News

The Sturgis Salvation Army has announced it is once again offering lunch. Meals are offered 11:30 a.m. until noon Mondays thru Thursdays at the Salvation Army Corps office, 105 N. Fourth St.

St. Joseph County Intermediate School District Superintendent Teresa Belote said the area’s shortage of education-related employees is still a real problem. When superintendents from around St. Joseph County met Aug. 9, there were 95 open positions across the county. The shortage is in several areas, including teachers and all school staff positions. Since the meeting earlier this month, some positions …

Constantine Village Council members were recently informed there will be a delay for completion of their new wastewater treatment plant. Matt Johnson, regional manager for engineer firm Fleis & VandenBrink, said the treatment plant project is in a holding period, as all documents to install the new sewer facility remain under review by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes …

Baby-formula manufacturer Abbott Nutrition has announced plans to expand operations at its Sturgis plant. Sturgis municipal officials recently approved a site plan for the 35,000-square-foot expansion. Abbott’s Sturgis plant is on North Centerville Road and the expansion will add to the facility’s warehouse building, a 1,060-square-foot water-treatment room and a boiler/compressor requiring in excess of 12,000-square-feet in space. Circulation improvements …

The leaders in five of St. Joseph County’s nine public schools are starting their first year as superintendents. Most districts started this week and first-year leaders are: Shelly McBride in White Pigeon; Joseph Holloway in Constantine; Rachel Kowalski in Colon; Chad Brady in Centreville; and Nikki Nash in Three Rivers. Brady and Nash served as interim superintendent in their respective …

Constantine Village Manager Mark Honeysett has been directed to take bids on demolition of the Clare Hoffman house, which is owned by the village. Located at 270 E. Water St., the house requires rehabilitation at a cost of more than $200,000, and probably considerably more to meet ADA standards, Honeysett said. The village received $221,000 in American Rescue Plan Acts …

Jeff Bailey has joined our executive management team and will be assuming the role of Vice President of Commercial Operations. Jeff has over 32 years of insurance experience in sales, underwriting, risk management, and adjusting. He has both the Certified Insurance Counselor and Commercial Risk Manager designations. Ben Harrison (currently President of our affiliate Noecker-Sullivan Insurance) will be assuming the …

Three positions were filled following action by the Centreville Board of Education earlier this week. During its monthly meeting Monday, the board approved the employment of kindergarten teacher Betsy Breitenbach; elementary music teacher Lynne Weaver; and Kayla Herman, who will work at the county jail. Superintendent Chad Brady said Weaver’s employment marks the first time in several years that each …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency will be relocating its COVID-19 testing site from Centreville to Sturgis. The change in locations is effective today. Agency officials said the St. Joseph County Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse location will not be hosting testing sites. Instead, testing opportunities will take place at its Sturgis location, 1555 E. Chicago Road. The health …

An armed gunman robbed the Meijer gas station in Coldwater last week. Coldwater police officials said the incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Aug. 24 at 610 E. Chicago Road. Investigators said a man entered the store, displayed a handgun and demanded money. The clerk complied and the man fled on foot from the location and in possession of an …