City Commission honors Police and Firefighters
At a recent City Commission Meeting the Police Chief and Fire Chief presented awards. From the Police Department, Officer Pierson, Officer Helms, Officer Dedyne and Officer Verlinde were recognized. From the Fire Department, Firefighter Michael Zlotek was recognized.
Officer Pierson was awarded a Departmental Citation for his role in assisting the Elsie Police Department and Clinton County Sheriff’s Department in locating, pursuing and taking into custody a suspect wanted for a stabbing, attempted murder. The suspect had fled on foot. Officer Pierson located him outside the perimeter area and followed also on foot in a chase that lasted over 20 minutes.
Officer Helms was awarded an Individual Commendation for his efforts in making our community safer. Officer Helms has handled over 100 narcotics cases since joining the department in 2011. He was also recognized my M.A.D.D. for having 25 drunk driving arrests in 2015.
Officer Dedyne was awarded an Individual Commendation for his work in the area of illegal drug activity in 2015. Officer Dedyne handled several extensive investigations involving search warrants for the seizure of illegal drugs in the community. In all he confiscated over 80 marijuana plants, 1.5 pounds of marijuana, 1 ounce of meth and an active meth lab.
Officer Verlinde was recognized by Stop Stick International for “Hit of the Month” for May 2015. On May 26, 2015 Officer Verlinde was able to deploy stop sticks on a vehicle in which the driver was wanted for domestic assault by another department within the county. The vehicle was traveling northbound on US-127 at speeds in excess of 100 mph and had already evaded the stop sticks of another officer. Officer Verlinde was able to hide his patrol car and himself in such a way that the suspect did not see them. The suspect vehicle ran over the sticks and punctured three tires. The suspect was ultimately stopped and arrested.
Firefighter Michael Zlotek was recognized with the Fire Department Director’s Award which is given yearly to the firefighter with the most volunteer hours on the department. In 2015 Firefighter Zlotek gave over 92 hours of his time without pay to the department doing things like school group tours, fire truck rides, and parades.
Kids Art Display
Young artists preparing for a showing during the “Art to Melt Your Heart” display at the Gallery, preview their work.
By group, from left are Blake Thelen, Glen Thelen, Chase Thelen, Marcia Geller and Jack Damon. Middle group, Ron Putmon, Jennifer Putmon, Annie Putmon, Thomas Putmon, Wesley Putmon. Final group; Katie Rozen, Lisa Rozen, Oakley Davis and Truman Davis.
The kid’s art display runs through the month of February.
The Gallery will be open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Gallery is closed Sunday through Tuesday.
For additional information on Arts Council activities, calls may be made to the Gallery at 989.224.2429.
Schools win grant
St. Johns Public Schools announce that their K-3 Literacy Grant application for $33,000 has been awarded by the Michigan Department of Education. With it leaders look forward to being able to provide additional literacy support for targeted K-3 students.
Back in early December, St. Johns Public Schools applied for the literacy grant through the Michigan Department of Education. The grant application is to provide additional instructional time in the area of literacy for targeted students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Now they are working quickly to implement this grant in all 5 of the elementary buildings. This grant will allow the schools to provide additional reading intervention support during the regular school day, as well as provide for some additional time outside of the normal school hours. It will provide professional learning opportunities for our staff in data interpretation.
With all grants, there are specific guidelines and requirements. This grant money must be used to provide additional reading intervention support for targeted students.
The entire administrative team is working together to implement this grant to achieve significant educational impact for St. Johns students.
Palmer named Fitness Ambassador
Congratulations to St. Johns Public Schools school nurse, Karla Palmer, for being selected as a Fitness Ambassador for the Michigan Fitness Foundation.
The Michigan Fitness Foundation’s vision is to cultivate a culture of health in order to transform and improve the health of all Michiganders