News

State police officials are investigating a larceny incident that took place this week in Branch County’s Algansee Township. Troopers responded to a location in the 500 block of South Ray Quincy Road. The victim told authorities the incident occurred between Sunday and Wednesday. Items taken include an industrial-sized air conditioner.

Tickets for a 50/50 cash raffle sponsored by the St. Joseph County United Way are now available. Cost is $5 per ticket or five for $20. Tickets are available from Sturgis City Hall and the United Way office in Centreville. The winning ticket will be drawn at the Sturgis City Commission’s Dec. 14 meeting.

Owners of a condemned building in downtown White Pigeon have been given a chance to try bringing the landmark up to safety codes. A specially assembled, seven-member panel called the Village of White Pigeon Construction Board of Appeals agreed Tuesday to give Union Hall Block Building Inc. six months to make safety-related improvements before authorization for further restoration is issued. …

The St. Joseph County United Way is asking for help in supporting its annual coat drive. The agency is accepting coats, hats, gloves and boots at its office, 662 E. Main St., in Centreville. Agency officials said with proper notification, pick-up of such items can be arranged. In addition, anyone wishing to make a monetary donation can be assured United …

Sturgis Area Community Foundation Executive Director Lindsay Richardson has accepted a new opportunity in Elkhart and will be leaving the foundation Dec. 31. Richardson joined the Sturgis Area Community Foundation as a trustee in 2017 and was hired as executive director in January 2019. During her tenure, the foundation expanded its grant-making programs, won grant awards from the Michigan Health …

Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency board members last week approved a pay raise for its employees, retroactive to Oct. 1. As a result, the agency’s employees will receive a 5 percent pay increase. Meanwhile, health officer Rebecca Burns received a three-year contract beginning Jan. 1, with a salary starting at $100,000 a year. Finance director Theresa Fisher said the state …

Municipal officials in Sturgis recently agreed to buy three new city vehicles. The purchases total about $140,000 and include a cut-away van for the electric-meter department, and two police vehicles for the city’s public safety division. The purchases were budgeted for the 2022-23 fiscal year through the motor vehicle fund. The commission also unanimously approved a quote from LaFontaine Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram …

Authorities on Monday announced an arrest in the unsolved murders of two teenage girls — a drugstore worker who has been living in the same small northern Indiana community where their bodies were found after they went on a hike nearly six years ago. Richard Matthew Allen, 50, was arrested Friday on two murder counts in the killings of Liberty German, 14, …

The centerpiece of a major project on a heavily traveled road in St. Joseph County was put into place last week. Road Commission manager John Lindsey said a culvert measuring 99 feet long, 17 feet high and 21 feet wide was installed Friday as a key component of the Shimmel Road project. The culvert, laid in an east-west direction, sits …

A former lake association president has pleaded no contest to embezzling nearly $30,000 from a St. Joseph County homeowners association. Allan Malesh, 84, entered the plea in St. Joseph County Circuit Court Oct. 24 in response to a charge of embezzlement from a nonprofit organization. Malesh’s attorney, Ed Hettinger, presented a check for more than $20,000 to repay the remainder …