A state trooper has been injured after his marked patrol car crashed along the Indiana Toll Road in St. Joseph County near South Bend. State police say Master Trooper Bradley Kaizer was released Wednesday from a hospital after receiving treatment for cuts and abrasions. Kaizer was attempting to catch up to another vehicle for a traffic violation about 8 a.m. …

Joyce M. Giles, age 83, of White Pigeon, died Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, in Goshen, following an extended illness. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at Farrand Funeral Home in White Pigeon. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Interment will follow in White Pigeon Township Cemetery. Donations …

Janet L. Grove, age 78, of Sturgis, passed away Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. She was born Dec. 30, 1939, in Jackson, a daughter of the late Kenneth and Pauline (Brooks) Walling. Janet had resided in the Sturgis area since 1987, coming from Coldwater. She was first married to William Leon Spade. On Aug. 22, …

A Mendon man was sentenced last week after he was arrested on a charge of crop insurance fraud. Doug Diekman, 55, was sentenced Thursday to 13 months in prison and ordered to reimburse nearly $500,000. He had pled guilty to attempting to defraud a federal crop-insurance program after obtaining an insurance payout for about 1,000 acres of land he rented …

Indiana authorities said a Three Rivers man was at fault in a two-vehicle accident in LaGrange County last week. Sheriff’s officials were called the evening of Dec. 17 to County Road 700 South, where 27-year-old Christopher Kilgore was driving a farm truck. Kilgore told investigators his foot slipped off the truck’s gas pedal and wedged under the brake pedal. As …

Seventeen homeowners entered Constantine’s annual Christmas lights contest. After judging early last week, Kevin and Lori Brouse, of 14609 Millers Mill Road, won the $500 first-place prize and a Christmas tree trophy. Second place went Brian Maxwell, 130 Jeremy St., $300; third to Bill and Connie McDaniel, 62519 Brick Chapel Rd., $200; fourth to Glenn and Dinah Greene, 315 Station …

The St. Joseph County Transportation Authority has announced it will once again offer the Free Ride Home courtesy shuttle service New Year’s Eve. The service will start at 10 p.m. Monday and conclude at 4 a.m. Jan. 1. Rides will be limited to and from locations within St. Joseph County. Event organizers said rides will be given only to a …

Authorities have identified a 24-year-old western Michigan man killed in what was believed to be a crash involving a deer. The Allegan County sheriff’s office says Monday that the body of Roky Vasquez-Vasquez was found about 8:50 a.m. Friday on the shoulder of U.S. 131 near Wayland, south of Grand Rapids. About three hours earlier, a motorist reported striking a …

Colon Police Chief Mark Brinkert said a student walking to school last week was approached by a stranger. The incident occurred at 7:20 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Dallas and East State streets, where the student was walking to school. Brinkert said a dark-green vehicle – possibly a Mini Cooper – with tinted windows stopped and the driver said …

A Sturgis woman was arrested last week after she was involved in a domestic disturbance. Police were called shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday to the 100 block of West South Street, where the 46-year-old woman was taken into custody after officers concluded she assaulted her live-in boyfriend. She was charged with felonious assault, according to authorities.