Michigan officials are pleading for more ventilators and appealing to health professionals to come out of retirement to fight the coronavirus. The number of cases statewide reached nearly 5,500 over the weekend, while deaths rose to 132. Michigan’s medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, says the state has 1,700 ventilators and needs 5,000 to 10,000 more. The coronavirus attacks the lungs. …

Cool and mainly dry conditions are expected tonight and Tuesday, with a gradual warming trend expected for the remainder of the week.  (National Weather Service)

Emo Cuellar Barney was born the oldest of three children in Cali, Columbia on August 26, 1929. After completing service requirements in the Columbian Army his family sent him to the United States for high school and higher education. Emo arrived in New Jersey where he attended the Peddie School and Blair Academy. After graduation he studied Soil Sciences at …

Members of the Centreville Public Schools Board of Education approved issuing the third and final series of bonds for Phase 3 of the 2013 millage project, with a principle sum not to exceed $5.4 million. This is the last phase of the eight-year bond proposal, which has allowed the district to upgrade its facilities, technology, infrastructure and transportation. Superintendent Stephanie …

Here’s the Michigan Department of Transportation’s weekly update regarding the U.S. 131 reconstruction project. The agency is incorporating a Stage 5 traffic pattern, meaning two-way traffic in the highway’s southbound lanes throughout the project. Scheduled work this week includes some utility relocation. Also, traffic-signal work will continue at various intersections south of Michigan Avenue, and crews will focus on various …

Fourteen more homes in White Pigeon will have wells tested for PFAS contamination, but not until the COVID-19 emergency passes, said Paul Andriaachi, environmental health director at Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency. In a report Thursday to the health department board, Andriaachi said three of 19 homes whose well-water were tested showed levels of PFAS above 70 parts per trillion, …

State Rep. Brad Paquette has issued a statement regarding this week’s announcement of the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in both Berrien and Cass counties. Paquette, of Niles, said his heart goes out to the individuals and their families impacted by the diagnoses. The area’s first reported cases are a concern, but not a shock, he added. That being said, …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency is moving toward a daily notification model to local media. Health officer Rebecca Burns said the measure is necessary, as the number of positive cases begins to increase within the three-county service district. As of 2 p.m. Thursday, St. Joseph County had no confirmed cases, 10 people pending test results and 38 individuals known …

Several items were reported taken from a self-storage unit in Centreville. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department was called shortly before 2:30 p.m. March 11 to Mill Race Storage Facility on East Main Street. The victim indicated approximately $150 worth of items stolen from his storage unit. Those items included several tattoo and artwork magazines, and Star Wars and Dungeons …

A garage was entered and items taken from a residence in the 17000 block of South River Road in Lockport Township. Sheriff’s deputies said the breaking-and-entering incident occurred between March 18 and this past Sunday. The suspects broke a window to the garage door and were able to lift the garage door. Once inside, they took a Craftsman push mower, …