Government

Appointments to two county panels were approved during Tuesday’s St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners meeting. John Gelvin and Sarah Apwisch were appointed to the Commission On Aging Board. Commissioner Al Balog said he and Commissioner Ken Malone, along with COA director Tim Stoll, interviewed both candidates. Balog said Gelvin and Apwisch will be great additions to the COA board. …

Officials say Michigan deaths from the coronavirus rose 16% in the largest daily jump since the pandemic hit the state. The state reported 118 additional deaths related to the respiratory disease caused by the virus, raising the total to 845. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose 10% to nearly 19,000. Gov Gretchen Whitmer says “it’s another tough 24 hours” …

If you’re a census slacker and haven’t yet filled out the form for the 2020 head count, the federal government is trying another way to get in touch with you. Starting Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau is mailing out millions of paper forms to homes whose residents haven’t yet answered the once-a-decade questionnaire. About a month into the start of …

The Republican-led Michigan Legislature has lengthened Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s coronavirus emergency declaration by 23 days, through April, rather than adopt a 70-day extension she sought into mid-June. Republicans say they had to vote Tuesday to keep Whitmer’s emergency declaration from expiring. But Democrats say it would not have lapsed because she issued a declaration last week, meaning legislators did …

Michigan Department of Transportation has suspended work on the U.S. 131 redevelopment project in Three Rivers as a precaution against COVID-19. MDOT’s Nick Schirripa said crews will be on hiatus this week and next before resuming April 20. That return date, however, is subject to conditions at that time, Schirripa added. In the meantime, northbound and southbound U.S. 131 will …

Nearly 800,000 people have filed for unemployment benefits in Michigan since mid-March. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday detailed the stunning impact of the coronavirus on the state’s economy. Only businesses deemed essential remain open and Whitmer says her stay-at-home order will be extended in the coming days. She says more people have applied for unemployment aid in the last two …

Michigan lawmakers plan to convene for the first time in weeks to lengthen Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency declaration amid the coronavirus pandemic but are at odds over the extension and whether the session is even necessary. The Republican-led Legislature is scheduled to meet Tuesday, three weeks after last voting. Since then, one legislator has died from a suspected COVID-19 infection and another has tested …

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says Michigan is probably a month away from reaching the apex of the coronavirus outbreak that already has infected at least 9,300 people and contributed to the deaths of 337 in the state. She said Thursday that everyone must act as though we could be carrying the virus and stay home because just one person with it …

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered that students in the state will not return to K-12 school buildings the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic and instead will learn remotely. All public and private schools are more than halfway through a four-week shutdown ordered by Whitmer to combat the outbreak. She said Thursday face-to-face instruction will …

The number of Michigan residents infected with the coronavirus is moving closer to 10,000, one of the highest totals in the U.S. Michigan cases increased by 1,719 on Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 9,334. Coronavirus-related deaths rose by 78, for a total of 337. The state says hundreds of ventilators from the federal government will be quickly put into …