A crowd of more than 150 people attended Friday’s second annual Local Food Festival, hosted by the St. Joseph County Conservation District. Staged at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds, the event featured a four-course meal of food grown locally from 23 different sources. John Farrand, from the Sturgis Boundary Waters Café, and Janelle Baranic, food service director at the …

  The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week gave approval to the Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce for a special event to be staged next year. As a part of the chamber’s “Discover the Treasures of St. Joseph County” program, the courthouse will provide the setting for a murder-mystery dinner. In response to the request from chamber …

L.D. Ballman, age 86, died Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014 at Fairview Living and Rehabilitation Community in Centreville. He was born in Mendon on Feb. 13, 1928 the son of John J. and Mary Anna (Shaw) Ballman, and attended Mendon Schools. He worked on the family farm before joining the Army Air Corps. L.D. was married to Norene Mae Umlor on …

Michigan’s apple growers will harvest nearly 29 million bushels of apples this year, according to the official crop estimate announced Friday at the USApple Outlook meeting in Chicago. Officials say the 28.74 million bushels estimate is in line with the 2013 crop, which was a record size crop of 30 million bushels. Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee, says …

Hazel June Warmack, age 82, of Three Rivers, entered heavenly life on her 82nd birthday. She was born in Ellington, MO on Aug. 21, 1932 the daughter of Hudy and Amy (Madden) Chitwood and attended school in Missouri. She was married to William Aldon Warmack on July 2, 1950 in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, and has been a resident of the …

 St. Joseph County is looking for a new engineer/manager, as Christopher Bolt turned in his resignation Wednesday. The action came after the five-member road commission board met in executive session to discuss personnel matters. Bolt, 44, joined the road commission in January 2012. He said the board is choosing to go in a different direction and he has the utmost …

 Officials from Berrien County-based Edgewater Resources were on hand Wednesday in Three Rivers to present an overview of a river-trail master plan and field input from the group of about 30 people in attendance. County commission chair John Dobberteen made clear the intent of the proposed plan. He said any place in the county where a boat can float, the …

Evelyn Griffin, 83, of Constantine, Mich., died Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014, at ThurstonWoods Village in Sturgis, Mich., following an extended illness.She was bornMarch 15, 1931, in Jasper, Ala., the daughter of Louis and Willie (Gradey) Hyche.She was a resident of Constantine for 50 years, coming fromMottville, Mich. She married Leon Griffin onMay 22, 1947, in Jasper, Ala.She was a homemaker …

Melody Lynn Ruggles, age 43, of Three Rivers went to be with her Lord Wednesday, August 20, 2014. She left from her home with her loving family by her side after a courageous battle with colorectal cancer . She was born in Berwyn, IL on July 24, 1971, the daughter of Oren and Marilyn(Allen)Shoemaker. Melody graduated from Three Rivers High …

Mae D. Willings, age 81, of White Pigeon, passed away Wednesday, August 20, 2014 at Thurston Woods Village in Sturgis.  She was born in Oakman Co., Alabama on November 19, 1932, a daughter of Cranford and Mandy (Davis) Smith. Mae worked at Yukon Delta in Elkhart in the 1970’s. On June 10, 1950 she married Walter F. Willings in Columbus, MS. He …