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County health officers don’t need approval from elected officials to issue orders, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a precedent-setting decision related to protests over COVID-19 school mask mandates. Mask orders were controversial when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration changed course and left key decisions to local health departments. The result: blistering criticism and tense confrontations at county board meetings in some …

Centreville school officials are reviewing their options after learning the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District is discontinuing a support program for students who are emotionally impaired. During their meeting Monday, board of education members learned from superintendent Chad Brady that the EI support program operated through the ISD’s Pathfinder Center will close Dec. 23. What that means, Brady noted, …

A Three Rivers man was arrested for allegedly stealing a car in Portage, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office. The 35-year-old was found driving the stolen car on North Avenue, near South 29th Street, in Kalamazoo County’s Pavilion Township at 9 a.m. Tuesday, deputies said. Deputies tried talking to the man, but he sped away in a southbound direction …

A Sturgis man will face up to life in prison for holding his girlfriend captive for 12 days in March 2021. Rocky Gardner, 39, pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree criminal sexual conduct and false imprisonment as a second habitual offender. In exchange for Gardner’s guilty plea, assistant prosecutor Deborah Davis agreed to drop 12 other charges against him. Gardner admitted …

A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were not charged with having a direct role in the conspiracy. But …

A Centreville man was arraigned Monday on a variety of charges after he led authorities on a pursuit starting in Centreville and ending in the village of Colon. Court officials said William Lowery, 38, faces charges of fleeing and eluding police, and resisting arrest for allegedly striking a St. Joseph County sheriff’s deputy when the officer took him into custody. …

After a series of false starts over the past eight years, it appears St. Joseph County officials are finally committed to moving forward with two major building projects. During their executive committee meeting Tuesday, commissioners received an update on plans to refurbish the former Three Rivers Public Library to accommodate the county’s Friend of the Court and its Probate/Family Court, …

Sturgis officials agreed this week to appoint Andrew Kuk to the position of interim city manager. Municipal officials on Monday offered the post to Kuk, currently the city’s assistant manager. He will succeed Mike Hughes after Hughes steps down Jan. 20. Also, city commission members directed Mayor Jeff Mullins and city attorney T.J. Reed to work with Kuk on creating …

An alert homeowner thwarted a would-be car thief this week in Branch County’s Bethel Township. Michigan State Police troopers were dispatched at 6:30 a.m. Monday to the 600 block of Block Road. The potential victim told authorities the suspect noticed a man exit a vehicle, possibly a Jeep, and approach the homeowner’s car. Troopers said the homeowner ran the suspect …

A Centreville man was arrested last week after leading deputies on a pursuit across St. Joseph County. Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said deputies attempted to stop the vehicle after leaving the scene of a property-damage incident Friday at an unspecified time in the village of Centreville. The pursuit continued east on M-86, as the suspect’s vehicle nearly struck other cars on …