A local state representative has introduced a bill in Lansing to honor a Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Sergeant who was killed in the line of duty earlier this year. Rep. Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) would like to have a portion of U.S. 131 in Kalamazoo County renamed after Sgt. Ryan Proxmire.

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The nearly two-mile area of the highway between West “U” Avenue and West Centre Avenue would become the 'Sergeant Ryan J. Proxmire Memorial Highway'. Proxmire was a Deputy with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's office at the time of his death and received a posthumous promotion to Sergeant by Sheriff Richard Fuller.

Rogers told WOOD-TV that picking the location was a collaborative effort between the sheriff’s office and the Proxmire family, choosing one that means a lot to them.

“That’s an area his family is from: the Three Rivers-Schoolcraft area. So that was a commonly travelled route of his as he went from the county sheriff’s office down back home each day after work.”

The bill has been sent to the House Transportation Committee. If it passes, the highway could be dedicated as early as January.

Proxmire was shot and wounded by 35-year-old Kyle Goidosik of Vicksburg while several deputies were pursuing during a high-speed chase near Galesburg on Saturday, August 14. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died from his injuries the following day.

The chase started after Kalamazoo County Sheriff's deputies responded to an incident at a Shell gas station on 35th Street while they were trying to locate Goidosik, who had fled from a traffic stop in Portage earlier that day. Goidosik was shot and killed by police after the chase ended. He had lost control of his vehicle and drove into a field near 44th Street and "Q" Avenue. He then shot at deputies who returned fire and hit him. He died at the scene.

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