Sturgis officials announced the city flag will be lowered in honor of Sue Bir’s service to the community. Bir, 56, died Wednesday at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. She was elected Precinct 2 commissioner in November 1989, and also served as vice mayor in 1996. City officials believe she was the first woman to preside over a …

Frances “Fran” Muriel Fair, 90, passed away Saturday, March 9, 2013. She was born March 5, 1923, in Elkhart, the daughter of Charles and Iva Bell (Forker) Hostetter. She was raised in the Elkhart/Bristol area, graduating from Bristol High School. She lived in the Elkhart area until she met and married Dwight “Dike” Fair in 1951. They moved to Three …

Leighton Jerry Longacre, age 7 months, of Centreville gained his wings Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. He was born in Kalamazoo, MI on July 10, 2012, the son of Jerry E. Longacre and Katie Jean Alexander of Centreville. Leighton will live on in the lives of many others by the donations he made to the …

Susan Helen Bir, age 56, of Sturgis, passed away early Wednesday morning, March 6, 2013, at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. She was born Sept. 27, 1956, in Three Rivers, a daughter of Floyd and Helen (Stenhouse) Benash. Sue resided in Sturgis since 1977. Her early life was lived in White Pigeon and she was a graduate …

A former St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department corrections officer pled guilty Wednesday to two counts of larceny. Stephen Morris, a 39-year-old Fulton resident, pled guilty in Van Buren County Circuit Court. He was arrested following a Jan. 9 incident during which he stole prescription drugs, investigators said. A 12-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, Morris will be sentenced April 8.

The Animal Rescue Fund of St. Joseph County is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person responsible for shooting a dog in late January in Burr Oak. ARF leaders are circulating handouts that include a picture of the dog, which was found shot and abandoned. ARF officials this week retrieved the dog …

A 3-year-old boy was taken from a Sturgis residence Wednesday morning after his parents were arrested for drug-related offenses. According to a Sturgis Police Department media release, Children Protection Services officials were at a Cato Lane Apartment complex unit when they noticed two crack pipes on a bedroom end table. Police were called and upon further investigation, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia …

A 52-year-old man from Canada was arrested in Lockport Township last week on a federal warrant. Anthony Sove  was arrested by the St. Joseph County Special Response Team at 7 a.m. March 1 at a residence in the 57000 block of Haines Road, according to authorities. Sove was deported after having been convicted of an aggravated felony offense, but illegally …

Lilly is my name and I am a female black lab mix with very cute, big ears. I am about 4-6 months old, and from the looks of my feet I will not be a large lab. The ladies say I am ready for some training – I already come when I am called. I am available to adopt right …

A police investigation that spanned several weeks culminated early Wednesday with the arrest of six people on charges related to methamphetamine. The St. Joseph County Area Narcotics unit executed a search warrant in the 400 block of Center Street in Sturgis and arrested four male suspects and two females. Their names, ages and places of residence were not stated in …