The U.S. Small Business Administration wishes to remind businesses, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters in Michigan of the deadline to submit disaster-loan applications for damages caused by severe storms and flooding Feb. 19- 21. The deadline to submit applications for physical damage is May 29. Low-interest disaster loans are available in nearly two dozen counties, including St. Joseph and …

Michigan Department of Transportation will begin a major repaving project next week in Branch County. Ten miles of U.S. 12 between Bronson and Coldwater will start Monday morning. Construction includes removing the bridge over the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, installing concrete curb and gutter, upgrading guardrails, improving drainage, and new signs and pavement markings. The $2.4 million investment will improve ride …

Michigan voters will decide in November whether to allow recreational marijuana, after officials certified Thursday that there were enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot. The proposal, which the bipartisan state elections board allowed to proceed on a 4-0 vote, would make Michigan the 10th state and the first in the Midwest to legalize the drug for recreational …

Testimony has concluded after defense attorneys declined to call any witnesses in the trial of a Michigan motorist accused of running down nine bicyclists, killing five of them. The defense’s move Thursday means 52-year-old Charles Pickett of Battle Creek will not testify during his trial on 14 charges, including five each of second-degree murder and operating a motor vehicle while …

V. Roberta “Bobbie” Krontz, age 81, of Sturgis, passed away Wednesday, April 25, 2018, at Golden Living Center in Elkhart. She was born Feb. 6, 1937, in LaGrange, a daughter of the late Eugene and Helen (Deets) Roberts. Bobbie was a lifelong Sturgis resident. On May 8, 1976, she married Gordon Dale Krontz at First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis. Bobbie …

I am Heather.  I love to run and sing.  I am a female, Tri colored hound, I was picked up as a stray.  I am about one and a half years old.  The ladies here at Animal Control say I don’t potty in my unit so I may be housebroken.   I love people and come right up to them.  Because …

Two men died early Wednesday in a house fire in the 53000 block of Silver Street in Mendon Township. Authorities said one body was found in the basement, the other on the first floor. Michigan State Police investigators said the cause of the fire is undetermined. Identities of the two men have not been released, pending notification of next of …

Tuesday was the filing deadline for county commission seats, and other local and state positions appearing on the August primary ballot. Barring a write-in candidate, Republican county commissioners Allen Balog and Kathy Pangle will be uncontested. They are seeking two-year terms; Balog represents the city of Three Rivers, and Fabius and Flowerfield townships, while Pangle’s jurisdiction covers Burr Oak, Colon, …

Glen Oaks Community College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to move forward with a USDA loan application for concourse renovation. The loan is for up to $2.2 million, according to Glen Oaks president David Devier. He said the interest rate for the loan has been locked in at 3.79 percent. Devier anticipates closing as early as next week, and then …

G. Richard “Dick” Himebaugh, age 95, of Burr Oak, passed away Tuesday, April 24, 2018, at Masonville Place in Coldwater. He was born Dec. 21, 1922, in Branch County, a son of the late Gero A. and Leona (Fennell) Himebaugh. Dick was a lifelong Branch County resident and a graduate of Burr Oak High School with the class of 1940. …