News

Kalamazoo authorities seeking a man accused of making methamphetamine in a hotel room spent several hours negotiating with him and a woman he called his hostage but turned out to be his new wife. Police say they arrested the 49-year-old man and 46-year-old woman Tuesday night at a hotel in the southwestern Michigan city on charges related to the meth …

Authorities in northern Indiana say a passenger in an Amish buggy was killed when it turned into a passing semitrailer on a rural highway.  The LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department says the person killed in Monday’s crash was thrown from the buggy along with the driver and two other passengers. Those three people suffered minor injuries. The crash happened on Indiana …

Authorities say a 23-year-old Kalamazoo woman lost part of her leg in a boating accident on a southwestern Michigan lake.  Mlive.com and radio station WKZO identify her as Kirshaiah Brodie-Stevenson. She was in serious condition at a hospital Monday. Authorities say Brodie-Stevenson was riding a tube behind a boat Sunday afternoon on Austin Lake in the Kalamazoo suburb of Portage. …

Police in Kalamazoo say they’ve learned who was in a vehicle with a decorative vehicle plate quoting a song by Hank Williams Jr. involved in a hit-and-run accident that critically injured a pedestrian.   Capt. Julie Parsons said in a statement Monday that 20-year-old Julian Watkins remained in critical condition at Bronson Hospital.   Parsons says the “assistance of citizens” led investigators …

Three Rivers City Manager Joe Bippus was the recipient of a highly complimentary evaluation by Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners last week. During his annual performance review, Bippus earned the equivalent of a 92 percent. The score is the highest he has ever received as city manager in Three Rivers. The evaluation was judged on 10 different categories and tabulated …

A 33- year-old Sturgis man escaped serious injury last week, when he crashed a motorcycle. Deputies said Michael Ritter was eastbound on Banker Street, near Zabel Shores about 11: 30 p.m. Wednesday, when he tried to avoid a deer, lost control of the motorcycle and crashed. Police said Ritter and the bike slid about 70 feet along the pavement. Ritter …

Investigators looking into the cause of a house fire in Sherman Township last week indicated faulty wiring in an air conditioner was the likely cause of the blaze. The residence, in the 62000 block of Shimmel Road, was destroyed by the fast-moving fire. Investigators said they suspect a wiring malfunction in an air-conditioning unit attached on the first floor caused …

A grass fire Sunday afternoon was the seventh within a week in the county. Crews from the Fabius-Park Townships Fire Department were quickly able to extinguish the weekend blaze, which covered a small area near North Fisher Lake Road. During the Fourth of July period last week, grass fires were extinguished by the department. Agency officials said fireworks were responsible …

Members of the Sturgis Public Works Department spent three hours clearing animal debris from two U.S. 12 intersections last week. City officials said some of the contents of a semi truck were spilled around 7 a.m. Thursday at Centerville Road and further east at Clay Street. The animal parts were loaded two days earlier and sat all day in 100-degree …

Three Jones residents were arrested on drug-related offenses and a child placed into protective custody following an incident Tuesday afternoon. The Cass County Drug Enforcement Team executed a search warrant at a residence in the 61000 block of High Street. Upon entry into the residence, investigators found used meth labs and components to manufacture methamphetamine. A handgun, methamphetamine and marijuana …