A Sturgis man was arrested last week after he fled from police during an early morning incident. Around 2 a.m. Thursday, Sturgis Police were called to the 600 block of East West Street for possible drug activity involving a person with outstanding warrants. Officers observed the man walk out the back of the residence but he fled after noticing police. …

Stephen Edward Burnham, age 40, of Three Rivers, passed away Saturday, January 5, 2013, following a long illness, at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. He was born December 15, 1972 in Sturgis, a son of Dennis and Sally (Cobbs) Burnham. In his younger years he lived in Arizona and Utah, and came back to Michigan and has resided in Three …

Richard “Dick” William Sampson, after a valiant battle with pneumonia, succumbed on January 2nd, 2013. He was born in Ironwood, MI, June 15, 1921 the son of James and Frances (Hudy) Sampson. He attended Gogebic Community College and Michigan Tech to study Electrical Engineering before joining the Army Air Corps in 1941, where he was stationed in Italy with the …

William S. Bontrager, 74, died Tuesday at Greencroft Healthcare in Goshen, Ind. He was born April 21, 1938, to Samuel and Fannie (Bontrager) Bontrager in Centreville. On June 20, 1965, he married Wilma K. Golden in Mexico, Mo. She died June 8, 1995. He is survived by two daughters, Joyce K. Stamper of Elkhart, Ind., and Barbara Knight of Goshen; …

Janette Irene (Buel) Mallette, 76, passed away Jan. 1, 2013. Janette was born Oct. 10, 1936 in Three Rivers. She was a 1954 graduate of Three Rivers High School. Surviving are one son, Richard Gleason; one daughter, Tina (Jerry) Holderman; two sisters, Alice Stockdale and Mary Wright, both of Three Rivers; one brother, Roy Buel of Three Rivers; and four …

Michael Alan Nihart, 50, of White Pigeon, died unexpectedly of natural causes Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, at his home. He was born March 31, 1962, in Sturgis, a son of Herbert D. and Betty Jane (Airgood) Nihart. He had been a resident of the White Pigeon and Middlebury, Ind., area all his life. He was a graduate of White Pigeon High School in 1980 …

A 33-year-old Sturgis woman was charged with felonious assault with a firearm and malicious destruction of property following an incident early Thursday in Sturgis. According to the Sturgis Police Department, officers were called at 4:48 a.m. to a residence in the 600 block of East West Street in response to a complaint of a woman refusing to leave a residence. …

A partner in a Three Rivers legal firm has joined St. Joseph County’s contract defender system. Following action by county commissioners Wednesday, Laurie Hines will join the court rotation as a public defender. She replaces David Tomlinson, whose services are no longer available through the system due to his election as Probate Court judge. Hines is a partner with the …

A panel discussion on the effects of global warming will follow Sunday’s matinee presentation of the movie “Chasing Ice,” to be shown at 3 p.m. at the Riviera Theatre in downtown Three Rivers. Organized by Mendon Township environmentalist Carol Higgins and Sturgis resident Rob Sisson, Sunday’s session will be moderated by local personality Bruce Snook. Sisson, president of ConservAmerica, a …

Three Rivers Police Chief Tom Bringman said area residents should take extra care in making sure their vehicles are locked overnight. Bringman said his warning comes on the heels of a rash of break-ins Sunday and Monday, centered in the city’s First District. Chief Bringman said 10 incidents were reported over the course of the two days, and it’s likely …