News

No longer would you see rusted out and unreadable license plates from Michigan under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Governor Rick Snyder. The measure requires drivers to get a new license plate every ten years at a cost of 5 dollars. It will take effect in 2015 and ban plates issued from 2005 and before from being renewed. …

St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough has elected to not seek charges against the driver of a vehicle that killed a Sturgis man last month. McDonough said the accident – on Bogen Road, west of M-66 in Sturgis Township – was unquestionably a tragic event. However, McDonough added, circumstances in the case do not warrant authorization of charges at this …

Authorities say a van crashed into a horse-drawn buggy on a northern Indiana highway, killing the buggy’s driver. The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department says the crash happened Monday evening on Indiana 119 a few miles southwest of Goshen when the van drove into the buggy from behind. The department says 51-year-old Ammon Imhoff of Goshen was thrown from the buggy …

Officials from Indiana Michigan Power said with one exception, the company has restored service to all customers who lost electricity as a result of the Nov. 17 wind storm. In a media release issued over the weekend, I&M officials said they wish to thank customers for their patience during the hours without electricity. The damage was extensive, company officials said. …

State police are investigating a hit-and-run incident during which a sign outside a Sturgis restaurant was damaged. Troopers were called Monday morning to Hot ‘n’ Now on South Centerville Road after store employees found the drive-thru sign near the business entrance was destroyed. Investigators said it appears a double-axle vehicle drove over the curb and onto the restaurant property. The …

Members of the Centreville Public Schools Board of Education joined district administrators Monday and thanked the community for its Nov. 5 support in passing a $12.8 million request for building improvements district wide. Monday’s meeting was the first since the 2.95-mill request was approved, 351-to-226. Superintendent Rob Kuhlman said the board and the millage committee worked hard to promote the …

A 25-year-old Constantine man was injured last week after the vehicle he was driving crashed into a tree in Florence Township. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said it fielded a call around 1 a.m. Friday in response to a one-car accident on Sevison Road near Mintdale Road. Upon arrival, deputies saw a 2007 Ford F-250 crashed into a tree …

A Sturgis Hospital employee is spearheading a fundraising effort to benefit a rural Filipino community devastated by this month’s typhoon. Noel Fontanilla, a native of the Philippines, is hoping his effort will help the village of Cangumbang. The community is where a pair of Sturgis High School graduates, Elsa Thomasma and Carter Brown was working on a community/evacuation center. Fontanilla, …

Appointments and re-appointments were made by members of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week. Constantine-area resident David Miars was reappointed to another three-year term on the county’s Board of Public Works. His current term expires at the end of the year. Deb Leyes of Sturgis was tapped to serve a one-year term as a general-public representative on …

History repeated itself Friday, as the Mendon Lady Hornets for the second consecutive year bowed out of the state’s Class C volleyball semi-finals. After coming up short against Beal City in 2012, Mendon fell Friday to Grand Rapids Covenant Christian, there games to one. The Lady Hornets finish the season with a record of 49 wins, eight loses and two …