Government

A potential wastewater-improvement project could be one of the recommendations from a company Sturgis municipal officials hired this week to map out a 20-year plan for their infrastructure service. City leaders on Wednesday voted to contract with engineering firm Fleis & VandenBrink to begin the city’s wastewater needs for the next 20 years. The $43,000 study will help city leaders …

Mark Siljander, a former Three Rivers resident and one-time U.S. congressman whose jurisdiction included Southwest Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison for two offenses. Siljander was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., after he previously pled guilty to obstruction of justice and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. The former congressman, who now lives …

The overnight snow that hit St. Joseph and other counties in Southwest Michigan prompted the city of Sturgis to issue a reminder about snow emergencies. A snow emergency in the city of Sturgis goes into effect when accumulation reaches four inches or more. During a snow emergency, no vehicles may be parked on city streets. The measure is put into …

Investigators from the Michigan State Police at White Pigeon post said a 19-year-old man from Indiana was released Tuesday for lack of evidence after he attempted to meet two 14-year-old girls in Centreville. Police said the man was in a van and parked outside a vacant house on Birkhold Street. The man told police he was meeting two girls, ages …

The Fabius-Park Fire Department recently received an insurance check for nearly $89,000 after much of its equipment was deemed a loss from a Nov. 3 fire in Park Township. A chemical release at a site where barrels of highly corrosive chemicals were being stored resulted in contamination and the subsequent loss of nine air packs, nine sets of turnout gear, …

Nottawa Township’s Planning Commission on Tuesday accepted a partnership agreement with the Branch County Conservation District. Commission members acted on the Prairie River Watershed Planning Project, which ensures stewardship of the Prairie River and its tributaries. Nottawa Township’s Board of Trustees already endorsed the plan, which became official Tuesday with the signature of planning commission chairman Jerry Loudenslager. Rachel Smith, …

Authorities in Kalamazoo say a body found under the ice in a lake at a city park belonged to a 27-year-old man who disappeared in November.  Police say rescue crews and a dive team got a call Sunday to Spring Valley Park after someone spotted a body in the water.  The body has been identified as that of Jason K. Bassett. …

Authorities say they have a person of interest in a 2010 double homicide in southwestern Michigan.  The Michigan attorney general’s office is handling the investigation into the deaths of 39-year-old Carolyn Tarwacki and her 42-year-old husband John Tarwacki.  No charges have been filed and the person of interest wasn’t being identified.  The Tarwackis were killed Feb. 5, 2010, at their …

Three people in a vehicle stopped Saturday in Florence Township were charged with various offenses by police. The stop took place near the intersection of Lutz and Featherstone roads, where a deputy from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department noticed a 1992 Oldsmobile had a defective brake light. The driver of the vehicle, a 44-year-old man from Three Rivers, was …

County sheriff deputies were dispatched to the 12000 block of Millers Mill Road in Constantine Township late Monday night for a report of a man who had shot a rifle inside his home during a domestic dispute. Deputies were able to speak with a brother of the suspect who had went to the residence and convinced the man to come outside …