WATZ Today's Country

Wednesday News Summary 01-04-23
Wed, 04 Jan 2023 12:11:43 EST

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

STATE OF THE STATE
Just into her second term -- Governor Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her fifth State of
the State address on January 25th. The address will be held in the Michigan house
chambers in front of a joint session of the state house and senate. Whitmer says the
address gives her an opportunity to talk about the issues that make a real difference in
peoples lives and focus on what the state plans to get done this year.

NEW MICHIGAN U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Three new U.S. Representatives from Michigan will have to wait to be sworn in to
office. The swearing in will happen after a House Speaker is elected. There were three
votes yesterday in the U.S. House, but none ended with a majority. The Republican
members of Michigan's delegation all voted for Kevin McCarthy from California. The
Democrats all voted for Hakeem Jeffries from New York. West Michigan
skoal-ton will be the first Democrat in more than
40 years to represent the Grand Rapids area.
Congressmen-elect John James and Shri Thanadar will be representing parts of Detroit
along with parts of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.

BABYSITTER
A southwestern Michigan man has been sentenced to at least 12 and a half years in
prison after pleading guilty in the 2017 death of an infant he had been babysitting. A
Kalamazoo County Circuit Court judge sentenced 37-year-old Bryant Rolland Jr. to 12
and a half to 40 years in prison in the death of 11-month-old Jaceyon Downey. The
Kalamazoo man had pleaded no contest in December to second-degree murder in the
boy's death. He was accused of pushing the infant down a set of stairs four days before
the child died in a hospital.

MOVING FROM MICH
Michigan is among the top 10 of most moved from states in 2022. Michigan coming in
at number 4 on the list -- according to a study done by United Van Lines, the nation's
largest household goods mover. According to the study, 58% of Michigan's moves were
outbound -- making for more moves from the state than into the state. The list also
named New Jersey, Illinois and New York as states people moved away from.

RETAILERS SCHOLARSHIPS
The Michigan Retailers Foundation has kicked off its annual college and professional
training scholarship competition for the 2023-2024 academic year. The Foundation will
award 12 scholarships this year -- each worth 3,500 dollars. Since 1999 -- the
Foundation has awarded more than 600 scholarships to Michigan students... totaling
more than 650 THOUSAND dollars. Scholarship recipients are selected based on
academic performance and extracurricular activities.

BOOZE FREE BEER
One Detroit brewing company is getting ready to launch it's non-alcoholic beer line...
just in time for Dry January. The Eastern Market Brewing Company will have a nonalcoholic Grapefruit Sour and non-alcoholic Tangerine Sour on the shelves at Buschs,
Total Wine and several other independent retailers. According to the Brewing
Company, sours gave non-alcoholic beers the most flavor. Four-pack cans will also be
available at the Eastern Market taproom and their sister locations.

OTTAWA COUNTY COMMISSION SHAKEUP
There's been a big shakeup at the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. The
commissioners voted to fire administrator John Shay and appointed John Gibbs to
replace him 6-3....led by the board's conservative members. The republican Gibbs lost
to democrat Hillary Scholten in a race for Congress in November. He was an
employee in the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Some commissioners supported the move, while some opposed the move.
Commissioner Roger Bergman says Shay was hired for his qualifications and says he
was appalled by the motion to fire him.
The board also replaced the county's top health officer and got rid of its Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion Department.

RICHMOND SCHOOLS CLOSED-SE MI
A school district in Macomb County will be CLOSED for the rest of the week .. after a
written threat was discovered when classes resumed after the holiday break.
Richmond Community Schools, making the decision.. after learning of the threat
yesterday morning. The note threatened the safety of an employee AND their spouse
and children. It also included some personal information. Richmond Police are now
investigating -- school officials say they want to make sure that whoever left the note is
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

NEW YEAR'S SHOOTINGS-SW MI
The man accused of firing shots at a New Year's party in Lawrence Township,
southeast of Kalamazoo, didn't realize his two friends were downrange. WOOD TV
reports Van Buren County Lieutenent Tony Evans says the 62-year-old man fired 5.56
millimeter rounds, similar to what is normally used in an AR-15 style rifle. Evans says
he thought the range was clear, but two men, David Reed and Jason McCreary, were
killed. Evans says the men were friends with the suspect....who is cooperating with the
investigation.

KALAMAZOO FIRE
Two people are being treated for smoke inhalation after a fire at an abandoned building
last night in Kalamazoo. WOOD TV reports firefighters walked two people out of the
building at the scene of the fire before they were treated. There's no word how the fire
started.

MEGAMILLIONS
Once again - the Mega Millions jackpot is closing in on ONE BILLION Dollars -- after
NO ticket matched all SIX numbers drawn last night. The winning combination was 25,
29, 33, 41 and 44, plus the gold Mega Ball 18. Friday's jackpot will be an estimated
940 MILLION dollars.
In more than 20 years since the game began in 2002, there have been just THREE
prizes bigger than that. Last July -- a massive 1-pt-3 BILLION dollar prize was won in
Illinois. The Mega Millions record remains 1-pt-5 BILLION, won by a single ticket in
South Carolina in October 2018.

COVID-MI
There have been more than 97-hundred cases of COVID-19 in Michigan in the past
week and 69 deaths. The states positive rate was around 12 percent as of Dec. 20th,
about the same as the previous week, according to the Michigan Department of Health
and Human Services.
The total number of COVID cases in Michigan is nearly three million with more than 40-
thousand deaths.

CENTRAL LAKE BOIL WATER ADVISORY
There's a boil water advisory for the city of Central Lake in northern Michigan, north of
Traverse City. Officials say a leak caused a loss of water pressure and part of the
water main had to be shut down on Tuesday. Central Lake officials say they are
working to restore the water pressure and test the water.

TWO MEN SHOT GRAND RAPIDS
Two men were shot as they left a private birthday party in Grand Rapids early Tuesday
morning. The injuries were reportedly not life threatening. Police say the shootings do
not appear to be random. No one has been arrested.

PONTIAC REC MARIJUANA
When the Pontiac City Council meets next week (Tuesday), members are expected to
take a final vote on a recreational marijuana resolution. At their meeting yesterday
(Tues), the council met with its attorneys to go over the ordinance. The amended
measure would allow a total of 20 retailers. It also would permit four social equity
retailers and five class A micro-businesses, up from three.
In November 2018, voters statewide approved the sale of recreational marijuana. But
the issue has been under debate in Pontiac.

STATE OF STATE ART
Governor Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her State of the State address January 25th
and she's announced an art contest for the program cover. Whitmer is challenging
Michigans K-12 students to come up with a creative design for the program cover
following the theme What makes Michigan strong?
Students are encouraged to be as creative as possible and are welcome to use crayon,
marker, paint or any other material. To submit your design, please visit michigan-dotgov-slash-artcontest and follow the instructions by January 15th.