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Southwest Michigan Today Friday March 17, 2017

Attorneys for the man accused in the death of five bicyclists say he shouldn't face murder charges. January jobless rates were up in the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek labor markets over a year ago. WMU Hockey Coach Andy Murray is named the conference's coach of the year. 

Attorneys say their client shouldn't face second degree charges for the crash that killed five bicyclists in Kalamazoo last year. Charles Pickett Jr. faces five counts of second degree murder and other charges in connection with the June, 2016 crash. (Kalamazoo Gazette

January unemployment rates were up in both the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek labor markets in January. The jobless rate for the Kalamazoo-Portage market (Kalamazoo and Van Buren Counties) was 4.8%, up from 4.3% in January of 2016. The Battle Creek labor market's (Calhoun County) unemployment rate was 5.1% in January, up from 4.7% a year ago. (Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget

Western Michigan University hockey coach Andy Murray has been named the National Collegiate Hockey Coinference's coach of the year. Bronco goaltender Ben Blacker and forward Aaron Hadley also won conference honors. Western faces Minnesota-Duluth Friday in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference semi-finals. The Broncos and Bulldogs face off shortly after 5:00 Friday. (WMU Athletics)