The Hastings Banner — Thursday, October 7, 2021 — Page 11Victim identified in fatal Hastings crash
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Hastings Police have released the identity
of a man who died in a two-car crash Sept. 29
on the city’s north side.
Thomas Seim, 79, was killed in the crash at
North Broadway [M-43] and Benson Street,
Interim Police Chief Dale Boulter said.
Seim was the driver of a Buick that was
struck by a Ford Explorer driven by a
32-year-old man. Seim was pronounced
dead at the scene. The crash shut down por-
tions of Broadway in both directions for
about three hours.
An investigation into the crash is continu-
ing. Police are awaiting results of computer-
ized data for both vehicles before forwarding a
report to the county prosecutor. Michigan StatePolice at Hastings are assisting investigators in
collecting that information, Boulter said.
Seim was an auditor for General Motors
for nearly 50 years, and enjoyed golfing,
bowling and traveling in his spare time,according to his obituary, provided by
Williams-Gores Funeral Home.
Family members of Seim will receive
friends Saturday, Oct. 16, from 3-5 p.m. at the
funeral home, 133 E. Orchard St. in Delton.Kyomi’s Gift Cornhole Tournament
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WHERE: Barry Community Enrichment Center (BCEC)
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CUT OUT AND BRING TO REGISTRATION FOR A $5/PERSON DISCOUNTGOP, Democrats could split state Senate under new redistricting maps
Bridge Michigan
Members of Michigan’s redistricting com-
mission have agreed in principle to new state
Senate boundaries that would equally split
seats among Democrats and Republicans.
Each party would be favored in 19 seats in
the 38-seat Senate, under a draft drawn
Monday that was tweaked to be fairer to both
parties and protect minority votes.
Current districts favor Republicans 22-16,
even though Michigan leans Democratic in
statewide elections. Critics say that is the result
of gerrymandering, which prompted voters in
2018 to create a bipartisan panel to draw polit-
ical districts after the decennial census.
That group, the 13-member Michigan
Independent Redistricting Commission,
could vote on the Senate district maps in the
next few days. Proposed congressional and
state House maps also may be reviewed and
adjusted this week.
Before final approval late this year, the
commission plans five public hearings across
the state to hear from the public, before mak-
ing additional adjustments.
The new Senate proposal emerged after
earlier maps from the commission would
have given Republicans a two-seat advantage
in the Senate. That drew concern from
Democrats and others, prompting the com-
mission to try to make the maps fairer to both
parties.
Districts represent 252,222 to 275,
people.
Among the highlights of the new proposal:
· Barry County is in one district (3), leaning
Republican, with a racial makeup of 87.4 per-
cent white, 6.8 percent non-Hispanic black,
4.4 percent Hispanic, and 2.6 percent Asian. In
that area, Trump won by a margin of 58.8 per-
cent in 2020 and 58.1 percent in 2016.
· Kalamazoo is in one district (21), as is
Ann Arbor (27), while Grand Rapids (23 and
24) and Lansing are in two (30 and 32). All
lean Democratic.
· Saginaw, Midland and Bay City would be
in one district that leans narrowly Democratic.
The current boundaries have each city in dif-
ferent districts, all of which are currently
represented by Republicans.
· Minorities would be the majority in dis-
tricts 14 (Southfield, Pontiac, Bloomfield
Township and Bloomfield Hills), 6 (Detroit
and parts of Warren and Sterling Heights), 8(Detroit, Hamtramck, Hazel Park, Madison
Heights), 9 (Detroit, Redford, parts of Livonia
and Farmington Hills) and 17 (southwest
Detroit and several Downriver communities.)
· While existing districts generally adhere
to county boundaries, the new proposal has
six districts stretching from Wayne and into
Oakland or Macomb counties.Two proposed
districts now include parts of both Oakland
and Macomb counties.
· The maps split some big cities like
Livonia and Sterling Heights – which are
now both in one district apiece – to maintain
“communities of interest” in one district, like
the Bangladeshi community in Hamtramck
and Warren. Sterling Heights is split into
three districts, while Livonia is in two.
The commission weighed several factors
in creating the districts, including the “effi-
ciency gap,”which attempts to measure
whether voters are “packed” by political par-
ties into districts to waste” votes.”
A gap of zero means districts are evenly
split by Democrats and Republicans. Earlier
versions of the maps had gaps of 12 percent
or higher, while the new one split that in half
to 6.3 percent in favor of Republicans.Fairness is one consideration, but commis-
sioners said they are also trying to comply
with the Voting Rights Act to preserve the
rights of minority voters by creating districts
in which they are the majority.
Maintaining those districts under new
Senate maps was a sticking point during
Monday’s negotiations.
Bruce Adelson, the commission’s voting
rights attorney, recommended commissioners
“unpack,” or move Black voters, from dis-
tricts in the Detroit area.
He said the U.S. Supreme Court had made
it clear that if there are more minority voters
than what is needed to elect their candidate of
choice, that could be in violation of the
Voting Rights Act.
The commission’s legal team recommend-
ed the commission to bring the number of
African Americans within the voting age
population down to about 35 percent in the
Detroit districts, from the current percentage
which ranges from 44 percent to 48 percent.
This made commissioners uneasy.
Anthony Eid, an independent from Orchard
Lake in Oakland County, said he was
“increasingly uncomfortable with this direc-tion.”
Eid used as an example proposed district
17, which would include Ecorse, Highland
Park and River Rouge. That district would be
composed of 44 percent white voters, 38 per-
cent Black voters and 19 percent Hispanic
voters.
“If you have a primary election where
there’s two Black candidates and a white can-
didate, how is it that the candidate of choice
is actually going to get elected?” Eid asked.
“I understand that in the general election,
yes, all of these districts that we draw are
going to be Democratic districts, but that’s
not where the choice actually happens in
these areas.”
Commissioner Juanita Curry, a Democrat
from Detroit, vouched for increasing the rec-
ommended number of Black voters in dis-
tricts, arguing the panel should take voter
turnout – rather than eligible voters – into
consideration.
Adelson doubled down that drawing dis-
tricts was a “data-driven legal process.”
“It’s not an anecdotal process, it’s not a
process where we look at something and
make conclusive decisions,” Adelson said.Middleville could get new deputy
under updated sheriff contract
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The village of Middleville could soon add
a contracted deputy under an updated agree-
ment with the Barry County Sheriff’s
Department.
Under the contract between the village and
sheriff’s department that was reviewed at
Tuesday’s village council committee of the
whole meeting, Middleville would gain a
fourth contracted deputy. It would be the first
addition to the department’s presence in the
village since it began contracting for law
enforcement services in 1999.
“We are in a community that is literally
twice the size ... that it was when the original
agreement was put into force,” said Trustee
Kevin Smith, who was part of a three-mem-
ber ad hoc committee that worked on the
contract update. “I think it’s timely and cer-
tainly relevant to do what we need to accom-
plish for the sheriff relationship at this stage.”
Middleville’s population has grown 57.
percent in a little more than 20 years, from
2,721 in the 2000 U.S. Census to 4,295 in
2020, census figures show.
Smith and Village Manager Patricia Rayl
met last week with Sheriff Dar Leaf and
Undersheriff Jason Sixberry to go over details
of the contract. At present, the sheriff’s depart-
ment has two deputies and a sergeant who
work out of offices at Middleville Village Hall.
Smith said one of the topics of discussion dealtwith how to deal with situations in Thornapple
Township, outside the village limits.
“We had discussions regarding the blurring
of the [boundary] line rather than making it a
hard [demarcation], simply for efficiency and
effective pursuit of any issues that may sim-
ply be across the street,” Smith said. “I don’t
necessarily think we’re going to penetrate
well into the township, as much as we are
trying to blur the lines to make sure folks that
border our village are served with timely and
effectively law enforcement, without having
to call somebody in from Hastings to come.”
Council Trustee Ed Schellinger asked if the
township is willing to financially support
additional law enforcement coverage. Smith
said the township is not interested.
“They want the coverage, but they don’t
want the expense,” Schellinger said.
Adding another deputy would cost the vil-
lage close to $90,000 in next year’s budget,
based on salary, health insurance benefits,
retirement and Social Security taxes, accord-
ing to village documents.
Trustee Mike Cramer, who also served on
the ad hoc committee, pointed out that there
may be instances where a case might begin in
the village but end up elsewhere.
“We changed the language [in the contract]
from Priority 1 calls to ‘at the officer’s discre-
tion,’ and that was at Sgt. [Tim] Stevens’
request, to let his officers have the discretion
whether or not they needed to leave the village,”Cramer said. “He had made a couple of great
points during our discussion that there might be
an incident in the village where the incident’s
here, but the investigation leads out of town.
“We’re not opening up [to] more township
calls ... My idea was to have them go half on
the new deputy with us – just the new deputy,
not our current expenses, to allow for some
control into the township. But they didn’t feel
like they needed to pay for the cow because
they’re already getting the milk for free. They
were not even open to the discussion.”
“We need the police protection. Sgt.
Stevens needs help,” Cramer added. “We
need another officer.”
Smith agreed with Schellinger’s concerns,
and said there should be “a little more coop-
eration than there is.”
“We want to protect our citizens in the vil-
lage, but that does not exclude the township,” he
said. “I think if we’re going to stand on a soap
box, I think the soap box should include the fact
we’re doing so at the benefit of the township.
They should remember ... we are serving the
community as a whole, and we recognize that
this is not a ‘them’ or ‘us’ issue. It’s a ‘we’ issue.
We’re willing to extend that gratuity.”
The council agreed to have Village
Attorney Mark Nettleton review the contract
language before it gets final approval, which
could come at Tuesday’s council meeting.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 12
at the village hall, 100 E. Main St.Final Courageous
Conversation
is tonight
The third and final program in the
Courageous Conversations series will take
place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7 via
Zoom, featuring Dionardo Pizana, diversity,
equity and inclusion specialist for Michigan
State University Extension statewide.
Courageous Conversations is a series of
three discussions spearheaded by Leadership
Barry County with support from the
Thornapple Arts Council and the Barry
County Chamber of Commerce. The free
discussion series is designed to engage local
residents in topics that can be difficult con-
versations.
Pizana has been a speaker and facilitator
for Leadership Barry County for several
years, and LBC director Jillian Foster said
he does a great job of leading important
discussions. She added that diversity, equity
and inclusion are important topics right now
“as we look at local and national issues fac-
ing our community.”
Pizana has more than 25 years of experi-
ence developing, teaching and facilitating
diversity education program through MSU
Extension, Adrian College and Siena
Heights University. His work as an activist
and educator is grounded in his conviction
that deep and lasting institutional change
requires a strong commitment to work on
oneself while nurturing authentic relation-
ships across differences.
Anyone wishing to register may email
Foster, [email protected], or visit the
chamber’s website, business.mibarry.com/
events.Goals set
for Saturday’s
CROP Walk
The Barry County CROP Hunger Walk
will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10, at
Nashville United Methodist Church.
This year’s goals are to have 150 walkers
raise $13,000, according to the county’s
CROP Hunger Walk Coordinator Nolan
Hudson. Of that amount, 25 percent will
stay in the county to help fund programs to
provide food to families in need.
Programs that will receive funds include
Barry County CARES, Green Street United
Methodist Church food distribution pro-
gram, Middleville United Methodist Church
and Maple Valley Community Center of
Hope in Nashville.
The remaining donations will go to
Church World Service to help families
worldwide with food needs.
Over the past 38 years, $467,727 has
been raised in the local walk, Hudson said.
Anyone wishing to donate or get involved
may call Hudson, 517-852-1821. Online
donations may be made at crophungerwalk.
org/hastingsmi.‘Miracle on 34th
Street’ auditions
planned
The Thornapple Players are preparing for
open auditions for its presentation of the
Christmas classic, “Miracle on 34th Street.”
Auditions will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct.
12 at in the Dennison Performing Arts
Center at the Barry Community Enrichment
Center, 231 S. Broadway in Hastings.
(Access through door on the Center Street
side)
Doug Acker is directing the show, which
includes 11 adult roles, plus the ensemble ofcharacters, some of whom will have lines.
Rehearsals will be 7-9 p.m. Mondays,
Tuesdays and Thursdays. Performances will
Dec. 1-4, including a dress rehearsal
Wednesday evening and a matinee Sunday.
“We are so excited to cast and perform
this Christmas favorite,” Thornapple Players
president Norma Jean Acker said. “It has
been 10 years since we last did this show!”
Anyone interested in trying out who can-
not make the Oct. 12 auditions should call
Norma Jean Acker, 269-945-2332, or text
Doug Acker, 269-908-3717 before auditions
to make other arrangements.Help for Holidays
signup underway
Help for the Holidays, a program coordi-
nated by Barry County Cares, helps people
in need at Christmas time. Sign-up for Help
for the Holidays will be Oct. 11 through
Nov. 24.
Barry County Cares connects individuals
and families with churches, organizations,
businesses and others who provide help,
such as food for a family or toys for chil-
dren.
Locations to sign up, based on home
address, include:
Hastings and Middleville residents: visit
Barry County Cares, 231 S. Broadway,
Hastings, Suite 108, or call 269-948-
Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Delton residents: visit Delton District
Library, Wednesday or Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,
Tuesday or Thursday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., or
Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. or call 269-623-
8040.
Nashville residents: visit the Nashville
clerk’s office, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
(closed noon-1 p.m. Wednesday and Friday)
or call 517-852-9544.
Freeport residents: visit Freeport District
Library, Monday or Thursday 1-8 p.m.,
Wednesday or Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., or
Saturday 9-11 a.m.; or call 616-765-5181.
All other Barry County residents: call
Barry County Cares.
Anyone wishing to “adopt” a household
should call Barry County Cares, 269-948-
9555.(^169202) RUTLAND CHARTER TOWNSHIP
BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN
NOTICE OF PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING ON SPECIAL LAND USE PERMIT
APPLICATION AT OCTOBER 22, 2021 SPECIAL MEETING
TO: THE RESIDENTS AND PROPERTY OWNERS OF THE CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF
RUTLAND, BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN, AND ALL OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS:
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE the Rutland Charter Township Planning Commission will hold a
public hearing at a special meeting on October 22, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. at the Rutland Charter Township
Hall located at 2461 Heath Road, within the Charter Township of Rutland, Barry County, Michigan.
The items to be considered at this public hearing/special meeting include the following:
- The application of Alrig USA for special land use approval of the development of two
commercial businesses with drive-through facilities on the property commonly known
as 1670 M-43 (parcel number 08-13-013-008-10). The subject property consists of
approximately 3.44 acres (formerly Save-A-Lot) in the MU Mixed Use District. The
land uses proposed by the applicant are permissible in this zoning district, subject to
special land use approval (and site plan approval) due to the proposed drive-through
facilities. - Such other matters as may properly come before the Planning Commission at this
meeting.
Written comments concerning the above matters may be mailed to the Rutland Charter
Township Clerk at the Rutland Charter Township Hall at any time prior to this public hearing/meeting,
and may further be submitted to the Planning Commission at the public hearing/meeting.The Rutland Charter Township Code, Zoning Map, Master Plan, and the above-referenced
special land use application may be examined by contacting the Rutland Charter Township Clerk at
the Township Hall during regular business hours on regular business days maintained by the
Township offices from and after the publication of this Notice and until and including the day of the
hearing/meeting, and further may be examined at the hearing/meeting.Rutland Charter Township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services at
the meeting/hearing to individuals with disabilities, such as signers for the hearing impaired and
audiotapes of printed materials being considered, upon reasonable notice to the Township. Individuals
with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the Township Clerk as designated
below.
Robin Hawthorne, Clerk
Rutland Charter Township
2461 Heath Road
Hastings, Michigan 49058
(269) 948-NEWS NEWS BRIEFSBRIEFS