Government

Authorities say a rider on horseback is on life support after being thrown from his horse while on patrol during a Memorial Day parade in southern Michigan. The Branch County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Tuesday that 39-year-old sheriff’s posse member Deputy Mike Winter of Coldwater is on life support after his family decided to donate his organs. …

Michigan students in grades 7 to 12 would receive CPR training under a bill advancing in the Legislature. The Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday to require the state Education Department to ensure by the 2017-18 academic year that health education guidelines provide for instruction in CPR and automatic external defibrillators. A similar bill is pending on the House floor. The …

The Michigan House narrowly approved a bill that would erase a state requirement ensuring every morel mushroom found in the wild is inspected by a mushroom expert. The House approved the bill Tuesday by a 57-52 vote. Republican Rep. Triston Cole sponsored the bill and says current law infringes “upon an individual’s livelihood” and gets in the way of wild …

Three Rivers-area resident Roxanne Grochoske was sentenced last week on a charge of animal cruelty. Grochoske, 43, was sentenced in St. Joseph County Circuit Court by Judge Paul Stutesman to 18 months of probation, a $100 fine and community service of 150 hours. She was also assigned to two days in jail but given credit for time served. Stutesman also …

A St. Joseph County commissioner has proposed an efficiency study related to the county’s road commission be conducted. Don Eaton during a recent commission meeting said the concept would involve a short-term committee to participate in the potential study. He said areas such as the road commission’s budget, operations, efficiencies and roads would be prudent starting points for the analysis. …

Lockport Township has appointed an interim supervisor. Paul Bungart will serve in the capacity until the November election. He fills the void left by Ray Signorello, who decided last month to step down due to work-related commitments. Bungart had served on the township board as treasurer for more than 27 years before he gave up the post in 2014. Bungart …

Searchers have recovered the body of a man who drowned while trying to rescue his 15-year-old son in a lake northeast of Kalamazoo. Danyelle Phillips jumped into Gull Lake on Saturday. Another person grabbed his son and got the boy back to a boat, but the 39-year-old Phillips disappeared. The sheriff’s office says his body was recovered Sunday night. Relatives …

A 32-year-old Union City man was arrested last week on alcohol-related charges in Branch County. State police said a trooper attempted to pull over a driver at 11 p.m. Thursday on Athens Road, near Mendon Road, in Sherwood Township for an equipment violation. The driver, a 32-year-old Union City man, continued driving north on Athens Road and a subsequent road …

St. Joseph County sheriff’s deputies responded this week to a report of larceny from a motor vehicle in Fabius Township. According to a department media release, deputies were called Tuesday to the 57000 block of Gearharts Landing, where power tools were stolen from the back of a pickup. Investigators concluded the culprit broke into the cab of the truck and …

Sturgis city commissioner Jon Good wants to investigate whether the municipality should impose restrictions on the public’s use of some herbicides, as a means to protect groundwater. Good said he has done preliminary research on communities that have set restrictions on the use of chemicals that can pose health hazards when concentrations are found in groundwater supplies. Barry Cox, city …