The prosecution and defense rest in the case of man accused of killing five bicyclists and seriously injuring four others near Kalamazoo in 2016. Unemployment rates in the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek labor markets are up slightly compared to a year ago. Long-time Kalamazoo College athletic director and coach Rolla Anderson has died.
Closing arguments are expected Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of killing five bicyclists and seriously injuring four others when he ran over them with his truck in 2016. The Kalamazoo Gazette says the prosecution and defense rested Thursday in the trial of Charles Pickett Junior. He faces five counts of second degree murder and multiple counts of operating under the influence. The bicyclists were riding near Kalamazoo on North Westnedge Avenue in June of 2016 when the crash happened.
A Michigan Court of Claims judge says the state cannot use public funds to reimburse private and parochial schools for the costs of health and safety programs. The decision says that violates the Michigan Constitution's ban on direct or indirect taxpayer funding of private schools. The Legislature set aside two and a half million dollars in the current state budget for the purpose. But it was also meant to test the limits of the state’s ban on public funding for private and parochial schools. The state may appeal the decision.
Long time Kalamazoo College athletic director and coach Rolla Anderson has died. K-College says Anderson passed away on Wednesday. He was 97. Anderson first came to Kalamazoo College in 1953 and served as athletic director until his retirement in 1985. He also coached football, tennis, golf, cross country and basketball. Anderson was also director of the United States Tennis Association’s Boys and 18 and 16 National Championships. He was inducted into K-College’s athletic hall of fame in 1992. The Anderson Athletic Center at Kalamazoo College was dedicated and named for Rolla Anderson 1981.
Unemployment rates in the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek labor markets were up slightly in March compared to a year ago. The jobless rate in the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area was 4.4% last month. The seasonally unadjusted jobless rate was a tenth of a percent lower in Kalamazoo and Van Buren Counties at the same time last year. The unemployment rate in the Battle Creek MSA, which includes all of Calhoun County was 4.9% in March. That’s also a tenth of a percentage point higher than it was at the same time in 2017.