Homepage Featured News Center

Three members of the St. Joseph County Planning Commission, whose terms expire at the end of the year, were reappointed to three-year terms. The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week agreed to reappoint Edward Bell of Colon, Lon Huffman of Mendon and Dennis Wilson of Sturgis. In a separate matter, Three Rivers resident Douglas Lockwood was reappointed to …

Members of the White Pigeon Community Schools Board of Education last week hired Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. as the district’s construction manager for projects funded by the five-year, 3-mill sinking fund renewed by voters in May. Superintendent Ron Drzewicki  said it’s estimated that the sinking fund will generate approximately $1 million of revenue per year for the projects over the five-year span. …

A partnership with Southwest Michigan First was one of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners highlights in 2012, according to board chairman Rick Shaffer. Shaffer last week presented a list of the commission’s 2012 highlights, which also included an agreement for additional staffing in the MSU Extension office, the revision of an Animal Control ordinance and the creation of …

Progress is being made on the long-awaited U.S. 131 bypass around the village of Constantine. Village President Pat Weiss last week told village council members she attended a Dec. 11 meeting that included about three dozen representatives from the Michigan Department of Transportation and a team of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency. Weiss said MDOT confirmed it has acquired …

For the second time in four months, Sand Lake party store in Nottawa was burglarized. According to the St Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, the breaking-and-entering incident occurred between 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6:15 a.m. Thursday. Investigators suspect access was gained through a rear window that was broken out. An inventory of the store found several cartons of cigarettes and an …

The threat of the season’s first snowstorm prompted officials from the city of Sturgis to issue a media release regarding municipal snow removal. Snowfalls between less than one inch and three inches will be treated with applications of deicers and plowing. Depending on the amount of snow, measures may include plowing of intersections, major streets and/or local streets. Snowfalls of …

A pair of Sturgis men were arrested on drug-related charges following a search of their residence Tuesday. The men, ages 40 and 39, face charges of maintaining and operating a methamphetamine lab, possession of meth and maintaining a drug house. They were arrested in the 200 block of Susan Street after the St. Joseph County Area Narcotics unit executed a …

Sheriff Brad Balk said deputies were called to a Lockport Township residence shortly before 7 p.m. Monday in response to a subject who passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Balk said the victim was a 13-year-old boy who died at the scene, inside his residence.

Here’s a reminder that the Constantine Board of Education will stage a special meeting today to review policies and procedures stemming from the recent investigation of sexual conduct demonstrated by a pair of 5-year-old boys. Set for 5:30 p.m. at the high school library, the meeting will include a look at policies applied during the police investigation of the incident.

Sturgis police are investigating an armed robbery that took place Sunday in the 200 block of South Clay Street. A department media release indicated the suspect, described by police as a black man in his 20s, took cash and other items of value from the victim and fled the area on foot. The suspect and the victim were acquaintances, according …