Battle Creek

Closings of Michigan airport control towers delayed

The Associated Press — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 19:49:00 +0000

DETROIT (AP) - The closings of three air traffic control towers in Michigan are among 149 nationwide that will be delayed.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it needs more time to deal with legal challenges to the closures announced because of government-wide spending cuts.

The planned tower shutdowns include those at W.K. Kellogg Airport in Battle Creek, Coleman A. Young in Detroit and Sawyer International in Marquette County's Sands Township.

Japanese auto supplier set to invest $150 million in Michigan

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:12:03 +0000

Japanese auto supplier Denso has announced a four-year, $1 billion expansion in North America, including a $150 million investment in Michigan.

According to plans revealed at the North American International Auto Show on Tuesday, the auto supplier could hire a combined 400 new workers at its technical center in Southfield and manufacturing plant in Battle Creek.

Nathan Borney of the Detroit Free Press has more:

Kellogg's Mini-Wheat recall comes after cutbacks, company reinvesting in supply chain

Mark Brush — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:46:29 +0000

Three days ago, Battle Creek cereal maker Kellogg's announced a voluntary recall of Frosted and Unfrosted Mini-Wheats.

From Kellogg's:

We have initiated a voluntary recall due to the possible presence of fragments of flexible metal mesh from a faulty manufacturing part. Recalled products include only Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite Size Original and Mini-Wheats Unfrosted Bite Size with the letters KB, AP or FK before or after the Best If Used Before date.

You can see a list of UPC codes on the Kellogg's website.

The Wall Street Journal reports on how much the recall will cost the company:

Kellogg Co. K +0.54% said Wednesday it would take a charge of up to $30 million to cover the recall of Mini-Wheats cereal in the U.S. due to possible contamination by pieces of metal mesh.
Retailers have been contacted about the recall of 2.8 million packages of Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite-Size Original and Mini-Wheats Unfrosted Bite Size, which are being pulled from store shelves. Kellogg blamed the contamination on "a faulty manufacturing part," and said no injuries had been reported.

The WSJ reports the metal mesh problem comes after the company went through another recall in 2010 for a variety of cereals.

The paper reports the company is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fix its supply chain, "which suffered deep cost cuts, leaving several manufacturing facilities overworked and too few people overseeing operations."

Student-led march protests stereotyping of Battle Creek Central

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:24:14 +0000

A student-led march in downtown Battle Creek this morning protested recent violence and attempts to blame the violence on Battle Creek Central High School.

Over 2,000 marchers from across Calhoun County took to the streets in support of Battle Creek Central.

From the Battle Creek Enquirer:

Michigan cities continue to lose population

Steve Carmody — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:26:18 +0000

Michigan cities continue to see their populations shrink.Where’s everyone going? Texas, it seems.

The U.S. Census is out with new numbers today that show population shifts in the nation’s 715 largest cities. And the data is not good for Michigan.

Seven Michigan cities ranked at the bottom of the list of the nation’s cities with more than 50,000 residents.

According to the report, Dearborn, Detroit, Livonia, Westland and Taylor all saw their populations drop 1 percent from 2010 to 2011.

Flint, Battle Creek and Saginaw also posted sharp population declines.

These latest population losses come after Michigan posted a slight population decline between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

Meanwhile, Texas had eight of the top 15 fastest-growing cities during the past year, according to the U.S. Census.

Park reopens nearly two years after oil spill

Steve Carmody — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:39:00 +0000

Life is slowly returning to normal along the Kalamazoo River nearly two years after a broken pipeline dumped more than 800 thousand gallons of crude oil into the river.

Today, a Calhoun County park that has been closed since the oil spill officially reopened to the public.

Tower without power now has power again

Steve Carmody — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:16:01 +0000

Update 4:15pm

The power is back on at Battle Creek's Heritage Tower.

Consumer Energy shut off electricity to the building due to a dispute with the 80 year old building's owner.

The power outage affected wireless and 911 service in part of Battle Creek.

The utility issued a statement after restoring power to the tower:

"Consumers Energy understands how important it is to the city of Battle Creek to have a fully functioning 911 system and cellular telephone service. Finding a solution to this issue was a priority for us, and we worked closely with the local officials and many others to find this temporary solution."

Original Post 4:48pm

A power outage this week could force the last tenants out of Battle Creek’s Heritage Tower. The owner apparently failed to pay the building’s utility bill.

The 80 -year-old Heritage Tower is acknowledged as an Art Deco gem. But in recent years, various problems have left the 19-story building largely vacant.

Cheryl Beard is with Battle Creek Unlimited. She says the economic development group is willing to work with the owner to help bring the city’s iconic downtown tower back to life.

“If the owner is interested in selling…maybe we look for parties that are interested in acquiring it. If that’s what they desire,” says Beard, “Or with coming up with a plan for redevelopment and searching for tenants.”

Efforts to contact the Florida business that owns the Heritage Tower have been unsuccessful.

Pentagon plan will cut deep into the Michigan Air National Guard

The Associated Press — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 02:53:47 +0000

A Pentagon report says planned Air National Guard cuts would eliminate about 850 jobs at Michigan's Selfridge and Kellogg bases, drawing criticism from Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin and others from the state's congressional delegation.

The Detroit News quotes an Air Force report saying Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County's Harrison Township would lose 724 jobs with the relocation A-10 fighters.

It says Kellogg Air Guard Station in Battle Creek would lose a net 122 jobs.

Democrat Levin says he's asked the military to give him "the methodology and justification for these plans." He says he'll question the Air Force secretary and chief of staff in committee March 20.

Harrison Township Republican Rep. Candice Miller calls the cuts "a step in the wrong direction."

Michigan's Kellogg Co. stepping in to snatch up Pringles

Mark Brush — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:04:09 +0000

The Battle Creek based Kellogg Co. is moving to make more inroads into the snack world.

The company plans to purchase the Pringles brand, according to the Associated Press:

Kellogg has popped up to buy the Pringles chip brand from Procter & Gamble for $2.7 billion after a similar deal with Diamond Foods was derailed by accounting problems and an executive shakeup at Diamond.
The addition will help Kellogg with its goal of becoming as big globally in snacks as it is in cereal. The Pringles business will add to Kellogg’s stable of snack brands that include Keebler, Cheez-It and Special K Cracker Chips.

In a statement, Kellogg President and CEO John Bryant said:

"We are excited to announce this strategic acquisition. Pringles has an extensive global footprint that catapults Kellogg to the number two position in the worldwide savory snacks category, helping us achieve our objective of becoming a truly global cereal and snacks company. We are delighted to welcome the employees of the Pringles organization to Kellogg. Their collective passion and commitment has resulted in Pringles' well-deserved acclaim as one of the most recognized brands in the world."

Kellogg says it expects to complete the Pringles acquisition during the summer.

Michigan congressman raises concerns about defense spending

Steve Carmody — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:01:01 +0000

The budget President Obama delivers to Congress this week will spend about 8 billion dollars less on the Defense Department. That's going to directly affect two Michigan Air National Guard Bases.

Battle Creek city commissioners approve health care exemption

Steve Carmody — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:59:10 +0000

Battle Creek is opting out of a new state law that requires local government employees pay more for their health insurance. And it’s not alone. The Michigan Municipal League says about a third of the cities it surveyed plan to exempt themselves from the law requiring an 80/20 split on health insurance costs.

The law allows a temporary opt out. And there are many reasons.

New Kalamazoo River oil spill cleanup plan due today

Steve Carmody — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:01:01 +0000

Nearly 15 months after an oil spill fouled miles of the Kalamazoo River, the pipeline’s owner is submitting an updated cleanup plan to the federal Environmental Protection Agency today.

The July 2010 pipeline break spewed more than 840 thousand gallons of Canadian tar sands crude oil into the Kalamazoo River. Hundreds of workers have spent the past year removing contaminated soil, sucking up submerged oil and rehabbing endangered wildlife. But the work is far from over.

A company spokesman says senior Enbridge officials spent Thursday reviewing and revising the new cleanup plan, that the EPA demanded after the company missed an August deadline.

The new plan will detail how Enbridge plans to complete the removal of submerged oil in the Kalamazoo River, remove oil and contaminated soil beyond the river bank and how they’ll reassess their cleanup plans in 2012.

Enbridge officials estimate the cleanup will eventually cost the pipeline company $700 million.

Estimated cost of cleaning up Kalamazoo River oil spill rising

Steve Carmody — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:01:45 +0000

The new estimate was part of paperwork Enbridge Energy filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company says it’s revising its estimated cleanup costs, from $585 million to $700 million. That's about a 20 percent increase.

Kalamazoo River oil spill update: A lot of work accomplished, but still more to do

Steve Carmody — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:26:14 +0000

Dozens of people who turned out for a public hearing in Marshall on the cleanup of last Summer’ s oil spill in the Kalamazoo River left without hearing the news they wanted to hear….that the river will soon reopen.

More than 766 thousand gallons of crude oil have been recovered during the past twelve months. But there are still large deposits of submerged oil in three different parts of the river.

Oil spill update meeting scheduled for this week in Marshall

Steve Carmody — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:01:01 +0000

This week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency plans to hold a public meeting to discuss what’s happening with the Kalamazoo River oil spill. More than year ago, a ruptured oil pipeline spewed more than 800 thousand gallons of crude oil that eventually made its way into the Kalamazoo River.