Government

Colon Township voters on Tuesday approved renewal of a five-year millage sought by the township library. Voters by a margin of 345 to 108 supported a request to renew nearly nine-tenths of a mill to help fund operating, maintaining, constructing and equipping the library, and for all other library-related purposes authorized by law. The request will allow the district to …

Former legislative leader Gretchen Whitmer will lead Michigan’s first all-female statewide ticket in the November election, winning the Democratic nomination for governor and pitting her against Republican state Attorney General Bill Schuette, an ally of President Donald Trump. Schuette and Whitmer — both veteran officeholders — easily bested their opponents in Tuesday’s primary to set up their head-to-head race to …

The Michigan Department of Transportation has launched a new version of its construction and traffic information website for motorists. The department says the streamlined Mi Drive website is designed to make it easier to view traffic cameras and speeds, locate incidents and search construction projects. Users will be able to turn on map layers that show speeds, construction, cameras, incidents, snowplows, maintenance …

State Police are hoping the public can help them solve the only unsolved killing of a northeast Indiana police officer. Fremont Town Marshal Bobby Moore was gunned down on July 26, 1988, outside his home in the town that’s just south of the Michigan state line. State Police Detective Commander Kevin Smith believes someone knows something about Moore’s killing 30 …

A two-car crash earlier this week in Sherman Township left a 24-year-old Jackson County man dead. Police said the crash occurred around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday when Kelly O’Neil, of Brooklyn, drove west on Featherstone Road and through the intersection at Shimmel Road without stopping. His vehicle was struck by a pickup that had the right-of-way heading north on Shimmel Road. …

Police in southwestern Michigan say a 24-year-old man was killed in a high-speed crash that happened while he was fleeing from a sheriff’s deputy. The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy tried to stop a suspected drunken driver in Niles when the vehicle fled Saturday evening. The department says the vehicle sideswiped another vehicle and then topped 100 mph …

Authorities say a fire that killed five children and their mother at a Michigan motel appears to have been an accident. The Berrien County sheriff’s office says experts found no evidence of an accelerant that would have started the deadly blaze early Saturday at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township. The precise cause still is under investigation. The …

Authorities say a body has been found that’s believed to be that of a man who was reported missing while canoeing in southwestern Michigan. The Berrien County sheriff’s office says 35-year-old Michael Scott of Kalamazoo was last seen canoeing Saturday on the St. Joseph River with friends. Crews searched the river for him with no immediate success. The sheriff’s office …

A Dowagiac woman suffered serious injuries in a single-vehicle accident early Thursday in Cass County’s Jefferson Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called at 3:35 a.m. to M-60, near Hospital Street, where a car driven by 21-year-old Alexandria Tackitt had left the roadway. Investigators said Tackitt was driving east on M-60 when the car she was driving went off …

A Sturgis man was arrested on a number of offenses after he was caught stealing a potted plant from a resident’s yard earlier this week. According to a department media release, a homeowner witnessed the theft at 2:20 a.m. Tuesday in the 200 block of South Fourth Street. The homeowner was able to get a good description of the suspect …