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(August 16, 2016 6:30 AM) The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the Grand River at Jackson affecting Jackson County.  Heavy rain fell overnight across Jackson County.  Jackson County Airport Reynolds Field received over 5 inches of rain.  The heavy rain has now tapered off with additional light rain expected through the day.   Additional rainfall totals should be less than a half of an inch. The Flood Warning is in effect until this evening as minor flooding is occurring and record flooding is forecast. At 3:30 this morning the stage of the Grand River was 14.9 feet.  Flood stage is 14.0 feet.  The river is forecast to continue rising to near 15.5 feet by sometime this morning.  The impact at 16 feet could cause major flooding of residences and buildings along West Trail Street, Lewis Street, High Street, Losey Street and in areas east of Grand River Bridge.  Railroad tracks inundated in low lying areas along the river. The previous record of crest was 15.4 feet set on June 25, 1968. Rainfall overnight fell at the rate of one to two inches per hour.  The two southern tiers of Michigan counties, especially Jackson County,  were the hardest…

Anchor Initiative offices are located in the Consumers Energy Innovation Center in Downtown Jackson (photo by Ryan Kerwin, JTV) The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and the Anchor Initiative have signed a 16-month agreement to align missions and share staff and resources.   Mindy Bradish-Orta has served as the President/CEO of the Jackson County Chamber and Experience Jackson for 9 years. She assumes the additional role of Anchor Initiative President/CEO, effective today.    “In its search for a new Anchor Initiative President/CEO, the Board of Directors for both the Anchor Initiative and the Jackson County Chamber decided a partnership was the most efficient and effective way to accomplish both missions,” said Terry Mierzwa, chair of the Anchor Initiative and chief of staff for Consumers Energy.   In 2014, 16 local businesses, schools and the Chamber formed the Anchor Initiative in an effort to create a more vibrant downtown that would attract and retain a talented workforce.  Since then, it has been working under the leadership of Allan Hooper who recently elected to start a consulting firm.    “The alignment of both missions made this a natural fit for both organizations,” said Josh Burgett, chair of the Jackson County Chamber and…

Construction scheduled this upcoming week in the city of Jackson include: Roadway on Edward to be graded with gravel base Sawcutting to take place on Francis Street Portions of Jackson and Francis Streets closed Six-hour water shutoffs to take place on Mechanic Street Edward and Winthrop Local Street Reconstruction In the past week, the new water main pipe on Edward was connected to the city-wide distribution system at Winthrop and the water services for the houses on Edward were connected to the new water main.  Currently, the contractor is working to connected the new pipe to the city-wide distribution system at Wildwood and connect the commercial water service at Wildwood to the new water main. Once those two tasks are accomplished, all water main items will be complete and the old water main will be abandoned. Next week, the roadway on Edward will be graded and gravel base placed. By the end of next week or the beginning of the week thereafter, the concrete crew will be on site to place new curbs, driveways and sidewalks. Francis Street between Washington and Glick The project to upgrade sidewalk ramps and repave Francis Street began this week. Over the past week, temporary…

Blueberries are in season and available from several farmers at this week's market.  (JTV photo) The Michigan Farmers Market Association will set up a “rapid market assessment” at the city’s farmers market beginning 8 a.m. Friday, Aug. 12. Downtown Development Authority officials hope enough area residents attend the market to allow for the MiFMA to conduct a worthwhile and extensive survey. A rapid market assessment is a one-time mar- ket day snapshot of a farmers market that uses simple, tested methods to count market customers, survey those customers and compile data. A typical questions posed by the assessment may be “What products did you purchase at market today?” with answers ranging from “fresh fruit and veggies” to “prepared foods” and “baked goods”. “The better we can be at surveying what our customers want, the better we can be at providing them what- ever it is,” DDA Director Nathan Mack said. “Hopefully we get a great turnout Friday at the market and can collect some useful information from our customers.” The Grand River Farmers Market is located in downtown Jackson, under the pavilion on the corner of Louis Glick Highway and Mechanic Street. The market is organized Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays…