About 50 pounds of debris was cleared Saturday from a three-mile stretch of the St. Joseph River. The event, sponsored by the St. Joseph County Conservation District, started at North Farrand Road in Colon Township and concluded at Jacksonburg Road in Leonidas Township. It drew a dozen volunteers and netted debris such as a tire, parts of a lawn chair, …

A Lockport Township couple has submitted an application for a 600-head cattle farm. According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, David and Ramona Schwartz are seeking a permit to locate the development in the 60000 block of Lutz Road. The application was submitted Monday. According to the application, the development would feature a calf barn 40-by-224 feet with an outdoor …

Westside Landfill will stage a first-of-its-kind recycling opportunity of Styrofoam materials. Waste Management’s Eric Shafer said the special event will take place 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the landfill, 60050 Roberts Road. Shaffer said the collection begins what will be a quarterly event specifically for Styrofoam. Shafer said the service is free and open to all St. Joseph County …

An Elkhart man was charged with offenses related to drugs and possession of stolen property following his arrest early Tuesday in Three Rivers. According to a department media release, officers were alerted around 1:30 a.m. to a retail fraud in progress at Walmart. The suspect was stopped by officers on Millard Street near the intersection of U.S. 131. K-9 officer …

Mary Lou Hines, age 86, of Three Rivers, went to be with her Lord on Saturday, June 10, 2017. She was born in Chicago on May 18, 1931 the daughter of Theodore and Ora Lee (Edwards) Shaw. She was united in marriage to Albert Hines, Jr. on June 10, 1950 in Chicago. While living in Chicago she was a homemaker …

I could never be a teacher. Besides the fact that one needs more than a Bachelor’s Degree, a teacher must also have the patience of a saint. Teachers are among those professionals who should be addressed as Mister, Mrs., or Miss, and this would be difficult for me. Whenever someone refers to me as Mr. Stutesman, I start looking around …

A Washtenaw County woman died over the weekend after drowning in Fabius Township’s Clear Lake. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said the body of 24-year-old Alison Kunz was found in about 15 feet of water Sunday afternoon by a member of the department’s dive-rescue team. Kunz, a Saline native and recent graduate of Western Michigan University, and a group …

After decades of neglect and years of complaints about its condition, Constantine Road is finally on tap for some attention. St. Joseph County Road Commission Manager Chris Minger said a bid to reconstruct Constantine Road, from White Pigeon Township to half a mile north of Stears Road, was signed Friday and the work will begin later this summer. The work …

Two people were injured after the motorcycle on which they were riding was struck by a car over the weekend in Cass County’s Wayne Township. According to a department media release, 42-year-old Michael Friske and his passenger, Cherrell Merwin, 32, also from Dowagiac, were heading west on Dutch Settlement Road on a motorcycle around 10 p.m. Saturday. An eastbound car …

Margaret L. Willis, 93, of White Pigeon, died Sunday, June 11, 2017, at Heartland Health Care Center in Three Rivers. She was born Nov. 2, 1923, in Kalamazoo, a daughter of Loren and Lois (Baugh) Beach. She had been a resident of White Pigeon since 1940, and graduated from White Pigeon High School in 1941 as class valedictorian. She was …