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Informing, Enhancing,
August 4, 2016Volume 14, Number 13Benton Harbor, Michigan and South Bend, Indiana (“Michiana Area”)www.bentonspiritnews.com Complimentary
Informing, Enhancing, Showcasing, Promoting and Educating Michiana -- Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana
By Princella Tobias, Spirit Correspondent
In a historic late morning meeting on Wednesday,
August 3, top adminis-trators of Benton Harbor Area Schools (BHAS) and Andrews University (AU) came together to provide enhanced educational expe-riences and outcomes for Benton Harbor students.
According to Dr. Desmond Murray, Associate Professor of Chemistry at AU and meeting facilitator, this was the very first meeting ever of this kind in the recent history of these nearby institutions. “It is long overdue but we are very delighted to have had it,” said Murray. He con-tinued, “We all left with a great spirit of unity and pur-pose about the enormous potential and promise of an AU – BHAS partnership in the best interest and service of Benton Harbor students.”
Present at the meeting were BHAS Superintendent Shelly Walker, BHAS Curriculum Director Patricia Robinson,
AU President Andrea Luxton, AU Provost Christon Arthur, AU graduate student Carlisle-Orville Sutton, Benton Spirit
Community Newspaper found-ing publisher Princella Tobias, and Associate Professor Desmond H. Murray.
Superintendent Walker spoke passionately about and reaffirmed the untapped talents and raw intellect of
Benton Harbor students. She forcefully emphasized the importance of providing these students with a safe and order-ly environment for them to achieve and excel academical-ly and otherwise. She spoke directly about the needs and challenges of BHAS students, teachers and administrators and outlined possible areas of collaboration with Andrews to address those needs.
Director Robinson provid-ed details about instructional areas of high priority and con-cern for the district, such as Math and English Language Arts. She also gave invalu-able insight into and dis-cussed the importance of the district’s decision to re-intro-duce and offer BHAS stu-dents classes and other learn-ing opportunities in Music, Arts, Dance and Drama.
President Luxton and Provost Arthur together pre-sented several possible and specific ways that AU could assist BHAS in achieving its
An Historic MeetingWhen Andrews Met Benton Harbor
Pictured (l-r): AU graduate student Carlisle-Orville Sutton, BHAS Curriculum Director Patricia Robinson, BHAS Superintendent Shelly Walker, AU Provost Christon Arthur, AU President Andrea Luxton, and Associate Professor Desmond H. Murray. Photo Credit: Benton Spirit
Benton Harbor business pioneer Betty Shurn celebrated her 94th birthday on August 1, in the company of numerous family members, friends, and well-wishers. When Shurn was born in 1922, she joined a list of celebrities that included actor Telly Savalas (“Kojak”); actresses Bea Arthur, Ava Gardner, and Betty White; comedian Redd Foxx; singer-actress Judy Garland; former U.S. Senator George McGovern; and Chicago’s first African-American mayor, Harold Washington.
When Shurn was born, bread cost seven cents a loaf, while a movie ticket was about 15 cents. Reader’s Digest published its first issue in February, the same month that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed a woman’s right to vote.
In March, Babe Ruth signed a three-year contract for $52,000 a year with the New York Yankees, and British magistrates in India sentenced civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi to six years in prison for disobedience. Adolf Hitler joined him in prison on June 24, when he began a month-long prison term for paramilitary operations, having railed against “the Jewish sellout” of Germany to the Bolsheviks.
Shurn is known locally as the former owner of Betty’s Dry Cleaners – from which she retired in 2004, after running it for 30 years. She opened her first dry cleaning business in 1968, after attending dry cleaning school in Elkhart, IN. However, Shurn
was more than just a business owner – she was also a local community leader who won many honors.
Shurn always felt proudest of her award from the Twin City Area Branch of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), in 1999, because of its role in helping the African-American community. Her other honors included an award from the Jumpstart Basketball Program.
For more than 40 years, Shurn also served as a board member of New Bethel Baptist Church, as well as the Benton Harbor High School Athletic Department, and Race Relations Council of Southwest Michigan. In recent years, Shurn also worked with the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen and the Street Ministry.
“On behalf of the residents and City of Benton Harbor, we wish Mrs. Shurn a wonderful Happy Birthday and any age over 90 is a milestone in itself. We are praying that she has many many more in reach the milestone of a 100, as well,” stated Mayor Marcus Muhammad, City of Benton Harbor.
Former Mayor Wilce L. Cooke, still remembers all the trips of taking his clothes to Betty’s Cleaners. “She was the best in the business. She was a very hardworking woman who served as a great role model for many in our community, stated Cooke.
“I would just like to send a shout out to her. She was an astute businesswoman, she was a product of the city of Benton Harbor. Let’s give her the kudos that she deserves. Happy birthday,” further stated Cooke.
Benton Harbor Business PioneerBetty Shurn Celebrates 94th Birthday
More on AU-BHAS, page 3
3Benton-Michiana Spirit Newspaper • August 4, 2016 333
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The Benton - Michiana Spirit Community Newspaper is published on Thursday. The print version is published the first and third Thursday of each month and the on-line version is published daily with new infor-mation.
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Distribution:PRINT: The Benton-Michiana Spirit Community Newspaper is distributed in pring throughout the communities of Southwest Michigan (Benton Harbor, Berrien Springs, Buchanan, Niles, and St. Joseph, MI), and Northern Indiana (South Bend, IN), called the “Michiana” area and growing.ONLINE: The Benton-Michiana Spirit Community Newspaper is distributed daily online via website and social media outlets and partners.
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BENTON HARBOR OFFICE:P.O. Box 465
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Fax: 1-888-807-3010E-mail:
Publisher - Princella TobiasEditor - Desmond Murray, PhDAdvertising/Sales - Princella TobiasAdministrator - Patricia Plaut-PayneCommunity Liaison - Ralph Heibutzki, Candrice Williams, Richard Smith, James Summers, Pastor Hardie Blake, Tim Johnson, Stephan Tinsley, Elaine Osmun, Aspiring Young Journalist (AYJ) Team: Brandy Reed, Lashunn Harper, Ronisha Turner, Ziniya Henderson, Benton Harbor High School, Benton Harbor Public Library Teens, Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor, Benton Harbor Girls Academy, and I’m Saving Myself.
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BC Primary’s Big WinnersInclude LaSata, Quattrin: Benton Township
Officials Return To OfficeBy Ralph HeibutzkiSpirit Correspondent
A two-man drain commission battle, four-way state representative’s race, and a five-person matchup to pick Berrien County Commissioner Marletta Seats’s replacement provided the key highlights in Tuesday’s Berrien County primary – in which Benton Charter Township’s top elected officials also held off their challengers. A summary of those races follows below. For full results, please visit: http://berriencounty.org/elections.
St. Rep. (78th, 79th District)Republican Kim LaSata, wife of
Berrien County judge Charles LaSata, will face Democrat Marletta Seats this fall. LaSata won her party’s nomina-tion, with 4,585 votes against Ryan Arnt (2,957), Troy Rolling (899), and Mary E. Brown (520). Seats ran unop-posed with 2,465 votes. The winner will succeed Republican Al Pscholka.
In the 78th District, incumbent Republican Dave Pagel and Democrat Dean Hill will face each other this fall. Both ran unopposed in their primaries, with Pagel and Hill earning 4,215 and 1,301 votes, respectively. Pagel is seek-ing his third and final two-year term.
Berrien County CommissionerDistrict 3 showcased the hottest race,
as 12-year incumbent Seats gave up her officer to run for state representative. Don Meeks won the Democratic race with 348 votes over Jeffrey Booker (243), Jerry Sirk (126), and Calli Berg (95).
Meeks’s fall opponent is Republican Michael J. Sleep II, who ran unop-posed, with 399 votes. In other key races, District 4 Democratic incum-bent Mamie L. Yarbrough earned nomi-nation for another two-year term by beating Charles Jennings, 383-105.
Other County RacesAll Berrien County’s top elect-
ed officials ran unopposed. The only contested race was for Drain Commissioner, which opened up when incumbent Roger Zilke didn’t run again. Republican Christopher J. Quattrin,
making his second try for the office won it by defeating Kevin M. Gillette, 7,302-5,908. Write-in candidate Aaron Knuth collected 13 votes as a Democrat.
Benton Charter TownshipSupervisor Kevin D. White returned
to office for a full four-year term, with 309 votes, followed by Joseph Taylor (276), Anthony Jett (203), and Willie Dortch (125). White was appointed in March to complete former supervi-sor Nora Jefferson’s unexpired term.
Clerk Carolyn Phillips and Treasurer Debra Boothby also won their races. Phillips got 424 votes over Barbara Meeks (348) – wife of Berrien County Commissioner candidate, Don Meeks – and Joisette Hilliard (163). Boothby took 524 votes against Karen Bennet (298) and Richard Royall (87).
In the trustees race, incum-bents Carolyn Fowler, Rosie McCoy Hudson and Cathy Yates joined Linda Scarborough as the Democratic nominees for the November 8 general election. They’ll face Republicans Eric Culby, Emily Curry, Christian D. Nearpass, and Patience VanLandingham. Four seats are at stake.
AU-BHAS, continued from page 1
twin goals of academic excellence in a safe and orderly learning environ-ment. They both offered a number of suggestions to be discussed further with and followed up on by appropri-ate departments and sectors within the Andrews University community.
For Luxton and Arthur, this “start-er” meeting is a direct consequence of their shared and previously stated vision of greater, more effective and proactive engagement by Andrews University in its surrounding home communities. For example, in the Benton Spirit’s March 3, 2016 story about Luxton’s ascendency to the AU Presidency, she stated, “I will take up the responsibilities of President of Andrews University recognizing the rich heritage the University has in Southwestern Michigan. Whether it be Berrien Springs, Benton Harbor, Niles, St. Joseph, or the wider area, we are an essential part
of the community, and I am commit-ted to us continuing to play an active and engaged role in bringing posi-tive change to our Michigan home.” Luxton and Arthur have begun to keep their promises to the local community even within the very early days of their administration.
At the meeting Luxton also movingly opined about the cher-ished place that grades K-12 has in her heart especially as a former English, Speech and Drama teacher at that level.
Carlisle Sutton, an AU student in dual programs of Master of Divinity and Master of Community and International Development, dis-cussed the important contributions that Andrews students, from the graduate level to academy grades, has made and plans to continue mak-ing in an outreach program he cre-ated called Human Empowerment
Life Project (HELP). Sutton is seek-ing to significantly expand the num-ber of Andrews University, includ-ing its students , actively HELPing to improve the lives and chances of Benton Harbor youth. He can be reached at [email protected].
A few of the next steps discussed in maintaining the momentum of this burgeoning partnership includes: follow-up meetings and discussions, exploring early college opportuni-ties for BHAS students at AU and developing internship opportunities in BHAS for AU students from a variety of relevant fields, such as, Education, Social Work, Counseling, and Community Development.
If you want to be a part of this collaborative effort to improve the lives and improve the chances of the youth of Benton Harbor, contact Dr. Desmond Murray at [email protected].
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