A Kalamazoo man involved in a three-vehicle crash last week in Mendon Township has died. A vehicle driven by Winton Bernier, 79, was in a collision on Prairie Corners Road at Nottawa Road. Authorities said Bernier was driving east on Prairie Corners and failed to stop at the Nottawa Road intersection. A southbound truck on Nottawa Road, which has the …

Three Sturgis men and an Indiana woman are in the Cass County jail, each facing charges in connection with a New Year’s Day armed robbery in Marcellus. Arrested were Bradley Dewayne Shears, 19; Michael Zach Strong, 20; and James Robert Jones II, 17, all from Sturgis; and Kayla Sue Cockburn, 20, of Middlebury. They were charged with conspiracy to commit …

Alyona Alexandra Springer, 20, of Three Rivers, died Friday morning, after a pedestrian accident on U.S. 131 near Three Rivers. A native of Russia, she was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, on July 30, 1994, to Alexandra Melinichenko. After her birth mother’s death, Alyona and her older sister Darya “Dasha” Springer spent their early years in Orphanage #59, Krasnoyarsk. Alyona and …

Iola M. Mesler, age 73, of Colon, passed away June 4, 2015, at her home, surrounded by her family, after a hard fought 11-month battle with cancer. Iola was born Oct. 19, 1941, in Plattsburgh, N.Y., a daughter of the late Charlotte Patnode and Everest Woodward. On Jan. 10, 1957, she married Wallace L. J. Mesler and they spent 58 …

Michael I. Perry, age 17, of Sturgis, was surrounded by his loving family at their home Wednesday morning, June 3, 2015, when he was called to heaven following a long, courageous battle with cancer. He was born May 22, 1998, in Sturgis, a son of Lewis and Karen (Miller) Perry. Michael was a lifelong Sturgis resident and a member of …

Longtime St. Joseph County Intermediate Board of Trustees member Elizabeth O’Dell was re-elected Monday to another six-year term. A Sturgis resident, O’Dell received five votes, with challengers Brandon Kent, also of Sturgis, receiving two. Leonidas resident Sherman Greider picked up one endorsement. One representative from each of St. Joseph County’s nine school districts was eligible to cast a vote for …

A recently assembled group is working on petition language in hopes of recalling four members of the Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education. Members of TR Cares are targeting Waneta Truckey, Carl Barth, David Kutz and board president Mike Bosma. Board members Erin Nowak, Diana DeGraaf and Pete Bennett are not eligible to be recalled because they are within …

A 2015 John Deere tractor was stolen earlier this week from a business in Park Township. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Deputy responded Monday to the 16000 block of Heimbach Road after employees arrived to work and noticed the tractor missing. Deputies said the suspects at some point over the weekend drove up to the business and cut a wire …

Members of the Centreville Village Council agreed Monday to pay a portion of the cost of damage from a recent sewer backup at a residential property. The sewer issue led to further discussion regarding future solutions and prevention. Charlene Beals showed the council photos, videos and estimates of damage caused by a backup that occurred May 9 at her mother’s …

Authorities have recovered the bodies of two friends who apparently drowned while fishing in a lake in southwestern Michigan. The bodies were found Thursday, a day after the pair disappeared while in a boat at Bankson Lake in Van Buren County, southwest of Kalamazoo. The sheriff’s office identified them as 20-year-old Calvin Chao, a student at Western Michigan University, and …