Veterans Hall of Valor recognizes reporter’s service

By Olivia Pero Assistant Editor

Hillsdale Daily News

reporter Corey Murray

was inducted into the Hillsdale County Veterans Hall of Valor on Nov. 11 for his military service and involvement in the community.

The organization recognized Murray during its 21st annual ceremony in Plaster Auditorium.

"Like many veterans before me, I felt the need to be involved in something bigger when I returned home,” Murray said. “To continue my service to my community beyond my military service.”

From 2005 to 2011, Murray served as a junior enlisted soldier, producing daily intelligence summaries at an Army Service Component Command, the U.S. Army Pacific in Hawaii, and later at the Special Operations Command in the Pacific.

After returning from the Pacific, Murray was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Georgia, and was deployed to Iraq. He transferred to the Michigan National Guard in 2011 and served there until 2014.

Since then, Murray has lived in Hillsdale, where he is a crime and emergency services staff reporter for the Hillsdale Daily News. He has been a volunteer firefighter at the Hillsdale Township Fire Department and has organized fire department events for the community such as Trunkor-Treat at the Hillsdale fairgrounds.

“We were doing the Trunk-or-Treat at our station and Corey came to me one day and said, ‘Mike, I think we can do this bigger and better and use other facilities in town,’” Hillsdale County Fire Chief Mike Rose said.

Murray also founded the Hillsdale County Veterans Coalition, which provides local veterans with housing, transportation, a designated veterans probation officer, and employment services. still giving it their all,” Murray said. “I'm just proud that we can go out there and try and keep those guys in the fight a little bit longer.”

Murray is a member of the American Legion, Post 53. He recently raised $15,000 for the legion to provide a mobile canteen unit –an emergency response vehicle stocked with food, hydration materials, and extra equipment for first responders to be dispatched on scenes at short notice.

This past July, Murray led Post 53 in raising more than $35,000 to take over the annual Great American Celebration for Independence Day at the Hillsdale County fairgrounds.

“The look on those kids’ faces inside the fairgrounds that night made that 13hour day and seven months of work, fundraising, and organizing completely worth it,” Murray said.

Hillsdale Buick and GMC dealer Ken Joswiak has gotten to know Murray working on the Trunk-orTreat event and the Baw Beese Bash over the years.

“You see these guys after hours on the scene, especially during the summertime, where they're completely exhausted and partially dehydrated, but

“A community, especially of our size, really needs people like Corey Murray to be able to get out and get involved so that these events can continue to happen,” Joswiak said.

County expands road commission, seeks applicants

By Thomas McKenna Collegian Freelancer

The Hillsdale County Road Commission is looking for applicants to fill two new seats.

The county Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to add two new members to the road commission board in August. The road commission oversees the maintenance of roads and state highways in Hillsdale County, including paving and snowplowing.

The county set aside a total of $50,000 per year to fund the positions, according to Mark Wiley, who chairs the Board of Commissioners and represents District 3.

Commissioner Doug Ingles voted in favor of adding the new members. He represents District 1, which includes the city of Hillsdale and some surrounding areas. Ingles said a transparency law has hindered the board because it only has three members.

“Any time two members are together talking about road commission, that creates a quorum,” Ingles said. “Then you need to fit into the Open Meetings Act.”

The Open Meetings Act is a Michigan law that requires government bodies to hold public meetings if enough officials attend, according to the Library of Michigan. For the three-member road commission, a quorum only requires two members. Ingles said this limits the board’s ability to do business.

“The intent of adding two members creates the possibility for the road commission to create committees as needed so that official business can transpire more efficiently,” Ingles said.

Wiley voted against the expansion.

“I'm not an advocate of making government bigger,” Wiley said. “By adding two more seats, we're making government bigger. That board has been a three-member board for 106 years. I think time has proven three can do the job.”

He said he thinks the funds could go to better causes, including road maintenance programs.

“Training the drivers how to grade the gravel roads has been the biggest complaint,” Wiley said. “Some of these guys basically get hired, jump in a truck ride with somebody for two days, and then are turned loose. That's not much of a training program.”

Bob Godfrey, chairman of the road commission, also said adding two members will streamline the board’s business by avoiding Open Meetings Act requirements on twomember meetings.

The board sends members to visit each of the 18 townships at least once a month, according to Godfrey. He said the new members will help with the visits, lightening the burden on each member.

“Each commissioner has six townships to visit each month. Some nights you have two or three township meetings on the same night. You just can't make them all so you have to stretch it out,” Godfrey said. “What this will do is let us divide it up between five commissioners.”

Data from the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council reports that 54.2% of road miles rated for federal aid in Hillsdale County were in poor condition in 2021.

Galloway Residence House Director JoAnn Arendt, who said she has been driving frequently in Hillsdale County for more than a decade, said the roads are in poor condition especially in the city of Hillsdale.

“It's a shame,” Arendt said. “You have to go 25, but you have to kind of zigzag around to not hit the potholes. It would be a good thing if they could fix the roads. I don't know how I could help them, but I'll cheer them on if they do.”

Godfrey said budget constraints have prevented the road commission from improving road quality.

“We can only do what we can do with the money we receive, and the money we receive comes from registrations on vehicles and gas tax,” Godfrey said. “We have $4 gas and $5 diesel. People have stopped driving. We could use twice what we're putting into roads right now to start bringing it back to a better percentage. Right now we're just trying to maintain and not get worse.”

The board has received four applications so far, according to Wiley. He said the board has yet to form criteria to judge applicants, but that he has some qualities in mind.

“I'm looking for a longtime county resident,” Wiley said. “I'm looking for somebody that expresses an interest and perhaps has some sort of background in either finance or heavy equipment or roads – some areas that might make them an asset.”

The county will accept applications online until Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. at co.hillsdale.mi.us.