VOLUME 167, No. 13 Thursday, April 1, 2021 PRICE $1.

1

THE

HASTINGS

Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

The living voice

of Easter

See Editorial on Page 4

Saxon runners get

back on the track

See Story on Page 13

Hastings schools back

to remote learning

See Story on Page 3

Health department still charging

restaurant licensing fees

Taylor Owens

Staff Writer

The Barry-Eaton District Board of Health

unanimously voted against waiving restaurant

licensing fees during a virtual meeting last

Thursday.

The board had considered waiving or

reducing the fees after several restaurant own-

ers asked county commissioners to do more to

help local businesses.

“One of the things we really would like to

see this department do, and we demand they

do immediately, is provide as much regulatory

relief as possible, as far as the cost of permits,

fees, inspections, so forth,” Rutland Township

resident Joel Ibbotsen said during public com-

ment at the start of the meeting. “Whatever

this board can do to extend any sort of mone-

tary relief to the restaurants will be very, very

well received on our end.”

Health Officer Colette Scrimger said the

health department brings in a total of $312,

each year from restaurant fees from both

Barry and Eaton counties.

Eaton County board member Blake Mulder

said he did not think waiving the fees would

be a significant aid to the restaurants. Mulder

owns two restaurants in the district and said

he pays $500 in fees for each.

“Bottom line is, I’m not sure $500 is going

to make much difference whether your busi-

ness is going down the tubes or now,” Mulder

said.

He believed waiving the fees would be a

political statement, but not a “game changer”

for the restaurants.

Barry County board member Dave Jackson

said that while many restaurants have strug-

gled during the pandemic, some have benefit-

ed from it, therefore he suggested the board

create a process by which restaurants could

request to have the fees waived.

“I don’t know that we need to waive all fees

across the board,” Jackson said.

He speculated that since the fees represent-

ed such a small amount of money for the

restaurants, most would not bother to request

the fee be waived. He suggested the board cap

the total amount forgiven at $50,000.

Barry County board member Ben Geiger

said he believed giving restaurants an option

to request the fees be waived was a good idea.

However, Scrimger said the health depart-

ment would not be able to determine who

would and would not get the money based on

finances.

“We’d have to say yes to everyone,” she

said.

Scrimger advocated the board reduce the

fees, instead of waiving them entirely.

Eaton County board member Joe Brehler

said selectively forgiving the fees would be “a

losing proposition for the health department,”

since there would inevitably be people who

would find it unfair.

“My problem is you’re talking about pick-

ing winners and losers,” he said.

Brehler pointed to other industries that also

have health inspection fees, such as tattoo

parlors, which the department would be

choosing not to aid.

“What started as an idea to be helpful is

going to turn into a real problem,” Brehler

said.

He believed the board would either need to

waive the fees for all businesses or none of

them.

Geiger said the most appropriate way to

cover the cost of waiving the fees for licenses

would be to use the money from the Biden

administration’s stimulus package. Barry

County is estimated to receive nearly $

million from the package, while Eaton County

is projected to receive more than $21 million.

Eaton County board member Jeremy

Whittum said the federal government has not

yet outlined what the money could be used

for, and he cautioned that the board may have

to pay the money back to the federal govern-

ment if it is used for the wrong purposes.

However, Whittum did suggest the board

waive late fees for license applications, since

the department had not yet sent out the appli-

cation notices. The state’s deadline for restau-

rants to apply for licenses is April 30.

Mulder disagreed.

“People that are late and don’t pay on time

are the problem children,” he said.

“What started as an idea

to be helpful is going to

turn into a real problem.”

Joe Brehler, Eaton

County board member

Local boards, councils preparing

for return to in-person meeting

J-Ad News Services

Thornapple Township Supervisor Eric

Schaefer has been thinking ahead to when his

board can meet in person again.

Last Thursday, Schaefer worked on setting

up the room at the township hall where the

board will meet Monday, April 12.

“I spent a fair amount of time trying to sit-

uate the board room so that each board mem-

ber has 6 feet between them, and trying to set

up an audience of 15 chairs so they’re all 6

feet apart,” Schaefer said in a telephone inter-

view Monday.

“I wish we had a little bit bigger board

room, but I think we’re all going to fit.”

Schaefer and other elected officials around

Barry County are resuming in-person board

and council meetings this month after the

most recent order from the Michigan

Department of Health and Human Services,

issued March 22, will allow in-person meet-

ings if no more than 25 people are present and

the local municipality can meet spacing and

social distancing requirements. Under the

Open Meetings Act, if more than 25 people

attend, the meeting must be ended or moved

outdoors, according to a memo from the

Michigan Townships Association.

Masks are required for all members of the

public body and those attending the meeting,

according to the DHHS order.

Most governmental entities in the county

are planning to have a hybrid option – meet-

ing in person while offering the opportunity

for constituents to participate virtually through

a Zoom call or similar application.

“I understand some people don’t feel com-

fortable [with attending in person], even

board members,” Schaefer said. “If they don’t

feel comfortable, they’re welcome to partici-

pate through the Zoom component.”

The Village of Middleville also will be

using a hybrid format for its council meetings,

starting Tuesday, April 13.

“The public is welcome to attend via Zoom,

and some of our council members who are

still a little concerned about their health are

welcome to join us via Zoom too,” Village

Manager Patricia Rayl said Monday in a

phone interview.

“Our [council chamber] space can accom-

modate eight to 10 people,” she said.

“Anything more than that, we would want to

do it virtually.”

Rayl said the village has the option of mov-

ing its meeting to the training room of the

Thornapple Township Emergency Services

station if a larger audience is expected.

“That was what I was arranging before the

Barry County Board of Commissioners was

kind enough to make their declaration [of a

Despite vaccines, variant drives new COVID surge

Taylor Owens

Staff Writer

Spectrum Health announced Tuesday that

the hospital network is facing a new surge of

COVID-19, and cases are spreading faster

than the outbreak last fall.

In just 2 1/2 weeks, the number of patients

hospitalized with COVID-19 at Spectrum

hospitals has risen from around 50 to 139 as

of Tuesday. The number of COVID-

patients in the intensive care unit had doubled

over the past four days.

Those numbers mirror an increase in cases

in Barry County, nearly tripling the number of

active cases in the past month. The Barry-

Eaton District Health Department reported

144 active cases as of Tuesday. Two more

deaths have been counted since last week, for

a total of 51 since the start of the pandemic in

March 2020.

The percentage of positive COVID-

tests in the county has also continued to rise,

with a peak of 20.29 percent Sunday, the

highest since the previous surge in November.

“We are seeing similar situations here at

Pennock, and we are actively partnering with

[the health department] in the effort to get

people vaccinated as quickly as possible,”

Angela Ditmar, president and regional market

leader at Spectrum Health Pennock, said. “We

are encouraging anyone who can get a vaccine

to get one. It is important to continue to mask

and follow all COVID protocols.”

As of Wednesday, Michigan had the

highest number of new COVID-19 cases per

capita of any state in the nation, according to

the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

“This is strangely, and sadly, reminiscent

of what we saw in the fall,” President of

Spectrum Health West Michigan Darryl

Elmouchi said during a virtual press

conference Tuesday. “We definitely hope we

don’t see a surge like we did before, but it’s

seeming that way.”

Though many people over age 65 have

been vaccinated, Elmouchi said this new

surge is being driven by the more contagious,

and more lethal, B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-

that originated in the United Kingdom.

Studies have shown the variant may be 50

percent more contagious than the previous

strain, and about 35 percent more deadly.

The majority of new COVID-19 cases in

Michigan are believed to be the variant,

though testing for the variant is not widespread

enough to confirm that.

Elmouchi said the variant also appears to

be affecting younger people at a higher rate.

The average age of hospitalizations in the

fall was 73, but that dropped to 60 this week.

While hospitals have seen a decrease in

patients over age 60, they also have seen a

significant increase in patients under age 40.

Elmouchi said that is partly due to older

people receiving a larger share of the vaccines,

but also to the aggressiveness of the variant

strain.

The hospital network, he said, also is

seeing more pediatric cases than it was during

the previous surge.

“There’s definitely a younger demographic

in the hospital,” Elmouchi said.

The health network continues to vaccinate

as many people as it can, and was scheduled

to give out 52,000 doses this week.

“There is hope, and that hope almost

entirely lies in the vaccine,” Elmouchi said.

Spectrum Health United and Kelsey

Hospitals Chief Operating Officer Jon

Ashford said one clinic early this week

vaccinated 12,500 people in 12 hours, which

he believed may be a record in the state.

Spectrum also has expanded vaccine

eligibility to everyone age 16 and older, after

a new announcement from Gov. Gretchen

Whitmer’s administration. Whitmer’s press

secretary Monday encouraged health

providers to vaccinate people age 16 and up

when available, to ensure that doses do not go

to waste.

Vaccines will officially open to all

Michigan residents 16 and older April 5.

During a Barry-Eaton District Board of

Health meeting March 24, health department

official Anne Barna said a number of local

outbreaks have been connected to high

schools.

She encouraged parents to have their 16-

and 17-year-old children inoculated with the

Pfizer vaccine, and said some Meijer locations

are already vaccinating kids at those ages.

Pfizer announced Wednesday its vaccine

has been shown to be safe and effective in

children as young as 12. If the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration approves the vaccine for

children age 12 to 15, vaccinations could

begin before the next school year.

Barna added that some Barry County

residents 65 and older still have not been

vaccinated, and the health department is

giving them top priority. Often, people in that

age demographic are scheduled “almost

immediately” when they register online or

call the department, Barna said.

She also said the state has sent Barry

County more vaccines to catch up with Eaton

County, after Barry fell slightly behind due to

a number of factors, including a perception of

lower demand. Barry County had a smaller

number of people per capita signed up to

receive the vaccine than Eaton County. Barna

said that was due to a mix of demographic

differences and less internet availability in

Barry County.

As of Monday, 13,315 Barry County resi-

dents had received their first dose of the vac-

cine, which represents 26.8 percent of people

over age 16. The state also reported 6,

Barry County residents have been fully vacci-

nated.

Health officials expect the supply of vac-

cines to increase in the coming weeks, but say

shipments remain sporadic.

A chart shows the positive rate of COVID-19 tests in Barry County.

President of Spectrum Health West

Michigan Darryl Elmouchi speaks during

a virtual press conference Tuesday.

“Ultimately, it’s the township’s

responsibility to make sure

when people come onto

township property or to a

township meeting that they

are following the law.”

Michael Selden, Michigan

Townships Association

director of member

information services

See MEETING, page 11 See LICENSING, page 5

Judge rules Gibson may wrestle

despite contact tracing incident

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

Lakewood junior wrestler Zac Gibson sat

in front of a computer screen to hear the

decision of the Honorable Judge Vicky

Alspaugh from Barry County’s 5th Judicial

Circuit Court early Wednesday afternoon.

Her ruling over Zoom couldn’t have been

more positive in favor of the two-time state

medalist who won a Division 3 Individual

Regional Championship at 125 pounds

Saturday at the regional tournament hosted

by Lansing Sexton.

“So, weighing four factors, I do find that

the motion for temporary restraining order is

granted at this time with the understanding

that Zac tests negative or does not test posi-

tive either as a result of the test we’re wait-

ing for results on or either of the results of

the tests prior to him weighing in or partici-

pating in the tournament,” Alspaugh said.

Gibson was deemed in close contact with

a classmate who received a positive COVID-

19 test at Lakewood High School. He enlist-

ed the services of lawyer James A. Thomas

and put forth an emergency motion for a

temporary restraining order to avoid a quar-

antine that would have kept him from partic-

ipating in the Division 3 Individual State

Finals at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo

Friday.

The motion was brought against the

Barry-Eaton District Health Department and

its clinic supervisor Jackie Anderson as well

as Lakewood High School. Thomas said the

alleged close contact was supposed to have

happened March 25, two days prior to

Gibson’s regional tournament victory.

During her decision, Alspaugh weighed

what Gibson stood to lose by not granting

the temporary restraining order as well as the

possible risks to Gibson and the public.

She acknowledged a possible loss of

scholarship opportunities that could come

from Gibson not participating, but said,

“There is also an aspect that is not compen-

satable, and that is the experience and the

ability to say, ‘I am the state champ in my

weight class.’ The loss of that is not some-

See WRESTLE, page 2