The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Health Agency has issued a media release regarding January as Radon Action Month. Radon is an odorless, tasteless, radioactive gas that naturally occurs in soil and rock. The agency wishes to remind residents that January is a good month to test for Radon. Radon typically travels into the atmosphere and causes no damage. Sometimes, however, it gets …

The November unemployment rate in St. Joseph County decreased by half a percent compared to a month earlier. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed St. Joseph County’s 4.1 percent November unemployment rate was less than October’s 4.6 percent. November’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent less than the same month in 2013, when …

Andy Brown’s sentencing in the David Locey murder case was voted the top local news story in St. Joseph County for 2014. The Sturgis Journal revealed its annual top local stories of the year, and Brown’s July sentencing of up to 75 years in prison was No. 1. Next on the list was the June relocation of the Sturgis Depot …

Implementation of a river trail network, establishment of a municipal revolving-fund loan and development of plans regarding a new animal shelter are some of the matters the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners is expected to handle in 2015. John Dobberteen, chair of the five-man board, said the commission has a big year ahead of itself. A master plan regarding …

Two of four Ohio men linked to a September armed robbery at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds have pleaded guilty to the charge. During a court proceeding earlier this month, 35-year-old John Gregory and Robert Howe, 55, pled guilty and as part of a plea agreement that included dismissal of additional charges. Corderrius Cook, 27, pled no contest, while Samuel …

A clerk at a motel outside of Schoolcraft was robbed at gunpoint earlier this week. Kalamazoo County officials said the incident took place at 4:30 a.m. Monday at the Plainsman Motel, on U.S. 131 in Schoolcraft Township. Investigators said a man with a bandana over his face and a woman with several piercings on her lip and face entered the …

Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates in November declined in 14 of the state’s 17 major labor market regions. According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, total employment and labor force levels rose in the majority of areas over the month. 12 of Michigan’s major regions posted unemployment rates below the national seasonally unadjusted rate of 5.5 percent. The Ann Arbor area …

Cases of influenza are growing rapidly across Michigan, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declares a national flu epidemic, with widespread outbreaks in 22 states, so far. The C-D-C reports 15 children have died already this season of complications from the flu, which is peaking much earlier than normal in December instead of February or March. National officials say about …

Mrs. Jeanne (Broker) Susemihl, age 93, of Three Rivers, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 28th, 2014 at Riverview Manor Nursing Home. She was born in Colon, MI. on April 6, 1921 the daughter of the late Fred and Fay (Wyant) Broker. Jeanne graduated from Three Rivers High School in 1939 and went on to St. Camillus School of Nursing …

Kermit Franklin Parsons, age 75, of Three Rivers, passed away Sunday, December 28, 2014 at Indiana University Goshen Hospital. Starting life in Chicago, IL, Kermit was born to John Parsons and Sybella VanderVeen Parsons Wagonmaker.  Sybella moved to MI at his age of five, where he went to a country school near Jones before attending Three Rivers High School. In …