Hillsdale unemployment still high but dropping

Hillsdale unemployment rate has dropped 2.3 percent from July 2009 to July 2010. A paltry drop from 19.2 percent, but it's a drop which may signal economic recovery in Hillsdale County.

Sarah Hartzeler, Community Relations Officer at South Central Michigan Works!, said the slow uptick in employment can be accredited to employers trying to stretch out their workers with minimal risk.

Hartzeler said while plants aren't hiring in large numbers, they are consistently picking up one or two workers on a monthly basis. Those workers will be working longer hours, too, she said.

Employees have the opportunity to work overtime at plants as employers seek to minimize the risk of taking on new employees only to let them go a few weeks later.

"Our unemployment rate is still fairly high," Director of Economic Development for Hillsdale Christine Bowman said. "Part of that is because companies can't raise the capital to add additional jobs."

Hartzeler said SCMW has seen the number of plant closings in Jackson and Hillsdale slow, and hasn't had to utilize its Rapid Response program, which responds when massive layoffs occur at manufacturing plants.

"Overall, we are seeing a positive outlook with quite a few workers who've gone back to work through our No Worker Left Behind program," Hartzeler said.

No Worker Left Behind grants underemployed or unemployed persons earning less than $45,000 a chance to re-educate themselves through state education grants and re-enter the workforce.

City Manager Michael Mitchell said Jackson Community College has been working with the city of Hillsdale in order to develop worker programs, which, if successful, may entice businesses to come to Hillsdale.

Another success, Mitchell said, was the Rental Rehab program, which has refurbished downtown apartments in order to cater to college students.

"What we see are people looking at completely different fields," Hartzeler said.

Hartzeler noticed that some re-educated people went back into manufacturing, but this time with training certificates in welding and other technical fields. More popular, she said, was the medical field which saw a pick-up in nursing, radiography and physical therapy.

Bowman said the Bob Evans manufacturing plant in Hillsdale is investing $1.3 million to change the plant from manufacturing to production and distribution after a plant closed in Gelva, Ill. The revamped plant will provide no new jobs, but it will keep all of its current positions. Bowman also said Martinrea International Inc., an automotive manufacturing company, recently refurbished and expanded a former SKD plant in Jonesville, doubling its number of employees to 235.

Bowman said one exception was small businesses raising capital, noting small banks and small businesses have been carefully supporting one another.

"At least it appears the bleeding seems to have stopped, and we're seeing a slight uptrend," Bowman said.

C-SPAN takes a look at Birzer’s class

Professor of History Brad Birzer will be on camera for the first time since he was 5 years old this coming October. The news organization C-SPAN visited campus this Wednesday to record Birzer's history class on Jacksonian America as part of an upcoming series on the history of America. The series, which is currently unnamed, will have all the dressings of a history class, as taught by the best history professors across the country.

"It looks like a pretty neat program," Birzer said. "They seemed to know the class I was teaching."

Birzer said the planned episode, which will cover early 19th century Republicans known as "Tertium quids" — a Latin name denoting a third party — fell perfectly into his class schedule. And, according to the program's director and former Assistant Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Luke Nichter, Birzer has insight into this political group that no one else does.

"I thought it was a joke at first," Birzer said. "But it looks like a pretty neat program."

Nichter said the program will cover American history from its early colonial years right up to Sept. 11, 2001. The program will have at least 25 different professors from various universities and colleges who will cover separate topics throughout American history. Nichter said he hopes the program emulates a semester in a beginning history class.

"It's like I'm putting a whole class together and rounding up at least 25 professors," Nichter said. "When you think about the role of education in the country and its responsibility...we want a very broad and diverse background."

Students of Birzer's class seem to be excited. Junior Anne Morath said the class, as of right now, focuses on the age of Jackson and the personality that shaped the era around the war of 1812.

"I think it's fantastic," Morath said of the C-SPAN coverage. "I know a lot of people in the class who are excited about it. Dr. Birzer is such a fantastic professor that getting him into the public media is exciting because it's a way in which people can see Hillsdale professors."

Nichter said the program will first air Oct. 22 and will show on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays at 8 a.m., 8 p.m. and midnight EST. Distinguished Visiting Fellow in History Victor Davis Hanson will also be filmed Sept. 22 on great American military leaders.

Young gun aficionados showcase their stockpile

Sophomore Cody Mohr is lying on his back in a "T" position on the floor. He is covered in green, black and white threads, only his face and lower torso visible. Senior Aaron Falk sits over him and threads the colored yarn through the netting, slowly crafting a gillie suit.

All told, there are over 20 guns within the residence. They're not sure where to begin and after a short debate a decision is made - they'll start grabbing guns from junior Kamil Stasiulewicz's room and work their way around the house. The guys rush up and down the stairs grabbing their firearms, checking to see if they're empty, and lay them out, actions open, on Falk's gillie suit in the middle of the living room floor. The collection includes five shotguns, 10 rifles and one muzzleloader.

The guys pick up the guns and examine them. They're careful not to flag one another, keeping the gun's barrel pointed away from anyone standing in the crowded room. Senior Mark Yassay and Falk watch cautiously before Marsh sets a gun down. The action isn't open and Falk notices. Within moments the problem is fixed. Falk, Yassay and senior Michael Black said safe handling is the first thing to learn when using guns.

"You just have to teach them how to shoot and handle guns and people will get used to them," Black said.

"They're not weapons, they're tools," Yassay said.

Falk points out his Springfield 1903, a model he said was used in World Wars I and II. This particular gun, he said, saw combat in WWI before receiving modifications and updates over the years since. He and junior Mike Marsh point to a model 1891 Mosin-Negant. Marsh said the Mosin-Negant is another World War I-era gun which has undergone sportorization, a process where old military rifles are modified for sport use.

The 17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire rifle's body has a wooden polish and a hole built into its butt for the shooter's thumb to fit through. Falk said it is outfitted with a Barska varmint scope which adjusts for bullet drop at different ranges.

Marsh sets an orange clay pigeon next to the rifle with a single bullet hole through the middle. He said Yassay shot the target at 250 yards, two and a half football fields away.

"Instead of a class ring, my parents bought me that shotgun," Mohr said, pointing to an all-black shotgun. "I was happy."

It's a Charles Daly 12 gauge shotgun. The company producing it, Charles Daly, recently went out of business, spelling bad news for Mohr, who said the gun may need a new firing pin.

Falk said he and his housemates shoot at least two or three times a month. Today is the first time the guys have collectively laid out their weapons.

"Most of these are hunting rifles or targeting rifles," Falk said.

There's one rifle which stands out - the AR-15 semi-automatic. Falk, Mohr and Marsh said the AR-15 is the current standard for NATO forces and the U.S. Armed Forces. It belongs to Stasiulewicz, who got it because he's joining the Marines. It's a house favorite to shoot.

"That's for shooting for fun," Falk said. "Put a scope on it and it can become a varmint rifle."

"We can shoot coons with that," Marsh said. "I like raccoons because I think they're cute," senior Justin Dailey said.

The conversation moves to shooting with shotguns.

"I shot doves with a 4-10," Falk said.

"I think doves are cute too," Dailey said. "Justin is just a big baby," Black said.

Falk said his grandpa's preferred game was always waterfowl. He said they'd occasionally go out and shoot groundhogs on an Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Dailey's father has collected shotguns for as long as he can remember.

"We only hunt animals that are vermin and are legal to shoot," Marsh said.