Page 2 — Thursday, June 17, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
somebody in jail for a year, and then they’re
going to be out and back to the same behaviors,
the same people, the same places, the same
things. ... By putting them in our program,
you don’t disrupt their life, or their jobs or
that type of thing, you really help them build
a foundation for being successful long term.”
Twice a month, members gather as a
group to meet with Schipper, Price and the
rest of the drug court staff, which includes
Deputy Gary Pearson, Chief Public Defender
Kerri Selleck, Assistant Public Defender
Kevin Dennis, Case Manager Michelle
Weeldreyer, Probation Agent Cindy Hamlin,
and community mental health Adult Outpatient
Services Supervisor Christine Hiar.
On Thursday, each participant stepped
forward –– some in person, some over Zoom
–– to have a conversation with Schipper about
their inspiration. They talked about their dads,
their girlfriends, their children, their bosses
–– almost every one triggering multiple
follow-up questions from Schipper.
“Do they know you feel that way?”
Schipper would ask, suggesting that they
express their appreciation to their inspirations.
With the pandemic, these types of personal
interactions have been harder to maintain. For
a while, they didn’t happen at all. Drug use
rose in Barry County during that time, with 10
overdose deaths in 2020 – equivalent to the
number in 2018 and 2019 combined, according
to the county’s Office of the Medical
Examiner. It has only made the program
harder to oversee.
“We saw drug use increase significantly,”
Price said. “We saw people abscond, quit
reporting, quit attending. They would not
return phone calls. They wouldn’t interact.
They just left.”
That made the recent graduates’
accomplishments even more impressive.
For Ashley McCarty, it was her third time
trying the program before finally reaching
graduation.
“Right from the start, I just saw that she’s
a sweet girl,” Schipper said. “This is a girl
that’s got a heart. This is a girl that’s not
mean. ... We were able to get her in drug
court. And, finally, she was able to see some
self-worth and some value and believe us that
she could be successful and that she deserved
it.”
This time, everything clicked.
Without the program, McCarty said she
thinks she would have overdosed.
“Before drugs, I was always working and
stuff and I thought that person was gone,” she
said. “I didn’t think I would live past 27, and
I’m 29.”
Cullers started a similar program at a
young age, attending juvenile drug court at- He graduated from the program in two
years, but struggled in and out of addiction for
15 years, he said, before asking to return to
drug court again around 2019 – with another
vow to graduate.
Cullers did so while driving his daughter
multiple times a week to gymnastics practice,
holding a full-time job and waking up at 3
a.m. to work out –– one of two workouts he
does every day.
“I’m very strong-willed,” he said. “Well,
when I want something, I get it.”
True to form, Cullers wasn’t planning to
spend much time celebrating Thursday. He
said he had to help someone move a bed
directly after graduation, and he couldn’t eat
the bag of Butterfingers they gave him as
congratulations.
“I got those for my daughter,” he said. “I
gotta stick to my diet.”
Ashley McCarty (seated) is surrounded by the Adult Drug Court team, including (from left) case manager Michelle Weeldreyer,
Judge Michael Schipper, program manager Tammi Price, Deputy Gary Pearson, Probation Agent Cindy Hamlin, Assistant Public
Defender Kevin Dennis, Chief Public Defender Kerri Selleck and community mental health Adult Outpatient Services Supervisor
Christine Hiar. (Photo by Scott Harmsen)GRADUATES, continued from page 1
Ashley McCarty celebrates her accomplishment in Barry County District Court with
her certificate of completion after graduating from Adult Drug Court Thursday. (Photo
by Scott Harmsen)most underserved.
The committee considers the minimum
download speed for serviceable internet to be
25 megabytes per second. Any residences that
don’t meet that bar, or are not planned to do
so soon, are put on the map.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Heinzman
said.
So far, they have counted more than 900
residences that don’t meet the minimum
download speed.
The map will help the county apply for
grants and determine where it can use funding
from state and federal sources, such as the
American Rescue Plan Act.
But the committee members have now
reached the extent of what they are able to do
with their resources.
“They’ve gotten us to the point now where
everybody on the committee feels like we’ve
got to have a consultant come in,” Heinzman
said.
The committee is now collecting bids for
consulting agencies to finish putting the map
together, but Heinzman said there are few
such companies – and they’re currently in
high demand.
She has collected two bids from consulting
agencies, but is having trouble finding a third
to bring to the Barry County Board of
Commissioners.
The board requires three bids, if possible,
before voting to spend money on such proj-
ects.
The firm also will help the committee come
up with options for the best way to bring high-
speed internet to county residents.
While fiber cables provide the best connec-
tion, they also are expensive, and may not
make sense for low-population areas.
“We want to weigh all of our options for
each of the areas to make sure we are effective
as possible,” Heinzman said. “We don’t want
to spend five years building this out to have it
be obsolete by the time it is out.”
But Barry County also may be in competi-
tion with many of its neighboring rural com-
munities.
“We have been warned that fiber, conduit
and employees are going to be an issue
because everybody in the country is going to
be working on this at the same time,” Bonnie
Gettys said.
“I think that we are probably in the same
boat as so many communities across the state,
since the pandemic revealed some inequities
in our service,” Gettys said.
The American Rescue Plan Act, which
gave money to every municipality and county,
specifically names broadband internet expan-
sion as one potential use for the stimulus
money.
Tim Mroz, senior vice president of strategic
initiatives at The Right Place, cautioned Barry
County leaders about the rising cost of broad-
band during a Hastings Rotary Club meeting
earlier this year.
Mroz said there are few broadband service
providers in Michigan, and rates have already
gone up 20 percent.
“It’s just like we’ve seen in building,” Mroz
said. “Purchasing power will be greatly
diminished.”
While ARPA money can only be used for
certain broadband projects, Heinzman said
there may be more money available in the
coming months.
The infrastructure bill currently being
negotiated at the federal level may have more
funding for broadband, and Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer recently announced the creation of
the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office to
expand internet service throughout the state.
But Heinzman said she hopes that, since
the committee started its work last year,
before ARPA was created, Barry County will
have a head start on the other areas.
Once they have enough bids, the committee
will bring them before the Barry County
Board of Commissioners, who will then vote
on whether to hire a consulting agency to
continue the mapping work.
“The Broadband Expansion Committee is
dedicated to one cause – bringing Barry
County together through high speed internet,”
Geiger said. “I applaud Commissioner Getty,
Barry County administration and the Barry
County EDA for restarting this initiative and
look forward their results.”more.
Mayor David Tossava said he’s looking
for someone who will engross themselves in
the city.
“I want somebody that feels, when they
come to Hastings, they take ownership of the
position they apply for,” he said. “They take
ownership; they take on the responsibility of
what that job is going to be, get invested in
our community. I want somebody that’s really
going to come here because they want to live
in the city of Hastings. You know we can’t
require that. But I want somebody that really
is committed to the City of Hastings.”
After speaking with council members
about traits they would like to see in a future
city manager, Grinzinger developed marketing
materials to attract applicants. She then started
screening people who expressed interest in
the position by interviewing them, sifting the
internet for their names, searching through
media reports, exploring their social media
presence and speaking with references.
Monday, Grinzinger presented her findings
on the 10 final applicants to the council before
they whittled that number to five.
Grinzinger, a former city manager herself,
said she was “very happy and impressed with
the caliber of applicants.”
She pointed to a variety of factors in
Hastings’ ability to attract qualified applicants,
including its standing as the county seat, its
historic downtown, a tradition of volunteering,
its arts and a stable budget.
Although the council will have the final
say, Grinzinger expressed hope that city
residents would participate in the process.
“I encourage as many people from the
community that can, if they have time, to go
to the interviews and learn about the applicants
and use public comment time to make sure
their opinions are out there,” Grinzinger said.CITY MANAGER,
continued from page 1
Mindfulness Meditation Class
For Girls ages 8 - 14
Where: Gifts for Body and Soul , 118 N. Michigan Ave., Hastings
When: August 10, 11, 12
From: 10:00 a.m. - Noon
Registration timeline: June 7th - July 18th
(Early registration encouraged due to limited space)
Cost: $180 per student (Save $20 if registered by July 5th)
Facilitator: Julie Ann Coon, Reiki Master/Teacher
Contact Info: (269) 908-9227 or [email protected]
http://www.julieanncoon.com’Young girls struggle with adolescent stressors such
as school, social media, family, and more. We are
offering a meaningful and useful class to
give them “tools” for dealing with
those stressors in a healthy,
natural way.
Ashley McCarty answered several questions after finishing the Adult Drug Court
program. She read the reflection during her graduation.BROADBAND, continued from page 1
birds and songbirds as they explore.
“The sanctuary is a wonderful place to
enjoy the outdoors and learn about the natural
world around us,” Cara Barnes, KBS commu-
nications coordinator, said.
The sanctuary is at 12685 East C Ave.,
Augusta.
More information can be obtained by
emailing [email protected] or call-
ing 269-671-2510.
Family Promise
fundraiser June 26
Family Promise of Barry County will host
a golf outing and ball drop Saturday, June 26,
to help raise money for its mission to help the
county’s homeless families with children.
Sue Larghi, a member of the board of direc-
tors, said check-in time is 8 a.m. for the golf
scramble which will have an 8:30 shotgun
start. The scramble includes 18 holes of golf,
cart rental, light breakfast, lunch and a chance
to win prizes. The cost is $260 for four play-
ers.
The ball drop will be at 1 p.m. Numbered
golf balls (corresponding to raffle ticket num-
bers) will be dropped from a helicopter over a
hole at the Legacy Golf Course. The first ball
in the hole or closest to it will win $2,500.
Raffle tickets are $10 each and can be pur-
chased at https://rebrand.ly/yystpxr. The win-
ner will be announced immediately after the
drop and need not be present to win.
The sponsor assisting with dropping the
balls from the helicopter is John DeMaagd of
DeMaagd Marble & Tile Inc. of Woodland.
More information can be provided by call-
ing 269-953-6189 or emailing executive.
[email protected].
All proceeds will go to the operating bud-
get for Family Promise of Barry County.
NEWS BRIEFS,
continued from page 1
Call 269-945-
for Hastings
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