County Information

The Branch and St. Joseph counties offices of the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Department will sponsor free hearing and vision screening opportunities in February in honor of Low-Vision Month. Hearing and vision technicians will be available to screen homeschoolers or children who have missed their screening date and need to be screened. An in-house clinic takes place 9 a.m. to …

Sturgis city commissioners have approved a contract for construction of a handicapped- access ramp to the fishing pier at St. Joseph County’s Pahl Point Park, near Centreville. The $10,100 project was endorsed by the board during its Wednesday meeting this week. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission required Sturgis to make recreation improvements at its hydroelectric plant as a prerequisite for …

St. Joseph County has been awarded $3 million over the next three years for a new Early Head Start program that local educators say has the potential to change the landscape of preschool child care countywide. The competitive grant — one of only three awarded in Michigan — is expected to have impact on the kindergarten readiness of more than …

The St. Joseph County Water Trail Master Plan will be open for public comment starting Friday. The document will be available in hard copy at the county courthouse in Centreville and digitally on the county’s website. The public-comment session runs through Feb. 16. According to Suzanne Fromson, landscape architect with Edgewater Resources, the plan outlines a strategy to help the …

Three Rivers Waste Water Treatment Plant personnel caused a spill of untreated biosolids inside the facility around 4 p.m. Monday. According to department officials, an operator was transferring biosolids from one tank to another and neglected to close the necessary valves before disconnecting the transfer hose. Approximately 100 gallons were released onto the snow near the transfer location. Plant personnel …

Investigators from the St. Joseph County Area Narcotics unit conducted a controlled narcotics transaction Monday in Constantine, leading to the execution of a search warrant and the arrest of two people. According to the county sheriff’s department, a search warrant was executed at a residence in the 200 block of Meadow Lane. Investigators located multiple prescription drugs consistent with the …

A pair of state legislators whose jurisdictions include St. Joseph County were sworn in during a ceremonial event Monday at the Centreville courthouse. State Rep. Aaron Miller and State Sen John Proos took part in the fanfare before a group of about 100 people in the third-floor commissioners’ room. The oath was administered by county clerk Pattie Bender. Miller, a …

The St. Joseph County Transportation Authority has saved more than $5,000 a month the past two months as the result of low gas prices. CTA director Steve Yorks said the agency’s monthly fuel bills are typically about $25,000. In November it spent about $19,000 on gas, while its December fuel expense was about $18,000. Yorks said neither he nor anybody …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency is reporting a significant uptick in reports of flu-like illnesses over those reported in November. Steve Todd, health officer for the tri-county health department, said while the actual number of reported flu cases since the end of November has only grown from zero to 13 cases, the number of flu-like illnesses has more than …

Five unlocked vehicles were ransacked and had items stolen from them during incidents that occurred last week in Leonidas and Colon Townships. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said the incidents occurred between late Thursday night and in the early morning hours Friday on Blossom Road. The first incident took place outside a residence in the 54000 block of Blossom …