Members of the Magic City Players are a week away from their second performance of the 2019 season. “A Bad Year for Tomatoes” will feature an all-local cast of talent. Performances are 7 p.m. Sept. 6 and 7, and a matinee performance will begin at 3 p.m. Sept. 8. More information is available through the Magic City Players’ Facebook page.

The city of Sturgis has set an open house to provide information to property owners along possible routes for the radial 69 kV transmission line into Sherman Township. The event is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 18 in Dresser Business Development Center at Glen Oaks Community College. There are three possible routes proposed for the transmission line: • Centerville Road, Featherstone …

A top Democratic lawmaker says Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed 45-cents-a-gallon fuel tax increase is dead, and proposals such as raising the corporate income tax and taxing heavy trucks must be in the mix. House Minority Leader Christine Greig said Thursday that with majority Republicans vehemently opposing the 45-cent plan, there are alternative ways to raise revenue without having to increase …

Debra S. “Deb” Bruystens, age 63, of Mendon, died Monday, Aug. 26, 2019 at Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo. She was born in Three Rivers on Oct. 6, 1955 and was a lifetime resident of St. Joseph County. Following her graduation from Three Rivers High School she was married to Millard Bruystens on April 5, 1975 at the Parkville Community …

State Sen. Kim LaSata on Tuesday applauded four Southwest Michigan communities, including three in St. Joseph County, for being awarded competitive grants through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s “Site Readiness Improvement Program.” According to MEDC, the grants were awarded through a new “Michigan Build Ready Sites Program,” which aims to boost the state’s inventory of available properties ready to compete for …

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has notified the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency that as of Aug. 21, two unvaccinated horses in St. Joseph County have tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis and both have died. EEE is an infectious and often fatal disease of horses, humans and pigs. It is transmitted by mosquito vectors. When levels …

State police troopers responded to a fatal accident last week in Branch County’s Girard Township. Troopers were notified at 3:35 p.m. on Friday that a vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree at Gorbell and Bidwell roads. The vehicle was traveling north on Gorbell Road when it failed to navigate a 90-degree right turn. It instead went straight through …

Volunteers worked today (Wednesday) with representatives from the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy at a location in Fabius Township. The conservancy hosted the “Create the Corey Lake Trail” workday at the Corey Lake North Bay Preserve near Three Rivers. In early July, the Mittler Family, their children and grandchildren, who donated the preserve to SWMLC in 2014, met at the preserve …

Michigan Department of Transportation is two weeks from finishing a highway bridge project in Constantine Township. MDOT’s Nick Schirripa said the U.S. 131 bridge over the St. Joseph River is in the midst of treating the bridge as part of a routine-maintenance project. The $150,000 job includes an epoxy overlay and pavement markings on the 6-year-old bridge. The job started …

Here’s an announcement from Three Rivers Department of Public Services Director Amy Roth. DPS crew members will start the agency’s biannual hydrant flushing Sept. 3. Roth said she expects flushing to continue through Oct. 4. Flushing will occur 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Due to many variables, the department is not able to determine the exact date …