County Information

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners has given approval to members of the Centreville Covered Bridge Days Committee for use of the courthouse property later this summer. Committee chair Carole McClain asked for the use of the west, north and east area of the courthouse lawn from 10 a.m. June 21 through 6 p.m. June 22. The two-day festival …

The Three Rivers City Commission has chosen Melissa Bliss to serve as city clerk. Tuesday’s action was taken after predecessor Lindsay Howes announced her resignation from the post to take the job as St. Joseph County grant writer. Bliss, a 35 year-old Three Rivers resident, previously worked in an administrative position for the city of Portage before she joined the …

A Three Rivers man was arrested at Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford Airport after he allegedly left a series of threatening texts and voicemail messages for his wife. Michigan State Police investigators said Doug Buell, who was in Las Vegas for an unspecified amount of time, left texts and voicemails that became increasingly more threatening in nature, MSP investigators said. …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners has given the green light to the use of a trained dog for therapeutic and calming purposes. Commissioners on Tuesday OK’d an agreement with Linda Baker, victims’ rights coordinator who works for the county prosecutor’s office. Baker said three other counties in the state have dogs used for victims or witnesses who need a …

The two largest school districts in St. Joseph County conducted their re-organizational meetings this week. In Sturgis, Geoff Smith was named president of its board of education. Tom Robertson was assigned vice president and Ann Bird secretary. Ray Sterling will serve as treasurer. In Three Rivers, board members returned Susan Schmidtendorff as president, Mike Bosma as vice president and Waneta …

White Pigeon Community Schools recently recognized a longtime board of education member who decided to not seek re-election. Joe Komins, who was board president the past two years, was feted by board members and Superintendent Ron Drzewicki  for his eight years of service to the board. Drzewicki said Komins made a difference through his leadership and dedication to White Pigeon …

A 19-year-old Constantine man was taken by ambulance to Three Rivers Health following a one-car accident over the weekend in Mendon Township. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said Curtis Roberts was southbound on Nottawa Road when he lost control of his vehicle at Prairie Corners Road. The vehicle struck a power pole. Investigators said it appears speed and alcohol …

The City of Sturgis is installing its new, portable ice-skating rink at the corner of North Monroe Street and East Chicago Road, next to Headlines Hair Design and Spa. Installation started last week and opening for skating will depend on the weather. More information will be forthcoming regarding hours of operation and when skating begins.

A residence in Colon Township was raided by the St. Joseph County Area Narcotics unit Friday morning, resulting in the arrests of five people. Sheriff’s department officials said the 7:30 a.m. raid at the Driftwood Drive residence was the second in nine months at that location. Two females and three males, ranging in age from 30 to 76, were taken …

Sturgis residents in a neighborhood in the city’s northeast quadrant are being advised to follow a boil-water advisory, following a water-main break last week. The broken pipe was at the intersection of North Lakeview Avenue and Wilshire Drive. More than a dozen basements were flooded as a result of the water-main break, which took place in the pre-dawn hours Friday, …