News

St. Joseph County commissioners this week agreed to appropriate its annual financial commitment to Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County. The 2019 allotment was $257,268. The obligation will be fulfilled in quarterly payments of $64,317, according to county administrator Teresa Doehring. She said the appropriation is a budgeted item.

Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of a man charged with killing six strangers in southwestern Michigan nearly three years ago. Jason Dalton is charged with murder and attempted murder. He’s accused of shooting eight people in three locations in the Kalamazoo area in February 2016 while he was picking up riders for Uber. Police quoted Dalton …

Dennis Allen will continue to serve as chairman of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners for a second consecutive year. During Wednesday’s commission meeting, Allen was nominated and unanimously approved to fill the seat as head of the five-member board. Commissioners also agreed on Allen Balog to serve as vice-chair. Allen, a Centreville resident who represents Lockport, Nottawa, Florence …

Rick Snyder, in the final days of his role as Michigan governor, signed a supplemental appropriations bill that included $3.4 million in capital-outlay funding for Glen Oaks Community College. The funding requires a 50/50 institution match. Glen Oaks President David Devier said the funds will enable the school to begin planning for what work will be completed as a result …

The Sturgis Area Community Foundation recently completed its 2018 competitive grant program with the issuance of nearly $60,000 returned to the community. Domestic and Sexual Abuse Services received $2,000 to assist with the “Domestic Violence in the Workplace” project. Meanwhile, Sturgis Historical Society and its “Windows to our Past” films project, was given $24,900. The St. Joseph County Intermediate School …

Fourteen people took advantage of the 11th annual New Year’s Eve Free Ride Home program over a six-hour period ending at 4 a.m. Tuesday. Offered by the St. Joseph County Transportation Authority in conjunction with more than a dozen business sponsors, Free Ride Home saw 11 passengers picked up by the Three Rivers-based bus and three passengers boarded the Sturgis-based …

Centreville Public Schools Board of Education recently approved retroactive pay raises of 2 percent, plus step increases, for non-instructional, non-certified and non- bargaining personnel in the district. Similar increases for instructional staff were approved in June. The increases approved recently were being considered in June as well, but unexpected expenses related to the district’s health insurance plan put the situation on …

Tracie Pueschel is the 2018 recipient of the John E. Oster Award for Teacher Recognition and was honored last month at the Sturgis Rotary Club luncheon. Pueschel has taught at Sturgis Public Schools since 1993, mostly at Wenzel Elementary School. She became the Title I Reading Teacher in 2010 and added Lead Teacher responsibilities to that role in 2018. Nominations …

Continued effort toward a balanced budget, development of a new Commission On Aging facility and progress toward updating the courts building are a few of the goals the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners faces in 2019. Dennis Allen, chair of the five-member board, said there is no shortage of work ahead for commissioners. Regarding the county’s finances, Allen said …

Three Rivers police are investigating a shooting incident reported Friday night at the Meadows Lane Village trailer park. Officer responded to the area of 13th and Madison streets in response to multiple shots fired. A caller to central dispatch, however, said several people apparently involved in the incident fled the scene before officers arrived. K9 officer Django was brought to …