The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • 13

HIGH SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION UPDATE Lakeshcre spotlighted Page 2C 1 1 1 VV Jcjwj I SECTION TTTO A 'Bridgman Winter Guard finishes second PAGE 3C fed 1 Monday, April 13, 1998 Berrien County sour ll II $23 minion in road repairs raider way By SCOTT AIKEN H-P Staff Writer Van Buren County County boosts primary road projects to $1.45 million for '98 By ANDREW LERSTEN H-P South Haven Bureau ject is to be completed in October. Bridges carrying eastbound and westbound 1-94 over Lake Street in Bridgman are to be replaced with wider structures. The $2.3 million project is to begin April 27 and be completed in October. A minimum of two traffic lanes will be open at all times, MDOT said. A $1 million project involves deck repairs and recoating steel on the westbound 1-94 bridge over Puetz Road in Lincoln Township.

The project is to begin May 2 and be finished in October. At least one traffic lane will be open at all tines. Two lanes of westbound 1-94 will be open from 7 a.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday.

Puetz Road will be closed and traffic detoured for 30 days. On May 4, an $872,000 ing project is slated to begin on 1-94 in Lake and Lincoln townships. repaired is a 6.8-mile section of the highway from Red Arrow Highway to Puetz Road. At least one lane will be open from 6 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m.

Friday. All lanes are to be open on weekends and holidays, MDOT said. Several projects involve work on U.S. 3 1 freeway. A one-mile section of the freeway will be paved with concrete, and construction is continuing on ramps and bridges to carry Old U.S.

31 over the new freeway north of Berrien Springs. The $8.8 million project began last year and is scheduled for completion in September. One traffic lane in each direction on Old 31 will remain open during construction. Construction of bridges to carry the freeway's northbound and southbound lanes over Matthew Road in Niles Tow nship is to begin April 15. The $2.6 million project, which includes reconstruction of a one-third of a mile section of Matthew, is scheduled for completion in June 1999.

Northbound U.S. 31 will be closed at Matthew and traffic directed to southbound U.S. 31. One traffic lane will be maintained in each direction, and the lanes will be separated by a concrete barrier. Matthew Road will be closed and traffic detoured for 1 5 days.

A bridge is being built to carry Rangeline Road over the U.S. 31 freeway. In conjunction with the work, a half-mile section of Range-line is to be rebuilt. The $2.6 million project began in 1997 and is scheduled for completion in June. With the arrival of warm weather, motorists can expect to encounter a flurry of road work in Berrien County.

The Michigan Department of Transportation has awarded contracts for five projects that are getting under way in April and May. Two other projects continue work begun in 1997. Cost of the seven projects is S23 million. The construction and repair work are included in a record $1 billion MDOT budget. MDOT Director James DeSana said the worst roads statewide are getting attention first with a "mix of fixes" meant to improve significantly the transportation network.

Most of the budget is earmarked for repT Rn't nrpcArvfinn rrrjrf: On the list of Berrien County projects beginning in April and May is mil I ino an (J resurfacing work on an eight-mile section of Interstate 196 from the Interstate 94 interchange in Benton Township to the Van Buren County line in Hagar Township. The work is under way, and one traffic lane is being kept open in each direction. The $4.7 million pro County Road 703 to 76th Street. Geneva Township: County Road 380, 1 mile from Michigan 43 to County Road 687 and another nine-tenths mile from West Townline Road to Michigan 43; County Road 681, nine-tenths mile from County Road 388 to Baseline Road; County Road 388, improvements at intersection with 68th Street; and 60th Street, 1 mile from 16th Avenue to County Road 384. Hamilton Township: County Road 352, 2 miles from County Road 68 1 to 54th Street.

Hartford Township: County Road 687, 1.1 miles from Hartford city limits to County Road 372. Keeler Township: County Road 690, 1.2 miles from Cass County line to Michigan 152. Lawrence Township: County Road 215, 1.4 miles from Lawrence village limits to 48th Avenue. El Paw Paw Township: County Road 665, 1.5 miles from Paw Paw village limits to 47th Avenue. Pine Grove Township: County Road 388, 2.5 miles from 32nd Street to 27th Street.

Porter Township: County Road 352, 1 mile from Shaw Road to 29th Street. South Haven Township: County Road 380, 1.25 miles from Blue Star Highway to Michigan 140. PAW PAW With maintenance money saved from the mild winter, the Van Buren County Road Commission plans to spend up to $1.45 million on primary county road projects this year, up from the average of between $650,000 and $800,000 spent in an average year. Globe Construction of Kalamazoo will pave 5.62 miles of Red Arrow Highway from Paw Paw east to Van-Kal Road in Antwerp Township for $344,590. Work is expected to start in May.

The paving will include use of a polymer asphalt additive expected to improve the ride quality of the road and extend its life. Klett Construction of Hartford will pave the following sections of road in the county at a cost of $666,430: Bangor Township: County Road 687, 1.5 miles from 48th Avenue to County Road 376. Bloomingdale Township: County Road 388, 1.5 miles from County Road 384 north to County Road 390. II Covert Township, County Road 376, 1 mile from St. Joseph Twp.

'Huffing' topic of Neighborhood Watch program an aerosol spray to a towel and then inhaled the vapors. Bailey said the topic of huffing was planned for the April 23 meeting before the Indiana's girl death, but he added he hopes the death will raise awareness of the problem locally. "The timing is sad but we can make that a teachable moment," said Deb Schmid of the Berrien County Health Department, one of five speakers scheduled for the April 23 meeting. Bailey said he is aware of several local reports of teen-agers engaging in huffing. Schmid, the prevention coordinator for the health department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, said the activity has many health risks.

"The typical kid is thinking, 'It's not going to happen to but they have to realize it could," she said. Besides Schmid, Marilyn Soto of the Link Crisis Intervention Center, and Jim Thomas, Kelly Conaway and Sue Mienau of Lakeland Medical Center are scheduled to speak, Bailey said. By RICK BRUNDRETT H-P Staff Writer ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP St. Joseph Township police hope that last week's death of a Mishawaka, Ind teen-ager who reportedly had been "huffing," or inhaling vapors from a household product, will raise awareness of the problem locally.

The issue will be the topic of discussion at an April 23 meeting of the St. Joseph Township Neighborhood Watch program, said township Patrolman Paul Bailey, who oversees the program. Anyone can attend the meeting, not just Neighborhood Watch participants. "It's a concern to a lot of people, so that's why we are having this meeting," Bailey said this week. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m.

at the township hall at 3000 Washington Ave. A 17-year-old Mishawaka girl died Tuesday after reportedly inhaling vapors from a household product. The girl, along with two male acquaintances, reportedly applied Bangor Twp. H-P photo by Jason Wambagan PREPPING FOR THE TURN-OFF: Roosevelt Elementary School second-graders Mario Strand and Carrie Klotz (right) prep for the first national TV Turn-Off, set for April 22-28, Principal Perry Heppler has vowed to pucker up with a porker if his students can collectively accumulate a thousand hours of time not spent watching television. 1 SfevensvIIfo Students are about to try a lifestyle free of TV I .11 1 -7 Merriman Lake residents in favor of boating restrictions By SUE RYAN H-P Correspondent BUDDING ENGINEER: Roosevelt second-grader David Greendonner uses building blocks for construction a far more useful expenditure of his time, educators say, than plopping down in front of the tube.

four years throughout the country reveal that fewer hours in front of the television correspond with higher test scores. In addition, recent research from the American Medical Association links excessive TV watching with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. In March, students at Sylvester Elementary School in Berrien Springs launched a no-TV week in observance of National Reading Month. Fifty-two students plus adults signed a contract promising to ignore the TV, including video movies and games, in favor of reading, playing with siblings and outdoor activities. Principal Mark Parsons rewarded those who persevered even through snow days with a pizza party and prizes.

"Personally, I read (that week)," says Parsons. "I discovered that too, spend a lot of time watching TV" Heppler and teachers at Roosevelt are encouraging students to devote the week to reading, games and family activities. The school will host a visor Ken Gruetzmacher. Lake resident Hannah Schlecker said it's her understanding that most of the residents favor the complete restriction against high-speed boating, rather than a partial restriction. "We are having more people buy property around the lake, and bringing in Jet Skis and bigger boats," Schlecker said.

"This lake just can't sustain any fast boats. It's really a fishing lake. That's what it's all about." The long, thin 40-acre lake is in the township's north-central portion, about two miles west of Bangor. The public hearing started a 30-day public comment period for the DNR. Preston said he will gather all the input and make a recommendation to the state next month on possible restrictions.

But final approval will have to come from the township board, Preston said. By ANDREW LERSTEN H-P South Haven Bureau BANGOR Residents of Merriman Lake in Bangor Township are mostly in support of proposed boating restrictions on the lake, according to township officials. The state Department of Natural Resources last week held a public hearing attended by nearly two dozen residents to gather input on restrictions. "Everybody's concerned for safety," said Sgt. Robert Preston of the Department of Natural Resources, who moderated the meeting at the township hall.

He said options under study include a permanent 24-hour "no wake" designation on the lake or limits on high-speed boating during certain hours. "The group (that was there was pretty much unified that controls were in order," said township Super STEVENSVILLE If experience is any indication, a date with a pig is looming in Perry Heppler's future. The principal of Roosevelt Elementary School in Stevensville has vowed to pucker up with a porker if his students can collectively accumulate a thousand hours of time not spent watching television. Roosevelt Elementary students and families are joining others across the nation in the first national TV Turn-Off, set for April 22-28. The positive correlation between less television and better reading and concentration is clear, says Heppler, who instigated the event at a school in Davison, Mich.

"The research is there," he says. "The more TV a child watches, the worse they do (in school), and the less they watch, the better they do." Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education confirm Heppler's statements. Reading tests conducted every really could do it. I think the point is not that TV is an evil that we must throw away, but it's something that's become almost addicting, a habit.

"Let's just see if we can live without it for a week." Giving up the TV is good for the brain, according to Jane Healy, author of "Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don't Think What We Can Do About It." Healy says the brain, like muscle, can be developed. See ONE WEEK, page 2C game-and-snacks night April 24 and a night for building with Legos and blocks April 28. Lincoln Township Library is helping out by offering an evening of reading and craft activities April 22. Giving up what has become a major part of most Americans' lives is difficult for many, even parents, Heppler says. "It's not easy for everyone.

We got resistance (at my former school) from spme dads who didn't want to miss baseball," Heppler says. "Some kids didn't know if they.