Government

Members of the Centreville Village Council agreed Monday to pay a portion of the cost of damage from a recent sewer backup at a residential property. The sewer issue led to further discussion regarding future solutions and prevention. Charlene Beals showed the council photos, videos and estimates of damage caused by a backup that occurred May 9 at her mother’s …

Authorities have recovered the bodies of two friends who apparently drowned while fishing in a lake in southwestern Michigan. The bodies were found Thursday, a day after the pair disappeared while in a boat at Bankson Lake in Van Buren County, southwest of Kalamazoo. The sheriff’s office identified them as 20-year-old Calvin Chao, a student at Western Michigan University, and …

A 22-year-old Indiana man was charged with drug-related offenses following a traffic stop this week in Park Township. According to a state police media release, the man was driving a car that was stopped around 11 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 131 near Heimbach Road. A search of the vehicle yielded approximately one pound of marijuana. Charges are being sought for …

One motorist was injured in a two-vehicle accident earlier this week in Park Township. Sheriff’s officials said a 54-year-old Three Rivers man was in the median crossing dividing U.S. 131 at Moorepark Road and was attempting to cross the southbound lanes of traffic. The man pulled his vehicle into the path of a vehicle driven by a 20-year-old Sturgis woman. …

St. Joseph County Clerk Pattie Bender issued to the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners her 24th and final annual clerk’s report Tuesday. As she wrapped up her four-minute report, an emotional Bender called her 45 years as a county employee a great ride that has included 385 elections, thousands and thousands of meetings, and everlasting friendships. A lifelong Centreville …

Overall public satisfaction with St. Joseph County Trial Courts was greater than the average of county courts statewide, according to Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman. The results are based on a six-question, public-satisfaction survey administered at the behest of the State Court Administrative Office. Stutesman included links to the survey results as part of his annual Circuit Court report presented …

State police were called to Kline’s Resort this week in response to a larceny incident. According to a state police media release, a trolling motor was taken off a boat between 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday. The boat was parked alongside a barn on Silver Street south of Kline’s Resort Road. The motor was removed by force, causing …

Authorities say two Illinois residents have died after a set of tires on a semi-truck came loose along Interstate 94 in southwestern Michigan, striking a car with three people inside. The Portage Department of Public Safety says the car’s 67-year-old backseat passenger Rebecca Avery of Glenview died at the scene of the Saturday crash and the 34-year-old driver Michael Ditewig …

Western Michigan authorities have arrested two women during a raid on the home of a man killed by police two weeks earlier. The Kalamazoo Gazette says police raided the Kalamazoo-area house late Saturday after reports of gunshots, and they seized 27 weapons that include loaded rifles, shotguns and handguns. Police say 39-year-old Amy Pelletier and 34-year-old Michelle Pelletier refused to …

The April unemployment rate in St. Joseph County decreased by seven-tenths of a percent compared to a month earlier. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed St. Joseph County’s 3.9 percent April unemployment rate was less than March’s 4.6 percent. April’s unemployment rate was 2.7 percent less than the same month in 2014, …