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The official attendance count for the 2013 St. Joseph County Grange Fair was 140,547 patrons. The numbers, released Monday by fair director Bill Johnson, were just a few hundred shy of the 2012 attendance figure. Johnson said weather played a role in attendance not only at the grandstand and its nightly entertainment, but the fair overall. He said Saturday’s ideal …

A 53-year-old Constantine man was arrested last week after he was found in possession of a stolen vehicle in Constantine Township. The man was arrested around 1:45 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Dickinson Road, where he was caught following a brief foot chase. The man had not only allegedly stolen the vehicle earlier in the night, …

Contractors performing roof repairs over the summer at Glen Oaks Community College uncovered numerous problems, college officials learned last week. Heather DeKorte, senior project architect at Grand Rapids-based Soils and Materials Engineers Inc., said cracks in the weatherproofing are the main culprit for the problems. The discovery was made as workers were correcting the perimeter leaks. The problem is the …

St. Joseph County government will benefit from fiber-optic connectivity, following action taken by the county’s board of commissioners Tuesday. The county’s deal with Ann Arbor-based Merit Network Inc. covers a five-year period and provides service at 20 mega bites per second. The agreement means the county courthouse and courts buildings will connect to Merit’s network and have faster service than …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners has approved the appointment of Janell Hart of Three Rivers and Karen Beverly of Burr Oak, to the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Board of St. Joseph County. The action was taken during Tuesday’s commission meeting and followed an interview with several prospective candidates. The board is now at full strength …

A pair of crowd-friendly events Tuesday drew large numbers of people to the St. Joseph County Grange Fair. Billed as “A Night of Destruction,” an off-road derby and demolition derby were well received by fans in the grandstand area. Meanwhile, a show ring to the east end of the fairgrounds featured chuck wagon races, an event in which 12, two-person …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to approve payment to finance director Joni Smith and human resources director Elishia Arver for their work earlier this year as fill-in county administrators. Both employees were paid $10,000 for providing professional services and responsibilities, as they worked together in the role of county administrator between the mid-January departure of …

Two people were arrested Friday at a Colon Township residence after police discovered the production of methamphetamine. The St. Joseph County Area Narcotics unit responded to a residence in the 28000 block of Bonham Road in response to a tip regarding suspected drug activity. SCAN unit members found an active, one-pot meth lab and a second inactive lab inside the …

High demand for electricity caused power outages two consecutive days in White Pigeon this week. Officials from Indiana Michigan Power said the unseasonably hot weather, coupled with two area power lines being out of service for maintenance, combined to cause a short outage Monday afternoon and a seven-hour outage starting around 1 p.m. Tuesday. IMP’s Sarah Bodner said demand for …

A new member of the Three Rivers Police Department’s K-9 unit will be on the job before the end of the year. Following approval last week by Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners, Jake will replace K-9 officer Bedo. Bedo has been on the job 16 years and is retiring, according to his handler, officer Tom Hicks. Jake is a 14-month-old …