Government

A woman believed to be in her 20s staged an all-day protest Wednesday related to tree-clearing in Cass County’s Newburg Township. After nearly 10 hours on a plywood platform about 40 feet up a tree, the woman came down around 6:30 p.m. Her descent came after lengthy negotiations that involved the Cass County Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police. …

Members of the Animal Rescue Fund of St. Joseph County have appealed to county officials for greater enforcement of animal-abuse and cruelty cases. During Tuesday’s St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners meeting, three members of the agency brought to the attention of commissioners a pair of situations in the county where abuse and cruelty had been documented. Cheryl Strohm , …

The Langley Covered Bridge will be closed  through Sunday for a Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event Saturday night. Chris Minger, St. Joseph County Road Commission project manager, said the bridge was originally slated to remain closed next week for deck repairs. Minger said the plan has been moved to a later date, however, as the commission continues its …

Calhoun County Sheriff Department deputies have identified a person critically injured in a Monday night traffic crash as a woman linked to multi-state crime and murder spree 50 years ago. Police say 70-year-old Caril Ann Fugate Clair was injured in a single-vehicle accident on northbound I-69 near Old 27 in Tekonsha Township. She is currently a patient at Bronson Methodist …

A 32-year-old Three Rivers man was arrested last weekend after he was caught attempting to steal money from a company break room. According to a Three Rivers Police Department press release, the man was caught at 2:40 a.m. Saturday at Armstrong Machine Works. Company officials said they believe the man was responsible for three previous thefts of cash from the …

Linda Gearhart and Larry Matson will square off in the November general election, as they were the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary election. At stake in the November vote is a two-year, at-large seat to the seven-member Three Rivers City Commission. Gearhart, 65, claimed 99 votes, while the 69-year-old Matson earned 71. Matthew Gearhart earned 40 votes. Matson was …

A request to restore nearly three-tenths of a mill to the maximum rate of 2.75 mills for special-education services fell Tuesday, 1,150 to 1,018. Restoration of the mills would have generated an additional $620,000 annually for St. Joseph County’s nine school districts. The 132-vote difference was slightly less than the combined difference between yes and no votes in Cass County’s …

The Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed that the first human case of West Nile Virus for 2013 has been identified in St. Joseph County. According to the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency, the case involves an adult male, over the age of 50 years, from the southwest corner of St. Joseph County. The man was hospitalized with symptoms …

A prison term in excess of seven years was issued to a corporate official with South Haven-based Village Market Food Centers. Christopher Pratt, who was charged with embezzlement, was sentenced this week in a Kalamazoo federal court after the 42-year-old Pratt admitted a gambling addiction and an extensive car collection were financed through the $6 million he stole. Village Market …

A Greyhound bus passenger is in critical condition after the bus he was riding in rear-ended a tractor-semitrailer Thursday morning on I-94 near Galesburg in Kalamazoo County. The Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office says 21 passengers were injured when the westbound bus collided with the semi-truck just after 10:15 a.m. Thursday. Eight passengers were taken from the scene to Borgess Medical …