The Dowagiac Daily News’ list of top 10 stories culminates today with the top three stories of the year.

The list is based on a staff review of the most read, talked about and impactful stories of the year.

3: Blizzards pummel region

If the beginning of 2014 had a single lesson to share, it would be quite simple — never underestimate the wrath of Michigan’s winter.

For much of January, the roads and cityscape of Dowagiac were covered with several feet of snow, as the entire Michiana region suffered one of the worst winters in recorded history. For many, the term “polar vortex” will forever be etched in memory, as the abnormal winter winds wreaked havoc across the Midwest, causing snowfall and subzero temperatures beyond even the most cynical of expectations for the season.

The storms were especially painful for the leadership and staff of Dowagiac Union Schools. Local students enjoyed an extended winter break heading into the New Year, as the district called off school for several days in a row as crews worked to make roads traversable for buses.

“This is by far the worst snowfall that we’ve had, and by far the worst temperature as well,” said then-Superintendent Mark Daniel.

Students received a total of 10 snow days by the end of the season, four more than are allowed under state statute. As a result, the school year was slightly extended, with students released for the summer on June 6.

Also feeling the effects of the blizzards were crews with the Cass County Road Commission. With nearly its entire fleet of vehicles plowing the thousand miles of roads in its care, the organization spent a quarter of million dollars on fuel, supplies and maintenance in January alone.

The conditions were so bad at points that county authorities had to declare a state of emergency in order to keep residents off the roads, as the high number of stranded vehicles caused disruptions to efforts to keep the roadways clear.

 

2: Southwestern Michigan College celebrates 50th anniversary

When the idea of bringing a community college to Cass County was first discussed in the early 1960s, the concept faced intense scrutiny from critics, who doubted whether the small, rural region could even support such an institution.

Fifty years later, Southwestern Michigan College can be called anything but a failure.

The school celebrated a half-century of existence on Sept. 20, in a daylong celebration held on its Dowagiac campus. Hundreds of current students, alumni, staff and local residents came out to the birthday bash, which featured live music, art shows, a Ferris wheel, and other activities for visitors.

Founded in 1964, SMC has evolved into one of the premier two-year institutions in the state. Today, it serves as not only the center of learning for hundreds of traditional and nontraditional students across the country, but also as one of the largest employers in the entire county.

The path to reaching this milestone wasn’t a simple walk in the park, though. The trials and tribulations the local institution faced in its 50-year history were outlined in a book published this fall by its longtime chair, Fred Mathews, aptly named “Triumph Over Adversity.”

“This is one of the hardest projects I’ve ever done in my life,” Mathews said. “The book is a very candid history, more candid than the kinds colleges normally release. Every story is drawn from firsthand knowledge.”

The money generated from sales of the book goes toward the school’s student scholarship fund.

The anniversary brought together not only the college’s present, but many figures from its past as well. In a special reception dinner, current President David Mathews was joined by a number of his predecessors, including the school’s first chief administrator, Nathan Ivey.

“We are just getting started,” President Mathews said during the ceremony. “And as matter of course, the work we have now is different but still incredibly challenging. We have students coming from us from difficult family situations or difficult family situations. And we have to be there for them.”

 

1: Authorities respond in force to report of missing child

Residents living around the Riverside Drive area of the city received quite the shock in early April, as city and county police and emergency response teams joined forces to search for a possible kidnaped girl.

During the evening hours of April 2, officers with the Dowagiac Police Department were contracted by a few juveniles, who said they were playing in parking lot on Riverside when they spotted a man dragging a young women into the nearby woods. Police immediately sprang into action, scouring the nearby area searching for signs of the abducted victim or her attacker.

Authorities spent the entirety of that evening and the following morning dealing with darkness and heavy rain in their search efforts, before calling off the search due to lack of evidence uncovered. The investigation was later terminated after police failed to receive any information to validate the initial claims the supposed witnesses made to authorities.

Despite the false alarm, the incident demonstrated the unity that the county’s law enforcement officials need in the event that a kidnapping ever does occur again within the area. It was also the first real test of the Missing Child Response Team, which was formed in May of 2013 to coordinate search efforts for kidnapped and missing children

“When something does happen, those first few hours are critical,” said Cass County Emergency Manager David Smith. “These incidents are something that we may see more of unfortunately, but it’s something we need to be prepared for.”

Dowagiac faced two other scares this year with missing people.

In late July, police received word that a 17-year-old boy had been missing for several days; however, the teen was located, unharmed, by his family the same day the police sent notice to the public.

A week later, Dowagiac law enforcement received word that a 25-year-old woman had also not been seen by her loved ones for several days. An investigation revealed she too had not been in danger, but instead had left the city on her own accord, leaving police to label her as “voluntarily missing.”