Business

Midland-based Dow Chemical says 2,400 employees will be laid off with 20 plants closed world wide due to continued economic slowdowns.  Roughly half of those layoffs will be in North America including workers at an Automotive Systems Diesel Particulate Filters plant in Midland that will be closed. No time table on the plant closures was immediately available.  Dow says the …

Three-quarters of a $400,000 donation presented last week to the city of Three Rivers has been designated to a newly created capital-improvement fund. During Tuesday’s city commission meeting, Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners agreed to place $300,000 into the capital-improvement fund the city created as a result of the financial windfall. Though a specific use for the money has not …

Members of the Three Rivers City Commission later this year are expected to award a contract for the job of redesigning the downtown mural mall. Steven Bishop, representing Grand Rapids-based Fleis and VanDenBrink Engineering presented drawings of the proposed project to Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting. Funding for the nearly $1 million project came from a $750,000 …

Sturgis Police over the weekend arrested a suspect for driving into a pair of parked cars and running from officers. Neither the gender, age, nor community of residence of the person arrested was stated in a department media release. According to police, an incident in the 400 block of Sturgis Street was reported around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, when two cars …

Alcohol may have been a factor in a single-car crash last week in Burr Oak Township, according to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators said 28-year-old Sturgis resident Lisa Anderson drove her 2004 Impala off the roadway near the intersection of Witt Lake and Robinson roads and the vehicle struck a tree. The incident occurred shortly before 11 p.m. …

A 65-year-old crossing guard on duty near Hoppin Elementary in Three Rivers was injured after being struck by a car last week. Three Rivers police said the victim, a Three Rivers resident, was at the intersection of North Main and Armitage streets when she was struck by a northbound vehicle around 7 a.m. Tuesday. The victim was returning to a …

Two suspects involved in an armed robbery at a Sturgis convenience store were taken into custody by Sheriff’s Department deputies Friday. The men, whose names and community of residence were not indicated in a department press release, were arrested following a 12:30 a.m. incident Friday at a business in the 400 block of North Nottawa Street. A subsequent investigation led …

Organizers of Saturday’s fourth annual Mendon Fall Fest stayed optimistic throughout the day despite bouts of rain that crippled attendance at the five-hour, one-day event. Jennifer Hayward, chair of the Fall Fest Committee, said with rain already in the forecast, intermittent showers were not a surprise. Still, Hayward said, the small crowd that did attend enjoyed free food, games and …

A two-car accident Monday afternoon east of Centreville resulted in a local woman and two children seeking medical treatment. According to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’ Department, a 31-year-old Sturgis woman was driving east on M-86 when her vehicle was struck by an 80-year-old White Pigeon woman shortly after 3 p.m. The White Pigeon woman was attempting to turn west …

The city of Three Rivers and Three Rivers Community Schools both landed a handsome windfall Tuesday from St. Joseph County’s largest employer. During a ceremonial check presentation at Three Rivers-based American Axle & Manufacturing, Mayor Tom Lowry was given $400,000 from American Axle officials. The city will retain $300,000 of the amount, while the $100,000 balance was earmarked for the …