Government

Michigan drivers who want unlimited lifetime coverage for crash injuries will pay $100 per vehicle starting in July — a reduction from record $220 they are assessed now. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association announced the 55% fee cut Wednesday, months after the passage of a new law making the mandatory benefit optional beginning next summer. The state-created entity that reimburses …

An Elkhart man died in a single-vehicle crash last week in Cass County’s Porter Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called shortly before 4 p.m. Friday to an area on Bellows Road, near Idlewild Street. Chase Miller, age 28, was driving north on Bellows Road when his vehicle left the roadway and went into a pond. Miller’s body was …

Deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department last week arrested a man driving a stolen vehicle in Sherman Township. According to a department media release, deputies were called Thursday to a report of a man driving a stolen vehicle. They responded to an area near Banker Street and Shimmel Road and eventually found the vehicle in question. John Fox …

A Michigan man whose hobbies include ritualized combat with replica weapons from the Middle Ages says he wielded a battle ax he calls “my baby” to fend off an intruder. Thirty-six-year-old Ben Ball tells WOOD-TV he was playing video games at his apartment in Oshtemo Township late Wednesday when someone who once dated his ex-roommate kicked in his door. He …

Indiana officials say more baby boxes are coming to the state’s hospitals and firehouses. The Post-Tribune reports that Crown Point added one box last week at a firehouse, making a total of six boxes in Northwest Indiana. Baby boxes are padded, climate-controlled boxes where people can leave newborns safely and anonymously at hospitals or firehouses. Hospital officials say the boxes …

Michigan would become the fifth state to require that egg-laying hens be housed in cage-free areas under legislation approved by the state House and backed as aligning farms with where the industry is headed. The main bill is part of a broader update of the state’s animal industry law. The measure would change and delay confinement standards for hens. Each …

St. Joseph County Sheriff Brad Balk announced Tuesday he will retire at the end of January. Balk, 65, said his last day will be Jan. 31, 11 months before the end of his four-year elected term. Sheriff since 2009, Balk appeared before county commission members and read a one-page letter in which he stated his plans to step down. He …

Mendon Township voters on Tuesday approved a ballot question asking whether they support an ordinance to allow solar panel development. By a margin of just 12 votes, 331 in favor to 319 opposed, residents sided with the township board and the language of an ordinance it approved back in April. In essence, the language would allow Geronimo Energy of Minnesota …

Three Rivers Mayor Tom Lowry and three incumbent city commission members will return for an additional two years. Based on results from Tuesday’s election, Lowry, at-large commissioner Janell Hart, Third District commissioner Chris Abel and First District commissioner Pat Dane all were re-elected. Dane, who earned 622 votes, easily fended off a challenge from write-in candidate Geoffrey Clark. Clark drew …

Legislation advancing in Michigan would lift the state’s ban on baiting and feeding deer in the Lower Peninsula and parts of the Upper Peninsula. The state House approved the bill 56-49 Tuesday. It goes to the Senate for future consideration. The ban was initially instituted by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission in 2018. The bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Michelle Hoitenga …