Homepage Featured News Center

The Park Township Board has approved an Industrial Facilities Tax Exemption Certificate sought by American Metal Fab for personal property in the amount of $768,175. The 12-year tax abatement for replacement equipment and new equipment will enable the company to retain its 58 employees and, hopefully, add to its workforce in the future. Action on the matter came during the …

The Lockport Township Board is continuing to move toward signing a 15-year fire protection service agreement with the City of Three Rivers Fire Department (TRFD), beginning in 2014. In keeping with unanimous action during their May 13th meeting to accept a three-point proposal from Three Rivers, board members agreed Monday evening (June 10th) to move ahead with development of a …

The village of Colon is nearing a goal of $8,000 to purchase new Christmas decorations. A fundraising effort spearheaded by the village and the Colon Area Chamber of Commerce will result in the purchase of 29 new decorations, which will be put on display in the downtown area for about six weeks starting around Thanksgiving. Chamber and village council member …

Two members of the White Pigeon Police De­partment received suspen­sions following a special meeting by the village council last week. The action was the result of investigation by the personnel committee. Chief Lynn Baker and Sgt. Bill Bur­goyne were sus­pended five days each following the board’s action Wednesday. The suspensions are separate from any punishment possibly yielded through the court …

Sturgis Police last week arrested a 66-year-old man on a warrant stemming from a May incident, when he allegedly put his hand up a teenager’s skirt. Department officials said Ira Lytle, 66, was arrested Thursday after an officer who knew of the warrant apprehended the Sturgis resident outside the police station. Two students at the nearby Sturgis Alternative School walking …

Former Three Rivers Mayor Ken Baker has been named the grand marshal of the 2013 Three Rivers Water Festival parade. Baker was chosen by virtue of his many years of service to the city, including his time as chief of police and later as mayor. Baker also is lauded for founding the Friends of Riverside Cemetery organization as well as …

Nine fire departments, including six from St. Joseph County, responded to a commercial blaze Wednesday in Cass County’s Newberg Township. The manufacturing section of Southern Michigan Rubber Co., located on M-60 near the St. Joseph County line, was destroyed by the afternoon blaze. Company officials indicated the fire appeared to have started near the rear of the building in a …

A LaGrange County man suspected of setting fire to a Sturgis restaurant in 2009 was sentenced to prison Wednesday for unrelated felonies. Nathan Lumbard, 30, was ordered to serve a six-year sentence in Indiana after he completes a sentence he is currently serving in Kentucky, where he will be incarcerated until June 2014. Lumbard, who has yet to stand trial …

Looking to the county’s future courts- and law-related matters, St. Joseph County’s Board of Commissioners is exploring the idea of a county-campus development on the east end of Centreville. The five-member board during a work session Wednesday identified an area of about 15 acres of land south of Industrial Parkway as a potential location for a courts building and an …

The White Pigeon Township Board of Trustees approved its 2013-14 fiscal year budget this week. The five-member board Tuesday approved its $455,000 budget, which is less than its budget one year earlier. Clerk David Girton said projected expenses from the general fund are $221,467, while expenses from the township’s fire department and cemetery fund are expected to be $177,300 and …