Three Rivers Community Schools has announced that Fred Matusik, principal at Park Elementary School, is retiring at the end of the school year. Matusik, who oversaw Huss Academy alternative high school for 10 years, has been principal at Park School for six years. His wife, Judi, is a behavior specialist at Andrews Elementary and she also plans to retire in …

A 250-pound urn was stolen from a burial site between March 4 and 11 at Leonidas Cemetery. According to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, the cement urn was painted black, stands about 30 inches high and has a diameter of about 18 inches. The item was reported stolen last Saturday.

The Three Rivers Relay for Life was given a financial boost recently, thanks to Kadant Johnson. The Three Rivers-based company last weekend hosted its second annual Hoops for Hope, 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Seventeen teams combined to raise more than $2,300 for the local Relay for Life program.

Weston Edward Lipko, son of Rachel Dale and Aaron Lipko, was stillborn Thursday March 15, 2012, at Sturgis Hospital. He is survived by his parents; grandparents, Richard Dale of Burr Oak, Tana Fox of Burr Oak, Nancy Lipko and Charlie Osbon, both of Sturgis; great-grandparents, Jenny Hagen and Edward Hagen, both of Sturgis and Rita Lipko and Andrew Lipko of …

The Kalamazoo Wings captured their third straight North Division title in convincing 6-1 victory Wednesday night at the Huntington Center against the Toledo Walleye.  Sparked by two goals 23 seconds apart, the K-Wings jumped ahead to a 2-0 advantage. Fed by a Darryl Bootland pass to the high slot, Elgin Reid (8th) put the K-Wings on the scoreboard 8:23 into …

Constance Ellen Hutchinson, 72, formerly of Three Rivers, passed away peacefully March 24, 2012 at The Oaks in Plainwell following a lengthy illness. She was born in Three Rivers, the daughter of Robert and Gretchen Reed. She was preceded in death by her parents. She leaves to cherish her loving memory two daughters, Kelly Mazur, of Arizona, and Laura Lindsey, …

The former president and CEO of a Three Rivers financial institution has pled guilty to embezzling more than $100,000. Kristen Taft, 57, will be sentenced April 27 after she admitted her guilt Friday in St. Joseph County Circuit Court. The Portage resident was found to have used a St. Joseph Valley Community Federal Credit Union credit card to purchase items …

The Three Rivers Public Library Board on Tuesday tabled action on a motion to allow Weenie Kings hot-dog stand to use its parking lot to operate his lunchtime business. A vote to let Mike King return to the site where he sold more than 60,000 hot dogs over a five-year period failed by virtue of a 2-2 deadlock, with two …

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department arrested two men last weekend after they were found to be manufacturing methamphetamine on an island in the St. Joseph River. The men, whose ages and hometowns were not included in a sheriff’s department news release, were arrested at a boat launch in Mottville Saturday after they came ashore from an island downriver. A …

Constantine Police Chief Jim Bedell is heading up a cause that would allow for the purchase of a headstone for Jodi Parrack’s gravesite. Bedell said the 11-year-old Constantine girl, whose killer remains at large, is buried at White Pigeon Cemetery and lacks a permanent headstone. Parrack was last seen riding her bike home from a friend’s house in November 2007. …