Motorcyclists rally around friend to fight cancer

Police officers accompanied the motorcyclists on their trip so participants could drive through traffic lights without stopping.

“We had full-size semi drivers on the side of the road, being courteous,” Asa Sharpe said.

The motorcyclists traveled about 70 miles altogether and drove through Allen, Quincy, Montgomery, Camden and Hillsdale.

“The old [motorcyclists] stereotype is gone — that is, gangs,” Cherie Sharpe said. “I would not have missed this for the world.”

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

New minimum wage has vague benefits

Michigan’s minimum wage will jump by 25 cents on July 1, which will mean pay raises for many unskilled laborers — but some Hillsdale County residents speculate that it will hurt the pocketbooks of Michigan consumers, including minimum wage employees.

Minimum wage is currently $7.15, so the increase will bring it to $7.40. This increase is the last in a three-phase process that Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law in October 2006.

Burger King employee Rachelle Stump, who has earned minimum wage since she accepted the job almost a year ago, said she expects price increases to keep up with her new pay raise.

“It’s the exact same,” she said. “It may look like you’re making a lot more but everything else around you is raised.”

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Judges cool to ballot reform effort

The Reform Michigan Government Now group says it aims to streamline government. The proposal would reduce government officials’ salaries and cap the number of state departments at 18, in addition to reducing the number of legislators and judges.

“That seems to be a perverse definition of streamlining,” Sanderson said of the reduction of judges. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

Michael Nye, Chief Probate Judge at the Hillsdale Circuit Court, said the proposal raises the question of when voters should stop cutting back on the number of judges. If five judges work more efficiently than seven, that logic might lead to handing all the power to one judge eventually.

Nye said he didn’t trust the reductions in the number of legislators, either.

“By decreasing the number of senators and the number of representatives, what you’re actually doing is cutting back representation for the people,” he said.

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Walberg signs health petition

By signing, Walberg agreed to work with the next president and Congress to provide “quality, affordable health coverage” to all Americans, though the NFIB’s petition focuses on small business owners and employees’ struggles.

Walberg said the NFIB’s plans for health care reform align closely with the Making Health Care More Affordable Act, which Walberg introduced to the House on May 1.

“It goes along with my agenda,” he said of the NFIB’s petition. “We’re on the same wavelength.”

Walberg’s bill would allow small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance, which would give them buying power similar to the power labor unions enjoy, said Matt Lahr, Walberg’s press secretary.

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Less kids means tighter budget

“You play a guessing game,” said Tom Bartol, Litchfield Community Schools Superintendent. “We’re building a budget based on an awful lot of assumptions right now, but we’re meeting the requirement of the law.”

State law requires the board to submit a budget by July 1.

State Rep. Bruce Caswell (R-Pittsford), who attended the meeting to present a plaque to recent graduate Erica Marsh for a victory in the MHSAA state championship, told the board members they may also receive less money than expected for their state Foundation Grant.

“I would be extremely careful about your spending, because the economy is not going in a positive direction,” he said.

Childs said the board recently submitted layoff notices to four teachers and reduced hours for nine other teachers to cut back on next year’s expenditures.

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Hanging tight

Trevor Reasoner’s chainsaw swings from his hip as he feeds himself rope, preparing to saw off the top of a pine tree. Shane Mitchell, owner of Mitchell’s Tree Climbers and Reasoner’s employer, shuffled around the tree base, keeping his eye on Reasoner until the job was finished. “We maintain a 100 percent tie-in when we’re in a tree,” Mitchell said. “We’re never just hanging by our own grip.”

[Property of the Hillsdale Daily News]

Couple has been keeping roads clean for 29 years

Duane and Alice Shay’s neighbors on Bird Lake use the couple’s trademark golf cart as a gauge of the seasons.

Everyday from the beginning of spring to the end of fall, the Shays pick up litter on four miles’ worth of road surrounding their home in Jefferson Township.

“I always know it’s springtime ‘cause we always see you guys out there picking up trash,” a neighbor told Alice Shay last April.

Dorothy Moose, another neighbor who sometimes helps the Shays collect trash, said their dedication matches their personalities.

“That’s the kind of people they are,” she said. “They’re just workers.”

Alice Shay, 61, said she and Duane, 69, started their cleaning efforts 29 years ago when they moved into their current house.

“I just seen a lot of garbage, and I got tired of looking at it,” Alice said.

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Civil War Days: Surgeon shows war’s bloody reality

Scores of spectators attended the Hillsdale Historical Society’s Civil War reenactment at the Will Carleton Poorhouse on Saturday afternoon, where many spent the first few hours munching bratwursts and strolling about in the sunshine.

But after the battle reenactment Howard Streeter reminded them of the Civil War’s bloody reality, when he sawed off a “wounded” soldier’s artificial leg in his operation tent, using a large cleaver, fake blood and bandages.

“Take him away,” he said after tightening the bandage. “Bring in another boy.”

The next patient suppressed a grin as the doctor cleaned his head wound and applied a bandage.

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Hillsdale Historical Society: Civil War Days

Mary Foulke, a third-grade teacher at Gier Elementary School, said she felt particularly affected by Samuel Childs’ performance of Edward Easling, whose teeth fell out after he returned home because he contracted scurvy during the war.

“I think the more realistic, the more human it is, the better it is and the more interesting,” she said.

Franklin Ford, played by Bill Smith, said he enlisted at the age of 17 — a year below the required age.

“I wanted to join the army so bad I could taste it!” he told his audience. “I was a big ol’ strappin’ farm boy!”

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]

Airport funding cleared

The Hillsdale Municipal Airport will receive the $310,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration that it almost lost when Michigan’s lawmakers missed the deadline for allocating the money.

On Monday, eight days after the June 1 deadline, the FAA said it did not plan to revoke the $44 million it offered to Michigan’s airports for capital improvements.

“We’re really encouraged to hear that,” said James Scheibner, Hillsdale Municipal Airport manager.

Scheibner said his airport probably would have received the money in 2009 if the Michigan Legislature failed to allocate it this year. But such a delay would throw off the airport’s timetable for constructing a new runway.

“That was the really critical thing for a lot of the projects: They’re time-sensitive,” he said. “They only have a certain time frame to get things done in, and when the weather closes it out, they can no longer do that.”

[Read the whole story here at the Hillsdale Daily News.]