County Information

New downtown Sturgis businesses and the addition of residential housing units have prompted the city to create new parking designations in municipal lots. The policy creates open parking, short-term parking, designated overnight parking and permitted parking where residents or businesses may rent spaces in certain areas for $12 per month or $ 120 per year. Rental parking spaces would be …

Valley Family Church has started a new program in Centreville, where free food is available for distribution once a month. The “FridayGroceries” Food Pantry staged its “MobileGroceries” event last week at Centreville Elementary School. The outreach initiative offers supplemental groceries to area residents 10 to 11 a.m. the second Saturday of the month. Event organizers said about 200 people took …

Members of a state panel Wednesday sided with the city of Three Rivers in its attempt to annex a 77-acre parcel of land from Lockport Township. By a 3-to-2 vote, the five-member State Boundary Commission recommended in favor of the city following a public proceeding at the commission’s office in Lansing. At stake is the prospective development of a $4.1 …

St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department officials have identified the two people involved in a fatal accident Sunday at the Branch-St. Joseph county line. Thirty-eight-year-old Shawn Shook of Sherwood was driving west on Wattles Road Sunday afternoon when he lost control of his vehicle near Stowell Road. The vehicle went off the roadway and struck 53-year-old Jody Clipfell of Sherwood Township …

A new chief financial officer was named during last week’s Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County board meeting. Board members extended the offer to Jill Brindley, who came highly recommended by board member Rick Shaffer. Shaffer, however, abstained from the vote when Brindley was appointed. Brindley assumes the part-time position from outgoing finance director Randy …

Roadsides across lower Michigan will get their first cleanup of the year beginning Saturday as the 2017 Adopt-A-Highway program gets underway. Overseen by the Michigan Department of Transportation, Adopt-A-Highway will take place over three collection periods this year. The first runs Saturday through April 23. A summer pickup takes place July 15 to 23 and a fall pickup Sept. 23 …

The Secretary of State office in Portage is offering the innovative MI-TIME Line service that allows customers to use their phones or computers to make appointments or hold their place in line, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced. The MI-TIME Line sends text updates to notify customers of their estimated wait time and allows them to request more time if …

Three people – including two children – were treated for injuries they sustained after being attacked by a dog in Cass County over the weekend. Deputies were called at 5:41 p.m. Sunday to the 63000 block of Crooked Creek Road, where 44-year-old Jennifer Hansford of Cassopolis was injured after protecting a 7-year-old child and 2-year-old child from the dog. Hansford …

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department was called Monday to an address in Mottville Township regarding an aggravated-assault incident. According to deputies, the situation unfolded around 6 a.m. in the 9000 block of Barker Road. Upon arrival, deputies arrested two subjects on charges related to narcotics as well as aggravated assault. Additional charges are being sought, according to a department …

Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies responded to a personal-injury motorcycle crash over the weekend in Jefferson Township. Deputies responded shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday to the intersection of Robinson Road, near Mt. Zion Road. An investigation showed that a motorcycle operated by Brian Klink, 45, of Cassopolis, was heading north on Robinson Road when he lost control. Klink …