The Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce has taken a position on November’s ballot measure seeking the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. In a media release issued this week, the chamber said it is not endorsing the request primarily because area businesses are struggling to find qualified candidates for a number of jobs that are perpetually unfilled. The chamber’s …

Multiple agencies responded to a fire Monday at Nissley Disposal and Sturgis Towing – located at the former site of Carter Lumber – just south of Sturgis. The blaze resulted in considerable damage to one of the buildings. The fire was eventually brought under control with the aid of departments from Sturgis, Tri-Township, Burr Oak, Colon and White Pigeon. No …

State police troopers are investigating the theft of copper wire from an irrigation system in Park Township. The victim said the incident occurred between Sept. 1 and 15 in an area along Carpenter Road, between Heimbach and Edgerton roads, where electrical wire was cut from two spans of a nearby irrigation pivot. The incident was reported at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The White Pigeon Area Community Foundation – a geographic affiliate of the Sturgis Area Community Foundation – recently approved $4,500 in grant awards during its 2018 competitive-grant program. The Fund for White Pigeon, and the Richard and Mary Magee Fund, provided grant support to the White Pigeon Downtown Revitalization Association for the Tasty Nut Shop Window Restoration/plants project. Grant support …

After several months of debate, Sturgis city commissioners last week voted by a 5-4 margin on a second reading of an ordinance that would allow all five types of medical marijuana facilities. The five areas are growers, processors, secure transporters, provisioning centers and safety-compliance facilities. Any of the five types would be allowed to locate in manufacturing districts, though provisioning centers …

An Indiana man has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing his father in his parents’ southwestern Michigan home. A jury had convicted 33-year-old Joseph Craigo last month of first-degree murder in the March 2017 killing of 59-year-old Alan Craigo. The Cass County man was slain inside his home just north of the Indiana state line. Craigo claimed …

Health officials say a resident of western Michigan has been infected with Eastern equine encephalitis . The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Allegan County Health Department announced Monday that the person was hospitalized in late August. Eastern equine encephalitis is one of the most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases in the U.S. It can be fatal and often leaves survivors …

Thomas Raymond Pifer, age 61, died on Saturday, September 15, 2018. In accordance with Thomas’ wishes cremation has taken place. Services will take place in Spring of 2019. Arrangements are being handled by Hohner Funeral Home.

Authorities say an ambulance driver was injured in a collision involving a semi-truck in southwestern Michigan. The crash happened early Tuesday in Van Buren County’s Paw Paw Township and prompted authorities to close a stretch of M-51 as crews responded. The sheriff’s office says the truck rolled over after hitting the ambulance. The driver of the ambulance had what were …

We are now well into the 2018 football season. This means that Sunday evening television programming will be slightly changed, as will Monday and Thursday evenings. One of the things that bothers me about watching anything on television are the stupid commercials. It seems to me that there are more commercials during a football game than any other time. Sometime …