HB 6.24.2021 DONE FINAL

Page 12 — Thursday, June 24, 2021 — The Hastings Banner

Where Michigan stands now, COVID-wise

Capacity limits on businesses across
Michigan, along with mask mandates, ended
Tuesday as COVID-19 cases continue to
plummet.
Here’s what you need to know:
Full capacity: Businesses, including retail
stores, restaurants, fitness gyms and event
venues, including funeral homes, had been
limited to 50 percent of capacity. Now they
can operate at full capacity.
Masks: Those who are not vaccinated are
asked — but not required — to wear masks
indoors in public settings. The state is still
recommending masks in some settings,
including in long-term care facilities that had
recorded more than 5,500 COVID-19 deaths,
health care facilities and in jails and prisons
and homeless shelters.
Other limits: Lesser-known restrictions,
including mandatory testing for staffers at
jails and juvenile justice facilities, also ended
Tuesday, as do restrictions for funeral homes
governing expedited arrangements.
Looking back: A first-term Democratic
governor, Whitmer enacted tough restrictions
early in the pandemic, shutting down schools
and most businesses. But after
Republicans successfully challenged her
emergency powers in court, the restrictions
on schools, businesses and individuals came
from her health department.
Vaccination rate: Many business owners
have argued the restrictions should have
ended months ago, and Whitmer had initially
planned on removing limits once 70 percent
of the state’s adults got at least one dose of the
vaccine.
Michigan is at a 60.8 percent vaccination
rate, as demand for the vaccine has plummet-
ed. Yet cases continue to fall in Michigan and

around the country.

According to the State of Michigan

COVID-19 data tracker, 48.6 percent of Barry

County adults have received at least one dose

of a vaccine, and 45.5 percent of have com-

pleted their vaccination.

Case numbers: The drop continued

Monday, with the state reporting 327 cases

over the past three days, the fewest-ever

reported over three days since April 2020.

And slightly more than 1 percent of more than

41,000 tests came back positive — again, the

lowest since the pandemic began.

The Barry-Eaton District Health

Department reported five active COVID-

cases in Barry County on Monday; a drop

from the 11 active cases it reported last

Monday.

Will restrictions return? It’s possible but

officials say it seems unlikely.

Michigan’s decline in cases the past month

mirrors a drop last summer — bolstering the

theory that COVID-19 could be more preva-

lent in fall and winter months, when people

are less active, inside more often and immune

systems are weaker.

Unlike last summer, though, more than half

of Michigan is now vaccinated, which

decreases the likelihood of massive outbreaks

that would necessitate more restrictions.

Health officials indicated that limits remain

a tool for Whitmer’s administration should

cases spike. But doing so could be extremely

divisive.

No more weekend reporting: Because of

the drop in cases, and with the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention no longer

pulling data from states on weekends,

Michigan has discontinued its Saturday

reporting of COVID-19 data, said Lynn

Sutfin, a spokesperson for the Michigan

Department of Health and Human Services.

“We will continue to monitor case rates to

determine any future changes to the data

schedule,” Sutfin said.

Delton Kellogg parents question

mask mandate, among other issues

Jean Gallup

Contributing Writer

About a dozen people took complaints to

the Delton Kellogg Board of Education at its

meeting Monday.

Speaking for 45 minutes during public

comment time, parents outlined a variety of

problems they have and offered advice to the

board on how to address the issues. Many of

the comments were followed by applause

from other parents who were waiting to

speak.

Superintendent Kyle Corlett responded

after all had spoken, thanking them for their

courteous demeanor when talking to the

school board.

“I really appreciate how respectful you all

have been ...,” Corlett said. “We have the

same core values; we represent you to do

what’s right for our kids ... Basically, we’re

all on the same page.”

The major problem was the wearing of

masks; six of the nine speakers spoke out

against wearing them, one man comparing

mask mandates to Hitler’s rule in Nazi

Germany.

He suggested that his son was not getting

an education and said he might organize a

home school. Several speakers agreed with a

home-schooling concept. Another said he was

concerned about parents not being in charge

of their kids. Some asked if critical race

theory was taught in the schools.

Christine Bedford of Cedar Creek Road

voiced several complaints: Her son fractured

a finger and suffered tissue damage in a

building trades class, and she didn’t feel the

school followed up sufficiently on an injury

of that level. Parents of the student who

caused the accident were not even notified,

she said. Bedford also said her son felt he was

bullied into taking a gender survey, and that

teaching about racism and questionnaires

with gender inquiries were wrong and should

be voluntary.

“They expect us to try to get back to

normal as much as we can,” Corlett said after

all the speakers had concluded their comments.

“We don’t have medical training. If we’re

required to do it, we’ll do it. We trust our

health officers. We have to wait. It looks like

things are going back to normal.”

Critical race theory is not taught in Delton

Kellogg schools, he said. “We do talk about

the race riots in the ‘50s and ‘60s. We teach

[students] not what to think; we teach them

how to think.”

In other business, the board approved

joining other districts nationwide in a class-

action lawsuit against Juul Labs, the

manufacturer of an electronic nicotine

delivery system, or vaping pen. Corlett said

the school’s law firm, Thrun Law of Grand

Rapids, told him there would be no cost to the

district, and any awards would go to anti-

vaping efforts. The suit was started about a

year ago.

School officials across the country say the

pens are a continuing problem for schools,

with students as young as middle schoolers

using vaping pens to inhale atomized nicotine.

Juul markets the pens as an alternative for

adults to transition away from cigarettes, but

critics say the products with flavors of mint,

mango, grape, berry and menthol are aimed

specifically at young people. The State of

Michigan has banned the sale of its flavored

product.

Also Monday, Zoom malfunction made

a budget hearing before the board meeting

unavailable to the public, so Corlett gave a

brief summary: “We did the final budget

amendment for the school year and estimated

our savings will go up 7 percent. We are very

conservative for next year’s budget. We

estimate we may lose up to 70 students and

expect to gain $165 per student in state aid,

which would mean a loss of $168,000 in the

fund balance.”

Hastings students certified in CAD program

Waller earns per fect score

Nine Hastings High School students recently earned
Certified SolidWorks Associate in Mechanical Design
status.
Certified SolidWorks Associate is an entry-level
credential for students trained in SolidWorks, a computer-
aided design and engineering program.
The students learned the program through career and
technical education classes offered at Hastings High
School
“The CSWA certification is proof that students and
people in industry have the SolidWorks expertise with
cutting-edge skills that businesses seek out and reward,”
Ed Domke, Hastings’ CTE director and engineering
design instructor, said.
Students recently took a three-hour industry
certification test, which required a working knowledge of
SolidWorks software, in general, and specific skills, such
as:
Sketch entities – lines, rectangles, circles, arcs, ellipses
centerlines
Sketch tools – offset, convert, trim

Sketch relations

Boss and cut features – extrudes, revolves, sweeps,

lofts

Fillets and chamfers

Linear, circular and fill patterns

Dimensions

Feature conditions – start and end

Mass properties

Materials

Inserting components

Standard mates – coincident, parallel, perpendicular,

tangent, concentric, distance, angle

Reference geometry – planes, axis, mate references

Drawing views

Annotations

Hastings students earning CSWA certification by

receiving a 70 percent or higher grade were Ella Carroll,

Chad Dico, Jack Kensington, Aiden Morton, Maggie

Nedbalek, Devin Pacillo, Michael VanDorp, Caleb Waller

and Owen Winegar.

Waller received a perfect score on this certification

test, Domke noted.

“This does not happen very often and is quite an honor

for Caleb to be at this level of achievement,” he said. “All

students that gained certification can be very proud of

their accomplishments, as this test is difficult to pass and

requires a great deal of preparation.”

sports

Ella Carroll

Owen Winegar

Caleb Waller

Chad Dico

Maggie Nedbalek

Aiden Morton

Jack Kensington

Devin Pacillo

Michael VanDorp

“The CSWA certification

is proof that students and

people in industry have

the SolidWorks expertise

with cutting-edge skills

that businesses seek out

and reward.”

Ed Domke, Hastings CTE

director and engineering

design instructor