The City of Wyoming’s annual Spring Carnival is on track to open tomorrow at a new location, Lamar Park, 2561 Porter St. SW.
“We are excited to return the carnival to its’ historic home at Lamar Park,” said Rebecca Rynbrandt, director of Community Services for the City of Wyoming. “If you visit 28West Place you’ll see all of the orange barrels. It is wonderful to see the new construction occurring in Wyoming’s downtown area. With the redevelopment occurring of the Village Mall, the spring landscaping and final restoration work on tap for the new street, and more, we did not want the carnival location to delay this economic development in any way.”
Rynbrandt said when city officials evaluated other potential sites for the carnival, they sought an area that would be able to accommodate parking and provide for a larger venue.
“By going back to our roots, Lamar Park fits the bill,” she said.
The carnival will be open through May 7 and feature activities for the entire family.
A staple in the city for more than 30 years, proceeds from the carnival will be split between the Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department and the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance (GWCRA). GWRCA funds support youth scholarships and youth and family programming through the Parks and Recreation Department. The GWCRA will also distribute funds to the community through its annual grant making process.
“We hope that the community will join in supporting these two great causes,” Rynbrandt said. “The Parks and Recreation Department and the GWCRA provides services and funding that benefit children, families and non-profit organizations throughout Wyoming.”
The Spring Carnival runs from April 28 – May 7 with its hours being 4 – 8 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 2 – 8 p.m. Friday, and noon – 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The carnival will feature entertainment for all ages, including games, prizes, and carnival fare favorites. A spectrum of rides will be available for carnival-goers, from crowd pleasers, such as a carousel and Ferris Wheel to the adrenaline-inducing Mega Drop and Wipe Out. Unlimited ride wristbands will be available daily for $20.
The Spring Carnival is made possible through the work of the City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation and TJ Schmidt. For information, contact the Wyoming Parks and Recreation at 616-530-3164.
Metro Health – University of Michigan Health hosts a Drug Take Back Day event Saturday, April 29.
University of Michigan Health, in partnership with the City of Wyoming Environmental Services and the Kent County Safe Meds Program, is hosting a Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Metro Health – University of Michigan Health is proud to provide this service to the community,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Floyd Wilson, Jr. “Returning unused or expired medicines is the responsible thing to do. Proper disposal of expired or unused drugs is a matter of public safety and public health.
“When drugs are thrown away or flushed, the chemicals in them can get into our water supply and soil. Additionally, it can be dangerous for individuals to use expired medicines or creams. By providing this service to the West Michigan community, we are all working together to keep our homes and families safe.”
All drugs are accepted at this event. They do not have to be in original containers. If they are in original containers, confidential bins will be used to dispose of those containers. The Wyoming Department of Public Safety participates in the event to ensure the safe disposal of the medicines.
Additionally, the Drug Enforcement Administration requires the presence of law enforcement at events like this. No questions will be asked of anyone bringing in any type of medication at this event. Furthermore, no paperwork is required and no signatures are collected.
“We hope area families will take advantage of this free service,” Wilson said. “We appreciate the support from our partner, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, who join us in ensuring the proper disposal of medicines.”
Metro Health – University of Michigan Health has hosted Drug Take Back Days since 2011. Since then, more than 3,712 pounds of drugs have been collected from the community. In April 2016, 384.35 pounds of drugs were collected along with 60 pounds of mercury. And, in October 2016, 366 pounds of drugs, along with one pound of mercury thermometers were collected.
The Wyoming Department of Public Safety is pleased to announce the first Citizen’s Academy for the spring of 2017. This academy is specifically designed for clergy and leadership staff from local churches. This series of presentations will describe and provide rationale for several services performed by the City of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Public Safety. There will be presentations about Public Safety functions followed by an open forum designed to promote meaningful discussions about community service, outreach and other issues faced by various segments of our community.
Members of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety have a strong desire to form meaningful relationships with the community it serves. Clergy members are important stakeholders in this process as well as valuable allies in creating a vibrant community dynamic. We hope that by working in tandem, we can develop and grow meaningful relationships built on trust based on our respective spheres of influence.
Schedule Week One (May 9)
Welcome by department staff/administration, Department Mission and Accreditation (CALEA), Program goals, Outreach, Community Needs, Service Model, Explanation of Police Services, Investigative Bureau, Patrol Operations, Administrative Operations, Building Tour, Open discussion forum for input from audience.
Week Two (May 16)
TACT/CNT operations, K9 demonstration, Forensics Unit, Open discussion forum for input from audience.
Week Three (May 23)
City Administration, 62A District Court Services, Fire Administration, Firearms Simulator, Open discussion forum for input from audience.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP with Sgt. Brian Look with the Wyoming Department of Public Safety Community Services Unit and fill out a short application. Sgt. Look can be contacted in person at the Department, at 616-257-9711 or email: lookb@wyomingmi.gov
Kent County will have new voting machines in place by wall of this year. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Kent County, and the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood, will have new voting machines in place by later this year as part of a Michigan state-wide upgrade of voting machines — and City of Wyoming clerk Kelli VandenBerg says she is pleased with the selection process and anticipates local voters will be pleased with their new experience.
Voting machines in the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood will look similar to ones the public is used to, but they will be more “user friendly”. (Supplied)
“Any resident who has voted in the precinct will notice that this is new equipment – but that doesn’t mean there will be a steep learning curve or longer lines at the polls,” VandenBerg said in an interview with WKTV. “One of the key aspects in selecting this particular vendor is that the technology is much improved over our old equipment. This equipment is also much more user friendly.”
After a months-long review and selection process, and after the State of Michigan approved three qualified vendors, Kent County Clerk and Register of Deeds Lisa Posthumus Lyons recently announced Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. as the vendor of choice for Kent County’s purchase of new election equipment.
According to a press release from the county clerk’s office , the new voting machines will first be used by all local voting bodies in Kent County starting with the November 2017 election. Some clerks across the state reportedly plan to use their new machines as early as the August 2017 election. All municipalities are required to have the new machines in place by the August 2018 election.
“My priority for Kent County’s new election system is to provide high quality equipment, the assurance of security, and a positive experience for the voter; each of the systems we considered would accomplish this in unique ways,” Lyons said in supplied material. “At the end of the day, my decision came down to the reliability and customer service for which Dominion is known, and its partnership with ElectionSource, an election services provider located right here in Kent County, which also has a proven track record for first class service.”
Lyons said here decision was based on input from local municipal clerks; improved features of the machines and software, including election-night result reporting for the public; high-speed absentee ballot-counting capabilities for local jurisdictions; and overall cost. Working with a local vender was also high on her list.
“We are supporting our local economy by working with a business located in our own back yard,” Lyons said in the press release.
“Kent County is very fortunate that our Elections Director (Susan deSteiguer) was involved in the committee that did the review,” Wyoming clerk VandenBerg told WKTV. “We also have our new County Clerk with Lisa Posthumus Lyons (involved). I understand her process was very thorough — she took a lot of notes and asked a lot of great questions. Kent County was well-represented in the selection process, and I am very comfortable with how we chose the new equipment.”
Girls water polo is on tap for WKTV featured coverage this week.
By Mike Moll
WKTV Sports
The WKTV truck and the crews will continue to bring various events to the airwaves this spring and this week we will be at East Kentwood covering girls water polo — twice!
The tentative April schedule for WKTV coverage concludes with:
Tuesday, April 25 Water polo, Grand Haven @ East Kentwood
Thursday, April 27 Water Polo West Ottawa @ East Kentwood
Each game will be broadcast that night on Live Wire Comcast Channel 24 at 10:30 p.m. throughout the Grand Rapids Metro Area and repeat on later in the week — the Tuesday games will be rebroadcast Wednesdays at 5 p.m., and the Wednesday and Thursday games will be rebroadcast Saturdays at 11 a.m. — on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99 in Wyoming & Kentwood.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week in April, and any changes to the WKTV feature game schedule, see now.wktv.org/sports/
The complete list of local high school sports events this week due to spring break is as follows:
Monday, April 24
Boys Golf
South Christian @ Middleville T-K – OK Gold Jamboree @ Yankee Springs
The City of Wyoming Tree Commission accepts the city’s new Tree USA designation at the Tree City Awards in Lansing earlier this month.
The Arbor Day Foundation named The City of Wyoming a 2016 Tree City USA in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management. Wyoming achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
“Tree City USA communities see the impact an urban forest has in a community firsthand,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Additionally, recognition brings residents together and creates a sense of community pride, whether it’s through volunteer engagement or public education.”
Wyoming began its quest to attain Tree City USA status in February 2016 when a group of committed residents formed The Tree Amigos. Wyoming commissioners voted in July 2016 to formally establish them as the Wyoming Tree Commission. The Tree Amigos are celebrating Arbor Day 2017 with three events:
Arbor Day Tree Planting and Proclamation by Mayor Jack Poll at City Hall, 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20. DeHamer Brothers Landscaping has donated a ten-foot tall serviceberry tree to commemorate this very special occasion.
Arbor Day Tree Education event with 60 Kellogsville students at Ideal Park, 5843 Crippen Ave SW, 49548 at 1 p.m. Friday, April 28. In addition to educational activities, the Kelloggsville Pep Band will play. The Tree Amigos will present each student a blue spruce sapling – and careful directions for its care.
Presentation of Tree City USA Award and flag to Wyoming City Council at City Hall, 7 p.m. Monday, May 1. The Tree Amigos will make a five-minute presentation and update to the City council.
Trees provide multiple benefits to a community when properly planted and maintained. They improve the visual appeal of a neighborhood, increase property values, reduce home energy costs, remove air pollutants and provide wildlife habitat, among many other benefits.
The Wyoming Tree Commission, nick-named The Tree Amigos, seeks to develop and promote programs that maintain and improve Wyoming’s tree assets in our city’s public and private properties. We strive to foster a healthy, species-diverse tree canopy that meets or exceeds coverage percentages suggested by the Michigan DNR, U.S. Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters.
The high school baseball and softball seasons are starting up on Wyoming and Kentwood area. (WKTV)
By Mike Moll
WKTV Sports
The WKTV truck and the crews will continue to bring various events to the airwaves this spring and this week we will be at South Christian for a baseball game and at Godwin Heights for a softball — and check out next week’s schedule of water polo coverage!
The tentative April schedule for WKTV coverage is:
Tuesday, April 18 Baseball, Wyoming @ South Christian
Thursday, April 20 Softball Union @ Godwin Heights
Tuesday, April 25 Water polo, Grand Haven @ East Kentwood
Thursday, April 27 Water Polo West Ottawa @ East Kentwood
Each game will be broadcast that night on Live Wire Comcast Channel 24 at 10:30 p.m. throughout the Grand Rapids Metro Area and repeat on later in the week — the Tuesday games will be rebroadcast Wednesdays at 5 p.m., and the Wednesday and Thursday games will be rebroadcast Saturdays at 11 a.m. — on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99 in Wyoming & Kentwood.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week in April, and any changes to the WKTV feature game schedule, see now.wktv.org/sports/
The complete list of local high school sports events this week due to spring break is as follows:
Monday, April 17
Boys Golf
South Christian @ Forest Hills Invite – Egypt Valley
East Kentwood @ Forest Hills Invite – Egypt Valley
Girls Tennis
Wyoming @ South Christian
Kelloggsville @ Calvin Christian
East Kentwood @ Byron Center
Boys Lacrosse
Comstock Park @ South Christian
Girls Soccer
South Christian @ Wayland
Kelloggsville @ Wyoming Lee
Hopkins @ Godwin Heights
East Grand Rapids @ Wyoming
Boys Baseball
Godwin Heights @ Calvin Christian
West Michigan Aviation @ Tri-Unity Christian – DH
Potter’s House @ Kelloggsville – DH
NorthPointe Christian @ Wyoming Lee
Girls Softball
Godwin Heights @ Calvin Christian
NorthPointe Christian @ Wyoming Lee – DH
Tuesday April 18
Boys Baseball
Wyoming @ South Christian – DH
Holland Black River @ Potter’s House – DH
Zion Christian @ Saranac – DH
East Kentwood @ West Ottawa – DH
West Michigan Lutheran @ Three Oaks River Valley
Girls Softball
Wyoming @ South Christian – DH
East Kentwood @ West Ottawa – DH
Girls Soccer
Godwin Heights @ Potter’s House
Wellsprings Prep @ Tri-Unity Christian
Union @ West Michigan Aviation
Zion Christian @ Calvary Christian
West Ottawa @ East Kentwood
Boys Golf
East Kentwood @ Grand Haven – OK Red Jamboree
Boys/Girls Track
East Kentwood @ Grandville
Wyoming Lee @ Belding
Girls Water Polo
East Kentwood @ Hudsonville
Wednesday April 19
Boys Golf
South Christian @ Christian – OK Gold Jamboree @ Quail Ridge
Wyoming @ Christian – OK Gold Jamboree @ Quail Ridge
High school baseball and softball seasons are in full swing. Check out a ball game. (WKTV)
By Mike Moll
sports@wktv.org
Spring weather, and spring high school, sports are now in full swing — “Play Ball! So, if you are looking for a Wyoming and Kentwood area high school varsity sports event to get out to, here is your weekly list.
Monday, April 10
Boys baseball
Hopkins @ Kelloggsville
Wyoming Lee @ Godwin Heights
Girls softball
Hopkins @ Kelloggsville – DH
Wyoming Lee @ Godwin Heights – DH
Tuesday, April 11
Girls Tennis
Cookie Invite @ South Christian
Jenison @ Wyoming
Boys Baseball
South Christian @ FH Eastern – DH
Middleville T-K @ Wyoming – DH
Tri-Unity Christian @ Potter’s House – DH
West Michigan Aviation @ Bloomingdale – DH
Grand River Prep @ Zion Christian
Grandville @ East Kentwood – DH
Girls Softball
South Christian @ FH Eastern – DH
Coopersville @ Godwin Heights
Middleville T-K @ Wyoming – DH
Girls Soccer
South Christian @ FH Eastern
Kelloggsville @ Tri-Unity Christian
Middleville T-K @ Wyoming
Hope Academy @ West Michigan Aviation
Potter’s House @ Zion Christian
Caledonia @ East Kentwood
Boys Golf
Kelloggsville @ Hastings – Scrimmage
Boys/Girls Track
Godwin Heights @ Calvin Christian
West Michigan Aviation @ Wyoming Lee
Girls Water Polo
Portage Central @ East Kentwood
Wednesday, April 12
Boys Golf
South Christian @ Calvin Christian
East Kentwood @ Grandville – OK Red Jamboree
Girls Tennis
South Christian @ FH Eastern
Union @ Kelloggsville
Middleville T-K @ Wyoming
Boys/Girls Track
South Christian @ Christian
Boys Lacrosse
South Christian @ Zeeland
Boys Baseball
Kelloggsville @ NorthPointe Christian
Godwin Heights @ Belding
FH Central @ Wyoming
Girls Softball
Kelloggsville @ NorthPointe Christian
Godwin Heights @ Belding
FH Central @ Wyoming – DH
Girls Soccer
Godwin Heights @ Calvin Christian
NorthPointe Christian @ Wyoming Lee
Girls Water Polo
Grandville @ East Kentwood
Thursday, April 13
Boys Golf
South Christian – Kent County Classic @ Thornapple Pointe
East Kentwood – Kent County Classic @ Thornapple Pointe
Boys Baseball
FH Eastern @ South Christian
Wyoming @ Middleville T-K
Covenant Christian @ Tri-Unity Christian
Grand Rapids Crusaders @ Zion Christian
East Kentwood @ Grandville
Holland Calvary @ Wyoming Lee – DH
Girls Softball
Caledonia @ South Christian – DH
Wyoming @ Grandville
Unity Christian @ East Kentwood
Boys Lacrosse
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer @ South Christian
Girls Soccer
Wyoming @ South Christian
Kelloggsville @ Union
Potter’s House @ Tri-Unity Christian
Grand River Prep @ Zion Christian
Boys/Girls Track
Wyoming Lee @ Kelloggsville
Hopkins @ Godwin Heights
East Grand Rapids @ Wyoming
Rockford @ East Kentwood
Girls Tennis
@ East Kentwood – EK Quad
Friday, April 14
Boys Golf
Wyoming @ Kelloggsville
Girls Softball
Western Michigan Christian @ Kelloggsville
Girls Soccer
West Ottawa @ Wyoming
West Michigan Aviation @ Wyoming Lee
Northview @ East Kentwood
Girls Water Polo
East Kentwood @ Jenison
Saturday, April 15
Boys/Girls Track
South Christian @ Unity Christian
Kelloggsville @ Coopersville – Bronco Classic
Wyoming @ Comstock Park
West Michigan Aviation @ Lakewood – Lakewood Invitational
East Kentwood @ Mansfield/Mehock Relays
Boys Baseball
South Christian @ East Kentwood – EK Invite
Kelloggsville @ Wyoming – Wyoming Tournament
Godwin Heights @ Wyoming – Wyoming Tournament-
Wyoming Lee @ Union – DH
Girls Softball
South Christian @ East Kentwood – EK Invite
Girls Tennis
South Christian @ East Kentwood
Kelloggsville @ Wyoming – Wyoming Invitational
Girls Water Polo
East Kentwood @ Jenison
Sunday, April 16
EASTER SUNDAY
Monday, April 17
Boys Golf
South Christian @ Forest Hills Invite – Egypt Valley
East Kentwood @ Forest Hills Invite – Egypt Valley
The City of Wyoming Department of Public Safety honored its police and firefighter personnel, as well as civilians, at an award ceremony late last month. (WKTV)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Wyoming Department of Public Safety Director James Carmody, addressing a standing-room-only crowd at the department’s annual award ceremony late last month, made clear his feelings on the role his police and fire personnel have in the Wyoming community.
“Tonight you will hear stories of unselfish acts of bravery, generosity, compassion and guy-wrenching determination,” Carmody said at the Feb. 23 event at the Wyoming Senior Center. “The events we speak of tonight are just a few of the many thousands of times that our men and women step into the breach of danger and work to keep our city a safe and comfortable place to live, work and play.”
While the evening honored all of the long list of winners of Certificates of Merit, Certificates of Achievement, Life Saving Awards and individual and unit commendations, the highlights of the evening were the five personnel who gained special honors. (See complete list here.)
Ofc. Carmen Morales was honored as Officer of the Year, Firefighter Lance Bowman was recognized as Firefighter of the Year, Milt Zaagman was honored as Civilian of the Year, and Det. D.J. VerHage and Firefighter Brad Dornbos each received the Chiefs Award of Professional Excellence.
Each of the five had their stories told and, afterword talking with WKTV, reacted to their awards.
Officer of the Year
Ofc. Morales has been with the department for more than 20 years, serving as a patrol officer, a detective and now in the warrant unit. She has been a long-serving member of the peer support group and awards boards. Carmody, in supplied material, described her as “passionate about bringing justice to the victims of crime and believes in the dignity of all. Her unwavering commitment to professional policing, her fellow officers and the community makes her someone we can all be proud to represent us as our Officer of the Year.”
Ofc. Carmen Morales (WKTV)
The award “means a lot to me,” Ofc. Morales said. “Number One: I was chosen from my peers. … I have been with the city of Wyoming for 25 years, so I have dedicated myself to this department for 25 years, even though I consider them my family. It means a job well done, for me. I have been in so many units in this department, that I have to say I am glad I was chosen for this award and not for one specific thing I have done for the city of Wyoming but for a collaboration of things.”
“Tonight’s special honorees have been recognized by their peers, this is a peer-driven process,” Carmody said of the award process. “The awards you see tonight are recommended and voted on by their peers.”
Firefighter of the Year
Firefighter Lance Bowman (WKTV)
Firefighter Bowman has served as the director of the Wyoming Public Safety Fire Divisions Quarter Master Program since its creation in 2014. He is responsible for providing clothing and equipment for full-time, part-time, dual trained and on call firefighters. Of Bowman, Carmody said, in supplied material: “We commend him for his bravery and thank him for his service. His commitment to the department and his continued display of courage in emergencies serves as an exemplary role model for his peers.”
“I am very pleased to accept this award from my peers that I work with everyday,” Bowman said.
Civilian of the Year
Milt Zaagman is congratulated by Wyoming Department of Public Safety Director James Carmody (WKTV)
Zaagman, a building maintenance worker for the City of Wyoming, has served the community for over 40 years and remains an integral part of keeping the department operating successfully. “Milt defines responsibility,” a release by the Pubic Safety Department stated. “He is often seen before the sunrises and on days off shoveling the sidewalks or sweeping leaves from garages, according to a peer panel evaluation. He is highly respected among his peers. His name is synonymous with kindness, respect, service and selflessness throughout the department.”
“I have 41 years with the City of Wyoming, with the police department,” Zaagman said. “Back in the ’60s, when I was in the military, I understood exactly what a brotherhood and sisterhood was, and I have felt accepted and felt that same thing with all these years with the Wyoming police department.”
Chiefs Awards of Professional Excellence
Firefighter Brad Dornbos (WKTV)
Dornbos, the fire divisions emergency medical technician coordinator, established a mutually supportive relationship with Metro Health. This partnership led to a $10,000 grant, which allowed the department to purchase advanced medical equipment and fund the training of their full-time firefighters as EMTs. “Brads dedication to improved service has been instrumental in enabling our department to save more lives,” Carmody said in supplied material. “The ability to provide improved services to our residents and our community is because of his hard work.”
“It is an honor to receive the award,” Dornbos said. “It’s definitely a team effort amongst my lieutenant, chief, and our crew that we all work together… it’s a reaffirmation that we’re doing the right thing and moving forward to help the citizens of Wyoming and hopefully save more lives with the upgraded licensure and with the future accreditation coming forward.”
Det. D.J. VerHage (WKTV)
VerHage has served on the department for 24 years and has been forefront on many of its most important criminal cases. “Detective VerHage has been a top candidate of this award many times, but this year was his year,” Carmody said in supplied material. “Each day he embodies our values of honor, courage, duty and trust through his determination and dedication.”
“It is very humbling. The chief was very gracious, by what he said,” VerHage said. “I am very thankful and grateful for my coworkers, everybody I get to work with. This is a team effort and anything that I did is only possible because of my coworkers and everybody that helps out with every case. Every complaint, everything that comes into the police department from our civilians, to all of our police officers, detectives, and the admin as well. It’s very nice what he said and very gracious and there’s many many more deserving of this award, so, thank you.”
For more information on the City of Wyoming Department of Public Safety, visit the city’s new website at wyomingmi.gov .
WKTV’s high school sports coverage crew was at Monday night’s tipoff of the opening round of the MHSAA district tournament at Godwin Heights. We will be there for the finals Friday. (WKTV)
WKTV Staff
This week WKTV’s featured Friday night high school sports event will be the finals of the boys MHSAA Basketball Basketball District 50 tournament at Wyoming Godwin Heights.
In Monday opening-round games, tournament host Godwin Heights had an easy time in a 80-32 win over West Michigan Aviation Academy, and (in WKTV’s covered feature game) Wyoming Kellogsville scored a 87-49 win over Kentwood’s Grand River Prep.
Tonight (Thursday, March 9) games will find Kellogsville (now 18-3) trying to avoid the upset by Wyoming-Lee (10-10) in the 6 p.m. game. Then Godwin Heights (20-1) will face off with Grand Rapids South Christian (10-10) at 8 p.m.
The winners of those games will play Friday, with WKTV cameras on hand, for the District title and a berth in the Region 11 Regional Tournament next week.
Th game will be aired that night on Live Wire 24 at 10:30 p.m. and repeat Saturday at 11 a.m. on WKTV 25 and AT&T U-verse 99.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action in January, see now.wktv.org/sports/
DVDs and Blue-Rays of each game are also available for purchase at $20 including shipping. For more information, visit WKTV.org
The City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department is taking registrations for its spring softball leagues. (WKTV)
WKTV Staff
The deadline is looming for signing up for the City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department’s spring-season adult soft-pitch softball leagues, which includes both coed and men’s leagues.
Registration deadline for adult softball leagues is Thursday, March 16.
The coed league will play Mondays and Fridays while the men’s league will play Mondays and Thursdays. These are both 10-game leagues with a $475 cost per team. An additional men’s league, running Mondays and Tuesdays, will be a 12-game league and with a $525 cost per team. They will all include a single-elimination tournament at the end of regular season.
For more information, or to register your team, please contact recreation programmer Kenny Westrate at 616.530.3164 or westratek@wyomingmi.gov.
For more information about other Parks and Recreation special events or programs, please visit www.wyomingmi.gov.
Hoop Heaven Basketball Academy will be holding introductory events this month and in April. (Supplied)
WKTV Staff
Wyoming’s Hoop Heaven Basketball Academy recently announced several youth basketball programs, including a March 11 trial event of its Travel Ball League Play and the Saturday afternoon Biddy Ball program starting in April.
Hoop Heaven events are held at the Elevation Church, 2141B Porter St. SW. The program’s mission, according to supplied material, is “Pursuing gospel transformation and leadership development in Wyoming area youth through the game of basketball.”
The Travel Ball League Play event on March 11 will start at 1 p.m. and is for both boys and girls grades 3-12. The cost of tryout is $5 per players and you must pre-register. For registration and more information on this event contact Phyllis Harder at 616-498-1128, email her at phyllis@elevationhoopheaven.org or visit their website at elevationhoopheaven.org or visit them on Facebook at /hoopheavenbasketballacademy
The Biddy Ball program will run April 15 through May 13 and is open to both boys and girls K-2nd grade. Both friend (of teams) and entire team requests will be considered. The cost if $55 per child, with partial scholarships available, which includes a t-shirt. For more information contact Eric Vandyke at 616-272-6244, email him at ericvandyke15@gmail.com or visit elevationhoopheaven.com .
Wyoming High School inducted five student athletes, some from Rogers and some from Wyoming Park high schools, into its athletic Hall of Fame. (WKTV)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
When cross-town athletic rivals Wyoming Park and Rogers high schools combined to form the current Wyoming High School, two athletic traditions were combined and a new one was born.
That shared past and unified present was honored early this month as five one-time students athletes were inducted into the Wyoming High School athletic Hall of Fame.
The ceremony was held Feb. 10, between home boys and girls basketball games. Those inducted included Andy Vavere, Laura Erdmans Readle, Doug Chappell, Kim Blouw Norden and Eric Taylor.
For many of the inductees, it was not only night to be honored but to remember high school athletic careers and experiences still remembered fondly — including one where cross-town athletic competition led to a union of a different kind.
Andy Vavere, Rogers High Class of 1980, was not only a standout football, basketball and baseball athlete — highlighted by the basketball team’s deep runs into the state tournament in 1979 and 1980 — but he also met his future wife during his high school years.
Andy Vavere (WKTV)
“My favorite (athletic) memories were our tournament runs we had in 1979 and 1980. We were regional finalists in ’79 and semifinalists in ’80,” Vavere said. Rogers was 21-4 the first year and 21-5 the second.
During those years, Vavere was an OK Red all-conference baseball player in 1979, an all-conference quarterback in 1980, and a all-conference basketball player in both years. He was also the 1980 Adrian Allen Athlete of the Year Award winner.
But the longest lasting memory was meeting his wife, Margaret, who attended his school’s arch rival.
“I was a senior at Rogers High School in 1980 and she was at Wyoming Park, a competitive school, and we met through competition,” he said. “I started dating Margaret in 1979 and we got married in 1989.”
And, Vavere admitted, it was always a challenge to face Wyoming Park on the field: “Absolutely, those guys were great,” he said.
Running into the Hall of Fame
One of those “great” Wyoming Park athletes was cross country and track runner Kim Blouw, Class of 1990.
Blouw, who later graduated from Central Michigan University, was track all-state each of her four years of high school, and was an all-state cross country runner her junior and senior years. She held school records in the 800, 1,600, 3,200-meter runs as well as in the 2-mile relay run. And she was part of a state champion 2-mile relay team one year.
But, maybe, the highlife of her high school career was spring track practice after a 16-hour bus ride to Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Kim Blouw Norden (WKTV)
“I guess my favorite memories about high school would be my two coaches, Mr. (Frank) Grimm and Mr. (Dick) Locke, and traveling to South Carolina to go to Myrtle Beach, becoming a team, but not only a team but becoming a family,” Blouw said.
She also credits her family, both at home and on the Wyoming Park athletic teams, for keeping her focused and successful in her high school years.
“What made me do that was that I had two great parents who instilled a really good value system in us, myself and my brother,” she said. “I had really great coaches that really emphasized the importance of never giving up. I had a goal, and my goal was to go to college. And I was blessed with the ability to run. … So many people believed in me, encouraged me to excel in my career as a track and cross country runner. I embraced that.”
Three more honored with induction
Eric Taylor, Wyoming Park Class of 1988, had a basketball career that not only brought success to his high school, but to his college and professional teams as a player, and then carried him back nearly to full-circle as a high school basketball coach.
Taylor was an all-conference and all-state player his last two years at Wyoming Park, then played basketball and earned a degree at Oakland University. He went on to play professionally in Europe, winning multiple championships, and earn his masters degree from Grand Valley State University. He now coaches varsity basketball at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
“My passion is giving back to students and to influence their lives in a positive way everyday,” Taylor said in supplied material. “It’s about the legacy to reach, teach, love and support all students and be an example and a role everyday for all students.”
Doug Chappel, Rogers Class of 1979, died in 2012 but left a mark on the basketball record books both at his high school and at University of Detroit. He was a multi-sport athlete but starred on the basketball court in high school — including being all-conference three years, all state two years including being one of the top five players in the state his senior year, and scoring 1,300 points while grabbing more than 700 rebounds. He then played four years of college ball at Detroit, scoring nearly 1,200 points and gaining all-league honors.
Laura Readle, Wyoming Park Class of 1981, was a multi-sport athlete, including all-conference honors multiple years in volleyball, basketball and track. She was a rebounding machine on the basketball court, averaging 29 rebounds a game one year, and a record-braking sprinter on the track. She went on to gain her bachelors and masters degrees from Aquinas College, coached AAU basketball for 10 years and is now the track coach at Tri-County High School.
She also still runs, and runs and runs — including finishing marathons, ½ marathons, triathlons and the 25K River Bank run spread out over 30 years, and recently participated in a 5-hour adventure race. And the track for Wyoming Park, at Godwin High School, is still one of her favorite memories.
She remembers “when the only track that was ‘rubberized’ not cinder, in the late ’70s, at Godwin High School … every track meet all 8 schools in our conference would be there,” Readle said in supplied material. “I met many wonderful friends from all the other schools in our conference and I am still friends with many of them today. It is also where I met my husband. Many, many happy memories!”
Hockey at East Kentwood High School is on tap for Saturday coverage by the WKTV crew.
WKTV Staff
This week in WKTV’s featured high school sport games, the coverage crew will be at East Kentwood for girls basketball game against Hudsonville on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and then at East Kentwood for a hockey game against Forest Hills Central on Saturday, Feb. 25.
WKTV videos and broadcasts several games each week during high school sports season.
Each Tuesday game will be broadcast that night on Live Wire Comcast Channel 24 at 10:30 p.m. throughout the Grand Rapids Metro Area and repeat on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99 in Wyoming & Kentwood. Every Friday game will be aired that night on Live Wire 24 at 10:30 p.m. and repeat Saturday at 11 a.m. on WKTV 25 and AT&T U-verse 99.
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action in January, see now.wktv.org/sports/
DVDs and Blue-Rays of each game are also available for purchase at $20 including shipping. For more information, visit WKTV.org
The Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Government Matters Committee meeting will be Monday, Feb. 13, from 8-9 a.m. at Wyoming City Hall, 1155 28th St SW, at the corner of 28th and Michael Avenue SW.
The meetings alternate between Wyoming City Hall and Kentwood City Hall.
The meeting, where chamber officials meet with local, county and state government officials, is free and open to the public. It will also be recorded by WKTV community television for viewing.
The Feb. 13 meeting will be delayed broadcast on WKTV community television Channel 26 on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. until the next Government Matters Committee meeting. It is also available on-demand at wktv.viebit.com
For more information on the chamber visit southkent.org.
The mostly empty Site36 industrial area off 36th Street SW in Wyoming, from the marketing material of Franklin Partners. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Late last year, the City of Wyoming signed an agreement with Franklin Partners, based in the Chicago area but with an office in Grand Rapids, to ramp-up redevelopment of an abandoned General Motors metal stamping plant, the Site36 industrial area off 36th Street SW just east of Highway 131.
One of the possible layouts of Site36 site off 36th Street SW in Wyoming, from the marketing material of Franklin Partners. (Supplied)
While the company is pushing forward with a marketing campaign, including drawings depicting multiple possible industrial uses and building layouts for possible sales or lease of portions of the about 92-acre property, Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt says the city’s goals have not changed — they want the land redeveloped into industrial uses to take advantage of already in-place infrastructure.
The city also continues to be motivated to work with businesses looking at the site, including tax incentives and other actions.
Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt. (WKTV
“We are not looking for leasing options; we are looking for sales,” Holt said this week. “That doesn’t mean the Franklin Partners will not offer that as an option with them holding ownership of a particular site. The purpose of the marketing material is more about showing people what is possible and opening potential owners eyes to ideas that they may not have considered.”
Also according to Franklin Partners marketing materials, “The City of Wyoming is motivated to attract new jobs and can offer significant state and local tax incentives to attract large users to the site. … The City has also indicated that it is willing to provide an industrial facilities tax abatement (IFT) for future industrial development. This allows for a nearly 50% abatement of future property taxes on new buildings for up to twelve (12) years. The existence of both a brownfield plan and the City’s expressed willingness to work with future owners/tenants on these and other incentives sets this site apart from others.”
Holt says the incentives are also nothing new, as far as the city’s efforts to redevelop the site.
“This city has a track record of being very supportive of our business community,” Holt said. “We all have maintained the same principles about Site 36 from the very beginning. Our main goal is jobs, specifically quality jobs available to our residents. With jobs, other indirect benefits will be realized by the city.”
The site, with about 80 acres of “contiguous, shovel ready, manufacturing infrastructure,” according to Franklin Partners, is between Clay and Buchanan avenues south of 36th. According to multiple sources, it was purchased by the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority in 2010, after GM closed the plant in 2006 ending nearly 70 years of operation.
According to Holt, the City Council has had no additional discussion with Franklin Partners “since the agreement was executed to work with them as the developer of the site,” but “I know that Franklin Partners is continuing to work on marketing, site preparation and generating potential contacts as they begin to market the site.”
Franklin reportedly plans to remove a pedestrian bridge over 36th Street, built to connect the GM plant to a parking lot north of 36th Street, as well as to clean up the site after years of accumulated undergrowth and debris.
One of the possible layouts of Site36 site off 36th Street SW in Wyoming, from the marketing material of Franklin Partners. (Supplied)
According to Franklin Partners marketing materials, the site — in addition to its access to US-131 and the Grand Elk Railroad yard — has its own Consumers Energy sub-station with up to 41 megawatt of dedicated power at T-1 rates, and can accommodate new facilities from 100,000 square feet up to 1,000,000 square feet. High-pressure natural gas and municipal water and sewer are also available on-site.
The city had been working with local entries The Right Place and NAI Wisinski, but, after being on the market for about four years, leaders expect that bringing Franklin Partners into the mix will get the effort moving once again.
“Franklin Partners’ history and reputation in West Michigan are very good,” Holt said. “We have worked with Franklin Partners on several projects and found them to be professional, knowledgeable and well connected. They have experience working with us and the projects we have worked together on have been extremely successful. We believe that relationship will assist us in redevelopment of the site.”
Is was cold in Bloomington, Minn., in 2013 when people lined up outside a soon-to-open Chick-fil-A; it likely will be cold in Gaines Twp. when a new store opens this week. (Supplied)
WKTV Staff
A Chick-fil-A restaurant will be coming to Wyoming soon, but those who want their first taste of the menu can sample it this week as the first of several West Michigan franchises opens on Thursday, Jan. 12.
This week’s opening is at 1545 Edgeknoll Dr., S.E., off the M-6 and Kalamazoo Avenue exit, just south of Wyoming city line in Gaines Township. The City of Wyoming store, located at 700 54th St., S.W, is currently scheduled for a February opening.
As with other store openings nationwide, the Gaines Township store will also provide an opportunity for 100 people to win free meals for a year, as well as the ability for the community to donate books to a local youth organization, according to supplied material.
According to supplied material, the “First 100” party is a “family friendly” event where people will line up — even camp out overnight — to earn a meal a week for a year. The event is open to persons residing in specific zip codes surrounding the restaurant. (Eligible zip codes and rules are available at www.chick-fil-a.com/Locations/Openings).
The donated books will be place in a “Book House” built from reclaimed wood, and will serve as a free library exchange. Chick-fil-A has collected more than 27,000 children’s books which have been donated to 162 local organizations since 2014, according to supplied material.
Metro Health: University of Michigan Health President and CEO Michael Faas (second from the left) stands with some of the officials who attended the celebration on Jan. 5. They included Metro Health: University of Michigan Health Chief Administrative Officer Floyd Wilson Jr. (far left), University of Michigan Executive Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs and President, Clinical Enterprise, David Spahlinger, M.D. (center) and Metro Health: University of Michigan Health Corporate Board Chair Doyle Hayes (far right). (Photo by Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)
Metro Health’s announcement of its affiliation with the University of Michigan had even Lt. Governor Brian Calley saying “Go blue.”
“And those who really know me, know that is a hard thing for me to say,” said the Michigan State University graduate. Calley, along with state and local officials joined hospital staff and officers for a celebration Thursday, Jan. 5, of the new affiliation between Metro Health and U-M. The event took place at the hospital.
T-shirts were handed out with the new logo that includes the familiar maze-color M with Metro Health and the words University of Michigan Health underneath. Blue and gold balloons adorned the Professional Building as the Godwin Heights High School cheerleaders welcomed people in through the hospital doors and the Godwin Heights High School Band played the U-M fight song.
The purpose of the event was to provide staff and elected officials more detail about the new affiliation, which, according to a press release handed out at the event, is not a partnership. According to Metro Health: University of Michigan Health Corporate Board Chair Doyle Hayes, who spoke at the event, Metro Health employees would remain Metro Health employees and the decisions of what’s important to the community will remain with the physicians and members of West Michigan.
Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll congratulates Metro Health University of Michigan President and CEO Michael Faas. (Photo by Abigail Stricker.)
“This affiliation brings together a trusted community resource, this is your resource, and the specialty care of U-M national leadership which also brings medical research and innovation,” Doyle said. “This affliction will provide West Michigan with greater access to high quality health care.”
Metro Health: University of Michigan Health President and CEO Michael Faas said Metro Health already has begun recruiting and is starting to look at future plans that include expansion of the Metro Village Health, the first of its kind in the nation, and beyond into other buildings outside of the Wyoming campus. Hospital officials have indicated that future plans could be announced later this year.
Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll said it has been wonderful to watch Metro Health grow over the past 10 years since it moved to the city, with changes that no one really could have predicted.
“Well this is obviously very exciting for the City of Wyoming to see the merger occuring,” Poll said. “Two wonderful organizations that are very well established that are now teaming together to bring better health care to the City of Wyoming.”
The City of Wyoming received a yearend bonus from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust this month when it was awarded a $300,000 grant to help rebuild Ideal Park.
Announced last week, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board’s recommendations totaled more than $47.6 million for projects in 2017. This included $19.9 million in recreational development and $27.7 million in land acquisition projects. Of the $19.9 million recreational development funds, the City of Wyoming received one of the largest grants of $300,000.
Ideal Park was reopened this past summer.
City officials had made it clear that the grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust was key in helping to rebuild the park which was devastated during a 2014 tornado wiping out the park’s playground, tennis and basketball courts and a majority of the trees.
“We are extremely excited that our City has been chosen by the state as a grant recipient for 2017,” said Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll. “The grant awarded by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund will allow the City to continue restoring Ideal Park, which sustained tremendous damage after the (2014) EF-1 tornado touched down.
“There is still more work to be done, but the state grant allows us to tackle some of the most pressing issues.”
The city spent the next two years cleaning up the park, located at 5843 Crippen Ave. SW, and just reopened it this past summer. The park currently does not have any playground equipment or basketball or tennis courts.
One of the unique features of Ideal Park is that Buck Creek runs through the middle of the park..
Because of the amount of damage caused by the tornado, it gave city officials and residents a chance to review the current layout of Ideal Park and consider some improvements in access and safety, said Rebecca Rynbrandt, Wyoming’s director of community services.
“What the city had done in the past with Ideal Park was to maintain the historical heritage of the park for the community,” Rynbrandt said. In fact, Ideal Park pre-dates the City of Wyoming, having been created in the 1930s.
One of its natural features is that Buck Creek runs through the middle of the park with bridges providing access to most of the parks amenities such as the shelters and former playground area. This also created limited access for emergency personal and others if something should happen at the park, Rynbrandt said.
So the city began to look at ways to reconfigure access into the park with a new gateway from Crippen Street, a new drive from Crippen Street to east lot and a connector drive to Averill Avenue. Other improved security and access include a connector path from art deco bridge to the west lot, lighting in parking areas, a new west parking lot gate, new natural area between Park Drive and west lot, open play area with irrigation, basketball court, trailhead signage, a footpath trail to connect to existing pathway and interurban trail and a new creek overlook.
Playground areas within Ideal Park were destoryed by the 2014 tornado.
The $300,000 grant money will be combined with with about $508,000 the city has to move forward on the first phase for Ideal Park, Rynbrandt said. That includes developing construction drawings and hopefully going out for bids at the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018 with construction starting in 2018, she said.
The City of Wyoming has a five-year parks plan which shows more than $26 million in capital need such as major maintenance and replacing of assets such as playgrounds, fencing and trail work. Among those capital improvements is funding the master plans for Ferrand, Oriole Phase II, Jackson and Gezon. In May, Wyoming will ask voters to allow City leadership to change the way dollars can be spent under the dedicated Library Maintenance millage to help with the capital improvements at the parks.
Two other Kent County municipalities received funding from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust, the City of Rockford for its Rogue River Nature Trail Phase IV, $150,000, and Algoma Township’s River’s Edge Park Development, $50,000. A total of 79 projects throughout Michigan received grants.
After nearly 10 years of working a small business plan, and recent action by the City of Wyoming, TwoGuys Brewing has taken over an old firehouse and a rundown one-time 7-Eleven convenience store in the Wyoming Park neighborhood and — with any luck to match hard work — should be serving up craft beer for guys and gals who like microbrews in 2017.
Tom Payne of TwoGuys Brewery. (WKTV)
“Now its about six months of demolition and renovation, were we turn this ugly old 7-Eleven into a beautiful tap room,” Tom Payne, managing partner and brewmaster of TwoGuys Brewing, said Nov. 10 at a friends-and-neighbors open house at what will be the new brewpub. “We are hopeful for September 1” to open.
“This business came about about 10 years ago,” he said. “I realized I was not just another home brewer, at least I did not think so. I had entered beer in outside competition, outside of just (treating) my normal friends, and it was taken very well. I said ‘You know what? I think we’ve got something here.’ And then my wife and I, after hours and hours of talking, we said ‘This is something we are going to do.’ At that time we put together a 10-year plan, and we are at the end of that 10 years. It is time for TwoGuys Brewing to open.”
An old 7-Eleven story will become TwoGuys Brewery’s taproom. (WKTV)
Opening the brewery and brewpub involved the leasing of two buildings located across from each other on Porter Street SW, the old 7-Eleven at 2356 Porter Street SW and an unused fire station at 2385.
An old city fire station will become TwoGuys Brewery’s brew house. (WKTV)
The leasing of the fire station to Tamaz LLC (an LLC doing business as TwoGuys Brewery) by the city was part of three actions taken by the Wyoming City Council in late November. The actions included granting the business a liquor license, a waiver of city zoning code to allow for the sale of alcohol within a certain distance from a church or residential area, and the lease of the old fire station, which had been used by the city for a meter shop and a temporary laboratory but was currently vacant.
City support of business
“The City of Wyoming has been absolutely instrumental in this,” Payne said. “We approached the city three or four months ago, we completely laid out our business plan and what we wanted to bring to Wyoming Park. They put together a timeline … a ‘we need you to do this and we need you to do this’, and we have done everything the city has asked for. … They have been fantastic.”
Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt made clear the reason for the city’s actions:
“Our region is increasingly embracing craft beer,” Holt said. “You can look around our community and see the many brewpubs that have sprung up over the last five years. We are pleased that TwoGuys Brewing has identified Wyoming as its location and feel that it will be a welcomed by the neighbors — and by Wyoming residents in general.”
Several of those neighbors visited the open house on Dec. 10 as well, and Payne said he expects to be an attribute to the neighborhood.
“The biggest reason (for placing their business in Wyoming) is that this is where we live, my wife and I,” he said. “I grew up in Wyoming Park. I graduated from Wyoming Park. I have lived, aside from my time in the Marine Corps, in this area and it has always been my home. When we decided to open up our brewery, it was going to be where we live and provide our neighbors with something they could certainly be proud of.”
About that name …
And the name of of TwoGuys? Where did it come from?
“10 years ago, there was me and one of my best friends, Charlie, I had gotten him started brewing,” he said. “So, long story (made short), we entered another competition and took best of show on an IPA (India Pale Ale), which at the time had no name. We brewed this beer at Founders. We brewed 10 barrels having won the best of show. … About half an hour before tapping, Founders said ‘You guys need to name this thing something.’ I told them ‘Its just the two of us, we are just two guys, so how about TwoGuys IPA?’”
Now, though, the name takes on another context, Payne said.
“Our TwoGuys, today, is, well … everybody’s two guys. You’re the other guy. My grandson is the other guy. Everybody is the other guy. I am just one guy. It is all about community, which is what brought us to Wyoming Park. … I will consider every guest that comes into these doors, starting next year, as the family, as the other guy.”
Plans at this point the business will focus on an array of craft-brewed beers — maybe wines, meads and sodas — as well as what the business calls a “pub-centric” menu of food. Payne’s brewer pedigree includes his having been involved with Osgood Brewing in Grandville as well as head brewer at 57 Brewpub and Bistro in Greenville.
“We are going to focus on traditional styles, beers that you don’t necessarily find everywhere else,” he said. “A lot of English style ales that no one brews around here … I am not knocking any other brewery in town, there are some fantastic ones, but it is going to be all about the other guy, what they like.”
Tentatively, seating at the brewpub will be for about 80 with a possible outdoor patio planned. The property has about 18 parking spaces in front, with about 50 possible behind the building and another 25 or so across the street at the old firehouse.
The key to Michigan voting system, and the reason for confidence in local over results, is in the stand-alone tabulation machines, like the one shown here. (Supplied)
The national headlines this week are filled with reports and rumors of possible voting machine manipulation — did or did not Russian hackers somehow alter the presidential election? But city clerks in the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming are confident in local voting numbers and want to assure local voters of local voting integrity.
“Wyoming voters can rest assured that every ballot cast has been counted and counted accurately,” Kelli VandenBerg, city clerk for the City of Wyoming. said this week. “We have a number of safeguards in place to assure that voters can have confidence that their ballots are processed properly.”
Kentwood City Clerk Dan Kasunic agreed, and said the bottom line reason is that the State of Michigan uses paper ballots that are tabulated at each precinct using stand-alone tabulation machines, voting machines — and the “tabulators are never connected to the internet.”
“So much of the national controversy has been over other types of ballots or the transmission of results,” VandenBerg said.
Before election day, each precinct’s and county board’s paper ballet tabulators are tested for accuracy — “there is a public test prior to each election, for the public to attend, to prove the accuracy,” Kasunic said.
Voting data cards are sealed in each tabulator by the city clerk before the election. Each seal has a number that is recorded in a paper poll book. The seal number is verified by the precinct workers before the polls open on election day.
“When the polls close at the end of election day, precinct workers print a tape of the results before the card is removed from the tabulator,” VandenBerg said. “The card is then sealed in a transfer bag that comes to (Wyoming) City Hall. That numbered seal is cut and then the data is downloaded and transmitted to the county.”
After votes are tabulated, all ballots are then sealed and stored in a secure location.
“All memory cards are sealed and recorded so they cannot be tampered,” Kasunic said. “The memory cards are complied within the city on a program and then sent by email to the county, and the memory cards are sent to the county. So they have both the tapes from each tabulator and the memory cards”
In addition to the safeguards to protect the electronic data, there are safeguards in place to protect the paper ballots.
“At the end of election day, the paper ballots are removed from the tabulator and sealed in approved ballot containers,” Vandenberg said. “The ballots remain sealed and in the clerk’s custody for the appropriate retention period. In this case the election involved a federal race, so the retention period is 22 months.”
It’s the $64,000 question after a huge snow dump: When will my street get plowed? Watch the video above to learn about the City of Wyoming’s snow removal policy. In a nutshell, there are priorities: first, the busiest streets get plowed; next, the collector streets; and last of all, the quiet cul-de-sacs. More info is available here. The goal of the City of Wyoming’s snowplowing operation is to have all streets plowed within 24 hours after the end of a storm.
As with the City of Wyoming, the City of Kentwood’s Department of Public Works prioritizes plowing and salting from highest volume streets to lowest volume streets. Nothing personal, but it goes like this:
Major Streets inthe City of Kentwood with the most traffic — such as 44th, 52nd, Kalamazoo and Eastern — get plowed and salted first during a snow “event”.
Collector Streets — next in line are the “main” streets throughout many of the subdivisions where you live. The streets you use to enter or exit an area adjacent to the major streets are plowed and salted after the major streets have been cleared and are as safe as possible to travel on. Some examples of collector streets are: Baileys Grove Dr., Stauffer Ave and Gentian Ave.
Local Streets are the streets within the subdivisions themselves. These are plowed after the collectors are cleared and safe for travel. Salt is typically not spread on the local streets.
Cul-De-Sacs/stub streets are the last to get attention. Smaller pick-up trucks direct the snow to areas in the cul-de-sac that are suitable for snow storage. It’s important that items are removed from the cul-de-sacs — soccer goals, portable basketball hoops and any other miscellaneous items.
Sometimes things don’t go as planned — maybe a busy street has been plowed and the City has moved onto another when Mother Nature disrupts the routine. When this happens — say, the major roads deteriorate — attention is shifted back to them and the cycle starts over.
Both cities make every effort to have all the roads cleared within 24 hours after the snow event has ended. During most snow events crews are working around the clock with trucks on the road 24 hours a day, sometimes for several days in a row.
Since the City of Wyoming established the City of Wyoming Tree Commission on July 18, this volunteer citizen group, also known as The Tree Amigos, has been busy laying groundwork to support its mission of increasing the City’s tree canopy. Accomplishments so far include creating by-laws, electing officers, confirming a fiduciary, moving the Tree City USA application forward and investigating grants and fund raising ideas.
Caitlin Boyce Saladin
This Saturday, Tree Commission members – and other Tree Amigos – will march in the Wyoming Santa Claus Parade along Division Avenue. They will hand out informational brochures and colorful decals featuring a new logo, designed by sixth-generation Wyoming resident Caitlin Boyce Saladin. A senior at the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan, she has long been active in environmental and social justice causes. She graduated in 2013 from Catholic Central High School. “I grew up with a backyard full of trees,” Saladin said. “Even though our house was just a couple blocks from 44th Street and Burlingame, I got to see deer, opossums, skunks, racoons, birds and squirrels. I hope my little contribution might help my hometown to have more trees in more neighborhoods.”
The Wyoming Tree Commission meets the second Tuesday of every month from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Appointed members include former City councilman, Greg Bryan; Pam Jurick, arborists William Brown and Lauren Davis; retired teacher, Jim Ward; Godwin neighborhood watch leader, Lee Groth; and Stelle Slootmaker, Saladin’s mother. Citizen volunteer Elizabeth Kreager has been an active, dedicated participant. The Tree Commission invites all Wyoming residents who would like to join in at meetings or activities to come on board. After all, you can’t have too many amigos!
The Wyoming Tree commission, nick-named The Tree Amigos, seeks to develop and promote programs that maintain and improve Wyoming’s tree assets in our city’s public and private properties. We strive to foster a healthy, species-diverse tree canopy that meets or exceeds coverage percentages suggested by the Michigan DNR, US Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters.
Don’t let this happen to you… or your car. Mind the rules.
If you live in the City of Wyoming and park on the street, there are no worries three seasons out of the year.
But during the winter months, it’s a different story — parking on both sides of the street can restrict the width of the street to a point where emergency vehicles are unable to have access.
To provide better access, the City implements Odd/Even Parking restrictions from December 1 until March 31. See the Odd/Even Parking ordinance for specific information.
According to the ordinance, from December 1 through the end of March of each year and during any declared snow emergency, any motor vehicles and other licensed trailers or equipment “shall be parked only on that side of the street having even numbers on even numbered calendar days and on that side of the street having odd numbers on the odd numbered calendar days between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 7 pm of the same day with the following exceptions:
When a residence is on a cul-de-sac, on-street parking shall only be on the even numbered calendar days.
When a residence is on a street already posted “No Parking”, the no parking restrictions shall apply.
Parked cars will not be ticketed from 7 pm to midnight. At any other time, cars must be parked on the correct side of the street according to that day’s date.
So, in a nutshell: On even numbered calendar days, park on the side of the street with even numbers (addresses) between midnight and 7 pm. On odd numbered days, park on the side with odd numbers. OK to park on either side from 7 pm to midnight.
For the sixth year, the City of Wyoming will host the annual Wyoming Gives Back, Thursday, Dec. 1, from 6 – 8 p.m. at Rogers Plaza Mall, 972 28th St. SW.
The event will feature an evening of treats donated by area businesses and music from local school choirs and bands. Residents are invited to bring an unwrapped toy for The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree which will enter them into a raffle for gifts from several local businesses. Eva Aguirre Cooper from WOOD-TV will be on hand along with the officers from the Wyoming Department of Public Safety and firefighters from the Wyoming Fire Department. And of course, Santa will there as well.
Chad Boprie, the new director of the Wyoming Senior Center, has been at the facility for two weeks now but his history with the center actually goes back more than 10 years.
Boprie, a graduate of Grand Valley State University’s Therapeutic Recreation program who most recently worked a supervisor of therapeutic recreation services for Hope Network, did a student placement at the Wyoming Senior Center in 2006.
“So I am familiar with the programming, with the City of Wyoming,” he said Monday. “I really enjoyed my time there.”
But he is still in the early phases of his learning mode this time around, after starting Oct. 31.
“It has been good,” he said. “I have been learning the processes the program. Getting to know the members and the participants. As I go along, I will look for things we can make better, but right now I am just learning.”
Part of the City of Wyoming’s Parks and Recreation Department, Boprie will oversee recreation programming for older adults as well as facility operations center.
“The Center is an invaluable community asset that greatly impacts our residents,” Boprie said in supplied material. “I look forward to contributing to its continued success.”
The WSC is an 18,000-square-foot facility that serves more than 200 daily, and offers participants fitness, creative arts, technology, and social activities.
For more information, please contact the city’s Parks and Recreation Department at 616-530-3164 or parks_info@wyomingmi.gov or visit wyomingmi.gov/ParksRec/parks-recreation
As we creep ever closer to the snowy weather, the City of Wyoming has received a number of questions regarding which snow removal vehicles are authorized to use green flashing lights.
According to Michigan law, all vehicles engaged in the removal of snow are to be equipped with at least one (1) flashing, rotating or oscillating yellow or amber light. (MCL257.682c).
Last year, the Legislature enacted a change to MCL-257.698 that only allows state, county or municipal vehicles to use a green flashing, oscillating or rotating light — in combination with a yellow or amber light — while engaged in snow removal or other activities.
So, short answer: unless you’re driving a state, county or municipal vehicle, no green flashing lights for you.
There’s much more than just delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers to be gained by gardening — it can also improve your mental and physical well-being.
And although gardening season is just about over, it helps to know that there are three entities in the area that are actively involved in providing food to the community as well as patients and hospital staff.
Founded in 2014 and measuring approximately 1,380-sq.-ft. divided into 11 raised garden beds, the Community Garden is a partnership between United Church Outreach Ministry (UCOM),Metro Heath Hospital and the City of Wyoming. Ten of the beds measure 4×8’ and one bed is raised up on legs, positioned near the front gate of the garden allowing mobility impaired gardeners access to fresh, healthy produce.
The Community Garden’s goal is to introduce fresh, organic produce into gardeners’ and their families’ diets. Over 150 lbs of tomatoes, radishes, lettuces, broccoli, collard greens, kale, spinach, carrots and beets are donated to UCOM’s food pantry each year, with much more produced and shared between gardeners, friends and family.
In addition to fighting hunger in the Wyoming community, UCOM helps neighbors build healthy lifestyles beginning with the food they eat. The organization operates one of the largest pantries in the city, Client Choice Food Pantry, located at 1311 Chicago Dr. SW in Wyoming.
People living in the UCOM service area are able to access the pantry once a month and receive a three-day emergency supply of healthful and delicious food. Committed to personal empowerment, UCOM has encouraged people to select their own food for over seven years.
Starting October 1st, 2016, the food pantry is open to those in need on Mondays from 9 am-12 pm, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 am-3 pm, and Thursdays from 2-8 pm. Office hours are Monday through Thursday 9 am-5 pm.
Metro Health Garden works with its culinary team, master gardeners and community volunteers to grow fresh fruits and vegetables to be used in Metro Café’s patient and staff meals. The garden boasts an approximately 4,000-sq.-ft. area of rich, productive soil located east of the Hospital.
After being harvested, the produce is weighed and recorded. This information is used to track yields and productivity, as well as food costs saved by producing food on campus.
“Gardening helps relieve stress and improve mental health,” said Dr. Diana Dillman of Metro Health Jenison. “It is also a great way to get outside and get active. And of course the fresh fruits and vegetables are a healthy, tasty result of all that digging in the dirt.”
All-organic seeds and transplants are used to ensure that the produce is of peak flavor, nutritional value and integrity. A drip irrigation system allows efficient application of water, greatly reducing water waste.
Cooking classes, community presentations, and tours of the garden are open to the public and staff of Metro Health Hospital. Visit the Events Calendar or like us on Facebook for the most up-to-date information. If you are interested in volunteering time in the garden, please contact volunteer services.
The garden also offers educational opportunities for youth and community members. The teaching garden is located behind Metro Health Hospital, in Wyoming. To register for these classes, or any of the other free or low-cost Live Healthy programs, visit Metrohealth.net or call 616.252.7117.
The Metro Health Garden is managed by Metro Health’s Culinary Team and Master Gardeners.
