With nearly 1,000 votes cast, voters in the city of Sturgis Tuesday rejected a request to amend a city ordinance regarding the number of dogs kept on any premises in the city limits. Almost 15 percent of the city’s registered voters decided by a margin of 648 against and 294 in favor of changing the ordinance to not put a …

Michigan voters were asked Tuesday to increase the sales tax a penny to help raise $1.2 million for roads… and their answer to Proposal 1 was a resounding “no.”  Nearly 80-percent of voters voted “no” compared to just 20 percent that said “yes”. Despite the loss, Governor Rick Snyder says he plans to stay after the issue. He says he’s …

Most people wouldn’t tie the quiet community of Stockbridge to bloody World War II fighting in South Pacific. But a link is there. Since 2011, members of the Stockbridge High School underwater robotics team have been making yearly trips to the island-nation of Palau in an effort to find relics of the war, and, in part, to bring closure to …

Arlean Victoria Ratering, age 92, of Three Rivers passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 3, 2015 at the Bowman Place where she resided for the past year. She was born on Nov. 6, 1922 in the Borough of Prospect Park, New Jersey the daughter of the late Charles and Margaret (VanBalen) Peraldo. Mrs. Ratering grew up in the New Jersey …

Donald Arthur Brunner Sr., age 88, of Three Rivers, passed away on Thursday, April 30, 2015 at Three Rivers Health following a lengthy illness. He was born on Dec. 16th, 1926 in Three Rivers, the son of the late Sherman and Leona (Kipker) Brunner. Mr. Brunner has been a lifetime resident of this area. He was employed as a Journeyman …

Wilbur F. Bower, 76, of Sturgis, died Sunday, May 3, 2015, at Sturgis Hospital, following a brief illness. He was born Sept. 1, 1938, in Rose City, a son of Ernest and Louise (Olney) Bower. He was a Sturgis-area resident most of his life and was a 1956 graduate of Sturgis High School. He was owner and operator of Trapper …

Gary Duane Dentler, age 40, of White Pigeon, passed away suddenly on Sunday, May 3, 2015 at Three Rivers Health. Gary was born on November 6, 1974, in Three Rivers, the son of Douglas and Nadine (Brown) Dentler. Gary is survived by his loving family, wife, Katie (Clark) Dentler, whom he married on Sept. 30, 2011, of White Pigeon; mother, …

Alice E. Edwards, 82, of Constantine, died Saturday, May 2, 2015, at Riverview Manor in Three Rivers following an extended illness. She was born April 29, 1933, in Three Rivers, the daughter of Lloyd and Veda (Schrader) Babcock and lived in St. Joseph county all of her life. She was a homemaker and was employed by Freeman Manufacturing and Sturgis …

A 75-year-old man has been arrested after a 74-year-old woman was shot to death in their southwestern Michigan home. Kalamazoo County sheriff’s officials say the woman was found wounded early Monday morning in Texas Township, south of Grand Rapids. She later was pronounced dead. Officials say the man police arrested was the only other person at the home at the …

A lifelong educator vastly familiar with Colon Community Schools will finish the academic year as its superintendent. Following a 25-minute special board meeting Friday, members of Colon Community Schools’ Board of Education agreed to offer Jay Newman a contract to serve as the district’s chief through June 30. The decision was made in light of first-year superintendent Vic Bugni announcing …