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Two weeks before he officially becomes sheriff of St. Joseph County, Mark Lillywhite was sworn in to the position Tuesday afternoon. A ceremony was set for 4 o’clock in the third-floor commissioners’ room at the Centreville courthouse, where county clerk Lindsay Oswald lead the procedure. Current sheriff Brad Balk is retiring Jan. 31, 11 months before the conclusion of the …

Michigan State Police troopers are investigating the theft of 12-volt batteries from camper trailers in Branch County’s Coldwater Township. The vehicles were at a campground on Narrows Road. The suspect appeared to have cut the battery cables before removing them from the campers. Authorities did not indicate a time frame during which they think the incident occurred.

St. Joseph County employees recently held a drive to collect socks for a local agency. The Socks Drive featured contributions made by employees who attended the county’s annual Christmas luncheon sponsored by the Courthouse Girls Club. The socks will be donated to the Three Rivers Food Site for distribution to people who are known to need socks.

The footstool didn’t feel right. Well, that’s what happens when someone stashes $43,170 inside and apparently forgets about it. The money was discovered Sunday inside a footstool that was donated to a Michigan resale shop in Owosso Township, northeast of Lansing. Howard Kirby was shocked when his daughter-in-law unzipped the cushion and screamed. He was entitled to the cash, but …

A judge has set aside a life sentence for a man who was convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend when they were teenagers and burying her body in southwestern Michigan. The decision Monday by a Cass County judge means 43-year-old Robert Leamon will get a new sentence and a chance for parole. Rebecca Stowe was strangled, and her body was …

An Elkhart resident died in a two-vehicle, head-on collision Wednesday in Constantine Township. Sheriff’s deputies were called around 7 p.m. to the intersection of U.S. 131 and Riverside Drive. Investigators said a vehicle occupied by three Elkhart residents turned southbound off Riverside Drive into the northbound lane. The pickup in which they were riding was struck by a northbound semi …

A vehicle driven by a 23-year-old Jones resident struck the American Legion building on Lutz Road in Lockport Township last weekend. Sheriff officials were called around 12:15 p.m. Sunday to the scene, located near the junction of M-86 and Lutz Road. Deputies found that a vehicle had traveled off the roadway and struck the American Legion, located at 59990 S. …

Three Rivers Police Department is seeking the public’s help in finding a man who attempted to rob a bank last week. According to a department media release, a person later identified as 21-year-old Taylor Phillips entered Horizon Bank on West Michigan Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8. Authorities allege that the suspect passed a note to a teller, but …

Sheriff Brad Balk reports that deputies on Tuesday at approximately 7pm, responded to the intersection of US-131 and Riverside Drive in Constantine Township for a two vehicle crash. Two females ages 27 and 31, accompanied by a 36-year-old male all from Elkhart, turned southbound on a northbound lane on US-131 from Riverside Drive. The vehicle turned into oncoming traffic, colliding …

It took less than 90 minutes Wednesday for a St. Joseph County jury to convict 41-year-old Theron Hunt, of Dowagiac, of first-degree felony murder. The jury also found Hunt guilty of two counts of armed robbery, one count of unlawful imprisonment, one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of felony firearm. Hunt was on trial for the …