Glen Oaks Community College’s Board of Trustees has agreed to a contract with Follett Higher Education Group Inc. to privatize bookstore services. James O’Connor, vice president of sales and operations, said Follett operates 945 campus stores internationally, has 1,500 e-commerce sites and plans to invest more than $ 250 million in the business over the next 36 months. Follett offers …

Cass County Sheriff’s deputies responded this week to a collision between a passenger vehicle and a plow truck. The incident occurred at 12:12 a.m. Thursday on U.S. 12, just east of Cassopolis Road in Mason Township. Deputies said an eastbound car driven by 39-year-old Erek Szymanski, of Mishawaka, crossed the centerline after the driver fell asleep. His vehicle struck a …

Michigan Milk Producers Association has closed on the purchase of two houses in the 400 block of East Second Street in Constantine, village officials were informed this week. The council discussed abandoning the 400 block of East Second Street to facilitate use by MMPA and a public hearing was subsequently set for 7 p.m. March 16. Meanwhile, Trustee Cathy Piper …

All St. Joseph County Commission on Aging senior centers are closed today, activities are cancelled, there will be no Meals on Wheels Delivery. Administrative offices are open.

Bolstered by a growing economy, Michigan retailers are projecting strong sales in the months ahead, based on a new monthly survey from the Michigan Retailers Association. The M-R-A’S Michigan Retail Index survey in January found 79-percent of retailers expect sales growth in 2015, with the increases averaging two-point-four percent. The results compare with 58-percent of retailers projecting 2014 sales growth averaging …

For the first time, Michigan recorded no fatalities during all hunting seasons in 2014, according to reports compiled by the Department of Natural Resources’ Law Enforcement Division. Ten incidents involving injuries were recorded in the state – nine in the Lower Peninsula and one in the Upper Peninsula. Sgt. Tom Wanless of the DNR’s Recreational Safety, Education and Enforcement Section says that …

Students at Blandford Middle School were hard at work last week taking care of 125 baby chickens for their egg business. The high-achieving Grand Rapids Public Schools’ theme school offers 60 sixth-graders a unique hands-on learning experience, according to The Grand Rapids Press. The classroom is as much the surrounding ponds and woods as it is the school building. Cheri …

Gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region are protected by federal law once more. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is publishing a rule Friday designating wolves in Michigan and Wisconsin as “endangered” and those in Minnesota as “threatened.” The rule complies with a federal judge’s order in December that overruled the agency’s earlier decision to revoke wolves’ protected …

University of Michigan officials say they’ll take action against six fraternities and sororities involved in the vandalism of two ski reports in Gaylord and Harbor Springs. Members of the campus community are condemning the events that took place Jan. 16 to 18 at Treetops and Boyne resorts, where students collectively caused nearly $125,000 in damage. They say the students’ poor …

A suspect is in custody after an adult bookstore was burned down in Kalamazoo. The Hollywood Nights store caught on fire late Wednesday afternoon and was largely destroyed. After the fire was deemed suspicious police began looking for leads and tracked a vehicle from the scene to Comstock  where a chase began at around 8:30 Wednesday night. The 41-year-old male suspect crashed …