County Information

The first of St. Joseph County’s nine school districts returned to school Tuesday, while four others will begin classes Monday. Burr Oak Community Schools started its academic year Tuesday to stay consistent with the calendar followed by the Branch Area Careers Center. Meanwhile, students in Colon, Constantine, Mendon and White Pigeon will head back to classrooms Monday next week. The …

More than two dozen people attended Monday’s Colon Community Schools Board of Education meeting in search of answers regarding a pair of incidents dating to last school year. The issues center on a 15-year-old student who allegedly inappropriately touched more than one student, including a 6-year-old girl on a school bus last April. In May, the same student – a …

A motor boat crashed into a boat in which two Illinois men were fishing over the weekend in Cass County’s Diamond Lake. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called at 3:30 p.m. Sunday to the Cassopolis lake. They said 17-year-old Nicholas Peluchiwski of Chicago was driving a boat that was pulling a wake boarder. Deputies said he failed to observe …

Two Sturgis residents were arrested after they were involved in a physical confrontation last week in Sturgis. Officers were called at 5:50 p.m. Friday to North Lakeview Avenue and East Lafayette Street in response to a domestic situation. Officers reported witnessing a 28-year-old man and 25-year-old woman involved in a fight while the woman was holding their 18-month-old son. The …

Two pieces of lawn-care equipment were stolen last week from a Park Township business. Sheriff’s deputies said they were called Friday to Burnips Equipment Company, where two Bush Hog zero-turn mowers were stolen between the close of business Thursday and Friday morning. The business is located on Franklin Drive.

St. Joseph County commissioners this week agreed to make a budget amendment to the county’s Commission On Aging fund balance. The action was requested after COA director Tim Stoll gave a presentation centering on bids for an architect analysis and construction management for the agency’s potential new location at the former Three Rivers Inn. Three companies were considered for project …

Six people were reappointed to the St. Joseph County Solid Waste Management Planning Committee. Following action Tuesday by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners, Sturgis-area residents John Smits, Frank Kalasky and Mary Conklin-Craaybeek, Glenn Nissley of Burr Oak Township, Mendon Township’s Carol Higgins and Mark Ripplinger of White Pigeon were reappointed to two-year terms. Their terms will now expire …

A 19-year-old Cassopolis man was injured in a one-vehicle accident this week in LaGrange Township. Sheriff Richard Benhke said deputies were called at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday to Peavine Street near Oak Grove Road. Investigators found that a vehicle driven by Donovan Miller-Schoff went out of control after Miller-Schoff saw a pedestrian along the roadway. The vehicle struck a tree and …

St. Joseph County Administrator Pat Yoder has announced he plans to retire at the end of the year. Chairman Al Balog during Tuesday’s county commission meeting made the announcement and the board subsequently accepted Yoder’s letter of resignation. Yoder, 67, for four years served as the county’s first administrator when the position was created in 1990. He returned in April …

A breaking-and-entering incident in Mottville Township was investigated this week by state police. According to a department media release, troopers were called shortly before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to the 69000 block of Vistula Road. The victim told police someone used a pry device to open a locked service door. Nothing was taken from the garage, but the door was severely …