County Information

Deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department Deputies are investigating a hit-and-run crasj that occurred last weekend in Florence Township. According to a department media release, the crash occurred Saturday evening in the 65000 block of Lutz Road, where a passenger car was making a right-hand turn into a driveway. Investigators said a 1980s model Chevrolet pickup struck the car. The …

St. Joseph County Emergency Services Coordinator Jim Barnes has passed along information relevant to agriculture-related businesses that have suffered financially from this summer’s drought. Barnes noted that the U.S. Small Business Administration is making available federal economic-disaster loans to small businesses, agricultural cooperatives and other agriculture-related businesses in Michigan. St. Joseph County is one of 10 drought-stricken counties in the …

The Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education recently settled contracts with three work groups. Superintendent Tom Langdon said unions representing food-service workers, teachers, and employees in the custodian, maintenance and transportation field all agreed to a contract through the 2012-13 school year. Teachers will not be awarded a pay increase, though salary-step increases will remain in place. Employees in the …

Meet Duke, a puppy mill survivor. Duke is a rescued four-year-old, blind Cocker Spaniel who is the product of a Missouri puppy mill. Duke was sold to unsuspecting owners who purchased him from a pet store at a cost in excess of $900. He had papers that were not registered with a recognized breed registry. The owner turned to Up-Cycled …

The St Joseph County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a breaking-and-entering incident in the 63000 block of Youngs Prairie Road in Constantine Township. Sheriff’s officials said a pole barn was burglarized sometime between 9 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday. Tools and hunting equipment were reported stolen.

The Fabius Township Environmental and Wetlands Protection Advisory Committee has established the “Green Star” award to recognize Fabius Township lake-property owners who have developed exemplary natural lakefront shorelines. Natural landscaping for shorelines involves the use of native plants, which maintain the rural character of the area and protects property from erosion to benefit water quality. Qualified residents wishing to nominate …

Midwest Energy Cooperative officials announced power has been fully restored to almost all of its 4,000 customers whose service was disrupted as the result of an early morning storm Tuesday. Company officials said transmission was lost to two substations, leaving most of the impacted customers in Cass and Van Buren counties without power. A small cluster of customers in the …

Personnel from fire departments in Sturgis and across the county are in mourning after learning Monday about the weekend passing of Ladd Carpenter, Sturgis assistant fire chief. A 45-person search for Carpenter’s body was staged Sunday morning after the 55-year-old Sturgis Fire Department veteran failed to show up for an early shift Sunday. Undersheriff Mark Lillywhite said searchers focused their …

A 74-year-old Elkhart County man was charged with arson following an incident Friday evening in White Pigeon Township. According to the Michigan State Police, the man allegedly set fire to a rental unit in which he was residing, in the 71000 block of Aldrich Lake Road. There were no injuries and no other adjacent structures were damaged by fire, heat, …

Members of the St. Joseph County Conservation District said perfect weather and sufficient water depth Saturday combined for a successful cleanup of the Rocky River. Twelve volunteers participated in the daylong effort, which started at Null Road and concluded just past U.S. 131. An estimated 250 pounds of debris was collected from the river, including a bale of wire fencing, …