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Southwest Michigan Today: Wednesday September 26, 2018

Road construction - file photo by WMUK
WMUK

An Allegan County man dies of West Nile Virus. Southwest Michigan College’s president denies allegations of sexism in the school’s fundraising. Governor Snyder says there’s no end in sight to a labor dispute causing a stoppage on road work in the state. 

(MLive) An Allegan County resident has died after contracting West Nile Virus. MLive says the Allegan County Health Department did not reveal any details of the person who died such as gender or age. There have been at least three other deaths in Michigan this year due to the virus transmitted by mosquitoes.

(Kalamazoo Gazette) The President of Southwestern Michigan College is denying allegations of sexism in its fundraising strategy. The St. Joseph Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium first reported the allegations made by the director of the college’s foundation Eileen Toney. She resigned at the end of last week. Southwestern Michigan College President David Matthews denied the allegations in a letter to the college’s faculty that was shared with the Kalamazoo Gazette.

(MPRN) Governor Rick Snyder still can’t build a bridge between a union and a construction trade association to end a road work stoppage across the state. After its contract was up, the Operating Engineers Local 324 union wanted to bargain directly with individual contractors – not with a construction trade association, Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, or MITA. Snyder met with both sides, but he said they haven’t been able to come up with a long term or short-term solution. Which he said is challenging given that winter is around the corner. In a press conference Tuesday, Snyder said his administration is still working out if they can legally intervene given federal labor laws. Snyder has said he is considering bringing in the National Guard engineering units to take care of important road sections before winter.

(WCMU) The National Park Service plans to bring 20 - 30 wolves to Isle Royale in the next three to five years. The island in Lake Superior has only two wolves left and officials say they hope to bolster wolf populations to keep prey animals like moose in check. Liz Valencia with Isle Royale National Park says they’re working now to trap and relocate half a dozen animals. Captured wolves will undergo a health screening and will be released on the island after being vaccinated and dewormed. The wolves could start arriving as early as this week.