Government

Five unlocked vehicles were ransacked and had items stolen from them during incidents that occurred last week in Leonidas and Colon Townships. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said the incidents occurred between late Thursday night and in the early morning hours Friday on Blossom Road. The first incident took place outside a residence in the 54000 block of Blossom …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency, through its program called “Ins and Outs,” is scheduling appointments to assist area residents with signing up through the Healthcare Marketplace or for Medicaid. Open enrollment for the Healthcare Marketplace will end Feb. 15. According to Steve Todd, health officer for the tri-county health department, the agency has available eight certified, in-person assisters who …

A state Transportation spokesman says speed and “driver behavior” are to blame for a 193-vehicle pileup that killed one man and closed a stretch of Interstate 94 for two days.  Nick Schirripa tells the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story Tuesday that “people were driving too fast and following too closely on an icy freeway during a white-out” Friday near Galesburg …

The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office is interviewing a person of interest after a woman was shot to death close to Western Michigan University. Deputies say they found the 21-year old woman shot last night at Copper Beech Townhomes in Oshtemo Township, and she died later at a hospital. A man reportedly called 911 to report the shooting about 6:00 Sunday night, …

It’s going to take at least a few days to get all the wreckage sorted out from Friday’s 193-vehicle crash on Interstate 94 in Kalamazoo County. That means added frustration for the owners of the cars and trucks involved, who had to leave the vehicles on the highway. Several tow truck company employees tell the Kalamazoo Gazette that they’re urging people to …

State police say a 193-vehicle pileup that closed a stretch of Interstate 94 in Michigan for two days started in eastbound lanes and likely spread to westbound lanes because motorists became distracted by the crashes. Lt. Dale Hinz says investigators have no evidence that cars or trucks crossed the median in eastern Kalamazoo County. He says a trucker killed Friday …

St. Joseph County Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman last week granted another adjournment in the criminal sexual conduct case against David Wing, a former St. Joseph County public school teacher and administrator. Defense attorney Ronald Grubbs requested that a pretrial status conference be delayed another 30 days, citing technical problems with accessing some of the prosecution’s evidence against Wing, 59, of …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week made its annual appropriation to the county’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Commissioners budgeted more than $257,000 to the Centreville-based agency. County administrator Pat Yoder said the agency this year will be allocated an additional $90,000 to rectify a previous accounting error. As a result, $86, 817 will be transferred …

Members of St. Joseph County’s AFSCME general unit will continue to have the option to work four, 10-hour days. County commissioners last week approved the concept after it was offered for the balance of the year in 2014 starting in May. County administrator Pat Yoder said based on his observations and feedback, the opportunity worked well. The option is available …

Police have lifted an evacuation order for a three-mile area around a stretch of I-94 in Kalamazoo County that is closed in both directions due to two pileups involving as many as 150 vehicles with at least one death reported. According to initial reports, as many as 50 semis are involved in the pileups including one that was hauling 40,000 …