Sharon Ann Stigter, age 65, of Burr Oak, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo. Sharon was born June 29, 1952, in Evergreen Park, Ill., a daughter of Louis and Dolores (Grimaldi) Reiner. On June 23, 1973, she married Robert L. Stigter in Palos Heights, Ill. Sharon received her bachelor’s …

Thanksgiving is this week. This means several things. There will be no mail delivery or garbage pick up. If your garbage is picked up on Thursday or Friday, it will be a day later this week. If you want to start your holiday shopping early, I’d advise you to do so before Thanksgiving Day. If you are one of those …

State police are investigating a hit-and-run incident that occurred over the weekend in White Pigeon Township. According to a department media release, a large mailbox was struck between 8 p.m. Saturday and dawn Sunday on Indian Prairie Road near Marl Lake Road. The vehicle was heading in a southeast direction and may have been a beige-colored Ford passenger car. Investigators …

Burr Oak Community Schools will soon be equipped with Nightlock Lockdown classroom door barricades, thanks in part to the St. Joseph County United Way. Kelly Hostetler, executive director of the local United Way agency, said her board of directors made a commitment to fund half the cost to any school countywide wishing to have Nightlocks. Burr Oak Community Foundation came …

Glen Oaks Community College continues to receive high marks in nursing pass rates, as graduates from both Level I and Level 2 programs pass the National Council for Licensing Exam at rates higher than the national average. Graduates from the one-year practical nursing program had a 100 percent pass rate, compared with a 92 percent Michigan pass rate and an …

Authorities say a western Michigan woman died after a car hit a deer, it flew into the air and struck the windshield of her vehicle. Kent County sheriff’s officials say 49-year-old Susan Fries of Ada Township died Monday evening in Cascade Township after the deer broke through her vehicle’s windshield. The animal was first struck by a car going the …

Northern Indiana police say an 11-year-old boy was struck and killed by a car as he pulled a wagon along a rural road. A report released Monday by the LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department says the boy died Friday evening along a road a few miles north of the town of Topeka. The 63-year-old motorist told officers that by the time …

A ballot committee proposing to legalize the use of marijuana for recreational purposes in Michigan has submitted more than 360,000 voter signatures in a bid for a statewide vote in 2018. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol turned in the signatures to state election officials in Lansing on Monday. Michigan already allows for the use of marijuana for medical …

The annual Mackinac Bridge Walk will remain a Labor Day tradition. The Mackinac Bridge Authority says the date won’t change. But officials still haven’t determined details about how the 5-mile walk will take place. With terrorists increasingly using cars and trucks as weapons, the bridge was closed to most vehicles during this year’s walk. Only about 25,000 people took part. …

Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan has ruled out running for U.S. Senate next year. Upton, of St. Joseph, has held southwestern Michigan’s congressional seat for 30 years. He said Friday there was “a path” to running, but he has chosen “not to follow it.” He instead will seek re-election to the House, saying “we need focus and fortitude in …