09.02.2016

Dowagiac Daily News: Sen. Peters participating in annual motorcycle tour

By: Ted Yoakum

The verdant green pastures and clear blue skies of the Cass County landscape greeted one of Michigan’s most prominent lawmakers as he prepared for a quick stop in the Grand Old City Thursday afternoon.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters rolled through the historic streets of downtown Dowagiac on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. The junior senator and his team stopped by the city to get a quick bite to eat and to see some of the sites before making his way toward the Rolling Meadows Farm in Jones later that day.

Cass was one of the dozen counties the Democratic senator made stops in on his #RideMI Motorcycle Tour, which began on Monday and runs through Friday. Peters, an avid motorcycle rider since his years growing up in Rochester, spent the week making his annual summer tour of Michigan on two wheels instead of four, riding from the east to west side of the state while visiting with businesses and manufacturers along the way.

“There is nothing better than feeling the wind in your face while seeing the beautiful sights of Michigan,” Peters said during his stop in Dowagiac. “So I asked myself, ‘why not do the tour by motorcycle?’”

Peters, a former member of the U.S. House who in 2014 was elected to fill the senate seat held by longtime Michigan lawmaker Carl Levin, is using his ride through the Wolverine State as not just an excuse to get out of the Beltway and hit the open road, but also to connect with his constituents and discuss his work to improve the state’s business, technological and agricultural needs in Washington, he said.

A few hours before stopping by Dowagiac Thursday, the senator visited Bloomingdale Communications in Van Buren County to talk about rural broadband internet connectivity — an issue that also affects citizens living in remote parts of Cass County as well, Peters said.

With more and more functions of daily society moving toward the worldwide web, ensuring that every citizen has access to high speed internet is a mission that the senator will carry with him when he returns to the capital, working to capture federal funding for subsidies that would encourage telecommunication companies to invest in connecting rural areas to these services, he said.

“I equate it to any other kind of infrastructure,” Peters said. “This is the information super highway. We currently pay for highways for roads and bridges for cars. The same has to occur for information in a highly connected world.”

More widespread internet connectivity would also support the growth of telemedicine, or diagnosis and treatment of patients through remote video or phones, another initiative Peters supports, he said. In particular, senior citizens living in more rural communities such as Dowagiac could benefit greatly from this kind of technology, as it could allow them to have their health monitored more regularly without having to leave their homes, he said.

“It will be more patient friendly, and cheaper,” Peters said. “It is a win-win.”

Some of the other stops the senator has made this week, such as Rolling Meadows and Wolverine Worldwide in Big Rapids, have highlighted the state’s agriculture and manufacturing industries that Peters has advocated for during his term — two industries that are backbones of southwest Michigan’s economy as well. In particular, Peters said he has been working to help keep Michigan on top as the world’s leading auto manufacturer as the industry continues to improve cutting edge automation in vehicles, he said.

“Every part of Michigan is touched by the auto industry, as it creates manufacturing jobs,” Peters said. “We have to make sure Michigan continues to be the center of the universe when it comes to auto technology.”

While his stay in the county Thursday may have been short, Peters encourages Cass County residents to contact his Grand Rapids office at (616) 233-9150 to voice their concerns or problems.