Donors promise additional money if a campaign for Kalamazoo’s Foundation for Excellence falls short. Grand Valley State University hires the first woman president in school history. Former Kalamazoo Gazette sports editor Jack Moss has passed away.
(Kalamazoo) The City of Kalamazoo has another option if its Foundation for Excellence fundraising campaign falls short. The city hopes to raise $500-million by the end of the year to pay for things like property tax cuts and poverty reduction programs. The campaign started in 2016 with a $70-million gift by area business leaders William Johnston and Bill Parfet. The Kalamazoo Gazette says the two have promised to contribute more money to keep the Foundation for Excellence going if the campaign doesn’t reach its goal.
Grand Valley State University has a new president. And for the first time in the school's 60-year history the office will be held by a woman. Grand Valley State board members said Tuesday they've picked Philomena Mantella as the school's fifth president. Mantella is the CEO of Northeastern University's Lifelong Learning Network in Boston. She'll take over from current Grand Valley President Thomas Haas, who retires July first.
(MPRN) Is a law that adds additional requirements for collecting signatures to get a measure on the state ballot constitutional? Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wants to know. She’s asked Attorney General Dana Nessel for an opinion on a controversial measure signed into law late last year. Benson wants a formal opinion on several provisions. That includes one that caps the number of signatures that can come from a single congressional district.
(Michigan Radio) Frigid weather Tuesday didn’t deter hundreds of people in Flint from lining up for cases of free water. State regulators say Flint's water is well within federal standards for lead. But Governor Gretchen Whitmer promised this week to make sure bottled water will remain available for city residents until Flint completes its pipe replacement program. That's expected to wrap up late this summer.
(Kalamazoo Gazette) Former Kalamazoo Gazette sports editor Jack Moss has died. He started writing for the Gazette while enrolled as a student at Western Michigan University. Moss was hired to a full-time job in 1948 and would write for the paper for more than 50 years. Moss served as the Gazette’s sports editor from 1967 until his retirement in 2002. He continued to write guest columns from Fort Myers, Florida for several years after retiring. The Kalamazoo Gazette says Moss died Tuesday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 91 years old.
In men’s basketball, Western Michigan lost at Ohio Tuesday night 81-76. The Broncos are now 6-13 overall and have lost all six of their Mid-American Conference games this season. Western will host Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon.