An update was provided Monday regarding the progress of Constantine’s new sewer treatment plant. The matter stems from the village council’s decision to refurbish an earlier wastewater facility, which shut down in 1997 and effluent has since continued to be piped to Three Rivers Wastewater Treatment. The village is using USDA/Rural Development financing to re-activate the plant. USDA announced in …

Michigan reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Feb. 6 than the week before, adding nearly 60,000 new cases. That’s down 46 percent from the previous week’s tally of new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19. St. Joseph County reported 391 cases and five deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 592 cases and …

State Rep. Steve Carra and the Michigan House of Representatives approved a plan to prevent experimentation on the remains of aborted children. House Bills 5558 and 5559, which Carra co-sponsored, would prevent any research on an organ, tissue or cell taken from an aborted embryo, fetus or neonate, to the extent allowed under the state constitution. An intentional violation would …

St. Joseph County officials are being asked to support a drive seeking to change the name of a popular lake in Park and Lockport townships. County commission members were asked during their executive committee meeting Tuesday to back proponents of a campaign to make “Fisher Lake” the legal name of what is alternatively known as Fishers Lake. While the county …

Van Buren/Cass District Health Department will be distributing free KN95 masks to organizations and community members in Van Buren and Cass counties. A partial list of participating organizations distributing masks, while supplies last, includes Van Buren Cass District Health Department at its Lawrence and Dowagiac offices; fire Departments in both counties; all Cass District Library branches; Cass County Council on Aging; Cass …

A Sturgis teenager was sentenced to two years of probation and one year of jail for attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Court officials said Dwight Summey, 19, was sentenced recently by St. Joseph County Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman. Summey was given the same sentence for breaking into Glen Oaks Community College. Summey faced life felonies for safe breaking and …

A Sturgis woman was injured in a snowmobile accident last week in Cass County’s LaGrange Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called shortly before 7 p.m. to an area near Dunning Street and Oak Grove Road. Investigators said 30-year-old Catherine Miller was snowmobiling with a group on Trail 12. Behnke said Miller’s snowmobile was approaching a hill when she …

St. Joseph County Sheriff deputies arrested a Marcellus man on outstanding warrants Monday. Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said deputies stopped a vehicle at 2 a.m. in the area of Broadway and Constantine streets in the city of Three Rivers for an equipment violation. Deputies found the driver was wanted on unspecified warrants and taken to the county jail. During the admission …

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will unveil an ambitious budget plan this week that addresses Michigan’s educator shortage, as well as mental health and learning needs for students. Whitmer is proposing to provide the biggest increase in education spending in 20 years. The governor’s budget director is set to present the spending recommendations to lawmakers Wednesday. Whitmer’s $18.4 billion pre-K-12 spending plan …

Sheriff’s department deputies are investigating the theft of a vehicle last week from a location in Leonidas Township. Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said the incident occurred in the evening or night hours Jan. 31. The vehicle is a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. It is blue in color and was stolen from a residence in the 30000 block of Longnecker Road. The vehicle …