Michael Dean German, 55, Kissimmee, Fla., and formerly of Colon, passed away Oct. 2, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. He was born Feb. 23, 1957, the son of Terrance and Janis (Michael) German in Sturgis, Mich. In 1983, he married Vicky Miller in Colon and together they had a daughter Whitney and later divorced. For several years, Mike worked as an …

KALAMAZOO — Sam Ftorek is a glutton for punishment. In addition to competing in a duathlon and a triathlon this summer, the 37-year old defenseman for the Kalamazoo Wings also took part in the “Muddy Patriot” at Timber Ridge in Gobles. Even though he was not quite sure what the Muddy Patriot was all about, when he received a Groupon …

KALAMAZOO — The Kalamazoo Wings not only dropped both games this weekend to division foes, but they also lost footing in the standings. Starting the weekend in a first place tie with the Cincinnati Cyclones, the K-Wings are now in third place, four points behind the first place Cyclones in the ECHL’s North Division. Looking to get back to their …

Rose Ann Rohr, age 86, of Sturgis, passed away Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 at the Sturgis Hospital. She was born Dec. 28, 1925 in Swanton, Ohio, a daughter to the late Harry and Florence (Lemly) Batdorf. Rose moved to Sturgis in 1953 from Swanton, Ohio. On July 20, 1946, she married John A. Rohr Sr. in Swanton. He preceded her …

David Tomlinson and Rob Pattison will be St. Joseph County’s newest judges.  The two candidates claimed victories in Tuesday’s general election, as Colon-based attorney David Tomlinson topped Christine Yancey of Mendon for probate judge. Meanwhile, Rob Pattison, a lawyer for a Sturgis firm, will preside over St. Joseph County District Court after eking out a win over Park Township attorney …

There will be two new faces on the Three Rivers City Commission later this month. District 3 candidate Diane Haley-Clay defeated incumbent Larry Matson in Tuesday’s general election. Matson was appointed to the board in May to replace Ken Baker. Meanwhile, incumbent Elbert Foster, an eight-year commission member, was unable to fend off Alison Haigh as commissioner of District 2. …

A few incumbents on local, township, village and school boards were defeated in Tuesday’s general election. In Colon, challenger Tom Tenney soundly defeated incumbent village president Tom Whitford. Also, Colon Board of Education member and incumbent Eric Wagner was the odd person out in a three-person race for two seats. Incumbent Eric Bower will return and be joined by newcomer …

School districts that acted on Headlee-related proposals batted .500 in Tuesday’s election. Voters in the Burr Oak Community Schools district agreed to continue a Headlee rollback that allows the district to collect the full 18 mills its voters levied in 1995. The district stood to lose $154,000 without voter support. In Constantine, a request to renew its Headlee rate of …

All five proposed constitutional amendments were rejected by voters in Michigan, by wide margins.  They included Prop 2, which guaranteed collective bargaining rights and invalidated certain laws dealing with collective bargaining. Also rejected were Prop 3 which required 25 percent of Michigan energy generation to be from renewable sources, and Prop 4 which dealt with collective bargaining for in-home health …

We are now into November. By the time some of you read this, we’ll know who our President will be for the next four years. Some of us will be elated, and some of us will be packing our bags and making plans to relocate out of country. I will be extremely elated, because I won’t have to put up …