationwide that has CALEA accreditation. It is one of 12 in the State of Michigan. Wyoming received accreditation in 2012.
Wyoming Department of Public Safety Chief Kim Koster (Supplied)
“It is the blueprint for success for a department,” Koster said. “I always say it is the people, our officers, who make the department where we work but CALEA helps to organize us and achieve our goals.”
Reaccreditation happens every four years. To receive reaccreditation, the department must provide proof every year that the agency is in compliance with about 180 of the 452 CALEA standards. Commissioners review different guidelines each year and on the fourth year, all 452 standards are reviews with assessors coming to the department to meet with officers and the public, and department officials coming before the Commission.
“Today, one of the things that departments need to do in general is to be transparent and accountable,” Koster said. “By having this accreditation, we are doing both and it assures the public that we are performing the best practices in law enforcement.
Keeping Up-to-date
Once such practice that came out during the 2020 George Floyd situation was the development of the duty to intervene policy, which the Wyoming Department of Public Safety has incorporated.
“While it was the expectation that an officer would intercede and help de-escalate a situation when he or she sees the use of of force in excess, departments did not have that as a policy,” Koster said.
CALEA also provides direction on other police activities such as witness identification of suspect, best practices in training, evidence handling and storage, and recruiting.
In fact, by being a part of CALEA, the department has the opportunity to learn about what others across the nation are doing in police and public safety. Koster said during the reaccreditation process, the assessors asked about areas the department was looking for assistance. She chose recruiting and was offered a number of ideas including working with MichiganWorks!
But it is not only reviewing policies to assure they are meeting current modern-day needs, but also keeping up on technology and the possibilities of how it can help in police work. That encouragement to consider new ideas is what lead to the department purchasing the license plate readers.
Following the road map
“This is a map in how we should be doing things,” Koster said. “For example, in training, it focuses on best practices in such items as the use of the force, handling calls or helping someone with a mental health issue. By making sure that you are revisiting that topic every year, it assures that you are using the most update-to-date information and techniques.”
CALEA was formed in 1979 through the combined efforts of four major law enforcement organizations: the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriff’s Association, and the Police Executive Research Form. The main purpose of the Commission is to develop standards based on international best practices in public safety, and to establish and administer the accreditation process which looks at how a department meets recognized criteria for excellence in management and service delivery. Accreditation is voluntary.
Brian Long is a local business forecaster. Credit: GVSU
West Michigan’s economy has flattened, following a national and worldwide trend, according to a report released Monday by Brian G. Long, director of Supply Management Research at Grand Valley’s Seidman College of Business.
So, is the nation in a recession?
Long said he’s not quite ready to say so, given the complexities that go into determining when a recession begins or ends. However, he does think the nation is “very likely to slide into an official recession in the near future.”
“I’m sticking with an 80 percent likelihood of recession right now because, the future being what it is, things could change,” he said. “There’s a possibility that we might skate by, but it’s growing increasingly unlikely as time goes by.”
The key sales index, indicating new orders, sank into negative territory, according to the results of the survey of West Michigan manufacturers.
“Although many factories are still operating at or near capacity, higher commodity prices and rapidly rising transportation costs continue to restrict the profitability for many firms,” Long said in the report. “Even though business conditions remain modestly positive for some survey respondents, the talk of an impending recession is resulting in many expansion plans being put on hold.”
Automotive suppliers, though still hampered by chip shortages, are expected to weather any economic storm better than other sectors due to continued pent-up demand for new cars, Long said.
Key metrics in the July survey were a mixed bag: • The sales index, reflecting new orders came at -3 after being +26 in June • Production, or output, softened to +7 from +31 in June • Employment remained strong, reaching +27, up from +23 the previous month
Long cautioned against putting too much weight on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in determining the start of a recession.
While economists once used two consecutive quarters of negative GDP reports as a signal of the start of a recession, thinking has evolved in recent decades to include other factors such as income, employment, unemployment, industrial production, capital investment and consumer spending, he said.
Wyoming City Council Member Kent Vanderwood was elected the city’s next mayor during the Aug. 2 primary election. Vanderwood received 56 percent of the casted votes. (Supplied)
At this week’s primary election, Wyoming voters determined the city’s next mayor, Kent Vanderwood.
“Normally in a primary, there is usually a narrowing of the number down for candidates but in our city charter there is a little asterisk to this in that if a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, they automatically win the seat,” said Wyoming City Clerk Kelli VandenBerg.
Vanderwood took 56 percent of the casted votes in Aug. 2 primary, receiving 5,635 votes. Current mayor pro tem and candidate Sam Bolt received 3,033 votes and newcomer Cliff Tompkins had 1,144 votes.
Vanderwood, who current serves as a council member, said he was pleased with the results of the primary and sees this as an opportunity to prepare for the role of mayor.
“This gives me a lot of time to prepare as I will be able to meet with the current mayor, city staff, the city manager,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity to get oriented to the mayor duties.”
VandenBerg said turnout for the primary was about 22 percent of the city’s registered voters which was what her office was expecting.
“What was a surprise is that in the past we have seen more absentee ballots in an election and this year it was much more balanced,” she said.
For the Nov. 8 general election, Wyoming residents will be deciding between three candidates to fill two council member at-large seats, which are four-year terms. Those candidates are Rob Arnoys, Renee Hill and Robert Kilgo. Sheldon DeKryger is running unopposed for the first ward council seat.
VandenBerg said the elected officials, including mayor elect Vandenwood, would take office in the beginning of December.
Meijer loses to Gibbs
In the 3rd District U.S. House of Representatives, current Congressman Peter Meijer lost his bid for the Republican nomination which went to newcomer John Gibbs. Gibbs had 36,527 votes to Meijer’s 35,395 votes. Gibbs will face Democratic nominee Hillary Scholten in the Nov. 8 general election for the seat.
State House races
For the 80th District State House of Representatives, Democratic Phil Skaggs edged out Lily Chong-Schulting, 5,202 to 4,626 for the Democratic nomination. Skaggs will face Republican nominee Jeffrey Johnson in November.
For the 82nd District State House of Representatives, candidate Kristian Grant had the most votes, 3,884, in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination. Also seeking the nominations were Robert Womack, who received 3,821, and Salim Mohammed Al-Shatel, who received 1,301.
The Republican nomination for the 82nd District was between two candidates, Ryan Malinoski and William Alexander. Malinowski beat out Alexander, 2,640 to 1,527.
Malinowski and Grant will now face each other for the 82nd District House seat in the Nov. 8 general election.
In the 83rd District State House of Representatives, current Wyoming Councilmember John Fitzgerald won the Democratic nomination with 2,567 to Jose Flores’ 2,037 votes. Fitzgerald will now face Republican candidate Lisa DeKryger for the season in the November election.
Kent County Commission races
Current 10th District Kent County Commissioner Emily Post Brieve won the Republican nomination with 2,615 votes over her challenger Bill Hirsch, who received 2,127 votes. Brieve will face Democratic challenger Julie Humphrey in November.
In the 12th District Kent County Commission seat, Lee White won the Republican nomination with 1,135 votes over candidate Adam R. Palaces, who had 959 votes. Lee faces current commissioner and Democratic candidate Monica Sparks in November.
Tom McKelvy took the Republican nomination for the 13th District Kent County Commission seat. McKelvy has 1,591 votes to candidate Nick Prill’s 1,169. McKelvy will face Democratic candidate and current commissioner Michelle McCloud in the Nov. 8 general election.
By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma WKTV Managing Editor joanne@wktv.org
The current owners of The Pines Golf Course plan to operate the facility through the 2023 golfing season. (WKTV)
Impressed overall with a proposed development for The Pine Golf Course, the Wyoming Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend rezoning the site.
Illinois-based developer Redhawk Multifamily and Indiana-based Domo Development had requested a rezoning of 114.52 acres at the addresses of 2180 52nd St.SW and 5050 Byron Center Ave. SW, which is the current Pines Golf Course. The sites are currently R-1 for single family homes with the proposed zoning being a planned united development (PUD-4) for mixed use of residential and commercial.
“The Pines are a near and dear place to me,” said Planning Commissioner Robert Arnoys. “My parents built their house in ‘77. We lived by the fifth hole. Mike kicked me off the golf course many times on Sundays and various times, so I have a lot of sentimental and valuable memories related to the golf course.
“But it is going to be developed…Again, it pains me for the change but I do feel that this is something that we’ve talked about, best use, and the way this is laid out it is very well done.”
The Pines project
“A master plan, as developers, gives us guidance to the goals of Wyoming,” said Redhawk Multifamily representative Mark Avis. “We came here to design something that specifically matches almost word for word what is in the master plan.”
The proposed The Pines development is located northeast of the intersection of Byron Center Avenue and 52nd Street. (Supplied)
The project, named “The Pines” after the golf course, is proposed to be a mixed-use development that includes residential and commercial uses. The proposal calls for 604 units, which comes out to be about 5.27 dwelling units per acre. The residential proportion will be a mix of for sale and for rent units and includes a variety of housing types such as low-density like duplexes and lofts and medium density such as story apartment buildings and townhomes.
The site would include 22,000 square feet of office space, which would mostly be located off of 52nd Street and 7,500 square feet of commercial/retail, which would be off of Byron Center Avenue.
The Pines project also includes a 13-acre dog park that would be open to all Wyoming residents, sports courts for pickleball and bocce ball, fitness center, two clubhouses and two swimming pools.
Avis said when the company considers a property for development it is a process. It starts by meeting with the current owners and learning their vision and then identifying the natural features of the property including the trees, wetlands, natural grades and wildlife habitats.
The company also studied the city’s master plan, met with residents and staff and through that process felt it had developed a better plan than what the company had originally envisioned.
Planning Commission’s recommendation
Noting how well the plan was laid out and overall impressed with the design, the Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of the plan to the Wyoming City Council.
For a PUD rezoning, the Wyoming City Council will have two readings before voting on the rezoning. The rezoning is expected to be introduced at the Council’s Aug. 1 meeting which is at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1155 28th St. SW.
If the zoning is approved, the Wyoming Planning Commission would need to review and approve the project’s final site plan.
Residents at meeting were opposed
Redhawk presented about 15 pages from residents about the project including 100 positive reviews along with letters of sport from Grandville Superintendent Roger Bearup and Walker Mayor Gary L. Carey Jr. Redhawk is working on converting the former English Hills and the Lincoln golf courses in Walker to a planned unit development similar to the one proposed for The Pines Golf Course.
About a dozen residents voiced their concerns about the project citing increased traffic, not wanting rental housing, and a strong desire to keep the zoning residential for single family homes.
“I want you to keep in mind that apartments are one component of this,” said Planning Commissioner Barbara VanDuren. “There are for sale condos. There are duplexes and townhouses and it is hard because we all come from an era where we were born and raised and wanted that single family home. Things are changing. These apartments are not low income apartments.
“I think if you give it an opportunity and take a look at it and when it happens, I don’t think it will be as bad as you are perceiving.”
Addressing the public concerns
City of Wyoming’s Planning Director Nicole Hofert noted in her presentation that a traffic study showed that Byron Center and 52nd Street would be able to absorb the projected growth through minor traffic improvements such as timing adjustments. She also noted that there would need to be further evaluation of the traffic flow to ensure efficient egress of the site and minimal impact to surrounding roadways.
As for the crime, Hofert reiterated what she said for the rezoning of the 12 acres at the corner of Byron Center and 52nd Street that statistically, where there are more people, there is more crime and it is not related to the type of housing in the area.
The Pines site will have 604 dwelling units with 7,500 square feet of commercial/retail along Byron Center Avenue and 22,000 square feet of office space along 52nd Street. (Supplied)
Meets the requirements
According to staff, the property met many of the city requirements including location, size, housing variety, units and residential density. It was noted by staff that a PUD of the size of The Pines could go up to 15 dwellings per acre, but the developer is only asking for about a third of that at 5.27 dwellings per acre totaling 604.
The city’s [re]imagine master plan calls for the parcels to be used as suburban residential and should be directed suburban residential growth primarily as planned unit developments that include higher density options, green space, and pedestrian infrastructure. In defining suburban residential, the master plan says that higher-density residential should be prioritized near major roadways such as Byron Center Avenue and 52nd Street and near neighborhood commercial centers.
The master plan considered the Pines Golf Course an opportunity site that should be considered for mixed use with commercial fronting the street and medium density housing in the interior, which the plan proposes.
Green space, mixed housing and parking
The project also includes a public benefit such as preserving the features and tree canopies of the existing golf course where possible as well as preserving the natural wetlands on the property.
Only 22.9 acres, which is 20 percent of the development, are required for open space with the proposed project providing 29.7 acres which includes an open park in the development’s central core, the 13-acre dog park and trail connections to the nature preserve that abuts the northern-eastern portion of the site. The trails provide connection to the George P. Tilma Preserve and the Kent Trails.
It also addresses the need of middle housing such as townhomes, duplexes and fourplexes and apartments in the Wyoming area as per the Housing Choice and Housing Needs Assessment. The developers also met residents requests to have four-sale property available as well.
Staff did have a concern about parking. Through an agreement with the developer, parking will be 1.72 per unit which is slightly higher than the 1.5 maximum allowed for the PUD.
Property owners looking to sell
The Pines opened in 1967. It is the third golf course in the Grand Rapids area to be sold for redevelopment since 2020.
In January of this year, Ron Zandbergen, president of the Pines Golf Course, sent out a letter to its neighbors announcing that the owners had entered into a purchase agreement for the Pines Golf Course with RedHawk Multifamily.
Zandbergan said the family had followed the Wyoming [re]imagined master plan discussions and noted that the Pines Golf Course was designated to be a high density multifamily. Since the family is looking to retire, they began to look at other developments in the area.
“…last year we became extremely intrigued with the multifamily development of the English Hills Golf Course in Walker, which was being sold by long-time owners like ourselves. We really liked the developer’s plan which preserved a vast majority of the land,” Zandbergen wrote in the letter. “For us, it was very important to have a developer that would enhance the neighborhood and follow Wyoming’s Master Plan.”
The owners plan to operate the golf course through the 2023 golf season with the development starting after that. The Pines development is scheduled to open in 2025.
West Nile virus has been detected in a recent mosquito trapping by the Kent County Health Department. (CDC.gov)
The recent news that West Nile virus has been detected in Kent County reminds everyone the importance of preventing mosquito bites.
The Kent county Health Departments (KCHD) Mosquito Surveillance Team has detected West Nile virus in mosquitos. This part of the ongoing tracking that takes place through the country every summer. The discovery comes after testing pools of mosquitoes that were trapped by KCHD in the 49519 zip code, which is in Wyoming.
“The discovery is important because it lets us know that this season’s mosquitoes are now carrying the virus and it could spread to humans,” said KCHD Public Health Epidemiologist Paul Bellamy. “It is important for people to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites as much as possible.”
The Mosquito Surveillance Team traps large amounts of mosquitoes in various locations in Kent County. The team then collects the pools of mosquitoes and begins the process of testing the insects for presence of West Nile virus. The information the team gathers is shared with the municipalities where West Nile virus is found. Those agencies can then use that information to inform that mosquito mitigation strategies.
Tips for keeping safe
There is no vaccine or cure for West Nile virus so the best treatment is prevention. KCHD recommends the following measures:
Cover exposed skin when able
Wear a mosquito repellant that contains 10 to 35 percent DEET (read and follow product directions)
Wear light colored clothing and stay indoors
Remove or refresh water in bird baths, children’s wading pools, water bowls for your pets, and empty other small containers that can collect water in your yard.
Repair missing, damaged or improperly installed screens.
Only about 20 percent of the people infected with West Nile virus notice symptoms that may include headache, body aches, joint pains, and fatigue. Most people with West Nile virus completely recover, but fatigue may linger. About one in 150 people infected develop severe illness that can affect the central nervous system. Recovery may take several months. Some damage to the central nervous systems can be permanent. In race instances, the disease can lead to death.
According to a 20 year review of the West Niles virus (it was discovered in the United States in 1999), a total of 51,702 cases of WNV have been reported to Center for Disease Control’s ArboNET, including 25,227 (48.8%) WNND and 2,376 (4.6%) deaths.
Zika Virus
The mosquito species that carry the Zika virus are not currently present in our area. However, the Zika virus is still a worldwide concern and can be contacted through out-of-state travel.
By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma WKTV Managing Editor joanne@wktv.org
Looking to provide housing for young professionals, the Wyoming City Council, in a split vote of 4-3, approved the rezoning of the northeast corner of 52nd Street and Byron Center Avenue to allow for multi-family housing.
American Kendall Properties is looking to put a mixed use of commercial and multi-family housing on 11.79 acres located near the corner of 52nd Street and Byron Center Avenue. (WKTV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)
American Kendall Properties asked for the properties at 5160 and 5190 Byron Center Ave. SW to be rezoned from B-1 Local, which allowed commercial use, to B-2 General, which would allow for commercial use with multi-family housing. Mixed use is only allowed in the city’s B-2 zoning and through a planned unit development (PUD).
The project, called The Retreat, would be on 11.79 acres. Developers have proposed 6,000 square feet of commercial retail space with 178 dwelling units. The units would be housed in 15 buildings which includes two floors of apartments above the commercial space. The site also would include a pool for its residents, an expansive green space, and 372 parking spaces. The development would need a special use permit for the multi-family units and the entire project will need to have a site review and approval.
City Council decision
“It is consistent with the Wyoming [re] imagine master plan, the land use plan, the housing needs assessment,” said Mayor Jack Poll. “We are in the midst of a housing shortage in Wyoming, as well as across the country. Studies have shown the city has additional needs for thousands of rental units at various price points.”
Poll said this included the need for high-end apartments in the panhandle as proposed for the northeast corner of 52nd Street and Byron Center and felt this was an opportunity for the city to provide that.
Mayor Pro Tem Sam Bolt, and councilmembers John Fitzgerald and Marissa Postler joined Poll in approving the rezoning, citing they felt that it met the land use and adapted [re] imagine master plan criteria.
Council members Kent Vanderwood, Sheldon DeKryger and Robert Postema were opposed to the rezoning, stating they did not believe it fit the adapted master plan, especially the definition of a neighborhood commercial center as stated in the plan.
“The master plan calls for this to be neighborhood commercial with surrounding multi-family so we are not getting what the master plan called for,” Postema said. “It does not call for multi-family on the corner with a little sliver of commercial inside one of the buildings.”
Neighbors not in favor
Several residents with homes close to the project attended the July 5 council meeting as well as two Planning Commission meetings to voice their objection. Their concerns were increased traffic, increased crime, the upcoming possible development of the Pines Golf Course (located next to the property), the density, and that the proposed zoning did not fit the city’s current [re] imagine master plan.
The corner of Byron Center and 52nd was rezoned to B-1 Local in 2002 and has sat vacant since. (WKTV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)
At its April meeting, the Wyoming Planning Commission voted, 5-4, to recommend denying the rezoning because of density concerns, not fitting the land use or master plan, the B-2 zoning was not a good fit for the area, and concerns over the type of businesses allowed under the B-2 zoning.
“I believe the planning commission got this right,” Vanderwood said. “I believe there is no overwhelming or compelling reason to rezone the property from B-1 to B-2.”
Factors for rezoning
However, staff recommended approval of the rezoning. Nicole Hofert, the city’s director of planning and economic development, said when reviewing a rezoning request, staff considers several factors. Those factors include consistency with the current adopted master plan, compatibility with existing and future land uses, capability of property to be served by public utilities, ability of property to be used as currently zoned, and appropriateness of all uses allowed within the proposed district at the property.
Hofert said the adopted 2021 Wyoming [re] Imagined plan identifies the parcels as future neighborhood commercial with the proposed use consistent with the future envisioned use.
Conditions on the property
Hofert said the property has stood vacant since 2002 when it was rezoned to B-1 which indicates the zoning could be impeding the potential development. Also, B-2 fits the overall area with the developer agreeing to conditions that would restrict what would be allowed on the site.
American Kendall Properties’ conditions for rezoning would restrict such businesses as automobile gasoline and service stations, adult businesses, new or used mobile home sales or service, excavation, equipment sales or service, machinery or farm implant sales and automobile, truck, motorcycle, trailer, recreation vehicle or boat showrooms.
The need for diverse housing
Through the master plan process, one of the stated goals was to provide equitable, diverse, and geographically dispersed housing.
The proposed site plan for the northeast corner of 52nd Street and Byron Center Avenue. (Supplied)
“That included not only the distribution of single family homes throughout our community but also including multi-family that we also refer to as missing middle housing, the duplexes, the triplexes, the quad-plexes,” Hofert said.
According to theImpediments to Fair House Choice and Housing Needs Assessment, there is a demand for 2,010 units among high income renters earning 80 percent of area median income, which would be more than $50,000. The master plan also states that this is a shift in development pattern that may require increased density and a more varied housing stock on existing vacant sites than what has been historically accommodated in the city. The site’s density would be 15 homes per acre with medium density at 13-15, Hofert said.
“We have often heard, and we have had The Right Place come here and talk about not only the need for more housing units in our community but that we need housing units that attract young and talented workers,” Hofert said. “This is in order to bring, for example technical workers, high skill workers, etc. These are types of individuals who may not be ready to buy a home yet but need somewhere to live.
“Oftentimes what we see is that when a person is moving out of an apartment they are moving into the larger community when it feels really welcoming to them.”
Lifestyle change among young professionals
Representatives from The Right Place also have discussed with the Planning Commission how employers are looking for communities offering a variety of available housing for their employees. Currently the City of Wyoming has a ratio of 39.3 percent of single family detached homes, 4.3 percent of multi-family homes, and 1.6 single-attached homes.
“You can’t attract the people that you want to your community and the businesses you want to your community if there is no place for them to [live],” said Tim Mroz, senior vice president of community development for The Right Place.
Mroz said the desire to have a single-family home also has decreased significantly over the past several years. In fact, according to a rent.com survey, 85 percent of millennials, 18- to 34-year-olds, are renting for several reasons including being more mobile, changing jobs, and settling down later in life.
“I will admit that there is enough gray in my hair and my beard that I am still part of the single-family home generation and from what I have seen in terms of housing demand and what I have seen in terms of community, I am going the way of the dodo bird,” he said.
“My younger colleagues don’t want a lawn, they don’t want an acre and a half. They want that closer sense of community where their families can grow up together.”
Addressing the concerns
Other concerns raised were traffic, which Hofert said through engineering studies it has been determined that Byron Center Avenue could sustain the additional traffic. If a grocery store, similar to the Family Fare on Burlingame Avenue, was constructed on the site, which is allowed under the current zoning, it could have up to an additional 370 vehicles per peak time. A residential development would have about 64.
“Commercial developments generate higher traffic volumes than residential developments,” she said.
Several residents raised concerns about increasing student numbers for the school. Mayor Jack Poll said he learned that at The Haven, another American Kendall Properties located at 52nd and Wilson, there were only six additional students added to the Grandville Public Schools.
Grandville Public Schools Superintendent Roger Bearup sent a letter in support of the development stating “This project is tentatively scheduled for the Fall of 2022. This timeline fits well with the construction and reconfiguration within Grandville Public Schools as our new middle school will open in the Fall of 2023, our old middle school will be renovated for our fifth and sixth graders and open in 2024, which will create space within the district buildings to address any potential growth from this project. We should have plenty of space to welcome new families to our excellent schools.”
Concerns were raised about crime, which Hofert said statistically, where there is more people, there is more crime and it is not related to the type of housing in the area.
The site still needs to go through review for the special permit and site plans. If the project is not under construction by Dec. 31, 2023, the properties will revert back to the B-1 zoning.
In an interview last year, the Diatribe Executive Director Marcel “Fable” Price and teaching artist Foster “AutoPilot” to discuss 49507 Project initiative. (WKTV)
By Sheila McGrath WKTV Contributing Writer
The Diatribe relies on funding of all kinds to do its work.
But a recent $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will give the nonprofit Grand Rapids arts organization more than just a financial boost.
“The reason this is such a huge deal is historically, NEA grants have gone to pretty large, prestigious organizations in the city of Grand Rapids,” said Marcel Price, founder and executive director of The Diatribe. “The NEA opening funding like this to organizations that are our size really gives us capacity, and allows us to show national as well as local funders alike how well we can be responsible stewards of federal dollars.”
“Enjoying the Roots of Our Positive Struggle,” by E’lla Webber, is located at 40 Acres Consulting, 703 Eastern Ave. SE. (Photo by Leda Theres for The 49507 Project.)
The funds will go to The Diatribe’s 49507 Project, which is in its second summer of bringing beauty and neighborhood pride to an underserved side of Grand Rapids. Last year, Black and Brown artists with the project created seven large-scale murals on buildings around south Grand Rapids. In addition to the murals, the 49507 Project features programming for young people, community listening sessions, and a youth-organized community art unveiling.
The Diatribe was one of 51 organizations across the country to get an Our Town grant from the NEA. The funding is designated for projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, or social outcomes.
“The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson. “The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”
An NEA grant requires a higher level of bookkeeping and tracking than other types of funding, so The Diatribe’s success with this NEA grant will help them secure additional grants from large donors in the future, Price said.
“A lot of people in Grand Rapids, when it comes to art, they believe there’s only one view of what art can be or where it can be,” he said.
This year, the group is bringing eight more murals to the 49507 zip code. Price met with city officials on June 20 to get approval for the design of the murals.
A key component to the 49507 Project is community engagement. (Supplied)
“All of the buildings have been primed and are ready. All of the artists have been selected and all the paint has been ordered for their murals, so this is the last step and then they’re off and running,” he said.
The murals will tell the stories of the area’s people, neighborhoods and businesses at a time when tensions continue to exist there, particularly with the April shooting death of Patrick Lyoya at the hands of former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schuur. Price said that this a great year to show that residents of the 49507 zip code have the capacity to build the kind of neighborhood they would like to see.
“People in our listening sessions have been saying, ‘My kids seeing artists who look like them painting in our neighborhoods is inspiring beyond words,’” Price said.
The participating artists and locations of this year’s murals are:
Samaria J’s Salon Suite, 701 Grandville Ave SW; artist Arturo Morales Romero
Load A Spud, 1721 Madison Ave SE; artist Edwin Anderson
Farmers Insurance, 2435 Eastern Ave SE; artist Wanda Morena
Mr. B’s Party Store, 1216 Kalamazoo Ave SE; artist Rryuhn Dotson
Aleman Auto Repair, 1801 Division Ave S.; artist Hugo Claudin
Cisneros Tires, 800 Division Ave S.; artist Alynn Guerra
Office of Mary Malone, 1956 Eastern Ave.; artist Mila Lynn
Dégagé Ministries is excited to host Unhoused, a film series on the causes, realities, and solutions to homelessness. The event series will include two films shown at Wealthy Theater on June 22 and July 20 from 6-9 p.m., followed by an outdoor community celebration at Dégagé Ministries, 144 Division Ave S, on Aug. 10 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Each film will be followed by a Q&A with representatives from various organizations, including Mel Trotter Ministries, Family Promise, and Network180. Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Kyd Kane will moderate all sessions.
The film series will culminate in an Outdoor Community Celebration on Aug. 10 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., outside Dégagé Ministries at the corner of Cherry and Sheldon Avenue. This celebration will feature local food trucks and a live poetry reading by Kane. Food and drink will be available for purchase at all three events, but are otherwise free for the public.
The first film featured, Us & Them, documents ten years in the lives of four individuals facing homelessness. Directed by Krista Loughton and Jennifer Abbott, the film explores the challenges of homelessness, and the powerful transformations created through human connection.
The second film, The Public, continues the theme by retelling a story of civil disobedience in Cincinnati, as people turned to a public library for shelter from the outdoor elements. Both films seek to explore and educate the general population about the complexities of homelessness in our community, and wider society.
“Homelessness is a multi-faceted issue with widespread effects in our city,” says Dégagé Ministries Executive Director Thelma Ensink. “Our goal is to bring the complexities of homelessness to light, and promote education and conversation in our community.”
The Kent County Animal Shelter will become a stand-alone department answering directly to administration. (Supplied)
Following the nationwide best practices in animal welfare and public safety, Kent County has announced it will be restructuring its animal shelter and animal control operations.
On July 1, the animal shelter will become a stand-along county department report directly to the administration. It is currently under the Kent County Health Department. With that change, the animal control operations will be reassigned to a dedicated, special tailed team at the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
“Best practices in animal welfare and animal control are Kent County’s top priority in restructuring these operations,” said Kent County Administrator Al Vanderberg. “We consulted subject matter experts and community members and commissioned extensive research into county-level animal shelter and animal control operations before recommending these changes. These decisions are data-driven and reflect nationwide best practices in animal welfare, as well as public safety.”
Kent County Animal Control
Animal control will be reassigned to the Sheriff’s Office because these operations are largely a function of law enforcement. The team will be led by certified law enforcement officers including a KCSO Enforcement Division lieutenant and two Enforcement Division sergeants who will oversee daily operations and staff. Staff will include a civilian animal control supervisor and civilian special deputies who will be supported by community outreach, media relations and training staff already at the Sheriff’s Office.
Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young
At a meeting on June 9, the Kent County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved recommendations from its Legislative and Human Resources Committee and Finance and Physical Resources Committee to create and fund the three full-time animal control unit supervisors at the Sheriff’s Office.
“For years, KCSO officers have worked cooperatively with Kent County animal control officers in response to calls and to carry out the law enforcement aspects of these operations,” said Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. “With these changes, animal control operations will be led by sworn law enforcement officers trained to provide oversight and to protect due process in rapidly unfolding legal and civil rights matters.”
While the animal control officers will be civilian positions and will not have arresting authority, the certified Sheriff’s deputies in the animal control unit will have authority to make arrests when there is cause to believe a crime has been committed.
To prepare for these changes, the Sheriff’s Office is developing a new Kent County Animal Control Ordinance to replace the Kent County Health Department Animal Control Regulations that have been on the books for more than 20 years. Starting July 1, the new ordinance will apply anywhere in the county where local city, township or village ordinances are not already in place. Existing local ordinances will supersede the Kent County Animal Control Ordinance.
How and When to Contact Animal Control
If a Kent County resident encounters an animal emergency – an animal is attacking a person, or a pet is in immediate danger – they should call 911. Otherwise, residents should call the Kent County Sheriff’s Department dispatch at 616-632-7310 if they encounter a stray dog, in the case of a dog bite, or to report a suspected case of animal cruelty or neglect.
The primary focus of Kent County Animal Shelter will be the care and welfare of lost and abandoned animals. (KC Animal Shelter)
Kent County Animal Shelter
With the restructuring announced today, the Kent County Animal Shelter will maintain primary responsibility for the care, shelter and feeding of lost and abandoned animals in Kent County. The change in reporting directly to the administration will allow the Kent County Health Department to focus more exclusively on human health.
“Our mission hasn’t changed. We remain keenly focused on reuniting pets with their families and finding safe and loving new homes for animals when needed,” said Kent County Animal Shelter Director Angela Hollinshead. “We value the assistance that many community leaders and animal welfare agencies have provided in support of that mission and of the animals in our care over the past several years. We look forward to working with these leaders and organizations to formalize and increase community support in the months ahead.”
Following the restructuring, County administration and the animal shelter will explore the possibility of establishing a foundation and “friends group” to increase financial and volunteer support for the shelter.
There are a number of reasons that a municipality may seek government-run broadband such as faster service at a lower cost, encourage economic development, and provide economic development. (pxhere.com)
For more than a decade, municipalities around the United States have been starting their own government-run broadband networks to bring high-speed internet to their residents.
They might do so for a variety of reasons: to provide residents faster service at a lower cost, to encourage economic development, to provide high-speed internet to areas that private Internet Service Providers aren’t interested in serving, or to bring more economical connections to urban areas where residents can’t afford the service provided by private ISPs.
But due to laws on the books in Michigan, cities can face significant obstacles in starting their own network.
Michigan is one of 18 states that put restrictions on municipal broadband programs. Under the Metropolitan Extension Telecommunications Rights-of-Way Oversight Act of 2002, public entities can provide telecommunications services only if they have first requested bids for the services and received fewer than three qualified bids. They also must subject themselves to the same terms as those specified in their Request for Proposal.
Around the United States, measures regulating municipal broadband are enacted largely due to the influence of telecommunications companies wishing to be shielded from competition, according to MuniNetworks.org, a Community Broadband Networks Initiative of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
According to the Common Cause Education Fund, which tracked the spending of telecommunications companies for the years 2019 and 2020, Comcast spent $13 million on lobbying in 2019 and $14 million in 2020. The company spent $15 million on political contributions and expenditures in the 2020 election cycle. AT&T spent $11.5 million on lobbying in 2019, $11 million in 2020, and $13 million in political contributions in 2020.
Some small cities in the Michigan, such as Marshall, have been able to start their own network because they sent out a Request for Proposal and no ISPs responded, according to the Battle Creek Enquirer.
Holland is exempt from the Metro Act provisions because their fiber system predates the Metro Act, according to Ted Siler, utility services director for the city. They started it in the 1990s to connect their public utilities.
But even though the regulations don’t affect Holland’s plans to build a fiber network in the city, there are still parties pushing to stop it.
In late May, Holland residents began getting a “push poll” text from G1 Research. While purporting to be an opinion poll, the questions aligned with talking points by conservative commentators who believe municipal broadband networks place a unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
Daniel Morrison, a broadband activist who leads the civic group hollandfiber.org, said he didn’t know who was behind the push poll. All he had were “rumors and suspicions,” he said.
But he believes the Holland community supports the plan.
“I think the community is behind this because we have such a well-respected utility that takes good care of us,” he said. “It’s very clear to residents why a community-owned broadband utility fits in really well and would be an improvement over what they have now.”
Telecommunications companies aren’t the only ones trying to halt municipal broadband networks. Conservative lawmakers routinely introduce legislative restrictions because they feel municipal networks raise taxes and are not a cost-effective solution.
Holland representatives believe there is support to have a government-run broadband within their city.
Some studies have shown that municipal networks don’t attract enough users to pay for themselves. Elizabeth Hicks, U.S. affairs analyst at the advocacy group the Consumer Choice Center, cites a 2017 study by the University of Pennsylvania Law School concluding that of 20 municipal fiber projects that reported results of their municipal operations, 11 generated negative cash flow, and only two were on track to break even.
“What happens if there’s not enough consumers who end up signing up for the municipal broadband services or network? If that does happen – and what we see happen across the country with other municipal broadband networks – is the taxpayers within that municipality are stuck holding the bag for this failed network. So not only do they have a network that doesn’t work, but now they’re paying for it with their own tax dollars.”
But according to MuniNetworks.org, several of the cities that were subjects of the University of Pennsylvania Law School study disputed the accuracy of the numbers used in the calculations. The authors of the study issued a correction to some aspects of their report. The University of Pennsylvania released an updated study in January this year which again found that the actual performance of municipal broadband projects fell short of their financial forecasts.
Hicks said she believes everyone should have access to high-speed internet at reasonable prices, but that municipal networks are not the most effective way to do that. She said she has seen public-private partnerships work in rural areas where it’s cost-prohibitive to bring fiber. Cable and satellite service could be other options to consider, she said, or government subsidies for broadband in areas where there are ISPs providing service, but it’s too expensive for residents.
“There are a lot of unique solutions – I just don’t think jumping to a municipal broadband network should be the first one,” she said, adding that more than 200 communities nationwide currently offer municipal broadband, but only a small percentage of them have been successful.
In Holland, if the ballot measure passes, city residents will pay a millage of about $12.50 per month for building the system. Those who choose to connect would pay about $42 per month for service of 1 gigabit per second. The cost will depend on the “take rate,” in other words, how many people sign up. The more people who sign up for the service, the lower the cost will go.
Holland leaders are confident they will have the numbers needed to ensure success. The City and its Board of Public Works surveyed residents in 2018 and found that the vast majority of residents were in favor of a community-owned solution that provides high-speed internet access.
Morrison said demand for fiber connection in Holland’s existing downtown pilot project area has been strong. They have more than 200 customers in 150 buildings, he said.
The Covid pandemic and the lockdowns that followed brought the need for high-speed internet into sharp focus, he said.
“Everyone understands now the value of a good, reliable internet connection. We look at our very reliable utility that has been lowering electric rates, and say ‘We want (internet service) to be a utility just like water, sewer, or electricity.’ That’s what we want. We want to be in control of our own destiny. Not leave that up to a big telecom company.”
On Aug. 2, the City of Holland could join a short list of cities that has broadband as a city utility. (pxhere.com)
When Holland voters go to the polls on Aug. 2, they will decide on a milage proposal that would give residents a benefit that’s relatively rare in the United States: a publicly funded, city-wide broadband internet network available to anyone living within the city limits.
The Holland City Council voted in April to take the measure to the voters. Now, the city is immersed in a campaign to educate voters about the benefits of the proposal.
If the ballot measure passes, Holland would join cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee; Sandy, Oregon; Cedar Falls, Iowa, and several others spread around the country that have a broadband network run by the municipality.
“Covid made it very clear that home internet is not a luxury,” said Daniel Morrison, a local broadband advocate who runs Hollandfiber.org, a civic group that has long championed the idea. “I’ve been banging this drum for years – that it’s not just people’s Netflix. It’s a utility. Covid changed the perception of that. It’s how you work. It’s how you go to school, it’s how you do everything, It’s not just entertainment. But even entertainment is important too.”
If the ballot measure passes, the funds raised by the millage will extend a fiber network that already exists in the downtown area to the rest of the city. The network will be owned and maintained by the Holland Board of Public Works and operated in the same way as other utilities, such as water or electricity.
“For the average family, we expect this would give them better choice in internet providers and lower – possibly significantly lower – prices,” Morrison said. “Better service at a lower price is what we’re seeing.”
Downtown business in Holland already have been enjoying the faster upload speeds offered by the city’s fiber connections. (pxhere.com)
Residents would be able to choose between several different Internet service providers that offer service packages using the new fiber network, bringing a more competitive environment.
Residents would pay to hook up to the service – $820 per address – but would be allowed to pay that off at a cost of $7 per month for 10 years, according to hollandcityfiber.org, the city website explaining the proposal. A sample internet service bill provided by the city shows an estimated monthly cost of $42 for internet service – $7 for the monthly installment payment for connection, $7 for internet access and $28 for maintenance of the network.
The millage would levy up to 1.5 mills in its first year, and about 1.12 each year after that for the life of the 25-year bond, according to hollandcityfiber.org. The millage would cost about $12.50 per month for the owner of a $200,000 home with a taxable value of $100,000. If approved, the project to run the fiber throughout the city would start in 2023 and be finished two years later.
Morrison said that for businesses in Holland, the service would let them take advantage of high-speed uploads they may not have had before. Businesses in the existing downtown service area are already reaping the benefits, he said.
“There are some companies in town that do video work and they’re able to upload finished projects crazy fast over our current downtown service area,” Morrison said. “It’s unlocking so much potential of high-speed, high-availability options for businesses outside the downtown area.”
Pete Hofswell, Holland’s broadband services superintendent, said Holland first developed a fiberoptic system in the early 1990s to connect, monitor and control the city’s public utilities.
That system has been growing slowly ever since, but expanding broadband access to the rest of the city has been a priority for many years, with ongoing discussions between the city council and the board of public works, Hofswell said.
“City Hall would get back to us and challenge us, saying ‘How can you get this service into more people’s hands?’ They see the value of it. They want to connect everybody in our town.”
A survey of residents taken in 2021 showed that 65% believed community investment was needed to ensure sufficient broadband access for all, and more than 72% agreed that community based broadband would benefit the community, according to hollandcityfiber.org.
Because Holland has had its fiber optic network for decades, the city is in a unique position to expand its network without being hampered by regulations that might affect other communities attempting to put a publicly funded fiber network in place.
The services are governed by the Metropolitan Extension Telecommunications Rights-of-Way Oversight Act, Public Act 48 of 2002, and Michigan Telecommunications Act, Public Act 179 of 1991. In Michigan, public entities by law can provide telecommunications services only if they have first requested bids for the services and received fewer than three qualified bids. And they have to abide by same terms and conditions as those specified in their request for proposals.
But Ted Siler, utility services director for the city, said that because Holland has been providing broadband service for more than 30 years and its service predates the Metro Act, “we’re exempt and grandfathered in.”
Morrison said he’s not worried about regulation popping up to derail Holland’s plans. But other communities might not be so lucky.
“The telecom companies have had their hands in legislation for decades to try to prevent cities from doing what we’re doing. We’re lucky that we been doing this for 30 years in Holland so we’re unaffected by that legislation now,” he said. “But I feel bad for other communities that won’t have the same luxury we do. It’s going to be harder for them.”
LANSING – “We’ve been in business for 37 years, and this is definitely the craziest season we have ever seen,” said Kevin Humphrey.
While there have been more requests to book Adeline Leigh’s services than in an average year, the company had to reduce the number of weddings booked this year to deal with worker shortages. (Supplied)
Humphrey is the office manager for Adeline Leigh Catering, a Wyoming business located at 1132 Chicago Dr. SW, that prepares food for hundreds of weddings each year.
Across the state, vendors like florists and caterers are preparing for a frantic 2022 season as the number of weddings is up 15% nationally from normal, according to Wedding Report data.
While there have been more requests to book Adeline Leigh’s services than in an average year, the company had to reduce the number of weddings booked this year to deal with worker shortages.
“We actually cut back to mediate labor issues,” said Humphrey.
Humphrey said the business is also ensuring employees’ time-off requests are honored to keep workers on board.
Adeline Leigh has booked approximately 300 weddings for the upcoming months, about 100 fewer than in 2019.
“There was a point where we were turning down 15 events a day, and not everyone was so understanding,” Humphrey said.
Kalin Sheick, the owner of Sweetwater Floral in Petoskey, said she expects a busier-than-normal season in the months ahead.
Sweetwater will provide floral arrangements for about 100 weddings this year across the state, which is an “immense jump” compared with previous years, said Sheick.
“We will usually average around 65 or 70 a year,” she said. “We only stopped at 100 because of staffing. We could have booked way more than that.”
Sheick said the store has hired additional staff to help tackle the increase, and it is training its employees to focus on taking care of themselves to prepare for the looming, long busy season.
“We know that we need extra help and need to support them as best as possible,” Sheick said.
Other problems vendors are preparing for are supply chain delays and a shortage of products.
“We’re feeling the impact of delay, just like every other industry,” she said. “Stuff that used to be easy to get – vases, hard goods and supplies – there’s a delay and you need to be patient.”
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many large flower farms shut down, causing a smaller supply of flowers, said Sheick.
When it comes to food, Adeline Leigh Catering has had to remove only a couple of items from its menu due to supply issues. (Supplied)
“It really squeezes the amount of product you’re able to get. But at the end of the day, there’s a flower shortage because there’s more weddings happening than ever before,” she said.
When it comes to food, Humphrey said it was lucky that his catering business had to remove only a couple of items from its menu.
The time and effort put into ordering supplies has greatly increased as well. What used to be an hour-long project for Humphrey now can take up to an entire work day, he said.
“We order from many suppliers, and it used to be ‘they’ve got the best price, we’ll go there.’ Now you have to find whoever has it,” Humphrey said.
Another change vendors are seeing is a growing number of events booked outside of the prime wedding season of May through October.
Shannon O’Berski, the director of external relations at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, says the event venue is handling more weddings on less typically booked days.
“We have seen an increase in interest in off-season events throughout the fall and winter,”O’Berski said. “And more couples are choosing to host Friday and Sunday weddings.”
Meadow Brook Hall is often booked for the entire season.
“We are certainly receiving many inquiries!,” O’Berski said, and reservations are already filling up for 2023.
Though the months ahead will be busy and stressful for wedding vendors, Sheick said her team at Sweetwater Floral is excited about the upcoming season.
“It’s just a really fun job and a good thing to be a part of.”
Capital News Service is provided by the Spartan News Room located at Michigan State University. CNS reporters cover state government for member newspapers and digital media outlets across the state of Michigan.
by Redfin, a full-service real estate brokerage, found that 68.8% of home offers written by Redfin agents nationally faced competition in February. (pxhere.com)
LANSING – “Pretty much every offer I put was a shot in the dark, where you’d just cross your fingers and pray and hope that it gets accepted,” said Corbin Holwerda of Grand Rapids.
Holwerda is a first-time homebuyer who has been looking for a house in Grand Rapids since mid-January.
“I’ve put in seven or eight offers, and it’s really tough because half of those I’m losing to all-cash offers,” he said. “I’m still a young adult. I don’t have $250,000 in the bank that I can just front and put up for a house.”
A recent study by Redfin, a full-service real estate brokerage, found that 68.8% of home offers written by Redfin agents nationally faced competition in February. That’s the highest share reported by its agents since at least April 2020.
“Even if we are able to go above asking (price), there are still people waiving inspections and going $50,000, $60,000 or $70,000 above asking in some cases,” Holwerda said.
According to a new Congressional Research Service report, the main factor causing record-high home prices is that more people are looking to buy houses than there are houses for sale.
Cash offers can help the sale of a home move more quickly. (pxhere.com)
It’s a question of supply and demand, the report said.
“We have people selling homes with 40 offers on one home,” said Shirley Smith, the executive officer of the Hillsdale County Board of Realtors.
“There is a huge amount of competition right now, and the reason for that is because inventory is low. House prices have been going up the last few years and inventory has not increased appreciably,” Smith said.
“I think we’re also seeing more cash offers because those are the offers that get accepted more quickly,” she said.
Sometimes offers are contingent on the sale of the buyer’s current home, a bank loan or inspections to be done, and that can take more time, she said.
But cash offers move the process along more quickly.
“Generally, when we have high housing prices like this, it doesn’t go on forever. I think I, and most Realtors, expect that in the not-so-distant future there will be a change in the trend,” she said.
According to Smith, projections from the National Association of Realtors say housing prices may increase 5% in the coming year, which is much lower than several years past.
“That might be a tapering off in the market,” she said.
According to the Case-Shiller Detroit Home Price Index, home prices in Detroit have gone up about 8.6% per year since January 2012. But from January 2021 to January 2022, prices rose 13.9%.
That can be compared with neighboring states’ large cities, like Cleveland, rising 13.3% and Chicago, rising 12.5%. Nationally, home prices rose 19.1% from January 2021 to January 2022, according to Case-Shiller’s national data.
“The interesting thing here (regarding the increases) is that in traditional years, only 3 to 5% of the housing on the market is actually new houses,” said Wayne State University economics professor Allen Goodman.
“As a result, most housing supply occurs kind of above the middle of the market. We don’t allow people to build new, low-quality houses,” said Goodman, who specializes in housing and health economics.
He said some new houses are resold multiple times and “as a result, the housing gets toward the upper end of the market, and what’s left there is sometimes said to filter down to other buyers.”
“A lot of this goes back to COVID, in part,” said Goodman. “To keep the economy growing, the federal government and Federal Reserve banks have had what were historically low interest rates. What it meant was that people who wanted to buy houses were faced with mortgage rates of like 3%.”
A combination of low interest rates and a smaller-than-traditional supply lead to increases in the price of housing. (pxhere.com)
“A combination of low interest rates and a smaller-than-traditional supply lead to increases in the price of housing,” Goodman said.
Monitoring estimates of the value of his own Huntington Woods home over the years, Goodman said it lost half its value from 2007 to 2009.
The value can vastly change by month. In one recent month, his home’s value was estimated to have increased around $30,000, but in a previous month it was estimated to have dropped $20,000.
“But really over the past year, it’s pretty much been the same, at least according to Zillow,” he said, referring to the online real estate-market national company.
Capital News Service is provided by the Spartan News Room located at Michigan State University. CNS reporters cover state government for member newspapers and digital media outlets across the state of Michigan.
Residents identified they would like to see ARPA (COVID) funding used for is on the city’s water and sewer system. (City of Wyoming)
It was a pretty exciting in the fall when the City of Wyoming, like municipalities across the state and country, learned it would be receiving $13.1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding.
Similar to the most recent round of stimulus checks the U.S. government gave to American residents, the City of Wyoming’s $13.1 million also was part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) designed to rescue the economy. The federal government gave states about $350 billion dollars, of which Michigan received $250 million.
Deputy City Manager John McCarter said the city has received about $6.5 million of the estimated $13.1 million with the remainder expected to be paid out this year.
But like anything that comes from the federal government, there are a few strings attached to the money, such as what it can be spend not, when it needs to be spent and how cities must report expenditures. According to the U.S. Treasury, those guidelines are:
Revenue replacement for the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, relative to collection in the most recent fiscal year prior to the emergency.
COVID-19 expenditures or negative economic impacts of COVID, including assistance to small businesses, households, and hard-hit industries, and economic recovery
Premium pay for essential workers
Investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure
The money must be used for COVID-related needs. An example given by the Michigan Township Association (MTA) is because of the COVID pandemic, a community’s parks had high usage which resulted in damage and higher than normal maintenance needs, the ARPA money could be used for those parks.
Also, according to the MTA, the ARPA money could be used to bring staffing back to pre-pandemic levels, but only if reductions were a direct result of the COVID pandemic.
How ARPA funds impacts city staffing
The question of using the grant funding has been raised instead of the city seeking an income tax, which is one of two proposals Wyoming residents will vote on May 3.
The additional police and fire staffing that are required to address the community’s needs are a recurring expense that should be support by recurring revenue, McCarter said.
“When you consider the ARPA funding, it is a one-time payment, it will not support the recurring expenses that hiring additional staff includes.” McCarter said, adding that the leaders at the federal level have referred to the bill as a “once in a generation funding opportunity.”
“Because it is a one-time payment, using it to fund police and fire, which is an ongoing expenditure, would not be fiscally responsible as the city needs long-term funding to maintain staffing levels,” McCarter said.
The question of using the grant funding has been raised instead of the city seeking an income tax, which is one of two proposals Wyoming residents will vote on on May 3. The first proposal is the income tax, which would be up to 1 percent for Wyoming residents and .5 percent for non-residents, which according to state law, is the maximum cities are allowed to levy an income tax. City officials have stated that if passed, the income tax would be up to .8 for residents and .4 for non-residents.
The second proposal is to reduce the city’s property taxes for homeowners and businesses by about 58 percent, going from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.
It is estimated that the city would generate about $6 million annually if the proposals are approved. The money would be used to fund 27 additional firefighters (doubling the department), 13 police officers and 1 crime analyst with $600,000 annually being dedicated to update and maintain the city’s parks.
The City of Wyoming is hoping to use its remaining ARPA (COVID) funds for large-scale capital projects. (Supplied)
City of Wyoming projects being considered for ARPA funding
The city has used $437,280 of the ARPA funding to make modifications at city hall which has included a drive-thru for the treasurer’s office, court building upgrades, a city hall kiosk, police flock cameras, and a police desk officer reporting system, McCarter said.
In November, the city did conduct a survey of residents to determine what they would like to see the funds used for. From that survey, residents indicated that their top priorities were equipping first responders and improvements to water and sewer systems. Also receiving strong support was construction of affordable housing and a community clean-up program. Other projects listed were improvements to city facilities to address public health, assistance with home repairs, improvements to parks and grants for improvements to businesses and mobile parks and recreation programs.
The remaining $10 million, which also must follow the ARPA use guidelines, will be used on large scale capital investments and matching funds for grants and other funding sources. City Council is scheduled to resume discussions about how to spend ARPA funding in June.
Municipalities have until Dec. 31, 2024 to obligate the ARPA funds and must spend the APRA money by Dec. 31, 2026.
Currently there are 27 Wyoming firefighters. The department is down by 8 employees from 2000. (WKTV)
In the early morning hours of Jan. 25, the Wyoming Fire Department was called to a house fire on Canal Ave and shortly after, the department received a second call of a fire at the 28th Street Taco Bell.
“Thankfully another shift was on,” said Wyoming Chief Kim Koster. “The Taco Bell fire occurred at 6:30 a.m. Our next shift came on at 7 a.m., so we did have another shift of firefighters who could respond, and they were assisted by other departments.
“But what if we didn’t have that other shift coming on at that time?”
More than likely, a department from a neighboring city, such as Grandville, Grand Rapids, or Kentwood, would have been called. In fact, the City of Wyoming has had to call on those three cities 165 times in 2021 while in the same year providing return assistance 23 times.
The tide needs to turn, Koster said, adding “We need to provide mutual aid in the same manner that we receive it.”
The City of Wyoming is hoping to double its firefighting staffing from 27 to 54 and added 13 police officers and a crime analyst through two proposals on the May 3 ballot. The first proposal would be an income tax of up to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city is seeking to reduce its property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.
The passage would generate about $6 million for the city, of which $5.4 million would be dedicated to the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, which houses the city’s police and fire.
How would the city gain revenue if the property tax would go down? According to City Manager Curtis Holt at the March 24 income tax public information meeting, according to the U.S. Census there are about 34,000 non-Wyoming residents who work in the City of Wyoming who currently contribute zero toward the city roads or services. Through the first proposal, those residents would contribute up to a .5 percent of their income. City staff has estimated the total revenue raised from the income tax would be about $6 million annually with $3.3 million dedicated to the fire department, $2.1 million to the police department, and $600,000 to the parks.
With the additional $3.3 million, the City of Wyoming would be able to hire an additional 27 firefighters. This would add about 9 firefighters per shift and the city would be able to fully staff all four of its fire stations. Currently only two of the stations, Gezon and 36th Street, are fully staffed; however emergency calls are evenly distributed throughout the city, Koster said.
The city received about 7,155 calls in 2021, which is about 265 calls for service per firefighter. With the additional firefighters, calls for service per firefighter would decrease to around 133. In neighboring Kentwood, calls for service per firefighter is about 121. Kentwood has 42 firefighters serving a population of 51,898. The City of Grand Rapids has 195 firefighters serving a population of 201,013 with calls for service per firefighter around 123. Holt pointed out that this shows that Wyoming’s firefighters are answering a lot of calls.
The Wyoming Fire Department answered 7,155 calls in 2021, averaging 265 calls for service per firefighter. (WKTV)
The additional 27 firefighters would allow the city to fully staff all four of its stations, Koster said, adding that in return this would mean faster response times.
“Right now, we have to send our resources to where the calls are,” Koster said during the March 24 informational meeting. “Sometimes we have to send them all away across the city and then a call comes out from where they just came from. So then again, we have to send a unit from this side of the city all the way back. So our response times are higher that way.”
There would be more firefighters on each shift, again increasing response times along with providing enough officers to answer more than one call at a time. More officers not only increases the safety of residents but of the firefighters as well.
“Right now, we don’t have enough firefighters in the City of Wyoming to enter a burning building,” Koster said, adding that the rule is you have to have two out for the two going in a burning structure so the two out can rescue the two in if something happens.
Lastly, the increased staffing would reduce Wyoming’s dependence on mutual aid.
“It won’t eliminate it,” Koster said, adding that there will be times when another city’s department has to be called.
“It would increase the number of firefighters on each shift so when we have those structure fires we can handle them alone or at least leave some of those units available for some of those medical calls,” she said.
To learn more about the two May 3 proposals, visit wyomingmi.gov/FundingFortheFuture. The next informational meeting on the two proposals is April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the KDL Wyoming Branch, 3350 Michael Ave. SW.
The City of Kentwood’s 62-B District Court announced this week that it has launched On the Road, a new program that encourages individuals with certain license-related charges to obtain a valid license, potentially avoid a criminal conviction, and helping the community have safer roads.
Launched in late 2021, On the Road eliminates hurdles for individuals who have been charged by the city with driving unlicensed or with a suspended, revoked or denied license. The program aims to help community members avoid the repeated suspensions that can result from license-related convictions and keep them from appearing on their permanent criminal record.
This helps drivers avoid Secretary of State penalties as well as the “barriers that criminal convictions can lead to in terms of employment eligibility, housing and education,” according to the announcement.
62-B District Court Judge Amanda Sterkenburg. (Supplied)
“Our goal is to create incentives for people in these situations to become licensed drivers, which will ultimately result in safer roads for our community,” 62-B District Court Judge Amanda Sterkenburg said in supplied material. “Often, we see defendants who are close to getting their license for the first time but are unable to overcome certain licensure hurdles or who are unaware their license is suspended because of an unpaid ticket. The additional charges put more distance between them and valid-license privileges.
“This program gives individuals the opportunity to conform their conduct to the law without a criminal conviction and streamline the process for them to become a licensed driver.”
State law was amended last year to create a presumption that these offenses should not be punished with jail time. Individuals are now frequently required to pay fines and complete community service, which can be difficult for individuals who do not have a driver’s license and another form of transportation.
(Michigan.gov)
Failing to complete the requirements can result in additional penalties including up to 93 days in jail, probation, fines of up to $500 plus court costs, and a misdemeanor conviction on their permanent criminal record.
With On the Road, eligible individuals can avoid this difficult situation and sanctions if they successfully complete the program.
The court’s judge will determine if a person is eligible for the program during arraignment. However, individuals whose driver’s license has been revoked due to drug or alcohol convictions, Friend of the Court, or immigration status may be ineligible.
If an individual does qualify, they must agree to accept responsibility for a civil infraction and pay a fine during a review hearing scheduled up to four months later. Leading up to the review hearing, a person must fulfill obligations to become a licensed driver. This may include paying all tickets, removing all suspensions from their Secretary of State record, paying all fees, completing a defensive driving course and passing their road or written driving test.
For more information about On the Road, visit kentwood.us/OTR or contact Court Administrator Michele White at 616-554-0715 or whitem@kentwood.us.
Encountering email and phone scams has become a common nuisance in recent years, even more so as we become more online- and internet-focused as a culture. It is not unusual for consumers to discover a fraudulent email in their personal and business accounts every day as scam artists attempt to cheat them out of money or information.
When this WKTV writer was asked to research an article on prevalent scams in the community, I was suddenly inundated with stories of those who had become victims of scams. Some escaped unscathed, others did not.
WKTV recognizes the importance of community members being aware of current scams so they can protect themselves against becoming victims, and has compiled several personal narratives, from this writer as well as other residents, to raise that awareness. (Names have been changed to protect the victim’s identity.)
Seeing red flags in emails
Within the space of a few days, my personal email account received a message with the heading, “Happy New Year – Your Order ID#740217.” It did not specify what company I supposedly ordered from, but did contain the message, “This message is from a trusted sender.” The body of the email contained two links. One labeled, “You have won!! Gift inside.” The other, “Go Here.”
It immediately raised red flags as I didn’t remember ordering anything recently, and the email didn’t specify the sender. The line about it being from a trusted sender, however, made me pause for just a moment and consider that it might be legitimate — and that is what scammers are hoping for.
(Michigan Attorney General)
Next came an email titled: “Re: (smiling emoji) Your Package delivery notification ID#87946477.” Supposedly, this email was sent by USPS. However, I couldn’t see the United States Postal Service using emojis in their emails, and when I noticed that the email address the message originated from was indecipherable, it became obvious that it was a scam.
Some are harder to discern. The next email seemed to legitimately come from Best Buy, an electronics retailer. The sender was listed as Bestbuy.com, which made sense. The heading was: “Your Order #502-20201222—is still awaiting instructions!” It then instructed me to track the status of the order by clicking on the link offered.
There weren’t any misspellings or emojis to make me think twice about the validity of the sender. What did make me think twice was that I hadn’t ordered anything from Best Buy in years.
After a closer look at the email — which looked alarmingly similar to many invoices received from other online orders placed — I noticed that listed under Order Details was another listing of an order number. This one, however, contained a lowercase ‘n’ and then the degree symbol before listing the number, and ended with a right parenthesis. Those small mistakes reassured me that the email was a scam. A company as large as Best Buy would make sure those mistakes were nonexistent.
Another email appeared to be from a friend, but the sender’s email address did not match her true email address. Another claimed to be from Quicken Loans Affiliate attempting to confirm my mortgage savings package (I neither have a mortgage nor have ever used Quicken Loans) but the email address was a random jumble of letters and numbers, not a legitimate address.
Other stories, other scam attempts
We have all received emails that make us think, “Is this legitimate?” What we need to do is slow down and take a closer look before assuming they are real and clicking on links.
While scam artists use email more often than phone calls due to the online nature of our culture, phone calls are still prevalent, especially for elderly community members who may not be quite as media oriented.
Attempting to sell a SLR camera body on Marketplace, Denise was asked if she could chat to an interested buyer via Messenger audio. She agreed and was then asked to ship the camera directly to the buyer’s brother because it was a birthday gift. She was willing to do so. The buyer then asked if she would include a birthday card and a $50 gift card since it would be shipped directly to his brother, and he would not have the opportunity to do so himself; he would then reimburse her for the camera, shipping, and gift card once she showed proof of shipping.
Alarm bells went off in Denise’s head.
The buyer was insistent and talked fast, so she pretended to agree to do as he asked so she could bring the call to an end. When the call finished and Denise had time to organize her thoughts, she realized she would have lost the camera, shipping, and $50 if she had gone along with the man’s request.
Scam artists prey on their victim’s emotions and promote a sense of urgency that is hard to ignore when someone believes a family member is in trouble.
Molly’s father-in-law received a garbled call: “Grandpa, I’m in Atlanta, was in an accident and broke my jaw. I was arrested for being drunk but hadn’t had a drop … will you wire me money for my bail and attorney?”
Thankfully, Molly’s father-in-law suspected fraud and instructed the caller to phone his father, then called Molly and asked her to check with her son to make sure it was fraud and that his grandson truly did not need help.
It was fraudulent.
Amy’s elderly parents experienced the same call and “made it all the way to the bank, where the employee stopped them and explained that they must not make that withdrawal. We figured out that my nephew’s phone had been hacked. He was out of the country on a trip at the time.”
Mark received what appeared to be a legitimate phone call from a scammer who claimed to be from his bank, warning him that a scammer had tried to break into his account.
They asked him to verify his information to make sure everything was okay. The scammers listed his address and phone number (all easily accessed public information) and asked if it was correct. When he replied that it was, they asked, “And I have your social security number on my screen, can you verify that for me, please?” Once the Mark recited his social security number, the scammer said, “Yes, that’s right.”
The victim had just given enough information for the scammers to steal his identity and/or open various accounts in the victim’s name.
“They (the scammers) say it so casually that the victim often doesn’t realize they’ve just given away a vital piece of information to the victim; it almost sounds like the scammer supplied all of their info,” Mark said.
Marci relayed an experience of an elderly woman who received a call that her taxes were late, and her house would be foreclosed on if she didn’t wire funds within the hour. Fearing that she would become homeless, “the woman called a cab and told the driver why she had to hurry. He took her instead to the police department.”
The police handled the matter, and the woman did not lose any money.
What to do, where to for for help
Katie Grevious, Better Business Bureau Communications Specialist, urges residents to slow down and “think before you act.”
Even if you feel a sense of urgency or fear as a result of an email or phone call like the ones listed above, step back, take a deep breath, and search for those clues that will help you know if the message you received is, in fact, legitimate.
If you are unsure of the best way to identify if a message is a scam, visit Better Business Bureau’s website for tips on how to differentiate between authentic and fraudulent communications.
Please report scams to BBB’s scamtracker site: https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker. This allows consumers to know what is happening and protect themselves. It also helps law enforcement and other government agencies like BBB to root out the source of the scam and put a stop to it.
Thanks to a federal grant totaling three-quarters of a million dollars, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety hopes to curtail gun violence and violent crimes by adding six community police officers to its department.
During a National Night Out event, a Wyoming police officer helps a resident on a motorcycle. Through a federal grant, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety plans to expand its Community Services Unit. (WKTV)
The Department was awarded the $750,000 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program grant from the United States Department of Justice. The Wyoming City Council accepted the grant at its Dec. 20 council meeting. With the grant money, the Department will be able to add six officers to its department, bring the police department’s total number of sworn officers to 99.
“We have seen a significant increase in violent crimes,” said Capt. Timothy Pols, the department’s public relations officer. “Last year, we had eight homicides, which is an all-time high for the city.”
Pols said the department could not contribute the increase specifically to COVID, as there was a rise before the pandemic started. However, current conditions have impacted the community with there having been an increase in reported shootings involving property damage and people being hurt, he said.
The Wyoming Department of Public Safety has been searching for funding to help increase its numbers. The COPS Hiring Program is designed to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing by proving direct support to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. The program funding supports the hiring of career law enforcement officers to increase an agency’s community policing capacity and crime prevention. The funding covers up to 75 percent of the approved entry-level salaries and fringe benefits of full-time officers for three years. The city is required to cover the remaining 25 percent.
The COPS Hiring Program is an open solicitation. For the 2021 fiscal year, COPS received 590 applications from about every state and U.S. territory. It awarded grants to 183 state, local, and trial law enforcement agencies totaling $139,232,523 to support the hire of 1,066 full-time officers and deputies.
The Wyoming Department of Public Safety was one of four police departments in Michigan to receive a COPS Hiring Program grant. The other cities to receive funding were Battle Creek, West Branch, and Hamtramck. Wyoming received the highest awarded grant monies out of the four Michigan cities that received funding.
“Obviously this is a great thing for the City of Wyoming and it is really hard to turn money like that down,” said Mayor Jack Poll during the Dec. 20 City Council meeting. The grant does come with the requirement that the city fund the new six positions for at least 12 months beyond the three-year time period. The department hopes through additional local funding to maintain the new positions beyond the three-year timeframe.
The Community Services Unit works on building relationships. (WKTV)
The COPS Hire Program grant is dedicated to community policing. With the six new hires, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be able to move seasoned officers into its Community Services Unit, which currently consists of four Community Services Officers, three School Resource Officers, and a supervisor. By expanding the community policing, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety hopes to curtail gun violence and violent crimes through expanded evening coverage; adding a dedicated crime analyst office, gang intelligence officer, dedicated apartment liaison, and dedicated hotel/motel liaison; and increasing participation with juvenile offender reentry programs and area summer camps comprised predominately of at-risk youth along with high visibility patrols, especially in high crime areas and other community policing initiatives.
Currently, the Department is in the hiring process, Pols said adding that they have interviewed some strong candidates.
“With all that has happened in the past couple of years with COVID, I believe it has given us some dedicated candidates who have a good understanding about what is involved with today’s police work,” Pols said.
The department is seeking to fill the six positions along with several other positions that will be opening up due to retirements this year. Pols said the goal is to have the positions filled by the end of 2022.
West Michigan has a thriving agricultural economy with miles of apples and other crops that often need to be picked by hand each fall. Thousands of migrant workers travel to Michigan each year to harvest these crops for local farmers and growers, filling approximately 100 migrant camps to capacity in Kent County.
With that influx of workers and nomad-style workforce, issues can and often do occur — not the least of which was dealing with the recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Local non-profit Migrant Legal Aid has been an advocate for those workers, their health and their rights, for many years, and they continued to do so in 2021.
MLA defines a migrant worker as a person who lives and works at the same place and travels seasonally according to which crops are in season. Due to poverty, language barriers, and discrimination, seasonal workers often find it hard to protect their basic human rights and dignity. This is where Migrant Legal Aid say they step in.
Many migrant workers come from such severe poverty that when they are treated unfairly, most don’t speak up, Molly Spaak, attorney for MLA, said to WKTV. “Culturally, they say they can’t complain. They don’t realize they have a voice … There is also a definite fear of deportation if they come forward.”
Problems and solutions
Undocumented workers make up approximately 50 percent of the agricultural work force. Because of this, there is anxiety among the workers that deportation would occur if they come forward when treated unfairly. A way to eliminate this apprehension is found in case law.
Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)
“MLA has good case law that protects undocumented folks from irrelevant immigration questions and retaliation in the workplace,” Spaak said. “This helps them feel more comfortable coming forward with their concerns.”
Young children have often been found in the fields with their parents, helping to harvest the crops so their parents meet the daily quota mandated by the growers.
“Child labor laws absolutely apply to migrant workers and their families,” said Spaak when asked if Michigan law extended to seasonal workers. “There are now migrant daycares and Head Start programs parents can utilize. These are free to the families. Because of this, there has been a drastic decrease of children in the fields.”
Migrant Legal Aid also provides help for those suffering from domestic violence.
“The Hispanic community is very patriarchal,” said Spaak. “Because of this, DV (domestic violence) cases are always popular.”
MLA offers special visas for victims who come forward. These visas help in many ways, providing social security numbers to the victims so they have the opportunity for steady work among them.
“This gives women and men more justification and incentive to come forward,” Spaak said.
Communication, community awareness
Educating the migrant workers on their rights and the services Migrant Legal Aid offers is a daunting yet necessary task. MLA produces many social media campaigns, newsletters to the community, and press releases to the media in an effort to raise awareness.
However, there are still challenges.
Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)
“Social media helps build community awareness, but not our clients’ awareness because our clients don’t always have access to social media like the general population,” said Spaak.
To develop this knowledge, MLA sends migrant advocates into camps two to three times a week during the summer and fall to pass out Migrant Legal Aid information and speak with the workers personally.
Over the past year, advocates also handed out information on COVID-19.
“Migrant housing is jam-packed with people with one kitchen and one shower—it’s impossible to social distance,” said Spaak. “New COVID-19 regulations are not always followed, and the migrant camps were a hot bed for Coronavirus. Even when the vaccines rolled out, myths about the vaccine stopped a lot of people from getting it because they were worried about what it might do to them. We had to dispel those myths.”
Though MLA does have cases of mistreatment that require court appearances, Spaak said that many issues “can be resolved extremely quickly by speaking with the growers. A lot if it is communication and language issues with the workers.”
Migrant Legal Aid works hard to educate the community about migrant workers’ needs and situations but still needs help from the public. Being a self-funded organization, MLA relies on grants, private party donations, and fundraisers to subsidize their work. Two of their largest fundraisers are annual events — Cup of Justice, a golf outing in the spring, and Harvest of Justice, a luncheon in the fall.
While seeing so many cases of injustice against migrant workers is emotionally hard on the MLA attorneys and advocates, personal migrant success stories give them hope.
“Rene Rodriguez was a migrant worker from several years ago. His parents emigrated to the United States and were a farm worker family,” said Spaak.
Rodriguez went to school, worked hard, and became a professional website designer and marketing designer.
“We (MLA) bought several photographs from him that are now hanging in this office,” Spaak said of Rodriguez. “Rene also helps us with marketing, brochures, and photos.”
To find out more about Migrant Legal Aid and how you can help MLA protect migrant workers’ legal rights, visit here.
Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)
The Rev. Khary Bridgewater and Kent County Chief Inclusion Officer Teresa Branson, at left, led the Monday, Dec. 20, “Prayer Service for Health Care Workers” and pandemic awareness gathering. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacts the lives of all Kent County residents regardless of race, ethnicity and faith — although current statistics make clear it impacts the unvaccinated to a more serious degree.
It is not surprising, therefore, that speakers at a Monday, Dec. 20, “Prayer Service for Health Care Workers”, attended by county clergy, the leaders of local hospital networks, and Kent County officials, stressed three things: appreciation to frontline healthcare, the non-discriminatory nature of the virus, and the need to get vaccinated as an individual’s part in keeping themselves and their neighbors safe.
The prayer service was led by several local clergy. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
“One of the realities that we are seeing — and I just came off the hospital floor — is the fact that there is not sector or section of this community that is not being affected by COVID,” Rev. Khary Bridgewater said to WKTV at the gathering at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s downtown Grand Rapids. “Young. Old. Regardless of ethnicity. Regardless of creed … We are all in the same boat. We are all dealing with the same impact.
“Everyone is having the same sort of regrets as they struggle with this virus, particularly those at the end of life and they realize this was an avoidable situation. It doesn’t matter who you were when you get to a hospital bed. We are working very hard with every member of our community to stress the simple truth that COVID is dangerous.”
The gathering and prayer service was led by the Kent County Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Team, formerly known as the Kent County COVID-19 Task Force). The gathering’s stated goal was to “stand with our front-line medical workers, hospital staff and public health officials, as well as their families, who are sacrificing daily to provide the care that our community needs.”
Leading the gathering was Rev. Bridgewater, facilitator of the Kent County Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Team, and by his side was Teresa Branson, Kent County Chief Inclusion Officer, who as been a leader of the group since its inception. The pandemic-aware gathering was limited to local media, a few other people, and several persons remaining in their cars in the parking lot location.
The gathering also highlighted numerous churches and faith-based organizations “coming together to raise community awareness of the current situation in our hospitals; issue a public statement of commitment; and pray and bless our health care personnel and their families.”
Among the local medical leaders present were Dr. Matt Biersack, president of Mercy Health Saint Mary’s; Dr. Darryl Elmouchi, president of Spectrum Health; Kent Riddle, CEO of Mary Free Bed; and Dr. Ronald Grifka, chief medical officer of University of Michigan Health-West.
“In this season of hope, when so many workers turn to their home, their families, their traditions, remember many healthcare workers will be working around the clock taking care of their patients,” Grifka said to the gathering. “That selfless spirt embodies what we celebrate this time of the year. I ask that no matter what your beliefs, please keep our healthcare workers in your hearts.”
At a Monday, Dec. 20, “Prayer Service for Health Care Workers”, Kent County clergy, leaders of local hospital networks, and county officials gathered. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
The Kent County Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Team, according to supplied information, is a group of faith-based and non-profit community leaders that have partnered with the Kent County Health Department and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office.
“Together, they have reduced the spread of COVID-19, provided space for church vaccination clinics and informed the community about the vaccine,” according to the supplied information. But in doing so, thy have also heard “the concerns of our hospitals who are beyond capacity and our health care professionals who are weary and overburdened.”
In response to the current pandemic situation, faith leaders from across the city and the county also pledged to eliminate all non-essential, indoor gatherings; restrict essential gatherings to less than 50 people per 2,000 square feet; require all attendees at indoor gatherings to wear a mask and abide by social distancing and COVID-19 hygiene; and — maybe most importantly — to encourage all members of our community to get COVID-19 vaccination and any appropriate booster shots.
WKTV has been informed by the City of Wyoming that the planned Wyoming Gives Back event planned for next week has been cancelled due to health concerns for public gatherings.
This follows an announcement this week that the Kent County Health Department is alarmed by the rising COVID-19 cases which have led to local hospitals operating at “extremely high capacity.”
The health department is also encouraging residents to “do their part” and get vaccinated and take other measures to slow the spread of the virus. Among the statistics which have alarmed health leaders are current test positivity rate of 22.8 percent, as of early this week, as ell as a 7-day average for new cases is 645.
“This is a crisis for all of us who live and work in Kent County,” Dr. Adam London, KCHD Director, said in supplied material. “The capacity for hospitals to provide care, which is exasperated by staffing shortages, is at a tipping point. We should all expect increased wait times for emergency, urgent, and primary care as well as delays in ambulance transfers and some surgical procedures until we control the spread of COVID-19 in the community.”
Among the recommendations issued by county health officials are:
Get vaccinated against COVID-19 and Influenza. “Vaccines are widely available, safe, and effective. According to our local hospital leaders, most of the individuals who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated,” according to the county health. “If more people get vaccinated, it will greatly help reduce the number of COVID-19 patients in our hospitals. We also strongly urge residents to get the influenza vaccine. If you have questions about the vaccines, talk to your health care provider and visit vaccinatewestmi.com to find a location for a COVID-19, booster, or influenza vaccine location.”
Wear your mask in public settings. “While masks are not perfect, they provide an additional layer of protection by reducing the spread of virus laden droplets in exhaled air. Masks are especially important for people who are not vaccinated, not fully vaccinated, may be infected and do not have symptoms, or have health conditions that make them more vulnerable to becoming sick if they are infected with COVID-19.”
Get tested. “To help mitigate the spread of the virus,” it is important to get tested if you have been around someone who has COVID-19, experiencing any symptom of COVID-19, before attending indoor gatherings with people above the age of 65 or with underlying health conditions, or if you have been around someone with COVID-19, get tested five days after exposure.
“I am thankful to everyone who has been following our recommendations since the onset of the pandemic,” London said this Thanksgiving week. “The current problems would be far worse if not for your actions. We are now asking for your consideration once again as we look to slow the spread of the virus, regain access to our hospitals, and continue to work to get this pandemic behind us.”
The City of Kentwood and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will provide a no-cost COVID-19 vaccine clinic Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Kent District Library – Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch, 4950 Breton Ave. SE.
The clinic will offer COVID-19 vaccines, including booster shots, from 2-5 p.m., in the library’s Community Room.
The clinic will be open to all community members and no appointment will be necessary.
The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available for first, second and third doses, as well as boosters. Vaccine and booster eligibility is determined by the current CDC guidelines.
For information about COVID-19, community members may visit michigan.gov/coronavirus or call the COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136 (press 1). The hotline is available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Police and other Michigan government employees could be sued and held liable if they hurt or kill someone while on the job, under proposed legislation working through the state legislature.
Current, qualified immunity shields government workers from lawsuits for gross misconduct or negligence while on duty.
A police reform package pushed by the state House of Representatives’ Democrats would reduce the blanket protections. They say it would allow police departments and other government agencies to more easily weed out bad apples.
“If you go over, above and beyond, outside the scope of your duties that are spelled out, there has to be some accountability,” said co-sponsor Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, a 24-year veteran of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office. “And the general public is tired of paying for lawsuits for officers for their outrageous, egregious conduct.”
Locally, Kent County’s top law enforcement official is quick to define that qualified immunity is much more than simply a policing issue, and says changes are unnecessary.
Qualified immunity “is a very complex term, but simplistically put, it is something that protects an individual from the government, an individual who is a representative of the government — it may be a police officer but it may be the sewer guy or it may be someone from the health department,” Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said in a recent interview with WKTV. “It protects them from being held liable for a decision they make if that decision is in compliance with local laws, policies and procedures of the department, and doesn’t act in a way that is irresponsible, outside of their direction.
“The consequences for taking qualified immunity away really has to do with the civil liability of the government unit. … None of that is to say the a person should not be personally responsible for a decision that is outside of their training and direction and procedures. … There is already a way to sue a government (or government individual) that is not compliant.”
Support and opposition to change is a national issue
A national survey by the Cato Institute found that 63 percent of Americans support eliminating governmental immunity.
Nationwide criticism of qualified immunity catapulted into the public eye after the murder of George Floyd who was killed by a Minneapolis policeman on May 25, 2020. Since Floyd’s death, Colorado, Connecticut, New York and New Mexico either ended or limited the protective scope of qualified immunity.
“Although qualified immunity has prevented victims of police misconduct from holding officers accountable for decades, until recently it had been a relatively obscure doctrine that was not on the radar of many non-lawyers,” said Michael Steinberg in a faculty Q&A. Steinberg, who advocates for ending qualified immunity, is a professor and director of the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the University of Michigan Law School.
But strong resistance to any change in the law remains.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld such protection by overturning lower court decisions to remove qualified immunity in cases in California and Oklahoma.
Bipartisan police reform negotiations in the U.S. Congress ended without resolution in September, even after Democrats removed controversial changes suggested for qualified immunity.
The Michigan bills are co-sponsored by Detroit representatives and House Democrats across the state. If they are signed into law, when police officers or government officials are sued and found liable, they will have to personally write the check.
Law enforcement officials say that’s a deal breaker.
“When a municipality gets faced with a lawsuit, more times than not they look at it as a business decision on whether or not to settle,” Livingston County Sheriff Michael Murphy said.
And the insurance company or municipality writes the check, he said. “I’m a cop. I’m just essentially a blue collar worker. I don’t have a million dollar check to write.”
Qualified immunity does not mean that law officers have complete immunity for their actions, Murphy said. It has to be granted by a judge.
“This is not something that the cop or the municipality can just hold up and say, ‘Oh, hey, I work for the government or I’m a cop, I get qualified immunity.’”
Removing qualified immunity protection is currently a case-by-case decision, Steinberg said.
Under the qualified immunity defense, people injured by police or family members of those killed must prove the violation of their rights with examples from “nearly-identical” court cases, the American Civil Liberties of Michigan said in a prepared statement.
Still, police say removing any part of the qualified immunity statute is a bad idea.
“Ending qualified immunity puts police officers always at risk of having their actions judged, not by what they knew, and not judged on what the rules were today but judged upon hindsight being 20-20,” said Bob Stevenson of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.
Murphy and Kenneth Grabowski, the legislative director of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, say they believe the current law is working fine.
“Most of this stuff is just to placate people complaining,” said Grabowski. “But it works.”
Murphy said that if people understood how difficult it is to get qualified immunity, this discussion wouldn’t even be taking place.
“I really, truly believe in my heart, that most men and women put on that uniform every day to do the right thing,” he said.
Kent County Land for planned Sustainable Business Park, aerial shot that includes the property adjacent to the landfill, with the landfill in the background. (Supplied/Kent County)
Kent County’s efforts to reduce use of landfills has gained a big vote of support — in the form of a $4 million state allocation — as the county’s Department of Public Works announced this week that its Sustainable Business Park plans will now have initial funding for infrastructure improvements.
The Sustainable Business Park, planned for 250 acres adjacent to the South Kent Landfill in Byron Center, will be built on land that was initially purchased by Kent County to create a new landfill for Kent and Allegan counties. The goal of the park plan is to attract businesses which will lessen landfill use by diverting waste streams.
Trash being dumped at the Kent County landfill. (Supplied/Kent County)
The state funding will go toward infrastructure improvements on the site such as utilities, roads and stormwater to prepare it for initial tenants. The first phase of infrastructure development is estimated to cost $19 million, according to the county.
“The state investment in this important project will vastly reduce Kent County’s landfill usage and contribute to a circular economy, ,” Baas said in supplied material. “Landfills are not the legacy anyone wants to leave for future generations and this investment is an acknowledgement that we’re on the right path toward a more sustainable future.”
The $4 million coming to Kent County is an appropriation in the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) budget. The Michigan Legislature approved a $69.9 billion fiscal year 2022 state budget last week.
“We want to thank our elected leaders,” Baas said, “including state Reps. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, and Bryan Posthumus, R-Cannon Township, and state Sens. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, and Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, for their support of this project and moving us closer to our landfill diversion goals.”
Approved in 2018, the Sustainable Business Park Master Plan lays out a vision for transitioning away from landfilling waste in favor of placing value on components of the waste as feedstock for new products or fuel sources, according to the county announcement.
The Master Plan calls for an anchor tenant that will receive the mixed waste currently going to the landfill and separate it for secondary and tertiary tenants to utilize. The state funding will lay the foundation for additional private investment in the entire park.
For the Michigan Nov. 2 general election, WKTV’s We The People program invited participation from all candidates. If they participated, their videos are linked here. For those who did not participate, either a candidate-provided biography/issues statement, or simply their name is listed. All videos are 5-minutes or less devoted to the candidate, and were not edited in any way by WKTV.
The City of Kentwood Ward 1, which has two commissioners, includes voting Precincts 1-9, roughly the southwest areas of the city. For a precinct and ward map, click here.
The non-partisan candidates for the open Ward 1 seat are Clarkston Morgan and Meochia Thompson. This is the seat currently held by Commissioner Emily Bridson, who is running for mayor.
Clarkston Morgan – Candidate
Occupation: CEO of Ambassador Consultants LLC, COO of W4 Construction Group
Why did you decide to run for this position?
As a 13-year Kentwood resident, assistant pastor in a local church, small business owner and a Kentwood Planning Commissioner, I’ve found great joy empowering our Kentwood families and community to reach its greatest potential. Having strategically helped broken families grow out of poverty, and small businesses expand profit margins when policy and/or broken systems limited them, I understand this system must become a standard in our city.
As a nonpartisan leader, I’m running to make sure politics do not limit the voice and benefits all residents can receive. To make sure the heart and voice of the community is valued in our city master plans and budget. Coming into office with my past experience means I do not need to use residents as test subjects to confirm the validity of policies. On day one, I’m equipped and ready to serve.
Please list two to three issues you feel your voters are facing:
Affordable Housing and Homelessness: In Kentwood, we have a major silent issue of families and teens experiencing homelessness. Research shows that the three main reasons are due to job loss, addiction and mental health. I find that numerous families are struggling to afford the cost of housing. This, stacked with the three previous issues, have caused families to become homeless. Utilizing the Community Block Grants, and in partnership with the county and existing nonprofit organizations, we can create housing programs to help families afford housing, but even more, build their credit, eliminate debt and transition to homeowners.
Expanding opportunities for small businesses: Kentwood has been successful because of the support of large corporations, but even more our diverse and multi-ethnic small businesses. These companies want to compete on a larger scale but are not being afforded the same opportunities. A solution I have started to work and will launch on a city level is training small businesses to become market ready for larger contracts. And as city projects are position with major developers, I would like to incentivize the use of these contractors for projects. This will allow the corporation, developers, contractors, and small businesses to benefit from the development of the project.
Community Involvement: With residents from 80 nations, speaking about 90 languages, outside Kentwood Public Schools, our community is still operating in silos. We do not lack diversity, but more harmony. When we are in harmony, systems are refined to make sure there’s inclusivity based on cultural intelligence. This means actively engaging multi-ethnic businesses, houses of worship, nonprofits and community leaders to be cultural intelligence advocates to the city, but even more, back to their community.
Meochia Thompson — Candidate
Occupation: Self-Employed. Publisher at Blessed Pen Ink Publishing
Why did you decide to run for this position?
I decided to run because of all the negativity and division ripping throughout our country. I want to help create stronger connections within my community by sharing information, resources, and celebrating each other. It’s important that everyone feels heard and counted. I’m looking forward to growing better relationships in Kentwood!
Please list two to three issues you feel your voters are facing:
I’ve heard from so many voters and most would agree that they need connection. This means listening to the needs of ALL the people that make up our beautiful community and responding effectively when it comes to implementing leadership that reflects the diversity in our neighborhood including our local government, police, and fire departments. We also need programs that help new citizens and immigrants get acclimated to our city and state laws, statutes, programs, and resources. Families need more stop- and speed-limit signs, and sidewalks throughout our neighborhoods, so they can feel safe, and playgrounds with accessible equipment so all children can play together. Businesses need dedicated workers and workers need pathways to leadership and professional development.
The Kent County Health Department announced Friday that the Jamestown Canyon virus has been detected in tested mosquitoes in Kent County. The discovery was made during ongoing surveillance and testing conducted by the health department in the 49504 ZIP code (westside Grand Rapids and Walker).
This is the first time the Jamestown Canyon virus has been detected in Kent County, and the county stresses that the finding was not a human case but in planned mosquito testing.
“Jamestown Canyon virus is similar to West Nile virus in a couple different ways: one is that they are both transmitted by mosquitoes and that they are both quite serious,” Paul Bellamy, KCHD public health epidemiologist, said to WKTV. “However, they differ in the amount that we see them here in the midwest. West Nile virus has been occurring, reoccurring for many years. Jamestown Canyon virus has only been seen over the last (few) years. … over the last decade, we have seen an uptick in the amount of mosquito-born viruses across the U.S. This is one of the symptoms of that (mosquito population increase).”
For a detailed discussion on how Jamestown Canyon virus was discovered, and why Bellamy believes it happened now, see video at top or here.
West Nile and Jamestown viruses can also have similar symptoms, but also are similar in the rarity of their causing serious illness, Bellamy said.
“Both have very similar presentations, as far as when people do become ill,” he said. “A lot of them are asymptotic, but those that do have … fevers, malaise, chills, like that. But it has the potential of becoming serious. … (But) Jamestown Canyon virus has a very low potential of having that happen.”
While the virus has been detected throughout much of the United States, most cases to date have occurred in the upper Midwest. Jamestown Canyon virus can rarely cause severe disease, including infection of the brain (encephalitis) or the lining around the brain (meningitis). There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat Jamestown Canyon virus infection.
“Fortunately, the measures that people can take to protect themselves from other mosquito borne illnesses like West Nile Virus will work,” Bellamy said in supplied material. “This time of year, it is good to practice simple and proven steps that we already know work in preventing mosquito bites.”
The KCHD recommends the following prevention tactics: using a mosquito repellant that contains 10-35 percent DEET; wearing light colored clothing and long-sleeved shirts and pants; staying indoors during dusk hours; remove or refresh water in bird baths, children’s wading pools, pet water bowls; and empty other small containers that can collect water in your yard.
All sides within the Kent County courts’ criminal trials system know that after more than a 18 months of a pandemic-related pause of in-person trials there will be issues as courts slowly resume a courtroom calendar — most especially a backlog of criminal and civil cases awaiting trial, a backlog that could take more than a year to clear.
All Kent County courts handing criminal trials — from the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood’s smaller 62A and 62B district courts, to the larger countywide 63rd District and 17th Circuit courts — are now scheduling trials.
Kentwood’s 62B recently reported it held its first in-person trial in June and currently has a dozen or so scheduled through the end of the year — “We have a slight back log of cases waiting trial … All other hearings are current at 62B District Court,” a spokesperson for Judge Amanda Sterkenburg’s office told WKTV.
The 63rd District Court, however, will not begin criminal trials until mid-August, and their backlog could stretch out well into 2022 before a “sense of normal” returns, a situation most larger courts across the state are facing.
63rd district court Judge Sara J. Smolenski (Kent County)
“What is a sense of normal in the court system, that is a good question,” 63rd district court Judge Sara J. Smolenski said to WKTV. “Obviously, the pandemic has taken its toll on every aspect of our lives. Here at the Court, we are working daily to have things be more normal or resume to normal, but it is constantly evolving. A good guess would hopefully be by the end of 2021.”
While Judge Smolenski is, maybe, optimistic about the backlog, the leaders of the two criminal trial lawyer groups often in opposition in the courtroom — the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office and Kent County Office of the Defender — are not so optimistic.
“It will take at least a year to get back to ‘normal’ in my estimation,” Prosecutor Chris Becker said to WKTV. “There is such a backlog of cases, while adding new ones through all of this, there just is not an easy and fast way to catch up. It is going to take time to work through all of them.”
“Misdemeanors (in District Court) are a little better positioned for returning to normal sooner than felonies in Circuit Court,” Chris Dennie, Director, Kent County Office of the Defender, said to WKTV. “Even though there is quite a backlog, I can see getting close to usual in about a year.”
In general, the Kent County District Court system handles trials of civil suits involving $25,000 or less, and adult criminal misdemeanor offenses punishable by up to one year’s imprisonment. The Kent County Circuit Court is the trial court in all civil cases involving more than $25,000, in all criminal cases where the offense is a felony or a serious misdemeanor, as well as all domestic relations cases, and all child abuse, neglect, and delinquency cases.
No shortcuts in criminal cases during pandemic
All sides in the county’s legal system also make clear that while judges and opposing lowers have been “creative” is handling cases during the pandemic, nothing has been done to simply push cases through.
“Every case is dealt with on an individual basis,” Judge Smolenski said. “The right to a speedy trial is very important, but no one has ever been through a pandemic like this where for many months you couldn’t bring jurors together for a case. Defense attorneys and prosecutors are working together to resolve the cases that can be resolved.”
Prosecutor Becker and Defender Dennie might argue that judicial point, however.
“The judges have tried to encourage resolving cases throughout the pause in jury trials,” Dennie said. “However, the prosecutors (both county and city) must be willing and the offices have made it clear they do not want to have what they call a “fire sale” on cases. There has been some work to resolve cases, but not enough to make a big difference.”
“I’ve told my staff to know and go over their cases and make the best possible offer they can, without violating the norms of what we do,” Becker said. “I’m sure if I offered a misdemeanor larceny $200-1,000 to someone charged with an armed robbery felony, they would take that deal. We could ‘catch up’ the docket pretty quick that way. We are not going to do that however; we still have to consider plea offers in relationship to long term public safety and the victims who were impacted by the crime.
“We have done things around the edges more, we have given more sentence recommendations perhaps, but nothing extreme. Judges have gotten involved more as well in this area.”
Backlog not only problem awaiting return to ‘normal’
Two other issues which could come into play with the resumption of jury trials after about 18-months is the as-yet resolved issue of defendants not gaining a “speedy” trial during and of a possible reluctance of citizen jurors returning to their civic duties live and in the courtrooms.
Becker, however, does not think the denial of a speedy trial will be a big issue, but he does hedge his bets a bit.
The idea “has been raised in other places, and I’m sure it will be brought up again. So I can’t say it is a settled part of the law at all,” Becker said. “I’m not sure how successful it will be however, when you had the (State of Michigan) Supreme Court saying trials were not allowed for a large portion of the pandemic. It is fairly unprecedented, but not sure how you can hold a trial when being told not do by the people who run the court system to some extent.”
However, when it comes to the issue of juror reluctance, Judge Smolenski, Prosecutor Becker and Defender Dennie each expressed concern.
“It has been the jury trials, wherein we were prohibited from having groups of jurors in the courtroom, that has become our biggest focus to resolve,” Judge Smolenski said.
“Not sure (but) hearing reports in other areas of larger amount of jurors not showing up when summoned when things re-started,” Becker said. There is “still fear out there, and people may not want to show up in a public area when ordered to. So it will be interesting to see how jurors respond when called to serve.”
And that possible lack of ‘a jury of peers” is particularly of concern to Defender Dennie.
“Defense attorneys have been very concerned about getting a fair and true cross section of the community for the jury pools,” Dennie said. “I’ve been told that in practice, so far, as they send out jury summons, very few people are asking to be released. So we remain concerned, but hopeful, that our clients are able to have fair juries.
Brendan Earl, Kent County Parks’ supervising sanitarian, further discussed the relationship between dead birds and the virus, and what to do if people find dead birds. (Kent County Health Department)
It has long been known that dead birds can be a sign of West Nile virus infected mosquitoes in the area, and there has been reports in Kent County of dead birds with no obvious injury. But today the Kent County Health Department confirmed that West Nile virus has been detected in tested mosquitoes — not in an infected human — in the county.
According to an health department announcement July 22, the confirmation was made “during ongoing surveillance and testing” conducted by the Kent County Health Department (KCHD) The discovery comes after testing pools of mosquitoes that were trapped by the health department in the 49506 ZIP code (East Grand Rapids and area).
Brendan Earl, Kent County Parks’ supervising sanitarian, discussed with WKTV the relationship between dead birds and West Nile virus, and why the county is focused on testing live mosquitoes rather than dead birds.
A file photo of a Kent County technician testing mosquitoes for West Nile virus. (KCHD)
“Generally it (the virus) goes from mosquitoes to birds, and then (mosquitoes) to humans,” Earl said to WKTV. “It used to be you brought in a dead bird and you tested the bird, because finding a dead bird is pretty obvious, right, and concerning for most people.
“Here at the health department, we like to look at the mosquito because it is a step before the bird. It is more preventive, it allows us to realize that West Nile is in the environment, in our county, so we can get the word out and take proper precautions to prevent the transmission into humans.”
Additionally, Earl said, finding positive tests in dead birds is a delayed indicator of the virus’ presence.
“When a mosquito bites and transfers the virus into a bird, they act as a host. Now any mosquito that bites the bird will now, itself, become infected. So that will amplify the number of mosquitoes the are positive. Unlike humans, who are dead-end hosts — so if we have West Nile virus and a mosquito bites us, we are not going to transmit the virus to the mosquito.”
(Earl further discussed the relationship between dead birds and the virus, and what to do if people find dead birds, in the video above. This is a link to to report dead birds to the state.)
West Nile and human infection
Humans may be ‘dead-end’ hosts, as Earl said, and rarely have severe consequences from infection unless the person is already immune compromised, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But that does not mean precautions are not advised.
A mosquito’s bite could lead to infection with West Nile virus. (CDC)
“This discovery is important because it lets us know that this season’s mosquitoes are now carrying the virus and it could spread to humans,” Paul Bellamy, KCHD public health epidemiologist. “It is important for people to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites as much as possible.”
West Nile virus is spread primarily by infected Culex mosquitoes, according to KCHD. Only about 20 percent of the people infected will notice symptoms that may include headache, body aches, joint pains, and fatigue.
Most people with West Nile virus completely recover, but fatigue may linger. About 1 in 150 people infected develop severe illness that can affect the central nervous system. Recovery from West Nile virus may take several months. Some damage to the central nervous system can be permanent. In rare instances the disease can lead to death.
Since there is no vaccine or cure for West Nile virus, the best treatment is prevention. KCHD recommends the following measures:
Wear a mosquito repellant that contains 10 to 35 percent DEET.
Wear light colored clothing and stay indoors during dusk to reduce your risk of being bitten.
Remove or refresh water in bird baths, children’s wading pools, water bowls for your pets, and empty other small containers that can collect water in your yard.
More information about prevention can be found at accesskent.com.
Brian Hartl, epidemiology supervisor for Kent County Health Department, talks about its mobile unit and why it is part of the effort to reach under vaccinated populations. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
Kent County Health Department’s mobile COVID-19 vaccination unit’s community outreach effort last week happened to be at a south Grand Rapids neighborhood, but it could have been — and could yet be — to any under-served, under-vaccinated neighborhood including ones in Wyoming and Kentwood.
Kent County Health Department nursing staff and mobile vaccine unit visited the Great Giant Supermarket in south Grand Rapids last week. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
The health department, which initially led the effort to establish mass vaccination sites, is transforming part of its efforts to team with local community groups and offer vaccination availability to persons not yet served — as they did July 8 when its nursing staff and mobile vaccine unit visited the Great Giant Supermarket, at 1226 Madison Ave. SE, for the first of four Thursdays in July, each from 1-3 p.m.
“We are finding more and more, with people who are kind of on the fence about vaccination … We have heard that it needs to be convenient for them,” Brian Hartl, epidemiology supervisor for the health department, said to WKTV. “So we have the mobile unit out, at a couple different locations each week.”
And why the selection of the south Grand Rapids location? The answer if two-fold: low vaccination rates and hesitancy to get vaccinated by the black community, and the partnership with a trusted community group.
A Kent County Health Department nurse gives a COVID-19 vaccination shot. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
“This area has a low vacation rate, we know that from our data,” Hartl said. “And we really want to partner with community organizations that are in these neighborhoods and are trusted by the residents.”
In the case of the south Grand Rapids area, that “trusted” community organization is Seeds of Promise — a group who’s expressed goals include “building local resident leadership and trust, deep listening to community voices, and meeting the needs and wants that are expressed by the neighborhood.”
Ron Jimmerson, executive director of Seeds of Promise, said teaming with the health deportment meets all three of those goals.
Ron Jimmerson, executive director of Seeds of Promise. (WKTV/K.D. Norris)
“If we are going to service the people, we have to be able to bring the services to the people,” Jimmerson said to WKTV. “Many of our residents, over 50 percent of them, don’t have WiFi. They don’t have iPhones. So it was very difficult fo them to get signed up, and get transportation, and go to somewhere outside their community. So the residents wanted us to bring the service, the vaccinations, to the community.”
At last week’s event, Jimmerson praised the owners of the Great Giant Supermarket for allowing the mobile vaccination clinic to set up for several weeks. But the effort was not focused just on the people that would be shopping at the store, as its location is also in a neighborhood with a homeless population.
“The other concern that the residents had was that we have a large homeless population in this location, in this area,” Jimmerson said. “We want to be able to serve them, and work with other organizations to bring this service to them.”
The Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccines will be available at all the mobile vaccine clinics, according to the health department. Appointments are not required and there is no charge for the vaccine. More information on vaccine locations can be at vaccinatewestmi.com/clinics.
On this episode pf WKTV Journal In Focus, State Sen. Winnie Brinks, a Democrat who was elected in 2018 as the first woman to represent Grand Rapids in the Michigan Senate since 1920. While the coverage area of her District 29 does not include Wyoming or Kentwood, the current vacancy in District 28 had left a void in local representation. So Sen. Brinks graciously offered to talk to us about what’s happening in Lansing this session.
WKTV asked her about two hot-button issues in Lansing, no-fault insurance and voting rights. With her serving on the Senate’s Health Policy and Human Resources committee, we talked to her about changes to part of the healthcare industry due to the continuing rollout of the state’s no-fault insurance law, as well as possible changes to the state’s voting laws.
But on the WKTV set, she also wanted to talk about an issue flying under the news radar this session — “attainable house”, sometimes known as “workforce housing”, a topic important to Wyoming and Kentwood as a large workforce housing project is in-progress on Division Avenue between the two cities.
“There is a bill, group of bills, we got it started in the senate and now it is making its way over to the house, we passed a group of bills that will help with attainable housing,” Sen. Brinks said to WKTV. “You hear a lot about government programing, particularly from the federal government, in terms of helping people with affordable housing — very important to do that. …
“But we worked on a set of bills, with local governments, to provide some tools to help people get into what we are calling attainable housing. And that would be available to those folks who don’t necessarily qualify for affordable housing but need a little bit of assistance, generally working (families). Some in the business community call it workforce housing. It is for people who are doing everything right but still can’t quite find something that works for them.”
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (For dates and times on Channel 26, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. For dates and times on Channel 99, visit here). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal In Focus, Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young says what’s on her mind on a wide range of subjects, from her office’s response time to incidents, how it handles those incidents, and how the staff — all of the staff — of the Kent County Correctional Facility excelled in this time of pandemic.
In May, her office presented a report to the county Board of Commissioners detailing the results of its yearly Performance Measurements Review — covering a period of time almost exclusively falling within the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Including among the measurements are the Sheriff’s office’s response time for both the 911 dispatch and deputies patrolling the roads, the department’s community engagement efforts, and the percentage of contacts resulting in use of force.
On the WKTV set, we talk with the Sheriff about those performance measurements, about what’s new in her department including the roll-out of body cameras, and — taking a cue from the current public scrutinization of law enforcement actions on the streets — we ask about her policy of de-escalation of citizen/deputy incidents and her opinion of law enforcement officers being granted qualified immunity from civil lawsuits.
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (For dates and times on Channel 26, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. For dates and times on Channel 99, visit here). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
WKTV Journal In Focus welcomes back to our studio local lawyer Thomas Sinas, a partner in West Michigan’s Sinas Dramis Law Firm, who has often helped WKTV Journal and our audience understand the state’s legal system, its changes and its intricacies.
But much of the discussion was on the still-evolving impact of Michigan Legislature’s changes to the state’s no-fault insurance law.
And, Sinas stressed, the confusion over what type of auto insurance coverage people should get is just the beginning of the possible problems with the 2019 changes to the no-fault insurance laws. In the discussion, he points out that unless addressed by the Michigan Legislature soon, changes to medical coverage rules under no-fault insurance will likely cause medical hardship for many injured person currently covered by the law.
Sinas has tried both civil and criminal cases, and has also lectured and authored numerous articles on trial practice and substantive law. Most recently, we talked to him about his work with the Kent County Legal Assistance Center.
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (For dates and times on Channel 26, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. For dates and times on Channel 99, visit here). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
Thirteen Michigan residents will be coming together to draw the lines — the lines for the state’s U.S. Congressional district and Michigan’s House or Representative and Senate seats.
The 13 members are part of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, a group that was formed when Michigan voters passed Proposal 2 in 2018. The proposal stated voters and not legislators would be responsible for nonpartisan redistricting. The result was the 13-member commission, most of whom hail from the east side of the state with the closest West Michigan person from Battle Creek.
“Wow. We lost that lottery,” said Wyoming City Council Member Kent Vanderwood during the city’s April 19 Wyoming City Council meeting. “Kent County is a big place. This is the second largest part of the whole state and to have nobody west of Battle Creek is unfortunate.”
Edward Woods III
The council received the presentation about the Commission or MICRC from the MICRC Communications and Outreach Director Edward Woods III. Woods noted that the selecting of the 13-member commission was done by lottery performed by a third party. There was 9,367 applications received for the commission with 627 applicants from Kent County. The largest applicant pool came from Oakland County with 1,777. Wayne County had 1,450 applicants.
Woods said the selection process was completely random and that there was no consideration made for geographical and ethnicity representation. He said there has been comments made about the fact that there are no Hispanics or African-American males on the commission as well as geographical representation.
The commission is made up for four Democrats, four Republicans and five Independents, all of who went through that random selection process.
Redistricting is done every 10 years after the U.S. Census has been completed. The commission started its work in September, scheduling its required meetings to receive public input before any redistricting plans can be drawn, according to Woods. The commission is required to have 10 public meetings and is planning to host 16 in total which includes a July 1 meeting at DeVos Hall with a second meeting planned for Grand Rapids in the fall. The group also will host meetings May 13 in Kalamazoo and June 29 in Muskegon.
The MICRC is responsible for redistricting the U.S. Congressional districts, In 2010, the U.S. Congressional districts had about 711,000 people in each district. Currently, Michigan has 14 U.S. Congressional districts.
“It is being reported that Michigan may lose a seat for the fifth time in a row,” Woods said.
The commission also is responsible for redistricting of the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives. There are currently 38 state senate districts which have about 212,400 to 263,000 people in each district. There are 110 state House of Representative districts, with each having between 77,000 to 99,000 people.
“The concern is how do you want your lines drawn,” Woods said. “Obviously with the congressional district, those are a little bit bigger, but when it comes to the state house and the state senate, that is a little bit different. Are we keeping municipalities together? Are we keeping counties together? Do we split along a business district or an art district or on waterfront communities?”
This is the type of information that the commission will be seeking from residents, Woods said, adding the commission also will be sharing information about the redistricting process which includes the criteria for redistricting such as equal population, the Voting Rights Act, geographically contiguous, no disproportionate advantage to any political party, no favor or disfavor to an incumbent, elected officials or candidates, reflect consideration of county, city and township boundaries, and reasonable compact.
Woods said the commission encourages residents to present ideas, send questions and engage in the process by email redistricting@michigan.gov or mail to MICRC, P.O. Box 30318, Lansing, MI 48909.
Learn more about Michigan’s new redistricting process or to obtain more information about the upcoming public hearings, visit www.michigan.gov/MICRC.
The Commission must adopted the new election district maps by Nov. 1, 2021 with the maps becoming law Dec. 31, 2021. The new districts would be for the 2022 election.
In March, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker gave a Performance Measurements Review to a committee of the county Board of Commissioners. While some of the review was mostly statistics and governmental detail, we at WKTV thought it an opportunity to get the county’s top attorney in to discuss a wide range of his office’s activities — including its goals, accomplishments and challenges.
In addition to his report to the Board of Commissioners, the county’s top attorney discussed how the current pandemic has impacted the state of the county’s criminal courts, last year and into the future. And, given the news of the day out of a Minneapolis courtroom, we got his take on the value of video evidence in criminal trials — are police body cameras or public cell phone video good witnesses?
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (For dates and times on Channel 26, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. For dates and times on Channel 99, visit here). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
When you ask about community and governmental leadership to Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack, you better be prepared for his unvarnished take on the matter — especially if you give him more than a 30-second soundbite.
WKTV Journal In Focus recently talked with him for 15 minutes or so, and asked those questions of Commissioner Womack, who late last year was named to co-chair Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new state initiative, the Black Leadership Advisory Council — a group intended to “develop, review, and recommend policies and actions designed to prevent and eradicate discrimination and racial inequity in Michigan.”
Commissioner Womack gave us his opinion on the Governor selecting him to offer advice, his take on the similarities and differences between leadership and “Black leadership”, and, yes, he caught us up on the current and future plans of the advisory council.
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (For dates and times on Channel 26, see our Weekly On-air Schedule. For dates and times on Channel 99, visit here). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
