St Joseph County

St. Joseph County’s Access to Care task force has been recognized as a Home Town hero by the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency. The award is granted to individuals and groups who have worked above and beyond to improve the public’s health. Agency health officer Steve Todd and Three Rivers Health CEO Bill Russell received the award for the task …

A 58-year-old Three Rivers man was charged with operating while intoxicated following a traffic stop in Lockport Township. State police officials said a motorist called 911 to report seeing the man drinking beer while driving on U.S. 131 in the Three Rivers area. Troopers spotted the vehicle, a 2006 GMC Sierra, and pulled it over on Lovers Lane, near Enterprise …

St. Joseph County Register of Deeds Pattie Bender provided details this week related to the development of a program using a red-flag system to identify meth houses. During her annual report presented at Tuesday’s county commission meeting, Bender said she and a team of county officials met last year with Three Rivers attorney Pat O’Malley. The focus was to discuss …

Two people were arrested after state police responded to a report of shots being fired from a passing vehicle in Park Township. According to a department media release, a homeowner in the area of Mint and Brown roads alerted officials to the situation around 8:20 p.m. Saturday. Troopers located the car described to them by the witness and it was …

Irrigation wire was reported stolen last week from a location in Constantine Township. State police said the theft occurred between April 28 and last Friday from a pivot off Zerbe Road, east of U.S. 131.

In addition to providing an annual report as register of deeds, county clerk Pattie Bender presented county commissioners a summary of her department’s operations in 2013. Bender, who will mark her 44-year anniversary as a courthouse employee later this month, said her department’s revenue report showed collections in circuit and juvenile courts were down in 2013 compared to 2012. She …

Three people were hospitalized following a hit-and-run accident last weekend in Cass County’s Penn Township. Sheriff Joe Underwood Jr. said 49-year-old Delbert Raeder of Elkhart was driving east on M-60 around 3 p.m. Sunday, when his vehicle was rear-ended by a newer-model pickup. The force of the contact pushed Raeder’s vehicle off the roadway and into the front deck of …

White Pigeon Community Schools will have more than $1.6 million additionally to spend each year over the next five years, as the district’s voters approved a request for a 1-mill increase Tuesday. The measure prevailed with 359 yes votes to 336 opposed. Superintendent Ron Drzewicki said the community support helps keep the 750-student district on a positive road. He said …

A request to restore special-education funding to St. Joseph County’s nine school districts was approved Tuesday. The request to reinstate nearly three-tenths of a mill to a full 2.75 mills passed, 1,261 to 1,158. With the Headlee Rollback in effect, school districts were not receiving the full number of mills established in the 1960s for special-education support. The full 2.75 …

Facility upgrades and major repairs are on tap in Marcellus Community Schools, where voters on Tuesday approved a $12.9 million bond request. The district received the support it needed, with 543 votes in favor to 497 against. Approval of the request means remodeling of the cafeteria and media center at its elementary school and middle school/high school, as well as …