St Joseph County

The 2015-16 operating budget for Sturgis Public Schools was approved by district officials last week. The school district, which is St. Joseph County’s biggest at nearly 3,300 students, is in strong financial standing, according to Superintendent Tom Langdon. Projections from the board show a 15 percent fund equity, which allows Sturgis schools to make payroll without borrowing money to cover …

Chuck Frisbie has been named Citizen of the Year in Constantine. Frisbie, 53, has been the superintendent at Constantine Public Schools for seven years and plans to retire after the 2015-16 academic year. He previously taught in Mendon for eight years, coached and taught physical education at Glen Oaks Community College for two years, then returned to Mendon, where he …

Michigan State Police continue to investigate the theft of items from a vehicle in the 11000 block of Flowerfield Road in Flowerfield Township. Stolen were several locksmith tools, including a portable key-making machine.

Constantine High School Principal Christine Barnes has accepted an offer from Colon Community Schools to serve as its superintendent. The job was presented following interviews with three candidates last week. Board president Eric Wagner said Barnes brings to the 600-student district an impressive work ethic. In addition, Wagner said, she used to live in Colon, still attends church in the …

A 33-year-old Marcellus man was injured over the weekend in a motorcycle accident in Fabius Township. County sheriff’s deputies said the man was driving east on Coon Hollow Road around 6 p.m. Saturday when he lost control near Vernon Road, went off the right side of the roadway and the motorcycle struck a mailbox. The driver was thrown into the …

The upcoming Fourth of July parade in Colon will include a float featuring a quilt handmade by women at Covenant Church in Burr Oak. There will be a drawing immediately following the parade to win the quilt. The drawing will take place at Trees Youth Center in downtown Colon. Tickets for the drawing cost $1 and can be purchased at …

A medical condition is suspected as the reason an Indiana man drove his vehicle off the roadway and into a tree last week in Fabius Township. Sheriff’s deputies said Delmer Wireman, 34, of LaPorte, Ind., was driving west on M-60 near Youngs Prairie Road when he experienced a medical issue that caused him to lose consciousness. His van rolled onto …

Organizers of this past weekend’s shoreline landscape workshop are calling the morning-long program a success. About 50 people Saturday gathered at Fabius Township Hall to hear a slate of speakers provide a wealth of information related to shoreline landscape projects, including the use of indigenous plants and other measures to ensure a healthy lake ecosystem. Sponsored by Barnes Law Office …

The May unemployment rate in St. Joseph County increased eight-tenths of a percent compared to a month earlier. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed St. Joseph County’s 4.7 percent May unemployment rate was higher than April’s 3.9 percent. May’s unemployment rate, however, was 1.1 percent less than the same month one year …

History was made last week in Centreville, as a pair of Three Rivers residents became the first same-sex couple to marry in St. Joseph County. Not long after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, Susan Henry and Dawn Munson arrived to county clerk Pattie Bender’s office to complete a marriage license. The two decided on a …