Al Parker

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Articles

Body Armor mfg. business coming to town

Jan 16, 2025 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

KALKASKA – At their Jan. 13 meeting, village trustees approved a special use permit (SUP) for WarBird Protection Group, paving the way to bring up to 200 new jobs to Kalkaska. WarBird manufactures body armor and other protective devices for law enforcement and military personnel, according to its president and founder Matt Davis. “We’re really excited about what you have to offer,” Davis told trustees.
Hefferan to chair Board of Commissioners

Jan 9, 2025 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

BELLAIRE – At their organizational meeting on Jan. 2, Antrim County Commissioners chose Bill Hefferan to lead the board as chair and Jarris Rubingh as vice chair for the coming year. In a secret ballot, Hefferan edged Commissioner Terry VanAlstine in a 3-2 vote. Hefferan represents District 1 which includes Elk Rapids Township and Milton Township. Rubingh is from District 2, which includes Banks, Central Lake and Torch Lake Townships.
Fisher voted chair head

Jan 9, 2025 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

KALKASKA – In their first meeting of the new year, Kalkaska County Commissioners unanimously voted to have Kohn Fisher continue serving as chairman of the board and have trustee Jeff Sieting serve as vice chairman. For 12 years Fisher has represented District 3, which includes the townships of Bear Lake, Blue Lake, Excelsior, Oliver and part of Orange. He’s chaired the commission for the past six years.
MSU Extension Service a community asset

Dec 5, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

KALKASKA – County residents have been able to utilize the offerings of Michigan State University’s Extension Services in so many ways that Jennifer Berkey has a nickname for it. “I like to call it MSU Extension On Demand,” she says with a smile. Berkey is the program’s district director and recently presented her agency’s 2023-24 annual report to the County Board of Commissioners at its Nov. 20 meeting.
Tar Lake cleanup scheduled for Fall, 2025

Dec 5, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

MANCELONA – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will clean up contaminated soil and groundwater at the Tar Lake site, the former Antrim Iron Works. But not right away. “Next fall, 2025, EPA will begin excavating 215,000 tons of soil and disposing any contaminated soil off-site to an EPA-approved landfill,” explained Danielle Kaufman, press officer for EPA Region Five in an email. “The area will then be back-filled with clean soil. Work is anticipated to take two years.
BOC considers jail options

Nov 28, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

BELLAIRE – When voters rejected a County Safety Center bond proposal earlier this month, it left the Board of Commissioners with a question. What now? At their Nov. 21 meeting, commissioners discussed – but did not vote on – several options.
Village seeks airport grant

Nov 28, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

cials are going after a state grant that would fund improvements at the Kalkaska Airport. MDOT’s Office of Aeronatics recently announced a one-time general fund appropriation of $4 million to help address unfunded airport maintenance, capital development, revenue generating and equipment needs at general aviation airports across the state.
BOC wrestles with budget deficit

Nov 28, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

KALKASKA – On Nov. 20, at a special hour-long budget session held before the regular monthly meeting, County Commissioners voted 6-1 to approve a $9.94 million general fund budget for 2025. That’s about $740,000 more than the budget for the current year of roughly $9.20 million. “If this trend continues, we’ll need to increase revenues or cut services,” said Commissioner Bob Baldwin, the lone dissenting vote against the spending plan.
Student safety high on district’s agenda

Nov 21, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

KALKASKA – School safety will be the focus of a Jan. 20 program that will involve staff from Kalkaska and Forest Area Public Schools. It was just over a year ago when Kalkaska installed the Nightlock door locking device in every classroom in the district. That involved almost 300 doors. Since then, school officials have met regularly to discuss and evaluate the district’s security procedures and practices.
Village in good financial shape

Nov 21, 2024 | antrimreview.net | Al Parker

KALKASKA – For the fiscal year that ended on Feb. 29, 2024, the village’s total revenues of $5.25 million exceeded expenditures of $4.08 million, leading to a net increase of $1.17 million. Grants and contributions make up 43 percent of the village’s revenues, followed by taxes, 38 percent, other, 10 percent and charges for services, nine percent.