County Information

Two experienced candidates have offered their services to fill a vacancy on the Sturgis City Commission. Meeting last week’s application deadline were Jeff Mullins and Steven Shevick. Both are residents of Precinct 1, located on the city’s southeast side. Each is vying to succeed Michael Austermann, who resigned Oct. 14. Mullins was appointed to Sturgis Planning Commission earlier this year …

An employee at a Sturgis Township business was the victim of an armed robbery last week. Sheriff’s department officials said the agency was summoned shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday to the Citgo gas station on U.S. 12 at Balk Road in response to an armed robbery. No other information was available from the department.

A representative from the group TR Cares last week presented to county commissioners a petition signed by a number of registered voters asking for a review of Lindsay Oswald’s appointment as county clerk. Furthermore, Doug Bingaman said the petition urges commissioners to issue a public statement, asking Oswald to not seek the position when it appears before voters next year. …

Three Rivers police last week arrested a 27-year-old man wanted as a fugitive from justice. Terrell Reese, a Three Rivers resident, was arrested Wednesday after officers receive a tip regarding Reese’s location. As officers attempted to apprehend Reese, he fled on foot but was eventually tracked down by the department’s K9 unit. Reese was arrested in the vicinity of 14th …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency confirmed that another bat has tested positive for rabies. Agency officials said the bat in question is the third to test positive since May; all reports have come from Branch County. Health department officials said there was no human exposure with the latest case, though there was possibly pet exposure. Earlier in the fall, …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week approved contract changes to three sheriff’s department divisions. During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners agreed to the modifications starting in 2016 and impacting the department’s corrections, law-enforcement and command-officers divisions. Notable changes include a 2 percent raise in 2017 and again in 2018 in all three divisions, and a pension revision affecting employees …

Not surprisingly, a low voter turnout was recorded in three municipalities where elections took place Tuesday. In Three Rivers, about 5 percent of the city’s 5,100 registered voters participated in an uncontested election that saw Mayor Tom Lowry secure an additional two-year term. The 59-year-old Lowry, who has served as mayor of St. Joseph County’s second-largest community for 16 years, …

Voters in Burr Oak Community Schools were in a generous mood Tuesday, as a sinking-fund millage was approved by nearly a three-to-two margin. The 3-mill, five-year sinking fund request was supported by a vote of 116 in favor to 71 opposed. Tuesday’s request is identical to what was on the ballot in the May 5 election, when voters defeated the …

A proposed ordinance allowing more than two dogs in a single-family residence was defeated Tuesday by Sturgis voters. The proposed measure, which would have allowed up to three dogs in a residence, was defeated, 245 opposed to 132 in favor. In May, voters rejected a proposed ordinance amendment that would have lifted any limit on the number of dogs at …

St. Joseph County’s Board of Commissioners has thrown its support behind an event – believed to be the first of its kind locally – in which disabled veterans will have the opportunity to deer hunt. Organized by the county’s veterans services director Stoney Summey and parks and recreation director Jaymes MacDonald, the so-called Veterans’ Hunt 2015 will be conducted now …