A detour on a major north-south route in St. Joseph County will remain in effect at least through September while a bridge is replaced. Crews from Hudsonville-based Grand River Construction started work Tuesday on the Silver Street bridge at the Portage River. The job is a full rebuild to replace a bridge that job foreman Dean Stewart said was in …

A legislative update from State Rep. Aaron Miller was the highlight of Tuesday’s St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners meeting. Miller, a first-term legislature from Sherman Township, said the senate plan for road funding was the biggest bit of news he had to offer. He said $400 million in federal funds was allocated for the state’s transportation fund for the …

Glen Oaks Community College announces the hiring of Courtney Ivan as the new athletic director/director of fitness and wellness center. Ivan comes to Glen Oaks from Jackson College, Jackson, Michigan, where she was the assistant director of housing and head women’s basketball coach. Born and raised in Belleville, Michigan, Ivan is a graduate of Mercyhurst University-Erie in Erie, Pennsylvania. Ivan …

Glen Oaks Community College welcomes Carol Naccarato as the director of the Allied Health Division/medical assistant program director. A native of Detroit, Naccarato was raised in the Detroit Downriver area and grew up in Wyandotte, Michigan. She received associate degrees in both nursing and medical assisting from Glen Oaks; a bachelor’s in nursing from Spring Arbor University; a bachelor’s in …

State officials are trying to determine who is responsible for environmental contamination that occurred as a result of a massive pileup on snowy Interstate 94 in southwestern Michigan six months ago. The Jan. 9 chain-reaction crashes killed a 57-year-old trucker and closed a stretch of the roadway for two days. Police announced in March that dozens of drivers were being …

Dale Lee Laughman, age 82, of Constantine, passed away Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at Heartland Health Care Center in Three Rivers. Dale was born in Elkhart, Indiana on February 5, 1933, a son of Jaris and Tilly (Penhart) Laughman. Dale served in the US Air Force from 1953 to 1956. On July 7, 1957 he married Leona Dick. She preceded …

If you are considering opening a business here in Three Rivers, you really might want to give this some serious thought. This is strictly my opinion based on what I’ve seen and heard from local business owners. Growing up here in Three Rivers, I am fully aware that things are different now than they were fifty years ago. We can …

St. Joseph County’s Intermediate School District Board last week approved the 2015-16 operating calendar that officials said is in close alignment with the countywide shared-services calendar. Due to a late Labor Day date of Sept. 7, Michigan public schools will not open until Sept. 8, pushing back the end of the school year to June 9, 2016. ISD will not …

The St. Joseph County United Way is in the throes of preparing for its 2015 silent auction later this year at the county fair and its organizers are turning to the public for help. United Way executive director Kelly Hostetler said many great items have been donated so far, but more are being sought. Hostetler said some examples of popular …

A ceremony to acknowledge improvements made at the St. Joseph County veterans memorial took place last week. Located at the northwest corner of the St. Joseph County courthouse, the memorial now has eight flags flying overhead. The central focus of last Friday’s ceremony was the raising of each of the flags. The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and …