WMU increases tuition 5.7%

Western Michigan University’s governing body has voted to raise tuition and fees 5.7 percent for in-state students attending the Kalamazoo school.  The university’s board of trustees on Thursday approved the tuition hike effective this fall. The board also approved a 7.5 percent increase in the university’s financial aid budget. The school says that a full-time freshman or sophomore from Michigan would pay $8,382 to attend Western Michigan for the 2009-2010 academic year. That’s an increase of $454 from the bill for the 2008-2009 school year.  (AP)

Run Thru Purgatory on Saturday

The “Run Thru Purgatory” will be staged on Saturday (July 4^th).  The course runs on a scenic byway of gravel roads through the Purgatory State Game Area.  It will take place rain shine.   5K and 10k races begin at 9 a.m. with the Fun Run starting at 9:30.  Check-in and same-day registration will get underway at 6:30 a.m.  The start and finish point is the Baptist Youth Camp, seven miles northwest of Constantine.  The day-of-race registration fee is $20.  For more information, call Judy Elliott at (269) 435-7567.

Wallet found 60 years later

Bill Fulton doesn’t remember losing his wallet, but he says getting it back more than 60 years later is rekindling memories.  The Oregon man apparently dropped the wallet behind the balcony bleachers in the Baker Middle School (Oregon) gym while cheering for the basketball team.  The 78-year-old tells the Baker City Herald that the wallet “stayed in good shape.” The leather is still smooth and the zipper moves as easily as it did in 1946. Fulton’s Social Security card and a bicycle license for his job as a drugstore delivery boy were positioned in their respective compartments, apparently untouched.  A school worker found the wallet along with old homework, lost library books and a 1964 talent show program while removing the bleachers for renovations a couple of weeks ago.  Fulton say the discovery has prompted him to reflect on a life that’s taken him to the Korean War and Berlin before a return to Baker City. He says, “It’s hard to believe that the times have gone so fast.”  (AP)

Thursday’s Three Rivers Commercial-News

A woodchuck who made a poor menu choice lived to tell about it thanks to some out-of-state kindness and a timely suggestion from an Alpena animal advocate. For more information, please see today’s Three Rivers Commercial-News.

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) cares about clean air and water, and supports renewable energy such as wind power and solar power. However, he is concerned about the “cap and trade” energy legislation that recently passed the House of Representatives, he said yesterday during a visit to the Commercial-News office. “I strongly opposed it,” he said. “This will saddle homes and businesses with an $850 billion tax. It will raise electric bills by 38 percent by 2024.” For more information, please see today’s Three Rivers Commercial-News.

Jim Bedell has taken the reins as Constantine’s police chief in a two-step process that was officially completed last week. Bedell, who has 25 years of Michigan State Police experience, took over the chief’s duties in May from Mark Honeysett, who had been serving as both head of the police department and as village manager. For more  information, please see today’s Three Rivers Commercial-News.

CNN News (updated hourly)