News

St. Joseph County’s Board of Commissioners is expected to approve its 2013 budget at today’s 5 o’clock meeting. The proposed $28.8 million budget would go into effect Jan. 1. There was no comment made during a public hearing on the proposed budget two weeks ago. Also on the agenda for today’s meeting is an update on foster-care initiatives from Probate …

Members of the Three Rivers City Commission are in line to hear a 2012 audit report during their 6 p.m. meeting today. Also on deck is consideration to filling the vacant seat of First District commissioner and a public hearing on consideration of updating the Industrial Development Authority’s tax-increment financing plan.

Health officials say the flu season is off to its earliest start in nearly 10 years – and it could be a bad one.  Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say this year’s flu season is the earliest since 2003-04 and that was considered a severe flu year.  Doctors also say the primary strain circulating now is …

A vacuum-cleaner salesman stole the contents of a purse belonging to a Nottawa Township woman Friday. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said a clean-cut black man in his 20s was allowed inside the residence to conduct a demonstration. While inside, he asked to use the bathroom and stole the purse from an adjacent room. Once in the bathroom, he …

Troopers from the White Pigeon detachment of the Michigan State Police were called Thursday to a Leonidas Township residence to investigate a telephone-fraud scam. According to a department press release, an 80-year-old woman said she was contacted by someone claiming to be her granddaughter. The alleged granddaughter said she was arrested in Mexico City and needed $1,800 wired to her …

The Sturgis Fire Department has started its 2012 “Keep the Wreath Green” campaign. Department officials said they have placed at the front of the North Nottawa Street station a wreath clad in green lights, except for the top, which is yellow to honor those in the armed forces. Every time the department responds to a fire call, a red bulb …

A few meetings in the area are slated to take place today. Sturgis Township’s Board of Trustees meets at 4 p.m., while the Three Rivers Planning Commission will assemble at 6:45 p.m. At 7 o’clock tonight, village councils in Centreville and Constantine are expected to begin their meetings.

Co-workers gathered Friday to say goodbye to a longtime employee at the St. Joseph County Central Dispatch agency in Centreville. Susan Cook, who has worked for the Centreville-based department for more than 20 years, was the recipient of numerous well-wishers from police and fire agencies throughout the county, as she is retiring. Cook said the biggest changes she has seen …

St. Joseph County’s October unemployment dipped to 6.8 percent, a decrease of half a percent compared to September’s figure. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget indicated seasonal jobs and continued hiring in the education field offset an increase in job losses in the leisure and hospitality areas. Compared to October 2011, last month’s …

An undisclosed amount of heroin and prescription drugs were found in a vehicle stopped Tuesday on U.S. 131. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said four Grand Rapids residents were in a southbound vehicle stopped near Arnold Street in Three Rivers. A motorist had informed central dispatch it appeared the driver may have been intoxicated. Three Rivers Police initiated the …