News

The Great Start Collaborative of St. Joseph County is offering a new class just for men. Dads, granddads and any other male caregivers are welcome to attend. The event, called “Conscious Discipline: The Guys Group,” will feature open discussion about parenting. The group will meet from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, beginning Sept. 3 and concluding Nov. 12. It’ll meet …

Members of the Constantine Village Council voted this week to approve the final draft of a proposed adult-use marijuana ordinance. Once completed, the draft will be submitted to county clerk Lindsay Oswald. The council has discussed details in the proposed ordinance since a decision in May to put recreational marijuana on the Nov. 3 ballot. Village manager Mark Honeysett said …

Longtime Republican Rep. Fred Upton defeated a primary challenger in his district in southwestern Michigan. The 17-term lawmaker will take on Jon Hoadley in the general election. Upton beat real estate agent Elena Oelke in the 6th Congressional District’s GOP primary on Tuesday, by a margin of 63 to 37 percent. Hoadley, a state legislator, defeated Jen Richardson of Kalamazoo, …

St. Joseph County will have a new prosecutor starting in 2021. Lockport Township resident David Marvin claimed a one-sided victory over incumbent John McDonough during Tuesday’s primary election. Though final numbers have not been canvassed, Marvin’s unofficial win was by a 4-to-1 margin, as he claimed 82 percent of the votes. Marvin, the son of longtime St. Joseph County Clerk …

A Three Rivers resident is one step closer to replacing Aaron Miller for 59th District state representative. St. Joseph County numbers show Steve Carra finished atop the five-person race to replace the term-limited Miller. Carra claimed 34 percent of the vote in St. Joseph County, handily topping the second-highest vote getter, Jack Coleman, who earned 24 percent of the vote. …

St. Joseph County’s incumbent sheriff Mark Lillywhite looks as if he’ll be returning to the post for four more years. The Republican candidate, who took office Feb. 1 to finish the 11 months left on Brad Balk’s term, was challenged by Florence Township resident Gordon Evilsizor. Lillywhite, a Three Rivers resident, had more than 80 percent of the vote Tuesday. …

As projected, the race for St. Joseph County treasurer was the most competitive local contest Tuesday. Kathy Humphreys squeaked out a win over Tammy Rigby, 4,930 votes to 4,500. The two, who are both Nottawa Township residents, work under incumbent Judie Ratering. Ratering announced earlier this year she would not be seeking re-election after serving since 2012.

A margin of three votes was the difference in the race for Fabius Township supervisor. Ken Linn claimed 391 votes while Dan Wilkins had 388 votes in a race to replace John Kroggel. Meanwhile, Tim Carls will be the new supervisor of Florence Township. Carls claimed 151 votes to Sarah Beckle’s 113. In Leonidas Township, incumbent Bernard Saxman will return …

Three townships had ballot questions Tuesday. Leonidas Township was seeking renewal of 1.7 mills over a four-year period for ambulance and fire protection. The proposal passed 132 to 77. Nottawa Township voters were asked to decide whether to renew 1.63 mills for a 10-year period to support library operations. The proposal passed 463 to 342. White Pigeon Township, too, was …

June’s unemployment rate in St. Joseph County was significantly lower than the previous month, but still higher than usual due to jobs impacted by COVID-19. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, which showed the county’s drop in unemployment, was released last week. St. Joseph County’s 13 percent unemployment rate for June was down …