January 24, 2021
A local lawmaker will be leading a committee in Lansing that focuses on elections.
State Representative Ann Bollin of Brighton Township has been appointed Chairwoman of the House Elections and Ethics Committee by Speaker Jason Wentworth this week. The committee focuses on election reforms and ethics, which have been noted as top priorities of the 101st state legislature. Bollin comes to the position with 16 years of experience as Brighton Townshipâs clerk, running their elections in her time there.
She said in a release that they have learned a lot over the past few months about the election system and areas that can be improved. She said, moving forward, they must take action to restore the publicâs trust and find solutions that help future elections run more smoothly.
January 16, 2021
A local lawmaker is touting her perfect attendance and voting records for 2020.
Republican State Senator Lana Theis of Brighton Township announced via press release that she did not miss one day of work nor a single vote last year. Theis said there is nothing she takes more seriously than serving the people of Livingston and Washtenaw Counties. She added residents of the district work hard and many of them donât have the luxury of taking time off â especially those working on the front lines during these challenging times â and they expect the same from their lawmakers. Theis said she has never missed a day of work since joining the Legislature in 2015 and has no plans of slowing down. The release noted that Theis did not miss any of the 632 record roll call votes in 2020.
January 14, 2021 Ana Liz Nichols (Associated Press) & Jon King / jking@whmi.com
The new legislative session in Michigan began Wednesday with political tensions high over the attack on the U.S. Capitol and certification of the presidential election, with State Senator Lana Theis among those being called out for efforts at casting doubt on the validity of Joe Bidenâs win.
Since the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C., by supporters of President Donald Trump, the FBI has warned of plans by radicals to attack statehouses nationwide, including in Michigan, which on Monday banned open carry of firearms inside the building.
Two more personal care homes are among the 11 long-term care facilities reporting cases of COVID-19 in Beaver County.
According to data released Tuesday from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Cambridge Village Personal Care Home in Patterson Township and Lakeview Personal Care in South Beaver Township are among the at least six personal care or assisted living facilities to report COVID cases in residents.
As of Monday, there were 1,017 resident cases and 227 staff cases of COVID-19 reported in 16 long-term care facilities in Beaver County since March. That includes 30 new resident cases and three new staff cases recorded in the previous seven days in the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System, or NEDSS, an electronic database that automatically tallies new COVID cases in long-term care facilities. Since March, 195 residents have died from the virus, including six recorded in the past week in NEDSS.
Police are searching for a man who escaped from Beaver County Jail on Thursday morning. John Broman, 41, of Beaver, escaped around 10:45 a.m. according to Hopewell Township Police. He was last seen heading south from the jail on foot. Several law enforcement agencies are involved in the search. Broman