St Joseph County

The White Pigeon Area Community Foundation recently approved $4,000 in grant awards during its 2017 competitive grant program. The Adele M. Gray Fund and the Richard and Mary Magee Fund provided grant support to the White Pigeon Downtown Revitalization Association for the Tasty Nut Shop Window Restoration project. Meanwhile, the Fund for White Pigeon awarded a grant to the St. Joseph …

Three Sturgis High School graduates were among the survivors of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas. Alexandra Brazo, a senior at University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said Olivia Tom and Rachelle DeLong flew to Nevada last week to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival. They were near the stage while country/western singer Jason Aldean performed his event-ending set. Brazo said she …

Work has started on St. Joseph County’s latest Habitat for Humanity home. The agency, along with the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District’s Career Technical Education Building and Trades program, are building a new home in the 400 block of Davis Street in Centreville. A ceremonial groundbreaking took place last month. Habitat officials said the home will accommodate Courtney Mercer …

State Reps. Martin Howrylak and Aaron Miller are co-sponsoring bills introduced last week advocating for kids with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome and a similar disease called pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder. PANS occurs when an infection or other factor causes inflammation on a child’s brain, causing life-altering symptoms that appear identical to autism. Current law allows medical insurance companies to deny …

A sidewalk contract purchase order will be debated by the Three Rivers City Commission this evening. The increase from $80,000 to $97,000 would be adjusted in the city’s 2018 fiscal-year budget. It involves a contract with Northern Construction Services Corporation. The change is a result of more sidewalks identified as being in need of repair or replacement than originally targeted. …

Sturgis Sleep Disorder Center in Sturgis recently received program accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Sturgis Hospital Sleep Disorder Center is directed by Bharat Vakharia, MD, and is located at 916 Myrtle St. Dr. Ashish Verma is also certified in Sleep Medicine. “The American Academy of Sleep Medicine congratulates Sturgis Sleep Disorder Center on meeting the high …

Constantine High School recently received a $12,000 grant from Monsanto Fund’s site-grant initiative. Funds were used to purchase Chromebooks for science education, according to high school principal Travis Walker, who applied for the grant. The Monsanto Fund in 2017 awarded more than $1.4 million to nonprofit organizations through its site-grant initiative to help address essential needs in rural communities. The …

Members of Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency board received flu shots Thursday from agency staff members. Health care staff at areas hospitals are receiving the vaccine, as reports of flu increase, according to Centers for Disease Control. CDC recommends people get vaccinated by the end of October, at the latest. Typically, flu season begins in early October and continue through May. …

State police troopers are investigating a larceny from a motor vehicle parked at a business in Sturgis. The larceny occurred around 5 p.m. Friday outside Tractor Supply Co. Meanwhile, a wallet and other items were reported stolen from a number of cars between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Wednesday last week in the 68000 block of Vinewood Avenue in …

A Sturgis real-estate agent recently purchased more than 100 pairs of shoes and boots for local children in need. Stacy Schwenk, a realtor at Re/ Max Elite Group in Sturgis, had raised more than $1,500 to cover the cost of the purchases through a 5K walk/run fundraiser she calls Stacy’s Kicks for Kids. The walk/run took place Aug. 12 at …