Binder Park Zoo near Battle Creek in southern Michigan will remove some oak trees from its property to prevent the spread of oak wilt. The zoo says Monday that the fungal disease has affected 50 trees. Some already have been removed. The fungus is transported by beetles to wounded trees and spreads to other oak trees through root grafts underground. …

Inspectors are recommending a buddy system, more training and protective sleeves after finding “workplace violence” among employees who deal with patients at a state psychiatric hospital in Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo Gazette says Michigan workplace inspectors learned that workers have suffered bites, fractures and concussions. The Oct. 21 report says there was a serious violation of failing to have a workplace …

The Michigan Department of Corrections is revising rates for inmate phone calls after the Federal Communications Commission decided to reduce the cost of jail and prison phone calls. Corrections Department spokesman Chris Gautz tells The Detroit News officials are working to determine how the change will impact revenue. The department last year generated $11.5 million from inmate calls. The money …

Students and others will be able to take an online virtual tour of Michigan’s Capitol building. The website to be unveiled Monday is being billed as the first for a state Capitol created using Google’s Streetview technology. It is being integrated with 360-degree YouTube videos and an interactive, 3-D tour of the governor’s office. The Michigan State Capitol Commission will …

An employee at a Sturgis Township business was the victim of an armed robbery last week. Sheriff’s department officials said the agency was summoned shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday to the Citgo gas station on U.S. 12 at Balk Road in response to an armed robbery. No other information was available from the department.

A representative from the group TR Cares last week presented to county commissioners a petition signed by a number of registered voters asking for a review of Lindsay Oswald’s appointment as county clerk. Furthermore, Doug Bingaman said the petition urges commissioners to issue a public statement, asking Oswald to not seek the position when it appears before voters next year. …

Three Rivers police last week arrested a 27-year-old man wanted as a fugitive from justice. Terrell Reese, a Three Rivers resident, was arrested Wednesday after officers receive a tip regarding Reese’s location. As officers attempted to apprehend Reese, he fled on foot but was eventually tracked down by the department’s K9 unit. Reese was arrested in the vicinity of 14th …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency confirmed that another bat has tested positive for rabies. Agency officials said the bat in question is the third to test positive since May; all reports have come from Branch County. Health department officials said there was no human exposure with the latest case, though there was possibly pet exposure. Earlier in the fall, …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week approved contract changes to three sheriff’s department divisions. During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners agreed to the modifications starting in 2016 and impacting the department’s corrections, law-enforcement and command-officers divisions. Notable changes include a 2 percent raise in 2017 and again in 2018 in all three divisions, and a pension revision affecting employees …

The Kalamazoo Wings (4-5-1-0) headed into Sunday afternoon’s contest with the Fort Wayne Komets (6-3-0-0) on a two-game winning streak. On Friday night, the K-Wings outlasted the Wheeling Nailers (4-4-0-0) by a score of 4-3. Dane Fox, Adam Phillips (2) and Ludwig Blomstrand scored in the winning effort. Traveling from West Virginia to Indiana, the K-Wings battled the Komets on …