First winner of the Pothole Pocketbook Contest receives $500 for pothole-related repairs

LANSING, Mich. – Nicole VanPutten of Kalamazoo is the first winner of the Pothole Pocketbook Contest and will receive $500 for pothole-related repairs to her vehicle, the Michigan Transportation Team (MTT) announced today. VanPutten submitted her $700 repair bill after her husband hit an unavoidable pothole on his way to work.

“My husband drives from Kalamazoo to East Lansing every day because he works at Michigan State University,” VanPutten said in her entry. “He [had] been avoiding the same hole, but it [had] been getting larger and larger. Finally, it was just too big and he hit it. It caused $700 in damage to our VW. The entire wheel had to be replaced ... and they had to keep our car for four days.”

Date: January 24, 2013

Address:  150 E. Crosstown Pkwy., Suite A, Kalamazoo, MI 49001

Contact:  Captain Roberto Zuniga (269) 337-8123 

Rollover Accident Westbound I-94

Kalamazoo, MI:  At approximately 0915hrs Kalamazoo Public Safety began taking several calls about a rollover accident involving a semi-truck and a van on Westbound I-94 near Sprinkle. Public Safety Officers and apparatus begin responding to the call immediately; while in enroute dispatchers received more calls stating another semi-truck had jackknife in the same area. Public Safety began using area resources to handle both situations.