Herald Palladium 03/13/2015

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By JEREMY D. BONFIGLIOHP Features Writer

SOUTH HAVEN — The Waterfront Film Festival won’t return to South Ha-ven this summer.

Instead, the festival, which had been slated for June 11-14, will join Art-Prize 2015 in Grand Rap-ids, organizers announced Thursday.

“It hasn’t been an easy decision,” Waterfront Film Festival co-founder Hop-wood DePree said by tele-phone from Grand Rapids. “We had been talking about expansion possibilities with

other cities and with ArtPrize over the past sev-eral months. We had been trying to fig-ure out a way to host both events this year, but ulti-mately decided it might be best to focus 100 percent on this new opportunity.”

“ArtPrize On Screen: Presented by Waterfront Film Festival” will add a se-ries of film, video and inter-active works to the 19-day art exhibition Sept. 23-Oct. 11 at locations throughout downtown Grand Rapids. Specifics will be announced at a later date.

“The fact that they are

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All four one?

By SCOTT AIKENHP Staff Writer

ST. JOSEPH — Berrien County commissioners plan to gauge support for a pro-posal to consolidate four public transit agencies into a single entity.

The county board on Thursday gave the go-ahead to staff to talk with the transit groups and local governments about the idea.

A study of public transit in the county conducted by a coalition of 18 organiza-tions over five years recom-mended forming a single authority to provide the ser-vice.

The study, presented to the county board in Decem-ber, concluded that cost du-plication, operating losses and large service gaps in the system could be corrected by combining the bus ser-vices.

The Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority, Niles Dial-a-Ride and Bu-

chanan Dial-a-Ride cover urban areas. The county operates Berrien Bus, which serves rural areas.

The services are indepen-dent of each other. They are restricted in what areas they serve by the funding sources.

As a result, officials said, people can have a difficult time scheduling rides that involve more than one juris-diction and the cost can be high.

In addition, large urban-ized sections of the county have no regular service. They include much of St. Joseph Township west of the St. Joseph River, and big parts of Lincoln Town-ship, Royalton Township and sections of Lake Town-ship.

Community Develop-ment Director Dan Fette, who presented the study to the board three months ago, said staff would schedule talks with the transit ser-vices. Because of work done for the study, they are already familiar with the consolidation recommen-dation.

Fette said he intends to

Berrien ponders push to combine transit systems

What makes Al run?By JOHN MATUSZAKHP Staff Writer

LANSING — There aren’t many jobs where you are expected to be an au-thority on health care, school truancy, higher edu-cation funding, and even disposing of swamp land – all in one day.

“It’s an education,” state Rep. Al Pscholka said of myriad topics that fall on a state legislator’s desk.

These issues and more were among those that filled Pscholka’s calendar

on Wednesday, as he was shadowed by Herald Palla-dium Staff Writer John Matuszak.

And that doesn’t even count his responsibilities to shepherd the state’s bud-get as the recently appoint-ed chairman of the House Appropriations Commit-tee. Those talks will heat up in the spring.

Pscholka, a Lincoln Township Republican in his third term, puts in about 60 to 70 hours a week, working five and sometimes six days in a row, staying in a hotel dur-ing the week and coming home on weekends.

On this particular

Wednesday, Pscholka’s day started about 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast meeting. At 8:30 he and his staff – Adam Carlson, his senior budget advisor; Kirstie Sieloff, legislative director; and Christine Simon, legislative assistant and scheduler – descended on the office to go over the day’s agenda.

The suite of offices, adja-cent to the Appropriations Committee hearing room, is dotted with photos of the 79th District, including the St. Joseph lighthouses.

A photograph on the wall points up the brief learning curve Pscholka and others face in the era

of term limits. It shows Democrat D.J. Jacobetti, Michigan’s longest-serving House member, in office from 1954 through 1994, including 19 years as ap-propriations chair.

It will soon be joined by a portrait of state Sen. Harry Gast, a Lincoln Township Republican who chaired the Senate Appro-priations Committee for 19 years.

Pscholka has a scant two years to get comfortable in his role before his final term runs out.

Pscholka’s third-floor of-fice window overlooks the state capitol mall and the domed Supreme Court

building in the distance.Mementos that decorate

his desk include a Broncos football helmet from his alma mater, Western Mich-igan University. A Magic 8

Ball sits on a conference table, no doubt to assist with the tougher legislative decisions.

John Matuszak / HP Staff

State Rep. Al Pscholka, right, talks with Rep. Dave Pagel of Oro-noko Township following a meeting of the appropriations com-mittee Wednesday in Lansing. As committee chairman, Pscholka, in his third term, will soon be immersed in crafting the state’s 2015-16 budget.

Louise Wrege / HP staff

Andrews University senior Robert Polski writes out Pi to the 120th digit beyond the decimal point Thursday during the school’s cel-ebration of National Pi Day. The actual day is Saturday, but students leave for Spring Break today. More than 25 pies were consumed by students and staff during the celebration.

It’s official: Waterfront Film Festival pulls out of SH

Day for the pi

By LOUISE WREGEHP Staff Writer

BERRIEN SPRINGS — Pi lovers at Andrews Uni-versity celebrated National Pi Day on Thursday by eat-ing pie. And lots of it.

Karen Johnson-McWil-liams of the university’s math department said the school provided 25 pies and 64 cheesecake squares, which quickly disappeared.

She said she cut the 8-inch pies into eight pieces and the bigger pies into 16 piec-es, which gave her 320 pieces when you add in the 64 cheesecake pieces.

So, how many eight-inch pies did she have?

You do the math.For most of America, Pi

Day is Saturday, when the calendar and clock will combine for two moments to read: 3-14-15, 9:26:53 – or pi to its 10th digit. An-

drews celebrated Thursday before classes ended for spring break.

Pi Day is a big deal for those inclined toward math, science and engineering.

Mechanical engineering senior Robert Polski wrote pi out to 120 digits on the chalkboard by memory Thursday just for fun.

“Last year, I memorized 200 digits,” he said.

While some of the stu-dents were very interested in pi, most had other agendas.

“I think people just want an excuse to have free pie,” engineering freshman Ku-mar Balasingam said.

Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diame-ter. It starts with the num-bers 3.14 and continues to infinity, never repeating. People have spent countless hours calculating the next number in pi, which has been calculated to five tril-lion digits. The more digits you use in your calculations, the more perfect the circle is.

“It’s one of the most revo-lutionary discoveries of

math,” senior math major Danielle Martin said.

Polski said there’s no rea-son to go past the first 12 digits of pi because at that point, you are measuring at the atomic level.

“I don’t think there would be an instrument to measure after that,” freshman engi-neering major Gianluca Ciccopiedi said.

Truly die-hard pi lovers will eat a piece of pie at ex-actly 9:26:53 a.m. Saturday, thus honoring the first 10 unrounded digits of pi – 3.141592653.

Make sure you say those

are the first 10 unrounded digits of pi. Since the next number is five, you would have to round up to 3.141592654 to use the num-ber in calculations, said bio-chemistry sophomore Alex Acre. He said many of the National Pi Day T-shirts are wrong because they don’t round up.

Rhoda Johnson, office manager of Physics Enter-prises at the university, said it’s cool that National Pi Day and her birthday are on the same day, but she has

Andrews University sophomore Alex Acre, left, eats pie while discussing Calculus with Stephanie Nieman, also a sophomore.

See TRANSIT SYSTEM, page A10

DePREE

Calendar and clock team up for geometric milestone

See PI, page A10

Event announces new partnership with ArtPrize 2015 in Grand Rapids

See WATERFRONT, page A10

Pscholka keeps up busy pace in Lansing

See PSCHOLKA, page A10

Sponsored by

Herald Palladium 03/13/2015

Copyright (c)2015 The Herald-Palladium 03/13/2015 March 16, 2015 8:44 am (GMT +4:00) / Powered by TECNAVIA

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A10 – FRIDAY, March 13, 2015 ALMANAC The Herald-Palladium

Benton Harbor yesterdayTemperatureHigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49ºLow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27ºNormal High . . . . . . . . . . . . .43ºNormal Low . . . . . . . . . . . . .26ºRecord High . . . . . . 77º in 1990Record Low . . . . . . .-6º in 1960PrecipitationYesterday . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00"Month to date . . . . . . . . . . 0.13"Normal month to date. . . . 0.77"Year to date . . . . . . . . . . . 7.09"Normal year to date . . . . . 4.77"

Sunrise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:59 a.m.Sunset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:50 p.m.Moonrise. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:36 a.m.Moonset . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:39 p.m.

Local Outlook

5-Day Forecast for St. Joseph

Today we will see mostly cloudy skies with a slight chance of rain, high temperature of 57º, humidity of 71%. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Expect mostly cloudy skies tonight with a slight chance of rain, overnight low of 36º. South wind 5 mph.

Today, south winds 10 to 20 kt. Waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 3 ft. Water temperature 32 degrees. Tonight, southwest winds 10 to 20 kt veering to northwest. Waves 1 to 3 ft.

Cold Front Stationary Front Warm Front Low Pressure High Pressure

L H

This map shows high temperatures,type of precipitation expected andlocation of frontal systems at noon.

40s30s20s10s

90s80s70s60s50s

100s110s

0s

LH

H

LL

Saturday

Mostly Cloudy46º / 30º

Sunday

Sunny46º / 34º

Monday

Mostly Sunny62º / 29º

Tuesday

Mostly Sunny43º / 27º

Today

Mostly Cloudy57º

Tonight

Mostly Cloudy36º

Sun and Moon

Air QualityLocal Almanac

Weather Trivia

National Weather Map

Regional Map

Lake Michigan

Michigan Forecast

Today we will see partly cloudy to cloudy skies with highs in the low 60s. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Expect partly cloudy skies Saturday with highs in the low 50s. North northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Expect mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies today with highs in the upper 50s. South wind 9 mph. Saturday, skies will be partly cloudy to cloudy with highs in the low 50s. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph.

Which continent receives the least amount of precipitation? ?

Answer: Antarctica.

Last3/13

New3/20

First3/27

Full4/4

0-50 .................Good51-100 .....Moderate101-150 ....Sensitive151-200 ..Unhealthy

The higher the number, the greater the need for people with respiratory problems to reduce outside activity.

Yesterday ............................. 29Main Offender .............Particles

Forecast map for March 13, 2015

Marquette50/31

Green Bay61/37

Oshkosh64/39

Milwaukee63/39

Chicago62/42

Gary62/40

Benton Harbor57/36

Grand Rapids56/37

Midland53/37

TraverseCity54/34

Cheboygan47/33

Sault Ste.Marie40/29

PortHuron49/40

Flint54/42

Detroit50/40

Lansing57/39

Toledo53/45

Upper Peninsula

Lower Peninsula

DO YOU REMEMBER?

TODAY IN HISTORY

25 years ago – 1990

The St. Joseph City Commis-sion Monday approved an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance that increases the minimum size of dwelling units in commercially zoned area from 600 to 900 square feet. The amendment clarified language regarding the residential use of upper floors in the buildings in the Downtown Development District.

The Niles City Council Mon-day night voted 5-3 to ban leaf burning in residential areas.

35 years ago – 1980William C. Mohr, a Benton

Harbor High School senior, fin-ished among the top 50 students in the 23rd annual Michigan Mathematics Prize Competi-

tion. Mohr, son of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Mohr of Benton Township, was a Bronze Award winner of a $150 scholarship in the competition among 23,000 from 63 high schools across the state. Mohr is also a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist and plans to attend the Univer-sity of Michigan or Massachu-setts Institute of Technology.

50 years ago – 1965Members of the Senior Citi-

zens League have endorsed the St. Joe Machine site for a high-rise apartment building for el-derly residents. The city of St. Joseph already owns the St. Jo-seph Machine plant site at the corner of Water and State streets. Funds have been approved for the start of soil testing and pre-liminary building sketches.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Friday, March 13, the 72nd day of 2015. There are 293 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:On March 13, 1865, Confeder-

ate President Jefferson Davis signed a measure allowing black slaves to enlist in the Confederate States Army with the promise they would be set free.

On this date:In 1781, the seventh planet of

the solar system, Uranus, was dis-covered by Sir William Herschel.

In 1845, Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, had its premiere in Leipzig, Germany.

In 1901, the 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Har-

rison, died in Indianapolis at age 67.

In 1925, the Tennessee General Assembly approved a bill prohib-iting the teaching of the theory of evolution. (Gov. Austin Peay signed the measure on March 21.)

In 1933, banks in the U.S. be-gan to reopen after a “holiday” declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1947, the Lerner and Loewe musical “Brigadoon,” about a Scottish village which magically reappears once every hundred years, opened on Broadway.

In 1954, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu began during the First Indo-china War as communist forces attacked French troops, who were defeated nearly two months later.

see how much control the services feel they need to retain if consoli-dation occurs.

The idea may not fly, he said.“It may be dead in the water and

not going to happen,” he told the county board.

In January, several weeks after the study was presented, commis-sioners said they wanted to get more information before doing anything to form a county-wide authority.

Retired county Trial Court Judge John Dewane, who is serving as corporate counsel, presented a memorandum Thursday describ-ing options for county-wide public transit and the relevant laws.

The options include the county, alone or jointly with other units, owning and operating a transpor-tation system. The county may also decide, by itself or jointly with other units, to form a public au-thority.

Voters living within the authori-ty’s limits could vote to levy a prop-erty tax of up to 5 mills to finance the service.

For now, county officials plan only to find out the level of sup-port for the idea before moving forward.

“It eventually comes back to you for approval but we want to get the discussion going,” Administrator Bill Wolf told the board.

The 220-page transit study was conducted by KFG Group at a cost of $182,000.

In recommending consolidation of transit services under an author-ity, the study said benefits of the change would include cutting op-erating losses, saving money by eliminating duplication and pro-viding better service to the public.

The study was conducted for the Berrien County Transportation Coalition. The recommended ap-proach is to create a county au-thority for Berrien Bus only. Other systems could then enter the sys-tem over time.

The operating costs for all four systems is about $4.1 million a year. Combined operating losses are $200,000 to $300,000 a year, of-ficials said, largely because of state funding cuts.

Berrien County, Buchanan and TCATA all show operating losses. The Niles system has shown a profit but cut service in recent years.

The bus systems rely on state funding and rider fares to cover costs. Some local units levy prop-erty taxes to pay part of the cost.

Fette has said the state is cutting funding to transit systems that serve only one part of a county, and that Berrien is one of the few remaining.

Without consolidation, state funding could dry up in a few years and the systems would be out of business.

Contact: saiken@TheHP.com, 932-0358, Twit-ter: @HPAiken

TRANSIT SYSTEMFrom page A1

other plans for the morning.“I love birding,” she said. “I’m

planning to spend the day out at (Warren) Dunes.”

She’s more excited that she will be turning 42, which has nothing to do with pi but is another nerdy number, she said.

In “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, 42 is “The Answer to the Ulti-mate Question of Life, the Uni-verse, and Everything,” though no one remembers what the ques-

tion was.“The stars are aligning nicely,”

she said.And so is the pie.

Contact: lwrege@TheHP.com, 932-0361, Twitter: @HPWrege

PIFrom page A1

able to partner with ArtPrize is re-ally a big step forward for them,” South Haven Mayor Robert Burr said when reached by telephone Thursday. “We’ll certainly miss them and miss the event. We’ve had a lot of fun, but I’m sure they will be back in one form or an-other. They’re always welcome back.”

DePree said a rumor, which cir-culated earlier this month, that the nonprofit film festival would not return to South Haven was initially false, but the confusion that followed did inform the deci-sion by organizers to shift focus.

Lisa Shanley, executive director

of the South Haven/Van Buren County Visitors Bureau, had been in conversations with DePree about the 17th annual festival. Based on those conversations, the visitors bureau released a March 4 statement announcing the film festival had been cancelled in South Haven.

“Once that rumor was out, it went wide,” DePree said. “Film-makers we had been talking to and studios and studio represen-tatives we had been in discussions with were already switching gears. We felt like this was a sign. Maybe it will help us grow and expand the festival in 2016.”

Although Shanley did not im-mediately return calls Thursday, a news release posted on the visitors bureau website included a state-

ment from the executive director.“The reality is that the commu-

nity of South Haven and the South Haven Convention & Visi-tors Bureau really rolled out the red carpet to support and host this event the past two years, and our hope is that the festival will strongly consider that commit-ment as they plan for the future,” Shanley said in the statement. “We wish them the best of luck in 2015 and hope for their return to the lakeshore.”

The Waterfront Film Festival debuted in 1999 and spent its first 14 years in Saugatuck before mov-ing to South Haven. In 2014, the festival showed 70 films including 34 features, 21 of which were Midwest premieres, with 13 Mich-igan premieres.

“As every nonprofit knows the key to survival is you have to shake it up and keep it fresh,” DePree said. “We’re looking at next year as one of those key years of laying down a plan for the fu-ture.”

Will that plan include South Haven? DePree didn’t rule it out.

“We love South Haven,” he said. “We have tremendous sup-port there. People are sympathetic and understand that there’s a big-ger goal we’re all working toward for West Michigan. We would love to continue to have a pres-ence in the South Haven area and look forward to having another summer event on the lakeshore in 2016 and beyond.”

Contact: jbonfiglio@TheHP.com, 932-0364, Twitter: @HPBonfiglio

WATERFRONTFrom page A1

Targeting truants

At a few minutes before 9, Pscholka and Sieloff briskly walked across the street to the House office building, where he testified in favor of his bill that would withhold government food assistance from parents whose children are chronically truant from school.

During his speech, Pscholka tells the story of a 7-year-old Ben-ton Harbor boy whom he tutors, who doesn’t always make it to school.

He also tells about another boy, raised by a single mother in Sag-inaw who always made sure that he was at school early.

He is that boy, he tells members of the Families, Children and Se-niors committee.

“That education is what gave me the opportunity to be success-ful, so this is personal for me,” Pscholka testified. “I believe in my heart that the way to break the cycle of poverty is through a good education.”

Pscholka’s bill passed the House in 2013 but didn’t make it to the floor of the Senate. He said that Berrien County officials, including family court Judge Mabel May-field, have urged him to re-intro-duce the legislation.

Sieloff stayed behind to listen to other testimony as Pscholka dashed out to make a 9:30 Appro-priations Committee meeting that begins precisely on time with the rap of his gavel.

Swapping swamplandPscholka presided over the com-

mittee confronting a potential quagmire that had languished since the 19th century.

It seems that about 800 acres of swamp land was never conveyed from the federal government to the state when other property was transferred in the 1830s. People have owned and paid taxes on the land without knowing it belonged to the feds.

The last time the issue came up, debate centered around such envi-ronmental concerns as possible fracking. This time it passed with-out any questions from lawmak-ers.

“We should meet at 9:30 more often,” quipped Pscholka as he gavels the meeting closed at 9:37. “You’re more relaxed at 9:30.”

The abbreviated meeting leaves Pscholka a few minutes to consult with other committee members, including Rep. Dave Pagel of Oro-noko Township.

He also joined a knot of law-makers and aides, including his as-sistant Adam Carlson, to hash over budget shortfalls caused by businesses cashing in tax credits.

Carlson, a Dowagiac native and Notre Dame grad, has been with Pscholka since his first campaign in 2010. He was an intern in U.S. Rep. Fred Upton’s office, where Pscholka was a legislative aide.

“I like him,” Carlson, who lives in Meridian Township near Lan-sing, gives as one of his reasons for sticking with Pscholka. “Our ideals line up well.”

Together, they have been able to get things done, he said.

Carlson and Kirstie Sieloff keep pace with Pscholka as he makes his rapid forays back and forth across the capitol grounds.

Wherever he goes, Pscholka seems to know just about every-body by first name, from his fellow lawmakers to former legislators, even secretaries and security guards.

He has made most of his con-tacts since being elected to the leg-

islature in 2010, Pscholka said. He is known for traveling the state on behalf of fellow Republicans.

Before coming to Lansing, he spent six years working in Upton’s office, and two terms as a Lincoln Township trustee. He also was a vice president with Cornerstone Alliance for nine years, building a statewide and national reputation in economic development.

Despite his years in and around the seats of power, Pscholka said he retains some of the awe of a newcomer.

“It still makes the hairs on my arm stand up,” he said during a stroll through the ornate Senate chamber.

When asked if he would like to be on that side of the capitol some day, Pscholka simply responds “Don’t know.”

Legislative ups – and downsLunch for Pscholka is a piece of

a sub sandwich swallowed while talking to medical students gath-ered at the offices of Governmen-tal Consultant Services. They are lobbying to save $57 million in state support that Gov. Rick Sny-der cut from his budget proposal.

Pscholka leaves that conclave to make it to a 1:30 legislative session where he has a bill on the floor to deregulate the chair lift industry.

Here Pscholka learned that an entire day of legwork and listen-ing can be eclipsed by half a dozen words.

Pscholka explained to his fellow legislators that current law makes it expensive for Michigan seniors to have the chair lifts installed in their homes, leading them to buy them in nearby Indiana or to in-stall the devices themselves.

Even California – “the land of fruits and nuts,” he said – has de-regulated this industry.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he added. “Sorry, Mr. Speaker.”

The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Aric Nesbitt of Lawton, passes 62-47. But it is his aside that at-tracts attention, as Democrats and gay rights groups later castigate Pscholka for what they claim was a derogatory term for homosexu-als.

Pscholka later apologized, say-ing the comment was meant to be “jocular, not derogatory.”

Chairman’s work never doneAt 3 o’clock Pscholka still has

meetings scheduled to discuss the Detroit Medical Center and liquor fees. He attended a meeting of the Workforce and Talent Develop-ment Committee where he had been pushing for funding for Lake Michigan College.

The committee approved a bill that would provide $8.7 million for upgrades to the Napier Ave-nue campus, with the same amount in matching funds from the college.

Sieloff has a sit-down with the Department of Environmental Quality staff about the Orchard Hill landfill near Coloma, which has drawn complaints from resi-dents about odors.

Sieloff, who has been with Pscholka since 2013, described him as a legislator who is some-times blunt, but who will give you a straight answer.

He treats his staff well, which Sieloff said comes from his previ-ous experience as an aide.

As to Pscholka’s future political plans, the staff members are mum.

Perhaps the answer lies in a comment he shared with the med-ical students earlier in the day.

His wife, Suzanne, once told him of his political ambitions, “This is your dream, this is not my dream,” Pscholka said.

Contact: jmatuszak@theHP.com, 932-0360, Twitter: @HPMatuszak

PSCHOLKAFrom page A1