County Information

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners was asked last week to continue its customary funding to maintain in 2017 the services of a local economic-development group. During Tuesday’s commission meeting, board members were urged to allocate their standing $250,000 to Southwest Michigan First economic-development corporation. The five-member board is considering cutting back on its commitment to Southwest Michigan First, …

State Rep. Aaron Miller last week attended three township meetings – in Sturgis, Burr Oak and Wayne townships – fulfilling a promise made two years ago to attend each of the 59th District’s monthly municipal meetings twice, hearing first-hand ideas and how the Legislature can help communities. Miller said he enjoyed meeting with local officeholders and listening to the concerns …

Colon High School students were witness to a “Courts In the Schools” program last week. Staged by St. Joseph County District Court Judge Rob Pattison, Friday’s session followed previous in-school court sessions in Three Rivers and Sturgis. The two cases heard Friday centered on sentencings of suspects related to drugs and alcohol. Pattison said he is an advocate of the …

Leonidas resident Clay Decker is a new junior member of the American Angus Association. Junior members of the association are eligible to register cattle in the American Angus Association, participate in programs conducted by the National Junior Angus Association, take part in association-sponsored shows, and other national and regional events. The American Angus Association is the largest beef breed association …

A new monument has been unveiled at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds. Located just north of the fair office, outside building 51, a monument dedicated last month commemorates 100 years of the St. Joseph County fair as a “Grange” fair. Tom Smith, secretary and program director of St. Joseph/Cass/Kalamazoo Counties District Grange, explained that while the first St. Joseph County …

Six people were arrested in Sturgis last week after resisting arrest. The incident began when an officer attempted to stop a vehicle shortly before 2 a.m. Friday in the 400 block of West West Street for a traffic violation. Officers said the vehicle pulled into a private drive, and a male and female in the vehicle fled into a residence. …

A public hearing on St. Joseph County’s proposed 2017 fiscal-year budget generated scrutiny toward the county’s board of commissioners Tuesday. The focus of the scorn centered on the proposed $18.1 million general-fund budget and the $2.8 million the board earlier this year agreed to provide toward expenses related to a 17-field sports complex in the Three Rivers area. The proposed …

St. Joseph County commissioners this week approved the reappointment of Matt Scheske as a member of the county’s Investment Advisory Board. His three-year term will expire at the end of 2019. Scheske is vice president of commercial lending at Sturgis Bank & Trust. Also, commissioners agreed to reappoint four people to the county’s Planning Commission. They are: Warren Atkins of …

Mere hours after St. Joseph County concluded its recount of Nov. 8 presidential ballots, a federal judge ordered further recounts in Michigan and other states be suspended or not proceed. The decision, made late Wednesday, came after St. Joseph County Clerk Lindsay Oswald and a team of 24 people concluded a recount of more than 24,000 ballots. The procedure, which …

Officials with White Pigeon Community Schools have about six weeks to piece together what will appear before the district’s voters in a May renewal request. The third of three community forums was staged Tuesday, providing a final opportunity for event participants to fine-tune their choices for what should be included in a five-year, 3-mill sinking-fund-renewal request. Superintendent Jon Keyer said …