Now where do we go
when the answer is no?
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Vikings' Feighan at his
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COVID outbreak closes
local play production
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VOLUME 168, No. 19 Thursday, May 12, 2022 PRICE $1.
THE
HASTINGS
Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856
Delton Kellogg picks
new superintendent
Savanah Kaechele
Contributing Writer
A former Delton Kellogg Schools teacher
who left the district 16 years ago is coming
back at its new superintendent.
After nearly four hours of interviews and
discussion Monday night, the board of educa-
tion voted to offer the post to Dr. Herman
Lartigue, assistant principal at Brill Elementa-
ry School, which is part of the Klein Indepen-
dent School District in Texas. The board must
still work out contract details with Lartigue.
“I’ve been trying 16 years to get back to
this place,” Lartigue said during his inter-
view. “And I say that because every place that
I’ve worked at I’ve been trying to find the
people and community that I worked with
[here] and who accepted me for who I was
and embraced me and then taught me how to
be a teacher and that it was OK to love kids
and do your best for them.
“My thing is my wife and my family have
been trying to get back here because in Texas
they have little communities inside Houston,
but they are still so huge that the intimacy is
gone. I have so many friendships and people
that I call family members, that my kids call
‘aunt’ and ‘uncle,’ here. I was told a long time
ago that your family is probably here, you
just don’t know it yet.”
Lartigue will replace Kyle Corlett, who
resigned in November 2021 after more than
four years with the district.
While some board members expressed
concern about Lartigue’s lack of experience
in finance and budgeting, they cited as
strengths his connections to the Delton com-munity and commitment to improving educa-
tion.
“I feel that he has strong connections here
and the thing he repeated in both interviews
was that the kids are at the heart of it all,”
Trustee Dr. Brandy Shooks said. “The whole
reason why we have a school is to help kids,
and I think that’s the biggest factor for me.”Barricaded gunman trial underway
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
The story of Timothy Riddle and what trig-
gered his perilous high-speed flight up M-
one fateful evening last August began to
unfold in a Barry County courtroom Monday.
Riddle, 48, of Hastings, is standing trial on
charges of assault with intent to murder as a
result of that high-speed flight from police, a
burglary of shotguns and a standoff with
police at a gas station in Woodland.
On Monday, Riddle pleaded guilty to a
variety of lesser crimes connected to that
Aug. 4, 2021, incident, but some of the
charges he’s standing trial for this week are
punishable by up to life in prison.
He has opted for a bench trial instead of a
jury trial, so Barry County Judge Michael
Schipper is the trier of fact.
Since the process of seating a jury was no
longer necessary, testimony began promptly
and proceeded through the day Tuesday.
After a break Wednesday, the trial is expected
to continue Thursday morning.
The key to this case is Riddle’s intent, Pros-
ecutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt told Schipper in her
opening statement. She maintains that, during
the melee, Riddle pointed a loaded shotgun at
officers, clearly showing his intent to kill.
One officer testified having that shotgun
pointed at him was “frightening.”
Seven charges are in contention, Chief
Public Defender Kerri Selleck told the judge
in her brief opening argument.
“For the most part, those charges do involve
intent,” Selleck agreed. “...The issue is Mr.
Riddle’s intent. I think the evidence will be
clear that he never intended to hurt any other
human being. He has been consistent. That has
never wavered. That has never changed.”
Selleck maintained that, during the hours
in which Riddle fled from police then barri-
caded himself in a service station in Wood-
land, “he never fired a weapon at any other
human being.”
The point at which police officers got
involved on Aug. 4 was when they were advised
to be on the lookout for Riddle after the theft of
two shotguns was reported at a house in the
1000 block of North Coville Road.
Riddle had been living in a trailer on that
property, but the owner had kicked him. The
owner said he had hidden his guns, but when
he got home on Aug. 4, he saw lights turned
on that should not have been, and two of his
shotguns were missing.
A neighbor told police they had seen Rid-
dle’s vehicle in the driveway, and another per-
son said they saw Riddle go into the house.
The Michigan State Police said Riddle later
confessed to breaking into the house and steal-
ing the guns. Riddle had one of the shotguns
during the Aug. 4 chase and standoff, but the
other he had given to Hastings resident.
Once Riddle was known as a suspect, offi-
cers in the area were notified to look for him.Hastings police spotted Riddle’s matte
black Chevy HHR at the Marathon gas sta-
tion on M-43 in Hastings at 6:48 p.m. on Aug.- After Riddle left the station and turned
north onto M-43, Hastings Police Officer
Leonel Rangel said he initiated a traffic stop.
The officer told Riddle he was not under
arrest, but Barry County Sheriff’s deputies
wanted to talk to him. He asked Riddle to step
out of the car and wait for the deputies.
While Riddle appeared agitated at first, he
seemed to calm down after Rangel explained
the situation to him. But Riddle would not
step out of the vehicle. He started talking
about his ex-girlfriend, a 40-year-old Hast-
ings woman, and insisted to Rangel that he
had not gone near her. “I did not do nothing
to her, man,” Riddle said.
The officer told Riddle he was not being
pulled over because of his ex-girlfriend, but
Riddle kept talking about her and, as he did,
he grew more agitated.
Rangel asked him again to step out of the
vehicle or hand over the key. Riddle held the
key out the window, as if to hand it over, but
pulled it back inside and took off.
Rangel chased after Riddle, driving north
on M-43. Other officers from the sheriff’s
office soon joined the pursuit.
According to police, Riddle drove at more
than 115 miles per hour in an attempt to elude
the police. More than once, he pointed a shot-
gun at the Hastings City Police cruiser behind
him, which led Rangel to back off and
increase the distance between them.
The chase ended at the parking lot of the
Mobil gas station on M-43, east of Woodland.
After Riddle got out of the car, police said
he pointed Sgt. Scott Ware pf the sheriff’s
office and Ware fired through his cruiser
windshield.
Riddle ran inside the station, and told the
customers to leave.
Two employees, a 22-year-old Woodland
woman and 74-year-old Nashville woman,
heard the shots, saw customers running outside,
and locked themselves in a back room. They did
not believe Riddle knew they were there.
The 22-year-old woman immediately
called 911, and remained on the phone with a
dispatcher until they got outside.They heard Riddle using the gas station
phone to talk to his girlfriend, 40, of Gobles.
He seemed to be blaming her for causing
the situation, because she hd broken up with
him. The woman later told police she broke
up with him because of his drug use, and the
stress that he caused.
According to the police report, the employ-
ees heard Riddle say “he had just been in the
‘coolest high-speed chase of my life’ and that
he was not going back to prison.”
He said he would either shoot himself, or
have the police shoot him. His girlfriend told
police he had often spoken of “suicide by cop.”
The employees heard Riddle claim theGravel mine
request heats
up in Hope
Township
Leila Wood
Contributing Writer
Hope Township Planning Commission
tabled a decision on a potential gravel pit last
Thursday after the excavating company failed
to provide information about its potential
impact on wildlife and the nearby lake.
Representatives from the Allegan-based
excavating company R. Smith & Sons said
they hope to have that information by the
commission’s next meeting June 16. But that
meeting may be postponed if the company
does not provide the requested information
by that date, commissioners indicated.
The Planning Commission initially had
requested that information in March.
Several people, including the township’s
attorney, Catherine Kaufman, argued last
Thursday that it seems unlikely R. Smith &
Sons would be able to demonstrate their
need for gravel. The company is technically
no longer in the gravel business, they point-
ed out.
R. Smith & Sons is selling a large portion of
its gravel assets to Stoneco, another mining
company that owns a lot in Orangeville Town-
ship across the street from the Hope Township
property owned by R. Smith & Sons.
But for Stoneco to proceed with its inten-
tion to buy the Hope Township parcel, the R.
State’s ban on bird shows will affect county fair
Kathy Maurer
Copy Editor
A statewide ban on bird exhibitions and
shows will keep youngsters from showing
chickens and other poultry at the 2022 Barry
County Fair.
The state announced Tuesday an immedi-
ate halt to poultry and waterfowl exhibitions
until the state goes 30 days without a new
detection of highly pathogenic avian influen-
za in domestic poultry.
As of Tuesday, the state had responded to
12 cases of HPAI in backyard flocks from
nine different counties across both the Upper
and Lower peninsulas. The first confirmed
report was in Kalamazoo County February.
However, since April 12, HPAI cases have
been confirmed in Menominee, Livingston,
Washtenaw, Saginaw, Wexford, Branch and
Oakland counties.
Most of the cases involved backyard
flocks, which had to be destroyed. The Washt-
enaw County cases involved pet parrots that
had died from the disease. Numerous wild
birds also have been infected.
Wednesday morning, Michigan Depart-
ment of Agriculture and Rural Development
announced its first case of HPAI in a com-
mercial flock in Muskegon. That flock,
according to U.S. Department of Agriculture
information, included 35,100 turkeys. Com-
mercial flocks impacted in other states,
including Wisconsin, Iowa and Pennsylvania,
numbered into the millions.
The decision to halt bird shows immediate-
ly was made by MDARD’s State VeterinarianDr. Nora Wineland and Director Gary
McDowell as a way “to further protect against
the spread of HPAI, helping to keep Michi-
gan’s domestic poultry flocks safe.”
More than 37.5 million birds in the U.S.
had been affected as of Wednesday afternoon,
according to the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture – impacting the cost of both eggs and
poultry for consumers.
HPAI is a highly contagious virus that can
be spread in various ways from flock to flock,
including by wild birds, through contact with
infected poultry, by equipment, and on the
clothing and shoes of caretakers, according to
a MDARD press release. As new cases of
HPAI continue to be identified across the
nation and in Michigan, bringing in poultry
from different flocks to a central locationcreates a significant risk.
“While we are all very sad about not hav-
ing birds at [the] fair, we will be making
plans for creative ways our 4-H poultry mem-
bers can participate,” Barry County 4-H Pro-
gram Coordinator Kathy Pennington said
Tuesday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Pen-
nington’s office had already sent email mes-
sages to families within the poultry project
area letting them know of the ban.
This is not the first time the local poultry
show has been canceled. A similar bird exhi-
bition ban was implemented by the state in
2015, and local 4-H staff and leaders encour-
aged members to create educational displays
that were set up in the poultry barn at the
Barry Expo Center. Using fake or stuffed
birds, youngsters were allowed to interactwith judges and share their knowledge as
they would have done with a real bird.
“We have been here before, and we will
make it fun and inclusive while keeping our
flocks safe,” Pennington said.
MDARD officials said they will continue
to monitor the situation and work with the
Michigan Association of Fairs and Exhibi-
tions, Michigan State University Extension,
4-H programs, and other partners to notify
and advise exhibitors about when these activ-
ities can resume and how to conduct them
safely.
“Our 4-H families are often on the lead-
ing edge of biosecurity,” Jake DeDecker,See STATE, page 2
Dr. Herman LartigueSee DELTON, page 8
John Austin (left) and John Schumacher, who live on Wilkinson Lake, protest along
M-43 in front of the Hope Township Hall last Thursday. They were responding to
See GRAVEL, page 2 motorists who were passing by and honking their horns. (Photo by Scott Harmsen)See RIDDLE, page 2
Timothy Riddle is shown here when Hastings Police Officer Leonel Rangel stopped
him on Aug. 4, 2021, just before he led police on a chase reaching speeds of more
than 110 mph north on M-43. (Photo by Rebecca Pierce)