Government

Rain, cool temperatures and 40 mph winds created challenges for emergency responders searching for a lost North Carolina man on opening day of the 2020 firearm deer season. “Sunday night, Conservation Officer Amanda McCurdy coordinated a successful multiagency search and rescue for a missing hunter,” said Chief Gary Hagler, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division. “First responders faced …

A White Pigeon man died in a two-vehicle collision Friday evening in Florence Township. State police said 40-year-old Clarence Bryant was driving south on Sevison Road when his vehicle failed to stop at the intersection of Dickinson Road and collided with an eastbound car. Its driver was treated at Sturgis Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Bryant died at the scene, authorities …

Two people died in a single-vehicle crash over the weekend in Marcellus Township. Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday to investigate a personal-injury incident near the intersection of M-40 and Dutch Settlement Road. Behnke said a car driven by 69-year-old Marcellus resident Stanley Bridges was traveling north on M-40 when it left …

Lockport Township officials have issued a boil water notice after the township’s water system detected the presence of coliform bacteria in its supply. Deputy clerk Rhonda Wright said the water department office routinely monitors for the presence of drinking water contaminants and recent water samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria. Wright advised residents to not drink tap water without boiling …

Here’s a message from St. Joseph County courts: Pursuant to a local administrative order, St. Joseph County’s courts are able to conduct jury trials when the number of COVID-related cases is below a threshold set by the Michigan Supreme Court. At this time, the case count per million and the positivity rate remain too high for jury trials to be …

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration on Sunday ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and stopped organized sports — including the football playoffs — in a bid to curb Michigan’s spiking coronavirus cases. The restrictions will begin Wednesday and last three weeks. They are not nearly as sweeping as when the governor issued a …

St. Joseph County officials heard an update this week on committee appointments. During Tuesday’s executive committee meeting, board chairman Dennis Allen noted the St. Joseph County Road Commission Board has one member whose term expires at the end of the year. Allen noted two people have applied for the six-year position. He and commissioner Dan Czajkowski will represent the county …

Hospital leaders warned Thursday that more than 3,000 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus in Michigan, a rate that is doubling every two weeks and is expected to top the spring peak of about 4,000 by late this month. “It’s an accelerating trend. It’s very serious,” said John Fox, president and CEO of Beaumont Health, the state’s largest system. Inpatients …

Michigan on Tuesday posted a record number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases, near 6,500, and reported 59 deaths within the previous 24 hours — its deadliest day in six months. COVID-19, which subsided over the summer after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer imposed sweeping stay-at-home and other restrictions, has rebounded this fall. Asked if she might again order people to stay home, …

Michigan is rolling out statewide a voluntary, free coronavirus app that notifies users if they have potentially been in close contact with infected people. Monday’s launch comes weeks after the state began piloting the technology in Ingham County, including at Michigan State University. State Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon is encouraging all Michiganders to download the app onto …