A day after Governor Gretchen Whitmer came to Benton Harbor and defended her administration’s plans to close Benton Harbor High School, Mayor Marcus Muhammad has made an apparent call for the Senior PGA Championship to be disrupted. The PGA event is slated to be held at Harbor Shores next May. On his Facebook page Thursday, Muhammad wrote “No High School in the City of Benton Harbor, No Kitchen Aid Senior PGA Tournament in the City of Benton Harbor.” He also posted the hashtags WhitmerGetUp, redistribute the pain, and education 1st. Muhammad told The Herald Palladium, “The Facebook post is exactly what it says. If there’s no support to keep Benton Harbor High School in the city of Benton Harbor, then there’s no support for the Senior PGA, a Steelhead Triathlon or any other grand excursion where people want to come and turn Benton Harbor into a haven for the rich and powerful while the children in the community wallow in hell.” The Herald Palladium posted the mayor’s response on its own Facebook page.
Additionally, the Benton Harbor City Commission has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning in Lansing to further discuss plans for the high school. Governor Whitmer during a town hall on Wednesday said the school could potentially be re-opened once the situation at Benton Harbor Area Schools is turned around, but she couldn’t provide a timetable. Under the state proposal, the high school school would suspend operations following the next academic year.
