By SALLY YORKArgus-Press Staff Writer

OWOSSO — The assistant band direc-tor at Owosso High School has created the first-ever concert band arrangement of Jo-hann Sebastian Bach’s “Fantasia in C.”

International music publishing company Alfred Music has featured Jordan Sterk’s arrangement of Bach’s baroque organ work in its 2017-18 band catalog. The piece has al-ready gained the attention of a professional wind symphony, which is planning to per-form it during a prestigious international music conference in December.

“Owosso’s superior reputation for the arts attracts the best instructors, and Mr. Sterk is unsurpassed not only instruction-ally, but as a leader in his profession,” Su-perintendent Dr. Andrea Tuttle said. “His accomplishments as an arranger and in-structor are a gift to the music world and to our Owosso students.”

Sterk, 27, the high school’s assistant band director for four years, said he is devoted to teaching, and enjoys composing and arrang-ing as a hobby. It took him six months to create the arrangement, written for 20 to 30 instruments. He said he chose “Fantasia in C” because of its interesting counterpoints and rhythmic twists, characteristic of a Bach work.

He submitted the piece to Alfred Music by regular mail — just one among the thou-sands of unsolicited submissions received by the publisher. A couple months later, Sterk received a call from Robert Sheldon, the internationally recognized music clini-cian in charge of Alfred Music’s band cata-log, who told him he was impressed by the arrangement and wanted to publish it.

“Initially, it was pretty shocking,” Sterk said. “It’s a very high honor to be published by an international publishing company such as Alfred.”

“Fantasia in C” is probably not going to make Sterk wealthy, though that depends on how popular the score becomes. Under Sterk’s agreement with Alfred Music, he will receive 10 percent of sales. The print

version is offered on Alfred’s website for $68.But no matter what happens, Sterk said,

he plans to hold on to his day job.“I love teaching in Owosso,” he said. “I

have the best students, the best administra-tive support and the best colleagues. But it’s neat to have a little side project.”

Sterk’s colleagues include Jillian Kow-

alczyk, the head high school band director and Mike Tolrud, band director at Owosso Middle School.

“The fine arts program in Owosso is unmatched by many in the state due to the leadership of our three band directors,” Tut-

Phone: (989) 725-5136

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SNEAK Peek:Tomorrow in

The Argus-PressArgus-Press Staff Writer

Sally York reports on a citizens’ PAC promoting the Owosso school bond.

ALSO IN THE PAPER

Argus-Press Sports Editor

Ryan Weiss reports on a Chesaning

student who needs an organ

transplant.

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Second person charged in county jail inmate’s death

Argus-Press Photo/Joey OliverMINDY PORTNER is pictured at a video arraignment in 66th District Court Friday. Portner was charged in connection with the Feb. 7 death of Shiawassee County Jail inmate Sarah Yerian.

By JOEY OLIVERArgus-Press Staff Writer

CORUNNA — A second per-son was charged Friday in con-nection with the Feb. 7 death of 32-year-old Sarah Yerian, a Shi-awassee County Jail inmate.

Mindy Portner, 34, of Cedar Springs, was arraigned by 66th District Court Judge Terrance Dignan on charges of bringing contraband into a correctional facility and delivery of metha-done.

Not guilty pleas were entered on her behalf. The charges are punishable by up to five years and 20 years in prison, respec-tively. Portner requested a court-appointed attorney at the

hearing.Police believe Portner, who

was arrested Thursday after-noon in the Grand Rapids area, smuggled into the jail the drugs eventually used by Yerian.

“We tried to get to the bottom of who brought drugs into the jail,” Shiawassee County Sher-iff’s Lt. Cory Carson said Friday. “It’s been about getting the fami-ly answers, and I think we’ve an-swered almost any question that came up.”

According to a press release issued Friday, a lengthy inves-tigation revealed Portner smug-gled drugs into the Shiawassee County Jail, concealing pills in her vagina, prior to her Feb. 3 sentencing for possession of

marijuana. She is currently on probation for the offense.

While in jail, the press re-lease states, other inmates wit-nessed Portner removing the pills. Portner allegedly shared the pills with 27-year-old April Hart, who gave them to 32-year-old Sarah Yerian when Hart was transferred to solitary confine-ment. Yerian took the pills and died Feb. 7.

Hart was initially charged with delivering a controlled sub-stance causing death, but even-tually pleaded guilty to deliv-ering a controlled substance in exchange for testimony against Portner. Hart was sentenced Fri-

A fantastic accomplishmentOwosso band director writes

milestone arrangement of Bach’s ‘Fantasia in C’

Argus-Press Photo/Sally YorkJORDAN STERK, the assistant band director at Owosso High School, is shown hold-ing his newly published arrangement of “Fantasia in C” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Vernon awarded

$1.1-million grant for

sewer projectBy ANAMARIA DICKERSON

Argus-Press Staff Writer

VERNON — The village of Vernon will see improvements to its sanitary sewer and storm sewer systems after receiv-ing a $1.125-million grant this week.

The Michigan Economic De-velopment Corporation (MEDC) announced Tuesday the vil-lage was one of 14 Michigan communities, and the only one in Shiawassee County, which were awarded $23.3 million in Community Development Block Grant Infrastructure Capacity Enhancement grants.

“This is very big for our tiny community,” Vernon President Pro-Tem Matt Kimmer said. “We’re extremely excited about it. A lot of hard work went in to the application of the grant with our village staff, council, resi-dents and businesses and engi-neering firm.”

In April, the village council approved a resolution to apply for the state grant to fund a ma-jor sewer project on the south side of the community. Work will be completed on the alley behind Village Hall, Sunnybrooke and Water streets, and portions of Maple, Elm and Leaver streets.

MEDC representatives pre-sented a check to village officials in a ceremony Friday afternoon.

The village will match local funds of $125,000 from the local street and sewer fund, totaling $1.25 million for the cost of the project.

“This is really going to help us meet the needs of our current residents and businesses while also position us to meet needs of future development or future population growth,” Kimmer said.

The village said no one will be displaced during construction, which is anticipated to start in summer 2018. The project must be completed by Dec. 31, 2019, per MEDC requirements.

In 2009, the village completed a large sewer project, which in-volved rehabilitating the reten-tion pond and putting in a force main and lift station.

In 2015, the village was award-ed a $200,000 Stormwater Asset Wastewater grant from the state Department of Environmental Quality to assemble an asset

Tri-Mer receives $100,000 grant for expansion projectThe Argus-Press

OWOSSO — Tri-Mer Corpo-ration was awarded a $100,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant from the Michigan Strate-gic Fund, the Michigan Econom-ic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced this week.

Tri-Mer plans to use the grant to help expand operations at its plant in Owosso — investing $2.5 million of its own money in the expansion project — which will add 25 new jobs.

The company considered of-

fers to move to Ohio before de-ciding on adding capacity at its current home in Owosso, com-pany President John Pardell said Thursday.

“This is a fine example of cooperation between private industry and government to further the development of in-dustrial manufacturing here in Owosso,” Pardell said.

He added the expansion proj-ect, which broke ground in Jan-uary, is expected to be complete by December.

“Tri-Mer’s investment in Owosso means good jobs for

Michigan residents that could well have gone to another state,” MEDC CEO Jeff Mason said in a press release. “The decision by this longstanding Owosso employer to expand its oper-ations in Shiawassee County underscores Michigan’s busi-ness-friendly environment and talented workforce,” he said.

Tri-Mer Corporation, estab-lished in Owosso in 1960, man-ufactures air pollution control equipment including ceramic catalyst filter systems, dust col-lectors, industrial blowers and fans, and more. The company

noted in the release it is experi-encing increased demand in its products, creating a necessity for the expansion.

The city of Owosso has of-fered property tax abatement in support of the project. Individ-uals interested in careers with Tri-Mer should visit tri-mer.com/contact/tri-mer-career-op-portunites.html.

“Tri-Mer Corporation’s ex-pansion continues to demon-strate that manufacturing is alive and well in Shiawassee

See VERNON on Page 3See TRI-MER on Page 3

See STERK on Page 3

See PORTNER on Page 3

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day to a year in jail, with credit for time served, and two years probation.

Friday’s press release states the sheriff’s office followed standard procedures in book-ing Portner, which included a strip search. However, sheriff’s officials said, a search warrant is required to conduct a cavity search, and police must have probable cause to get a warrant.

“We did everything we

could,” Carson said, noting strip searches are done of all inmates. “Nothing was seen or exhibit-ed.”

Portner will appear in court again at 10 a.m. Oct. 11 for a probable cause conference. A preliminary examination is slated for 1:15 p.m. Oct. 17. She remains lodged in the Shiawas-see County Jail on $10,000 cash/surety bond.

management plan of the wastewater and stormwater system.“During that time we did inventory of our system to see where

our worst areas were,” Clerk Ellen Glass said. “We’ve had issues with in flow and infiltration so with this grant we’ll be able to de-crease those issues and improve our overall system.”

The 2017 Infrastructure Capacity Enhancement grant program was intended to accelerate economic development and assist low- and moderate-income communities in making improvements or up-grades to their existing public infrastructure systems.

“Improving and updating infrastructure is vital to the contin-ued health and economic well-being of our smaller communities,” MEDC CEO Jeff Mason said in a press release. “The Infrastructure Capacity Enhancement grants will allow these communities with the most immediate needs to begin work as soon as possible to make necessary improvements.”

A total of 48 communities applied for grants. Communities had to provide a minimum 10 percent match and demonstrate a locally ap-proved Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) where the proposed project was specifically identified within the CIP.

“We’re extremely excited for our community,” Glass said. “It’s very important to bring in grant dollars like that to see storm and sewer improvement.”

Argus-Press Photo/Anamaria DickersonREPRESENTATIVES from the Michigan Economic Devel-opment Corporation presented the village of Vernon with a $1.125-million check Friday afternoon. Pictured from left are Vernon Trustee Scott Ethington, Clerk Ellen Glass, Senior Vice President of Community Development at MEDC Katharine Czarnecki, Vernon President Pro-Tem Matt Kimmer and Com-munity Assistance Specialist of Community Development at MEDC Charles Donaldson.

VERNON Continued from Page 1

PORTNER Continued from Page 1

tle said.Sterk believes the experience of creating a complex musical ar-

rangement will enhance his ability to teach effectively.“I’ve lived life on the other side now,” Sterk said. “When I look at

scores of pieces I’m considering for Owosso, I can better understand what the arranger had in mind, and by extension, teach it better.”

Sterk grew up in Traverse City, but often came to Owosso to visit relatives. In fact, his mother attended Owosso High School, playing clarinet in the marching band. Sterk played the baritone horn in Traverse City Central High School’s marching band, and wrote his first compositions with support from his band director.

For five years at Michigan State University, Sterk was a member of the Spartan Marching Band. A music education major, he con-tinued to compose while also learning music theory and creating arrangements for small horn ensembles.

“I worked to broaden my skills and musical vocabulary,” he said. “I learned the principles of orchestration, for example which instru-ments blend together and sound kind of homogeneous.”

Sterk’s arrangement of “Fantasia in C” was “the sum of many years of studying the craft of music,” he said. Not long after it was published last April, the director of the Virginia Wind Symphony emailed Sterk to ask if he planned to attend the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, where the symphony will perform “Fantasia in C” on Dec. 21.

“That was a real shocker,” Sterk said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event. I wrote him back and said, ‘I guess I’m going now.’”

The Virginia Wind Symphony is composed of professional mu-sicians, military musicians, public and private school teachers, and independent music instructors, and is dedicated to playing the finest original and transcribed wind literature available.

The Midwest Clinic in Chicago is an international conference held annually, providing an opportunity for band and orchestra di-rectors to improve their instruction by listening to performances by professionals such as the Virginia Wind Symphony.

“This is the first time I’ll hear it live,” said Sterk, who will be ac-companied by wife Brittany Sterk. “For it to be performed by a band of that caliber onstage — it’s going to be pretty unbelievable.”

STERK Continued from Page 1

County. We are grateful for their commitment to growing in Owosso, and also very thank-ful to the city council and staff for their support of this great company,” Shiawassee Econom-ic Development Partnership (SEDP) President/CEO Justin Horvath said in the release.

Owosso Mayor Chris Eveleth

added: “We are all very excit-ed about this development. For decades Tri-Mer has been an integral part of our industrial community. I would like to per-sonally thank them for their continued investment here as well as the MEDC and the SEDP for their vigilance and work to revive our economy.”

TRI-MER Continued from Page 1

SHIAWASSEE COUNCIL ON AGING SCHEDULEOWOSSO — The Shiawassee

Council on Aging is offering the following programs and meals for Shiawassee County senior citizens for the week of Oct. 2.

SCOA has three centers in Shiawassee County, including its headquarters at 300 N. Wash-ington St. in Owosso. SCOA can be reached at (989) 723-8875 or (877) 722-8875. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Durand Senior Center, 8618 E. Lansing Road, can be reached at (989) 288-4122. Durand hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Morrice Senior Center, 101 W. Mason St., can be reached at (517) 625-4270. Morrice hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m.

The Owosso Senior Center is at 300 N. Washington St. in Owosso. Owosso hours are Mon-day through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lunch is served at noon Mon-day through Friday at the Owos-so and Durand centers. Lunch is served Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Morrice.

Make lunch reservations with the center you will be eat-ing at by 4:30 p.m. the prior day. Donations are accepted for all meals.

The suggested donation is $3

for those 60 and older. There is a charge of $5 per meal for those younger than 60.

If you have questions regard-ing Medicare or Medicaid bene-fits or open enrollment, please contact (989) 723-8875 to sched-ule an appointment.

Items to NoteOwosso Center

Tailgate party for the Mich-igan/Michigan State football game at 11 a.m. Friday. A prize will be awarded for the side with the most team spirit.

Calendar of Events

Owosso CenterMonday — Flu clinic by Rite

Aid from 9 a.m. to noon; Exer-cise class at 10 a.m.; Site com-mittee meeting at 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday — Medicare/Medic-aid assistance by appointment at 10 a.m.; Bridge at 1 p.m.; Diabe-tes Path from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday — Exercise class at 10 a.m.; Informational session on the Owosso school bond at 11 a.m.

Thursday — Medicare/Med-icaid assistance by appointment 10 a.m.; Games and socializing at 10 a.m.

Friday — Exercise class at 10 a.m.; Hearing checks at 10 a.m.; Bingo at 12:30 p.m.

Durand CenterMonday — Medicare/Medic-

aid assistance by appointment at 9 a.m.; Bingo at 12:40 p.m.

Tuesday — Exercise class at 1 p.m.; Anyone can paint class from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Wednesday — Matter of bal-ance class at 10 a.m.

Thursday — Medicare/Med-icaid assistance by appointment at 9 a.m.; Site committee meet-ing at 10:30 a.m.; Bingo at 12:40 p.m.

Friday — Exercise class at 10:30 a.m.

Morrice CenterMonday — Bingo at 12:30

p.m.; Euchre at 1:30 p.m.Tuesday — Exercise class at

9:30 a.m.Wednesday — Podiatrist by

appointment onlyThursday — Exercise class at

9:30 a.m.; Euchre at 1:30 p.m.

Lunch MenusLunch is always served at

noon. Menus are subject to change.

Owosso CenterMonday — Bean soup with

ham, half a ham sandwich, or-anges, coleslaw.

Tuesday — Ground beef stro-ganoff with mushrooms over noodles, peas, pineapple.

Wednesday — Chicken and noodles with carrots and celery, green beans, applesauce, bis-

cuit.Thursday — Beef pepper

steak with peppers and onions over rice, carrot coins, plums, egg roll.

Friday — Hot dog with coney sauce, baked beans, coleslaw, chips, cookie.

Durand and Morrice Centers

Monday — Cheeseburger casserole, tater tots, brussel sprouts, garlic cheese biscuit, fruit crispito.

Tuesday — Baked ham, scal-lop potatoes, peas, mandarin or-anges, roll.

Wednesday — Oven fried chicken, rice pilaf, green bean casserole, muffin, apricots.

Thursday — Pulled pork on wheat bun, potato soup with veggies, coleslaw, banana.

Friday — White chicken chili, toss salad, juice, crackers, muf-fin, pudding.

n Public transportation with-in Shiawassee County is free for all seniors 60 years and older Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To schedule a ride, contact SATA at (989) 729-2687.

For more information about the home-delivered meals pro-gram; minor home modifica-tions, or personal care services, contact the Owosso center at (989) 723-8875.

Trump’s health secretary resignsCostly travel triggered investigations

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVARand JONATHAN LEMIRE

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s health secre-tary resigned Friday, after his costly travel triggered investi-gations that overshadowed the administration’s agenda and angered his boss. Tom Price’s regrets and partial repayment couldn’t save his job.

The Health and Human Ser-vices secretary became the first member of the president’s Cab-inet to be pushed out in a turbu-lent young administration that has seen several high-ranking White House aides ousted. A for-mer GOP congressman from the Atlanta suburbs, Price served just eight months.

Publicly, Trump had said he was “not happy” with Price for repeatedly using private charter aircraft for official trips on the taxpayer’s dime, when cheaper commercial flights would have done in many cases.

Privately, Trump has been telling associates in recent days that his health chief had become a distraction and was overshad-owing his tax overhaul agenda and undermining his campaign promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption, according to three people familiar with the discus-sions who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The flap prompted scrutiny of other Cabinet members’ trav-el, as the House Oversight and Government Reform committee launched a governmentwide investigation of top political appointees. Other department heads have been scrambling to explain their own travel.

Price’s repayment of $51,887.31 for his own travel costs and his public expression of regrets did not placate the White House. The total travel cost, including the secretary’s entourage, was unclear. It could amount to several hundred thousand dollars.

An orthopedic surgeon turned politician, Price rose to Budget Committee chairman in the House, where he was known as a fiscal conservative. When Price joined the administration, Trump touted him as a conser-vative policy expert who could write a new health care bill to replace the Obama-era Afford-able Care Act.

But Price became more of a supporting player in the GOP’s futile health care campaign, while Vice President Mike Pence took the lead, particular-ly in dealing with the Senate. The perception of Price jetting around while GOP lawmakers labored to repeal “Obamacare” —including a three-nation trip in May to Africa and Europe— raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. Price flew on military aircraft overseas.

Although much of Trump’s ire over the health care failure has been aimed at the Republi-can-controlled Congress, associ-ates of the president said he also assigns some blame to Price, who he believes did not do a good job of selling the GOP plan.

A Pence protege, Seema Ver-ma, has been mentioned as a possible successor to Price. Ver-ma already leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Ser-vices, which runs health insur-ance programs that cover more than 130 million Americans.

Another possible HHS candi-date: FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who won some bipar-tisan support in his confirma-tion and is well known in pol-icy, government and industry circles.

Trump named Don J. Wright, a deputy assistant secretary of health, to serve as acting secre-tary.

Price, 62, was seen in Con-gress as a foe of wasteful spend-ing. As HHS secretary, he led a $1 trillion department whose

future is the key to managing mounting federal budgetary deficits. As secretary, Price criticized the Medicaid health program for low-income peo-ple, saying it doesn’t deliver re-sults commensurate with the hundreds of billions of dollars taxpayers spend on it. As a con-gressman, he favored Medicare privatization.

But Price’s image as a budget hawk took a hit when reports of his official travel started bubbling up. Price used private charter flights on 10 trips with multiple segments, when in many cases cheaper commercial flights were available. His char-ter travel was first reported by the news site Politico.

On a trip in June to Nash-ville, Tennessee, Price also had lunch with his son, who lives

in that city, according to Politi-co. Another trip was from Dull-es International Airport in the Washington suburbs to Phila-delphia International Airport, a distance of 135 miles.

The reports triggered a review by the HHS inspec-tor general’s office, which is looking into whether Price’s travel violated federal travel regulations. Those rules gener-ally require officials to minimize costs.

The controversy over Price was a catalyst for Congress launching a bipartisan probe of travel by political appoin-tees across the administration. The House oversight commit-tee has requested travel re-cords from the White House and 24 federal departments and agencies.

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, FileIN THIS Thursday photo, Health and Human Services Secre-tary Tom Price is seen silhouetted as he speaks during a Na-tional Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) news confer-ence in Washington.