05-10-2018 Keeler Township discusses ballot placement for police, fire and road millage renewals; Ke

LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES serving Berrien County were honored by being chosen to receive the Friend of Public Health Award for 2018 at a recent ceremony. Pictured (from the left) are: Lt. Melinda Logan (Michigan State Police), Peg Kohring (Berrien County Board of Health Chair), Sheriff Paul Bailey (Berrien County Sheriff’s Department), Chief Dan Unruh (Berrien County Police Services Council), First Lt. Michael Dawson (Michigan State Police), Nicki Britten (Berrien County Health Department Health Officer). See the Health Department column “For your health & safety” on Page 2 for more information on this event.

Keeler Township discusses ballot placement for police, fire and road millage renewals

By Annette Christie Keeler Township officials discussed the timing of some upcoming ballot proposals at their Tuesday, May 1 meeting. The board had previously approved placing the police, fire, and road millage renewals on the August ballot. All three millage will expire in 2019. Supervisor Bill Kays led discussion by noting that they don’t need to do it right now and with the number of ballot issues coming up in August and November they might want to reconsider the timing. Clerk Carl Davis noted that there will not be any elections in the off year. There seemed to be some concern that putting it with other ballot issues could perhaps hinder their success at passing. Treasurer Barb Fisher commented that she would like to see them just do this right now adding that if they do it in August and it does fail they could still put it on the November ballot. The board concurred and the millage renewals will be on the August ballot. All three millage are for 2019-2022. The board will be asking for the Fire Services Millage to be renewed at 1.00 mill; the Police Millage to be renewed at .75 mill; and the Road Millage to be renewed at 1.00 mill.

Scheduled road work The Keeler Township Board has approved their 2018 Road Improvement Program which includes the following seal coating projects: 80th Avenue from CR687 West to County Line Road, 2.91 miles estimated at $49,470; 77th Avenue from CR687 East to CR681, 3.01 miles estimated at $51,170; 66th Street from the corner of M-152 to 90th Avenue, .5 miles estimated at $9.250. Including the gravel, hot mix, mowing, dust control, and miscellaneous ditching, all of the township’s projects total $172,000.

Keeler Fire Department fund-raiser

The Keeler Township Fire Department will host a Pancake Breakfast on May 12 for a Keeler Township resident who is struggling with some medical issues. The hours will be from 8 a.m. to noon. Chief Don Bogart said of local business owner Jeff Halliburton, “He has been very supportive of us and we just want to return the favor.” The funds raised will go to help him and his family with medical bills and associated expenses. The Keeler Twp. Fire had a busy month for April. They responded to 22 calls, 16 medical and 6 fire calls. None of the fires were in Keeler Twp. They were assists to Decatur, Hartford, and North Berrien. Bogart noted that the conditions are very dry and FEMA has put out a high fire warning.

Van Buren County Sheriff coverage Van Buren County Deputy Ray Hochsprung reported, during the month of April he worked 16 days in the township. He worked on 27 complaints of which 11 were criminal. Hochsprung did make one felony arrest for a sex offender registration violation. The subject is a suspect in numerous other crimes both in Cass and Van Buren counties. He is currently lodged in the Van Buren County Jail and the investigation continues.

Flower sale Friday & Saturday by Friends of the Hartford Library

The Friends of the Library is holding its annual Mother’s Day Flower Sale on Friday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, May 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hartford Public Library. They will be offering colorful floral baskets, some annuals and perennials. Also available are beautiful roses in a lovely vase with a bow at $3.00 each. All proceeds from the flower sale support the Hartford Library Children’s Summer Programs.

Southern Gospel and Bluegrass Concert, 5K race at Grace Christian School on Saturday Grace Christian School is hosting foot stompin’ bluegrass and southern gospel music, delicious BBQ, 5K race, carnival games, raffle items and more! It’s the first ever AmazinGrace Off Road 5K Race with BBQ competition and a concert. It will take place Saturday, May 12 with registration beginning at 3:30 p.m. at Grace Christian School located at 325 N. M-140 in Watervliet. The 5K race, Southern Gospel and Bluegrass Concert, and Delicious BBQ Competition all begin at 4 p.m. Pre-register for the 5K at www.swmiracers.org. For more information on the event, please visit www.gcspatriots.org or visit Watervliet Grace Christian on Facebook.

SUCCESSFUL COIN COLLECTION… Coloma Junior High students participated in a Pennies for Patients fund-raiser sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Both 6th and 8th grade students exceeded their goals! Eighth grade students, pictured here, more than quadrupled their goal of $225.00! Aiden Dryer, Cole Miller, Caleb Ishmael, Riley Davis, and Luke Phillips were instrumental in motivating their classmates to excel in this campaign. Strategies included placing paper currency in other grade level containers that would be deducted from those grade level totals, and collecting impressive coin donations. Only coins counted toward grade level totals. The 8th graders were driven to raise funds for such a worthy cause. Sarah Hibbard visited Coloma Junior High as a representative of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to receive the proceeds from the fundraiser.

North Berrien Historical Society presents the German POW  Experience in Michigan, May 15

Join the North Berrien Historical Museum as they look into the German POW Experience in Michigan on Tuesday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m. Between 1942 and 1945, nearly 400,000 German Prisoners of War were placed in camps throughout the United States. There were 32 camps here in Michigan, including ones in Coloma, Benton Harbor, and Hartford. Dr. Howard Poole will shed light on the experiences of these captured men including how they were transported from Europe and back after the war, stories of individual POWs while in the U.S., as well as stories of POWs who returned to the U.S. after the war. Dr. Poole grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana with a farming background. He attended Purdue University first majoring in agriculture (B.S. and M.S. degrees in Animal Science) and then shifting to Educational Research and Science Education for a doctorate degree in 1972. He joined Western Michigan University’s faculty in 1972 where he worked until he retired in 2004. No RSVP is required for this free program. Contact the museum at (269) 468-3330 or info@northberrienhistory.org for more information.

Lakeland to offer free babysitting class in Watervliet

To help adolescents learn how to be safe sitters, Lakeland Health will host a free “Babysitting with Confidence” class on Saturday, May 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Classrooms A & B at Lakeland Hospital, Watervliet, located at 400 Medical Park Drive. Created specifically for adolescents, this course covers a variety of topics intended to give participants the confidence and knowledge for caring for small children, including: Questions to ask before taking a job; Expectations of a baby sitter; Telephoning in an emergency; Home and fire safety; Infant and toddler care; First aid and choking; Discipline; Food preparation. Participants must be in the fifth grade or be age 11 or older to register. Preregistration is required and class size is limited. For more information or to register for this free class, call (269) 556-2872.

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