News

A state administrative judge has sided with about half of 30 people with disabilities who said their services were illegally cut by the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County. The clients, who were represented by Farmington Hills-based attorney Patricia Dudek, said 25 percent, across-the-board cuts by the Centreville-based agency in January were unfairly and illegally …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency has cancelled its no-contact advisory for the St. Joseph River between the sanitary river crossing at Broadway Street in Three Rivers to the Constantine Dam in Constantine. The department last week issued a no-contact health advisory due to a sewage discharge. As the situation was finally under control later in the week, water-quality samples …

Officers from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department are investigating a home invasion that occurred last week in Park Township. Investigators said access was gained Thursday to a residence in the 54000 block of Wilbur Road through an unlocked door. Prescription medications, coins and a large amount of jewelry were stolen from the residence.

A variety of farm items were stolen last week from a Fabius Township location. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday investigated the theft of items from the 11600 block of M-60. The victim told police the items were likely stolen either Wednesday or Thursday last week. Among the items taken: a Kohler mower with a 60 inch deck, …

A Three Rivers native is one of seven people reportedly killed in a cargo plane crash in Afghanistan Monday. The Associated Press has reported First Officer Jamie Brokaw, a 1998 Three Rivers High School graduate, died along with six other Michigan residents and a passenger from Kentucky. The accident site was reportedly within the perimeter of the Bagram Air Base, …

The trial is underway for the second of two men accused of murdering a 74-year-old Kalamazoo antiques dealer last summer.  52-year old John Aguilar faces charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, assault with intent to rob and home invasion in the August 2012 death of Robert Medema.  Aguilar and 21-year-old Antonio Livingston were accused of forcing their way into Medema’s …

A Constantine man was duct-taped to a chair and his residence ransacked during an armed robbery over the weekend. Constantine Chief Jim Bedell said two subjects at 10 p.m. Sunday knocked on the door at a residence in the Whispering Pines mobile home community. The victim answered the door and was forced by the two suspects to a chair. The …

During their inaugural meeting Monday, members of the newly formed River Country Humane Society Board said a new animal shelter – jointly run with the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department Animal Control division – is the board’s top priority. More than a dozen people who gathered at the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District agreed with the idea that replacing …

The sanitary sewer overflow into the St. Joseph River that began last week has been stopped, according to the city of Three Rivers Department of Public Services and its Waste Water Treatment Plant. City crews were able to access the location Monday morning to make the confirmation. Pipe-flow capacity analysis and discharge estimates are still being calculated, but currently indicate …

Three Colon teens were among five people injured in a single-vehicle crash over the weekend in Colon Township. Investigators said it appears alcohol and excessive speeding were potential factors contributing to the 4 a.m. Sunday crash on Wattles Road. A department media release indicated the vehicle was being driven west on Wattles Road when it veered off the roadway and …