Government

The Three Rivers Area Community Foundation awarded more than $16,000 to area non-profit organizations during the recently completed 2015 annual competitive grant cycle. Recipients are required to provide a 25 percent fund match to show commitment, vested interest and encourage community partnerships. The Three Rivers Food Site was awarded $8,000 to assist with providing area residents with basic and emergency …

St. Joseph County’s proposed 2016 fiscal year budget reflects a 2.3 percent decrease from its 2015 adjusted amended budget. In advance of the county’s new fiscal year starting Jan. 1, members of the county’s board of commissioners staged a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed $16.5 million general-fund budget. The proposed budget is less than the 2015 adjusted amended budget, …

Sturgis utility customers are receiving telephone calls from scam artists claiming to be from GenPower and Consumers Energy, stating they have been contracted by the city to collect for nonpayment, city officials said. The electric department has not contracted outside services from either company to collect non-payment. The city also would never request credit card payments over the phone, officials …

Florence Township Supervisor Gordon Evilsizor returned to the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners Tuesday and made a familiar appeal. Making his fourth appearance in three months before the commission, Evilsizor urged commissioners to consider earmarking $1.5 million to reconstruct a stretch of Constantine Road. He said the timing of his request is by design, as commissioners are poised to …

The trio of Three Rivers school board members targeted for a recall has appealed a vote taken two weeks ago by the St. Joseph County Election Commission. On the final day for which the appeal could be filed, Diana DeGraaf, Pete Bennett and Erin Nowak submitted Monday the necessary paperwork to county clerk Lindsay Oswald. They are appealing a Nov. …

A Jackson County judge Monday dismissed a series of claims, filed by the board that oversees the County Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County, against the county commission. During an hour-long hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court, Judge Robert LaFlamme granted a motion for summary disposition. The move essentially means a victory for the county …

Officials from the utility Indiana Michigan Power said public access to a popular fishing area in Mottville Township will be restricted until next year. Company spokeswoman Erica Putt said the tail-water fishing area on the west side of the St. Joseph River – accessible off North River Road – will be closed temporarily starting today for substation construction. The area …

A Marcellus woman was injured over the weekend after she swerved the car she was driving to avoid striking a deer in the roadway. Cass County Sheriff Joe Underwood said Tina Rosen, 43, was driving on McKenzie Street near Lawrence Road in Volinia Township at 7:35 a.m. Sunday when she lost control of her vehicle. The car rolled over after …

A public hearing on the county’s 2016 fiscal-year budget highlights this afternoon’s St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners meeting. Also on the agenda is the annual report from the Economic Development Corporation, and discussion and possible action regarding a labor agreement with the correction’s sergeant’s division of the Fraternal Order of Police. The meeting starts at 5 o’clock in the …

A Vandalia woman died in a house fire over the weekend in Cass County’s Newberg Township. Sheriff Joe Underwood Jr. said deputies were summoned shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday to the 61000 Block of Lewis Lake Road – four miles west of Jones – in response to a house fire. Upon arrival, deputies observed the house was fully engulfed by …