Government

A Kalamazoo man has been convicted of killing his 2-year-old son. A Kalamazoo County Circuit Court jury on Thursday found 41-year old Brian Roberts guilty of felony murder, second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse. Nehemiah Dodd was unconscious on December 31, 2013. The toddler died at the hospital two days later. Roberts had claimed his son was hurt after he fell down some …

St. Joseph County could be just a few months from having its first dog park. Members of the St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Board this week gave its endorsement to the concept, explained Wednesday by parks and recreation director Jaymes MacDonald. The proposed 4 1/2-acre park would be developed at the 150-acre Meyer Broadway Park in Fabius Township. MacDonald …

Sturgis Township trustees have agreed to join a consortium of townships from at least four southwest Michigan counties to establish a central building code information library that will have its headquarters in Mottville Township. The idea of establishing a regional code library began recently when an existing law began to be enforced. The law requires governmental units with building-code authority …

Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman last week sentenced three men involved in the robbery of two vendors in 2014 at the St. Joseph County fairgrounds. Samuel Davis, 28, of Toledo, Ohio, was sentenced to 16 to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of armed robbery. John Earl Gregory, 35, of Toledo, was sentenced to 14 to …

A new poll from the Lansing-based polling firm EPIC-MRA shows very little support for Proposal 1 on the May ballot, which would increase the state’s sales tax by one-percent to pay for roads, schools, and local governments. Roger Martin is part of the Safe Roads YES! Campaign pushing for adoption, and isn’t too worried about the numbers because he says there …

A driver and passenger in a vehicle involved in a police pursuit remain at large after the suspect’s car was found crashed in Kalamazoo County. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said deputies began pursuing the vehicle shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday on M-60 near U.S. 131. The pursuit continued north into Park Township and the vehicle was found wrecked …

An Indiana man was arrested on drug and weapon charges following a traffic stop last weekend in Sturgis. State police said a vehicle the man was driving was stopped for an equipment violation at 5:30 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Clay and John streets in Sturgis. The 27-year-old driver, an Elkhart man, was found to be in possession of …

A truck driven by Robert Gonser III, 21, of Constantine, hit another truck Wednesday night last week on Covered Bridge Road. St. Joseph County Sheriff ’s deputies arrived at the scene and found Gonser’s truck to have substantial front-end damage, resulting after the truck traveled through the curve too quickly. The air bag was deployment and Gonser was wearing a …

A church in Sturgis sustained fire-related damage last week. Sturgis firefighters arrived shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday at Potter House Church, 210 E. Congress St., and found smoke coming from near the chimney on the west side of the building. Crew members entered the attic area and found flames in an outer wall and attic space near the pastoral office. …

A 19-year-old Sturgis woman escaped injury late Wednesday after the vehicle she was driving struck a utility pole on Fawn River Road near Franks Avenue in Sturgis. Police said the driver lost control of the car after becoming distracted, causing it to leave the road and collide with the pole. She was taken to Sturgis Hospital for treatment.