Government

A high-speed chase originating in Park Township occurred Thursday morning after sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of gunshots fired. The situation ended with the arrest of a 31-year-old Three Rivers man who crashed a vehicle he was driving in Lockport Township. Sheriff’s deputies said they were called around 11:15 a.m. to the 54000 block of Fisher Street in response to …

A 28-year-old Sturgis man was cited for driving too fast for conditions after his sport-utility vehicle crashed into the back of a car during a rainstorm Wednesday in White Pigeon Township. State police said 21-year-old Christopher Sawyer of Three Rivers slowed his vehicle around 8 p.m. for a car turning left from U.S. 12 onto Oak Road. An SUV driven …

A 25-year-old southwestern Michigan mother has been charged with murder, child abuse and torture in the slaying of her daughter on the girl’s fourth birthday. WOOD-TV reports that Daveeta Lee Walker is expected to be arraigned Thursday. Officers responding March 26 to a 911 call at a Kalamazoo apartment found Kharisma Richardson unresponsive and not breathing. An autopsy showed she …

St. Joseph County Commissioner Rick Shaffer this week presented a gift to his peer, commissioner John Dobberteen, in recognition of Dobberteen’s years of service. Shaffer said he is finding himself in a reflective mood as his tenure as a commissioner comes to a close at the end of the year. On that note, he said Dobberteen has been an 18-year …

Flowerfield Township has agreed to retain the services of Three Rivers Fire and Marcellus fire departments for its ambulance service. A split vote on the matter occurred during a special meeting Tuesday. Township supervisor Carroll Parmeter suggested switching the service to Pride Care based on what he said amounted to a one-year cost increase of more than 2,000 percent proposed …

St. Joseph County Commissioner Don Eaton had sharp words for a Florence Township official who complained Tuesday about the state of Constantine Road. Gordon Evilsizor, who has regularly chastised commissioners for their lack of supporting a plan to fix the balance of Constantine Road through Florence Township, repeated his concerns during the citizen-comment portion of the agenda. Eaton said it …

A man accused of plowing his pickup truck into a group of Michigan bicyclists, killing five, was under the influence of drugs, a prosecutor said Wednesday as he added new charges. Charles Pickett Jr. was already facing second-degree murder charges in the June 7 crash. The additional charges, driving while intoxicated causing death, are significant because they give a glimpse …

A White Pigeon couple was injured after the boat on which they were riding over the weekend in Berrien County exploded. According to MLive Media Group, 63-year-old Kenneth Warren and Barbara Warren, 61, were aboard a 26-foot boat at Eagle Pointe Harbor Marina near the mouth of the St. Joseph River when the engine exploded around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Kenneth …

A 28-year-old White Pigeon man was charged with a number of offenses after fleeing in his vehicle from police and engaging in a high-speed chase. State police said an attempt to stop the vehicle for speeding and a moving violation was made near the intersection of Blue School and Dickinson roads around 2:50 a.m. Saturday. The driver refused to stop …

Two Niles residents were hospitalized after the motorcycle on which they were riding was struck by a vehicle over the weekend in Flowerfield Township. Sheriff’s department deputies were called around 4:30 p.m. Sunday to M-216 near Creglow Road, where the motorcycle being ridden by Thomas and Vickie Spain, both 52, was struck by a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep was …