Saturday, June 25, 2022
Since 1854 — News from Montcalm County and Ionia County, Michigan
A veterans memorial park in honor of those who served in World War II has stood in Trufant since 1944 and will continue for another two decades.
A Montcalm County jury on Friday found that Maple Valley Township did not violate a lease agreement as claimed by Kenneth and Ann Miller who live next to the park. The one-day trial took place at the start of Memorial Day weekend, a coincidence that did not go unnoticed by township attorney Jourdan Rasmussen of Lakeview.
Montcalm and Ionia counties will be receiving millions of dollars over the next two decades as part of a multi-district lawsuit against opioid manufacturers — $2.2 million for Montcalm County, $1.6 million for Ionia County and $80,000-plus for the city of Ionia.
The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners in early 2018 voted to adopt a resolution approving three law firms as counsel in the lawsuit and to accept a retainer agreement. The law firms include Behm & Behm, Sam Bernstein and Weitz & Luxenberg representing dozens of Michigan counties.
The Belding City Council is scheduled to go into closed session at its meeting on Tuesday to discuss whether to accept a settlement related to a lawsuit filed by a disabled combat veteran against the city and the city manager.
Curtis Haney filed a lawsuit against Belding and City Manager John Niemela in July 2019 after the city billed Haney for mowing his grass and removing his snow. Haney requested that the city “squash this bill or go to trial, your choice,” according to his lawsuit.
Ionia and Montcalm counties have both agreed to settle a multi-district lawsuit against opioid manufacturers even though the settlement numbers remain unknown.
The Ionia County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted on July 13 to approve the Purdue Bankruptcy Plan after meeting in closed session to discuss the topic.
Potentially following suit with hundreds of school districts throughout the country, Greenville Public Schools may become one of many in Michigan now joining litigation against vaping product manufacturers.
During the March 8 meeting of the Board of Education, Superintendent Linda Van Houten said an option to participate in a federal lawsuit led by California-based Frantz Law Group against Juul Labs, which produces vaping devices and nicotine cartridges, may be voted on by the Board when it meets again this month.
