Homepage Featured Other Headlines

Organizers of last week’s Firefighters for Santa program in Three Rivers called the gift- and food-distribution event a success. Over a five-hour period Friday, members of the Three Rivers Fire Department for the fourth year in a row delivered food and gifts to area families in need. This year, 50 families received food donations and children of the household received …

A toy- and food-collection effort led by the Michigan State Police at White Pigeon netted about 1,100 food items and nearly 1,050 toys. Det.-Sgt. Todd Petersen said a one-day collection effort at Wal-Mart stores in Three Rivers and Sturgis Dec. 3 helped off-duty state police personnel collect an ample quantity of items stuffed inside a State Police patrol car. For …

The St. Joseph County Intermediate School District has hired Stephanie Clark as special-education principal. The move this week means Cheryl Riley will follow through on her plan to step down as interim principal. Clark, meanwhile, was officially in charge of the position this past Monday. Clark is an 11-year veteran with the ISD, serving as a teacher consultant for the …

Ann Happel, a Title One teacher at Eastwood Elementary School in Sturgis has been named the recipient of the 2011 John Oster Award. The award was established in 1981 by JoEllen Oster as a tribute to her late husband and recognizes teacher excellence at Sturgis Public Schools. Happel was honored for her devoted effort to develop and implement a number …

A 360-acre property in Leonidas Township has been purchased by an Indiana-based farmers consortium. The $2.4 million purchase of the property along Longnecker Road effectively ends the prospect of a 2,300-head dairy farm previously proposed for the site. Perry Vieth, president of Ceres Partners of South Bend, said the company plans to use the land for seed corn and rotate …

Labor agreements with four units of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees working for St. Joseph County were reached Tuesday. St. Joseph County’s Board of Commissioners OK’d the agreements with Circuit Court, Probate Court, General Unit and Family Division of the Circuit Court. The one-year agreements affect 64 employees and do not provide wage increases. Also Tuesday, …

As the Michigan House of Representatives’ 2011-12 legislative session reaches its halfway point, State Rep. Matt Lori said 2011 has been a year of significant reform resulting in a leaner, more-efficient government. Lori added that steps taken in 2011 show that House members concluded a year of business-tax reforms budgetary restraints and making state spending more transparent. The Constantine-area resident …