Politics

Three Rivers Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners tonight have scheduled a public hearing on a tax-exemption request being made by American Axle Manufacturing. The company is seeking exemption status on nearly $83 million of a $102 million investment in machinery and building improvements being proposed at its Three Rivers plant. A 12-year exemption is being sought by American Axle, the …

St. Joseph County officials will have some decisions to make in the next two weeks regarding the county treasurer position. After their top choice for the post reconsidered the job and decided to continue working at his current place of employment, the duties were passed on to deputy treasurer Vicky Anders until a permanent treasurer was named. The position is …

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 …

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, …

St. Joseph County officials this week signed off on a four-year, $1.2 million agreement involving a partnership with Kalamazoo-based Southwest Michigan Partnership. The agreement, reached Tuesday during the county commission’s first meeting of 2012, involves the seven-member commission, the St. Joseph County Economic Development Corporation and Southwest Michigan Partnership. As a result, SMP will assign three full-time employees to work …

Members of three city boards in Three Rivers will be expected to take training shortly after their appointment, Mayor Tom Lowry and city commissioners decided Tuesday. The training will be required of new members who join the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, the Planning Commission and the Board of Appeals. Lowry indicated recommendations made by the three panels are important and …

The duties of St. Joseph County treasurer will be assumed by chief deputy Vicky Anders, a three-member committee has decided. After an agreement with its first choice failed to materialize over salary, the St. Joseph County Statutory Appointment Committee decided Wednesday to leave the post vacant for the time being. Current treasurer Phyllis Bainbridge is retiring at the end of …

Here’s a reminder that Three Rivers municipal officials are looking for citizens interested in serving on one of many advisory committees that lack full membership. The positions available are: two seats on the city’s planning commission; one spot on the Local Officers Compensation Commission; two positions on the Airport Park Industrial Board; one spot with the Park Board; and one …

American Axle and Manufacturing appears to be in store for a new product line that could generate at least 200 new jobs at the Three Rivers plant. Company officials said the local plant would benefit from American Axle’s $1.1 billion overall corporate expansion to create components for a passenger/crossover vehicle being developed and introduced by a yet-unnamed manufacturer. A public …