News

State Sen. Kim LaSata has announced a St. Joseph County venue has been named the inaugural recipient of her “Small Business of the Month” award. Mendon-based Cowboy Up was named Monday as the award’s first recipient. LaSata said she is proud to recognize Cowboy Up as the first winner of the award, which is issued in conjunction with Small Business …

A ribbon-cutting event 13 months later than planned took place Saturday in Three Rivers. The ceremonial gesture marked the official opening of Armstrong Park, an 80-acre development between Main Street and Buckhorn Road. Jared Hoffmaster, vice president of River Country Sports Commission said the 80-acre development, for generations to come, will be at the center of youth athletics and the …

Deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the theft of a motor vehicle. Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said the department was notified last week that a blue, 2013 Buick Encore was stolen from a residence in the 26000 block of Fawn River Road in Sturgis Township. The theft is believed to have occurred sometime between Thursday night and …

Two men have been convicted in the 2019 torture-slaying of a northern Indiana woman whose body was found inside a trash bin dumped in southern Michigan. An Elkhart County jury found Donald Owen Jr., 22, and Mario Angulo Jr., 20, guilty of murder Thursday in the October 2019 and killing of 31-year-old Kimberly Dyer at a house in Elkhart. The …

Michigan residents who visit secretary of state offices will always need an appointment, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Thursday, making permanent a change that was made to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Gone are the days when a person could walk into a branch and wait in line. Benson called it an “antiquated, inefficient, take-a-number system that …

A plan to intentionally set fire to a long-abandoned motel north of Schoolcraft has been delayed. Vicksburg Village Council member Denny Olsen said the former Plainsman Motel in Schoolcraft Township was to be intentionally set on fire to provide training for South County Fire Authority as well as other area fire departments. The training was to take place this weekend. …

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced a plan to tie the lifting of coronavirus restrictions to Michigan’s vaccination rate, setting specific benchmarks that must be reached to return to normal. As more people get shots, she said, the state will allow office work, relax and ultimately end indoor capacity limits, and lift a health order designed to curb COVID-19. About …

A sheriff’s deputy bitten by a dog in southern Michigan killed the animal and then fatally shot the angry owner who confronted him with a knife, state police said Thursday. The incident happened Wednesday night in Hillsdale County’s Reading Township after the deputy responded to a call about a dog on the loose. “When the deputy made contact at the …

A Kalamazoo chiropractor who opposed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders when the coronavirus pandemic struck and helped with an effort to repeal her emergency powers announced Wednesday that he will run against the Democrat in 2022. Garrett Soldano, a Republican, last spring started a Facebook group called “Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine” that gained roughly 380,000 members before the social media …

In honor of Arbor Day, the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging invited Carolyn Grace from the St Joseph County Conservation District and Ashley Ives, a Farm Bill Specialist from the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to visit our Enrichment Centers on Thursday, April 29. In addition to giving away white pines to our COA members, Carolyn …