Michigan has been selected as the first Midwest state to partner with Google on making photos of travel destinations available through Google Maps. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Travel Michigan Vice President David West and Steve Silverman from Google Maps announced the partnership Monday at the Michigan Tourism Conference in Grand Rapids. “The Pure Michigan campaign has elevated Michigan as a …

Dwight “Jack” Jackson Kortie, 79, of Middlebury, died at 6:05 am on Sunday, March 22, at Courtyard of Goshen, where he had stayed since January 7, 2015. He was born on September 28, 1935 in Litchfield, MN, to Dwight J. and Bernice “Bunny” (Britton) Kortie, they preceded him in death. On April 25, 1975 in Goshen he married Judith (Mishler) …

Robert C. Zimmerman, 97, passed away on Saturday, March 21, 2015 in Colon, Mich., where he’d lived for the last 30- plus years. Bob, known as “Red,” was born in Calumet City, Ill., on Feb. 6, 1918, to the late Herman and Mary (Mayme Jung) Zimmerman. He lived for 67 years in Calumet City, where he raised his family. Bob …

Ezra J. Bontrager, age 87, 4 months, of Centreville, Mich., passed away March 20, 2015, at 7 p.m. at home surrounded by family. Ezra was born Nov. 30, 1927, in Sikeston, Mo., a son to the late John M. and Elizabeth (Mullet) Bontrager. Ezra lived in Centreville most of his life, where he had farmed and was a member of …

Three people were hurt when a methamphetamine lab exploded near Battle Creek early Sunday. Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Bronson-Battle Creek hospital shortly after 3:00 am when the victims arrived. Deputies say they believe a 45-year-old man was cooking meth in his Burlington Township home when the explosion occurred, leaving him with severe burns to his face and hands. He has …

Indiana Michigan Power is working to refuel Unit 2 of the Cook Nuclear power plant in Berrien County. The unit had been running for 18 months with no issues, and the refueling outage will start at midnight Tuesday. About 25-hundred contracted workers are being brought in to help about 12-hundred regular employees at the Cook plant, according to Cook plant spokesman Bill …

The Archives of Michigan are now making available images of Michigan death certificates from 1921 to 1939. The certificates join others from 1897 to 1920 that were previously made available. The Michigan collection now contains 2.6 million death certificates for researchers. The images of death certificates are free on the Archives of Michigan website at seekingmichigan.org. State Archivist Mark Harvey says the index …

A new historical marker has been dedicated along the Ohio-Michigan state line to commemorate surveyors and their work 200 years ago. The Daily Telegram of Adrian reports an event took place Saturday along U.S. 127 at the border between Medina Township in Michigan and Gorham Township in Ohio. Fulton County, Ohio’s chief surveyor Joseph Fenicle unveiled the marker. Fenicle spearheaded …

A former Constantine Police reserve officer was sentenced Friday to at least 20 months in prison for lying under oath in a case related to the homicide of 11-year-old Jodi Parrack. Raymond McCann II, who previously pled no contest to lying under oath during the investigative subpoena into the 2007 homicide of Parrack, was sentenced in St. Joseph County Circuit …

A pair of funding requests from the St. Joseph County E-911 Central Dispatch was approved by county commissioners last week. The agency was allotted $4,128 for security cameras to replace black-and-white cameras that are 15 years old, and $74,200 was granted to repair and make improvements to the Centreville communications tower. County administrator Pat Yoder said the upgrade for security …