Government

Saturday’s cleanup of a 2 1/2-mile stretch of the St. Joseph River netted about 100 pounds of debris, event organizers estimated. Sponsored by the St. Joseph County Conservation District, the cleanup was the first of six efforts the agency is staging this summer. Saturday’s event drew 18 people and started at South Railroad Street in Mendon. It concluded at River …

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a breaking-and-entering incident that took place last week in Flowerfield Township. According to a department media release, the incident occurred between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday at a residence in the 50000 block of Carlton Road. The victim told police a number of drawers were searched and an undisclosed quantity of …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency was notified last week by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services of a case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The case was reported Thursday and occurred in a child residing in Cass County. Agency officials said the incident is the first confirmed contracted case of the disease in Michigan since 2009. Rocky Mountain Spotted …

Members of the Constantine Village Council have a relatively short agenda tonight. Two action items are included: discussions on the potential purchase of a new fire truck and an update on the village golf outing. The meeting begins at 7 o’clock at the municipal office.

A Kalamazoo lawmaker says the recent crash that killed five bicyclists may renew the push to make roads safer for people not driving cars. Two state senators have introduced legislation after a pickup truck crashed into a group of bikers June 7 in the Kalamazoo area that could mean tougher penalties for those who fatally hit a bicyclist. It would …

Michigan State Police investigators have been asked to look into the theft of material from the St. Joseph County Road Commission. The incident stems from a situation May 22 at the Colon Township garage on M-66, where asphalt used for road patching was loaded onto a flatbed trailer by a Sherman Township man. The man, an Omena Lake resident, was …

Members of the St. Joseph County Animal Control Advisory Board expressed their disappointment Wednesday over this week’s sentencing of two suspects in an animal-cruelty case. Two Mottville residents arrested in January 2015 pled guilty to torture of an animal based on negligence at their Barker Road residence. On Monday, Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman sentenced Jessica Achberger, 40, and Troy Michael-James …

A Three Rivers pastor faces charges of criminal sexual conduct following his arrest Wednesday. Three Rivers police said James Bailey Jr., 66, was charged with three counts each of criminal sexual conduct third degree and CSC fourth degree. The charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred at Three Rivers Bible Church on two separate dates in April and May, according …

A bicyclist who survived being hit by a pickup truck that killed five of her fellow riders in southwestern Michigan says she has no recollection of the crash scene. Sheila Jeske tells WOOD-TV she visited the crash site in Kalamazoo County’s Cooper Township after being discharged from the hospital. She says: “All I can say it was a beautiful place …

An Indiana man charged with murder in a 1977 southwestern Michigan killing that police initially classified as a suicide has been ordered to stand trial. Police in May arrested 57-year-old Raymond Robert Richmond in South Bend, Indiana. A judge on Wednesday in Michigan ordered him to stand trial in the death of 25-year-old Robert Stasiak. Richmond, who was 18 at …