Government

Michigan State Police raided two locations in St. Joseph County and another in Cass County earlier this month, recovering more than $300,000 in stolen vehicles and trailers. Investigators obtained search warrants after several months of investigation. Two properties were searched Dec. 6 in the 51000 block of Lang Road in Park Township. Also, a single property was searched in the …

Michigan State Police troopers are investigating a two-vehicle crash that occurred last week in the White Pigeon area. Law-enforcement officials responded Friday afternoon to U.S. 131 and Dickinson Road. Authorities said the driver of the semi, a 52-year-old man from Jackson County, was traveling north on U.S. 131 when he lost control of his vehicle. It crossed the centerline and …

St. Joseph County Administrator Teresa Doehring has agreed to a two-year contract renewal. During Tuesday’s board of commissioners meeting, county officials approved a contract for 2023 and 2024. Doehring, 48, is completing her fifth year as the highest-ranking, non-elected employee in county government. A lifelong Mendon-area resident, Doehring also serves as the county’s human resource director. Her 2023 salary will …

County health officers don’t need approval from elected officials to issue orders, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a precedent-setting decision related to protests over COVID-19 school mask mandates. Mask orders were controversial when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration changed course and left key decisions to local health departments. The result: blistering criticism and tense confrontations at county board meetings in some …

A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were not charged with having a direct role in the conspiracy. But …

Western Michigan University alerted students to use caution Sunday following a shooting near the campus. The university issued an advisory around 4:45 a.m. to exercise caution in the area shortly after the shooting. Police found a 28-year-old Lansing resident with a gunshot wound to a shoulder after responding to a 4:20 a.m. report of shots fired. Police said the wound …

A judge rejected a plea agreement Monday for a woman accused of helping her boyfriend set fire to several northern Indiana barns, citing her plea deal’s lack of prison time. Sherry Thomas, 33, of Nappanee had reached a plea agreement that includes an admission to one felony count of arson in the string of eight barn burnings. Thomas was charged …

A man who pleaded guilty to torching several barns last year in a northern Indiana county was sentenced Monday to 50 years in prison followed by decades on probation. An Elkhart County judge sentenced Joseph Hershberger to 96 years, but suspended nearly half of that sentence, ordering Hershberger to serve 46 years on probation following his release. He must also pay $80,000 …

St. Joseph County District Court officials said Jiminez Lopez, age 24, has been arraigned after he allegedly drove a vehicle into the rear of a car that killed a 6-month-old boy Nov. 1 in Mendon Township. Lopez is charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing death, driving with a suspended license and operating under the …

Michigan State Police troopers are investigating a single-vehicle, roll-over crash last week in Fawn River Township. The incident occurred around 11:30 Friday morning on Franks Avenue, south of Ivanhoe Street. Investigators said a 2006 Ford F-150 was traveling north on Franks Avenue when the driver, a 16-year-old boy from Sturgis, lost control. The vehicle went off the road and rolled …