A Centreville man was arrested last week after attempting to evade police in White Pigeon Township. Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said deputies tried to stop a vehicle shortly before midnight Friday after noticing his vehicle did not display a valid license plate. The 33-year-old driver failed to stop and continued driving through the village of White Pigeon. The suspect vehicle became …

Organizers of the Three Rivers Water Festival recently met and decided to plan for a resumption of what would be the city’s 64th Water Festival. Christy Trammell, president & CEO of the Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce, said it made sense to plan a 2021 festival then cancel or postpone if circumstances warrant. As it stands, the three-day festival …

A pursuit that started in Elkhart County and covered the width of St. Joseph County ended last week in Colon Township. Sheriff’s deputies said the incident took place Friday night and initially involved officers from White Pigeon and Constantine. They reported the suspect was driving at a high rate of speed and in an erratic manner. The Constantine Police Department …

Officials from the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy have announced it acquired an additional 421 acres of land in 2020. That brings its total amount of land protected to 17,400 acres across southwest Michigan. One of more than five properties acquired last year include the Butler Conservation Easement in Park Township. Ron and Sharron Butler conserved their 175-acre parcel, located in …

St. Joseph County officials plan to discuss whether to approve a staffing request for the prosecutor’s office. The matter was raised during Wednesday’s executive committee meeting. Commissioners heard a grim report from prosecutor David Marvin, who said according to circuit court judge Paul Stutesman, there are about 600 felony cases backlogged at the moment. He said 19 of the 600 …

St. Joseph County commissioners have recommended changing the first of their two monthly executive committee meetings to a 5 p.m. start from what is currently 8 a.m. The second executive committee meeting of the month would keep its 8 a.m. start time. The issue was first discussed last month, when new commissioner Jared Hoffmaster indicated he has a work-related conflict …

Southwest Michigan First has announced Lee Chatfield has been hired as the agency’s new executive director. The former House of Representative member recently served as speaker of the House and speaker pro-tem. Prior to his three-term run as a state legislator, Chatfield was an athletic director, teacher and coach at Northern Michigan Christian Academy in Burt Lake. Southwest Michigan First …

More information about a Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored trip later this year will be available during an informational meeting next week. The chamber’s annual trip this year will be to Greece, with departure set for Oct. 14. A Zoom session, with more details about the impending trip, will take place starting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Meanwhile, chamber officials …

Kellogg Community Credit Union is hosting a nonperishable food drive in celebration of National Canned Good month in February. With the pandemic, local food banks have seen some of the highest demand for assistance in years, credit union officials said. KCCU is asking the public to consider bringing in canned goods and other non-perishable food items to any branch through …

A few personnel moves were approved this week by members of the Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education. The internal moves included Kaitlyn Ford Schrock transferring to payroll manager from accounting; Ana Stellner, from administrative assistant to the superintendent, to accounting; and Toni Andrews from lead secretary to administrative assistant to superintendent Art Ebert. Andrews will fill a position created …