News

House painters won’t need a license under a new Michigan law. The law starts Thursday. It removes painting and decorating from a list of trades covered by a state license for residential maintenance and alteration. The Senate Fiscal Agency says there were 432 Michigan contractors licensed in painting and decorating in December. They had to complete 60 hours of education …

Sturgis police arrested a Three Rivers man last week following an attempted retail fraud incident. According to a department media release, officers were called shortly before 11 p.m. Friday to the 400 block of West South Street regarding a retail fraud in progress. Officers arrived and took a 21-year-old man into custody. He was also charged with retail fraud and …

According to a March 13 report from Detroit News, Michigan will cut anticipated road-funding payments to local governments by $31 million this year after mistakenly sending them extra money last year. St. Joseph County Road Commission managing director John Lindsey said St. Joseph County’s overpayment was more than $145,000. Michigan Department of Transportation will deduct 10 percent of that from …

Members of the Mendon Community Schools Board of Education agreed last week to change to the amount of community-service hours required for graduation. Currently, students are required to have four hours of community service to graduate. These community service hours must be through an approved organization such as the school, local library, the village or township, a church, or any …

The two local chapters of Daughters of the American Revolution recognized this year’s DAR Good Citizens earlier this month by holding a reception in their honor at Centreville United Methodist Church. Selected for their dependability, service, leadership and patriotism were Zoe Yoquelet of Sturgis High School, Samara Schlabach from Centreville High School, Holly Ann Seman from Constantine High School, Elizabeth …

St. Joseph County sheriff ’s deputies, along with five K-9 units from Michigan State Police, recently searched several areas in Fawn River Township for a woman reported missing late last year. Brittany Nichole Shank was most recently seen around 9:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in the 33000 block of Fawn River Road after her vehicle went off the road. The area …

An Edwardsburg man was injured after he was shot at his residence over the weekend in Mason Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said authorities were called around 12:20 a.m. Saturday to Starbuck Street, near Tharp Lake Road, in response to a disturbance involving the discharge of a firearm. A 57-year-old man told deputies he was in the residence when unknown subjects …

A Sturgis man was charged with a drug-related offense after the vehicle he was driving was stopped over the weekend. Sturgis police said officers conducted the stop for a minor infraction shortly before 10 p.m. Friday near the intersection of North Nottawa and West streets. Officers became suspicious of the 28-year-old driver and subsequently found he was driving on a …

Sturgis municipal officials said North Lakeview Avenue will be closed today to all traffic at the Oakwood Drive intersection. The closure is the result of contractors planning to replace the sanitary sewer main, according to city officials. The closure will most likely extend through Tuesday. Motorists are being advised to avoid the area and use an alternate route, as no …

A busy intersection in Colon Township will be converted to a four-way stop beginning today. The St. Joseph County Road Commission said the Farrand Road/ Colon Road intersection will become a four-way stop, as signs will be put up on Colon Road to halt traffic at all quadrants of the intersection. The crossroads will eventually feature a traffic circle. Road …