News

  A team of investigators from the Sturgis Police Department, along with security officials from Wal-Mart, are investigating an estimated $10,000 embezzlement by an unnamed number of employees. According to a department news release, Sturgis Police said employees were involved in a ring centering on the theft of electronic equipment dating to December. Officers spent several hours overnight Tuesday retrieving …

A 19-year-old Three Rivers man was arrested on a warrant Tuesday after he fled the Twin County Probation Center last week. Three Rivers Police said the man, whose name was not provided in a department news release, was found at the Edgewater Apartments. He was wanted on a felony warrant for escape from jail. An 18-year-old resident of the apartment …

St. Joseph County voters could be asked in August to decide whether to renew a millage to support the county’s E-911 Central Dispatch. Meanwhile, a public hearing has been set for feedback on a proposed millage renewal for the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging. The two matters were addressed Tuesday by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners. Regarding …

Dozens of well-wishers gathered Tuesday at Three Rivers City Hall to salute Ken Baker. The 90-minute open house to honor Baker and his 40 years of service to the city culminated with a proclamation presented by Mayor Tom Lowry at the onset of Tuesday’s city commission meeting. With the city’s police force on hand to acknowledge the former chief and …

St. Joseph County Commissioner Gerald Loudenslager has made official his decision to not run for re-election in November. Addressing his elected peers at the conclusion of Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Loudenslager confirmed media reports last week that he will not challenge Board Chairman Rick Shaffer for a newly drawn district created as a result of the county’s reapportionment. The …

A pilot practicing touch-and-go maneuvers Tuesday morning at Three Rivers Municipal Airport made an emergency landing after his single-engine plane struck a deer on the runway. The pilot, whose name and age were not disclosed, landed safely at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport after the incident, which occurred during take-off. The plane received structural damage in the crash, prompting the pilot …

The Three Rivers City Commission is back at full strength, as Larry Matson was sworn into the post Tuesday. After taking the oath of office from city clerk Lindsay Howes, the 68-year-old Matson took his seat to the seven-member panel. Matson, a longtime former member of the Three Rivers Zoning Board of Appeals, is filling the seat left vacant by …

More than 1,000 pigs died over the weekend when three adjacent barns on a property near Bronson, in Branch County, were destroyed by fire. The incident was reported about 4 a.m. Saturday in the 1200 block of Kibiloski Road. Two pole barns, each measuring 40-by-120 feet, were engulfed in flames when fire personnel arrived, Branch County emergency officials said. A …

Deputies with the St. Joseph County Sheriff Department responded Sunday morning to a single-vehicle accident in the 6100 block of Constantine Road. A 37-year-old White Pigeon man told police he had left his truck and trailer parked along the St. Joseph River, with the trailer still in the water while he took his boat downriver to go fishing. The truck …

St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Department Director John Pence said Meyer Broadway Park, located west of Three Rivers, has reopened to the public after a public-safety issue involving what was initially six stray dogs. St. Joseph County Animal Control and county park staff have seen no sign of three remaining dogs that have been at large since a confrontation …