SW Michigan

PORTAGE, MI - Portage Public Schools will spend more than $600,000 to build secure entries at nine buildings. The Portage school board Monday approved a $606,100 contract with Frederick Construction of Vicksburg for stepped up building security measures that come in part because of last year's Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A Kent County judge today ruled that a voter-approved amendment to decriminalize marijuana was valid. At the same time, Judge Paul Sullivan dismissed Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth's effort to nullify the charter amendment.

MARSHALL - Marshall Public Schools would transform its elementary school makeup by 2015 if its Board of Education approves a model recommended Monday by the district superintendent. Currently, Marshall runs three elementary buildings that each educate kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, and houses preschoolers in its Shamrock Center.

At the request of Kalamazoo city staff, the Kalamazoo City Commission agreed to provide $200,000 to back the city's stance that toxic waste at the Allied Paper landfill in the Edison neighborhood should be completely removed