Business

State police are appealing to the public for help in identifying suspects involved in a rash of larceny-from-vehicle incidents last week in Park Township. According to a department media release, the incidents occurred between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 6:30 a.m. Wednesday along Buckhorn Road between Heimbach Road and South Fisher Lake Road.

GreenMark Equipment, Inc., will host their 2015 Drive Green Demo Days event at their dealership just north of Three Rivers on August 15. This event will give area residents a chance to check out the latest utility tractors, lawn and garden tractors, loaders, implements and other equipment from John Deere, as well as take advantage of special Drive Green savings. …

A three-way traffic signal on South Nottawa Street at Wenzel Street will become a blinking light for the next 90 days, in anticipation of its potential removal. Sturgis city commissioners have approved a temporary control order that will change the stoplight to a flashing yellow signal for two-way traffic on South Nottawa Street and a red flashing light for Wenzel …

Officials are advising Michigan’s propane users to lock in prices before the heating season gets underway. Valerie Brader of the Michigan Agency for Energy says customers can save money by signing contracts now, while propane supplies are significantly above the five-year average. Prices in more than 30 states jumped during the 2013-2014 heating season after cold temperatures and other factors …

Michigan’s unemployment rate has held steady in the latest month at 5.5 percent, 1.6 points lower than a year earlier. The state announced Wednesday that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate for June was identical with the rate in May. The U.S. rate fell 0.2 points to 5.3 percent in the latest month. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget …

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has designated five Saint Joseph County practices as patient-centered medical homes for the 2015 program year – meaning they have particular qualities and processes that help improve health care quality and outcomes by maintaining a coordinated, team focus on their patients’ health and wellness. Designated practices include: · Colon Medical Clinic · Bharat M. …

The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled in favor of home sellers in a tax dispute involving property in a market that’s down or slowly recovering. In a unanimous decision, the court says some sellers are exempt from a real estate transfer tax. The tax break applies if a home’s state equalized value is the same or less than the value …

Motorists along state routes are advised to use extra caution, as the second Adopt-A-Highway roadside cleanup event of the year begins Saturday and continues over an eight-day period. Thousands of Adopt-A-Highway volunteers will be back picking up litter along state roadways starting Saturday, as they’ve done each summer since 1990. Every year, Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collect about 70,000 bags of trash, …

A detour on a major north-south route in St. Joseph County will remain in effect at least through September while a bridge is replaced. Crews from Hudsonville-based Grand River Construction started work Tuesday on the Silver Street bridge at the Portage River. The job is a full rebuild to replace a bridge that job foreman Dean Stewart said was in …

Thousands of gamblers might have been dealt a bad hand at a southwestern Michigan casino. FireKeepers Casino Hotel says someone got access to the computer system, which held information from 85,000 credit and debit cards used for food, beverage and retail purchases, from September through April. Employees were also affected. In a statement Thursday, FireKeepers says it has no evidence …