Government

Law-enforcement officials from Constantine, St. Joseph County and Michigan State Police are investigating an armed-robbery incident that took place over the weekend in the Whispering Pines II mobile home park. Constantine Chief Mark Honeysett said central dispatch, shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday, received a call reporting someone had been shot. Officers ultimately determined the caller, who was bleeding from a …

A northern Indiana police chief who downplayed the beating of a handcuffed suspect by two officers and faced other controversies over discipline has resigned. Elkhart’s Chief Ed Windbigler said in a letter Monday that Mayor Tim Neese asked him to resign. The letter states he’s “not perfect and have made mistakes,” but “always tried to make sure we were making …

An Otsego woman was resuscitated after she was found pinned between her SUV and an Indiana toll booth and a defibrillator registered no pulse. Witnesses told Indiana State Police the 40-year-old woman, whose name was not released, had stepped from the SUV Saturday night to retrieve a debit card she had dropped when the vehicle lurched forward, pinning her against …

Police say a woman who didn’t return home after walking her dog was found dead in an icy pond in the Grand Rapids area, an apparent accident. The body of Tracy Cashman was discovered Sunday in Wyoming, a Grand Rapids suburb. Investigators believe the 38-year-old fell through the ice Saturday night while trying to help her dog. The dog eventually …

A St. Joseph County community is mourning a pregnant woman and a 7-year-old boy who died in a fire that gutted a house where 11 people lived . The Kalamazoo County medical examiner’s office confirmed Friday that the victims were 35-year-old Jessica Gould and Lonnie Ray Bingaman. Caryle Hansen, who was at work at the time of the fire, said …

A ceremonial groundbreaking Monday at Rivers Enrichment Center and Residence in Three Rivers marked the physical conversion of the former Three Rivers Inn. Construction is set to begin this week, as the former 100-room hotel will become the headquarters for St. Joseph County Commission on Aging’s Three Rivers senior center as well as more than 40 senior apartments. COA executive …

Police say one student was killed and another was injured when a flatbed truck collided with a school bus in northern Indiana. Indiana State Police Sgt. Ted Bohner says a male teenager died Wednesday morning when the truck rear-ended the bus along U.S. 31, about 30 miles south of South Bend. A second student injured in the crash just after …

A significant moment in the redevelopment of the former Three Rivers Inn took place Monday afternoon. The St. Joseph County Commission on Aging is oversaw a ceremonial groundbreaking at the West Broadway Street site. Renamed the Rivers Enrichment Center and Residence, the building will be the new headquarters for the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging’s Three Rivers site, a …

State Rep. Aaron Miller has been appointed to a key role in helping determine the policy priorities of Michigan House Republicans for the 2019-20 session. Miller was appointed chair of the Policy Action Plan Committee by Speaker-elect Lee Chatfield. The temporary panel will help collect policy ideas toward building the House Republican action plan for the next two years. Miller …

A southwestern Michigan woman who entered a plea deal after being charged in her 87-year-old mother’s overdose death has been sentenced to 5-15 years in prison. Sixty-year-old Susan Kubicek of Portage learned her punishment Monday after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the May 2017 death of Dorothy Allen. Kalamazoo County authorities say Allen got a morphine dose 80 …