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Southwest Michigan Today: Monday July 9, 2018

File photo of the South Haven lighthouse by WMUK
WMUK

The deadline is here for registering to vote in the August primary. Michigan insurers worry about delaying some payments called for under Obamacare. A warning about the risk of drowning in the Great Lakes. 

(MPRN) If you want to vote in the August primary, Monday is your last day to register to vote. The Secretary of State says it only takes a minute to register – which you can do at your local clerk’s office or at any Secretary of State branch office. But then you actually have to vote in the primary on August 7th. Turnout is traditionally much lower for primaries than for the general election. It’s usually below 20-percent of the voting age population.

(WDET) Some insurers serving Michigan are expressing concerns over the Trump Administration’s decision to delay some payments called for under the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. The Administration says it will suspend about 10 and a half billion dollars of payments for what’s known as the risk adjustment program. That money is a key part of Obamacare because it transfers funding from insurance plans covering typically healthy low-risk people to those with a higher risk of disease. The move comes after a federal judge found earlier this year that the methodology used to determine the payments was flawed. Blue Cross Blue Shield says the payments were designed to keep costs down for ALL customers and freezing the funding will significantly increase premiums for millions of people and small business owners next year.

(WVPE) Summertime in Michigan often means a trip to ‘the Lake’ usually meaning one of the Great Lakes. There have been 37 drownings so far this year in the Great Lakes. But most people don’t know what drowning actually looks like. People actively drowning will often push down on the water and tilt their head back to try to breathe above water. Racklyeft says if someone is drowning rescuers should try to throw something to help or bring a floatation device if they do have to go out. If you’re caught in a rip current he says remember flip, float and follow. Flip over and float on your back to conserve energy and follow the current until it releases you and you can swim to shore. Obeying warning signs, swimming with a life jacket and swimming on a beach with lifeguards are other ways to prevent drowning.

(WDET) President Trump says he will announce his choice Monday night to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, and a judge from Michigan is in the mix. Trump says he is considering two or three people to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. And some experts say Judge Raymond Kethledge may be emerging as something of a consensus choice. Ann Arbor-based Kethledge is known as a conservative’s conservative…an outdoorsman who has experience but is NOT a Washington insider and who has apparently hit it off well with Trump. But some Democrats accuse Kethledge of siding against workers in cases involving the right to organize and discrimination based on sexual harassment. They also charge Kethledge worked to limit women’s reproductive freedom when he served as Judiciary Committee counsel for former Michigan U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham.

In baseball, Battle Creek has won four of its first five games in the second half of the Northwoods League season after a 7-1 victory over Madison Sunday. The Bombers host the Mallards again Monday morning at C.O. Brown Stadium.

Kalamazoo has lost four of its first five games in the second half of the Northwoods League season. The Growlers fell at Kenosha Sunday 8-2. Kalamazoo will wrap up its two game series with the Kingfish Monday night.