Government

A small step toward the new Commission On Aging headquarters and its on-site residences was taken Tuesday by St. Joseph County’s board of commissioners. At the request of COA Director Tim Stoll, commissioners authorized the use of $10,000 from COA’s fund balance to hire a Chicago-based consultant. The firm RealtyMetrix will assist with pursuing New Market Tax Credits. Stoll said …

Officials have ruled a 16-year-old girl found dead in Kalamazoo was strangled. MLive.com reported Tuesday that Mujey Dumbuya’s cause of death was listed as “asphyxia, including strangulation” on the death certificate. Dumbuya’s partially clothed body was found Jan. 28 in Kalamazoo, about 50 miles from her Grand Rapids home. Her family last saw her alive on Jan. 24 as she headed …

Authorities say a firefighter was wounded after a gun that was in his pocket accidentally discharged while he was responding to a grass fire in southern Michigan. Crews from several departments responded Monday afternoon to the fire in woods and fields along I-94 in Calhoun County’s Emmett Township near Battle Creek. Authorities say a firefighter from the nearby community of …

St. Joseph County commissioners appear to have a brief meeting before them this afternoon. The only item under new business is accepting the annual report from Central Dispatch. In a separate matter, commissioners will discuss whether to appoint Kathy Pangle, Rick Shaffer and Kay Decker to the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. …

Cass County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched over the weekend to the scene of a one-vehicle accident in Howard Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies responded shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday to a location along M-60 where a vehicle went off the roadway. Shawn Hoover, 34, of Niles was the driver and 58-year-old David Crespo, also of Niles, was a …

A southwestern Michigan 15-year-old has been arraigned in juvenile court following a threat of violence at his school and the discovery of guns and pipe bomb materials at his home. The youth faced charges Monday of making a terrorist threat, two counts of possession of a shortened barrel firearm, possession of stolen firearms, and possession of bomb-making materials. Van Buren …

Authorities in a southwestern Michigan county are investigating cases from nearly 200 previously untested rape kits that eventually could lead to charges. Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting tells the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story Thursday that investigators are trying to prioritize cases approaching the end of time periods where legal action can be taken. Some of the kits are close to 30 …

A vehicle stolen last month from Kalamazoo was recovered this week in Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft police chief Bryan Campbell said his department was advised at 3 a.m. Wednesday to be on the lookout for a vehicle involved in a retail-theft incident in Three Rivers. The vehicle was spotted parked in a driveway in the 300 block of Duncan Street. Campbell said …

Two vehicles at the South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority were damaged while parked in the agency’s garage this week. Chief Bryan Campbell said police were called shortly after 11 p.m. to the corner of Grand and Eliza streets, where a 59-year-old Grand Rapids man had repeatedly run his vehicle into the bay doors of the fire station, damaging the doors …

Michigan has approved a 30-day grace period for displaying a license plate on vehicles. Gov. Rick Snyder signed the bill Wednesday, affording Michiganders 30 days from the time of vehicle registration or renewal to display a registration plate while driving. During the 30-day buffer, drivers are instead required to present paper or electronic verification through the Law Enforcement Information Network …