News

A resolution to seek up to $100,000 in state money for February’s floods was approved by county commissioners Tuesday. Emergency Services and Homeland Security coordinator TJ Baker told commissioners the road commission experienced damaged roads and culverts as a result of the excessive rainfall, which hit Three Rivers and Colon particularly hard. He said the road commission documented the culverts …

A Polaris four-wheel ATV was stolen this week from a location in White Pigeon Township. State police said the incident occurred between 5 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Tuesday in the 69000 block of Kalamazoo Street. The four-wheeler is tan and brown in color, with camouflage tape covering the fuel tank. It also has a winch on the front, with …

Sturgis city commissioners and city staff last week mulled a plan to fence in the west, south and most of the north sides of Oak Lawn Cemetery. The proposal has been raised in an effort to reduce vandalism and increase safety. Facilities manager Daniel Root will return with options and commissioners will revisit the matter. The lowest of seven bids was …

Jeremy Gump was recently appointed to the Sturgis Hospital Board of Directors. His term began in March and ends May 2020. Gump said he is pleased to serve on the board, as he acknowledged having a hospital close to home is important to the community. Gump, a member of Sturgis High School’s class of 1991, began his career at Ernst …

The director of the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority during a special meeting last week rescinded his resignation. Dave Vago said he signed a letter of resignation earlier this month, but claimed he did so under duress and amid false pretenses. Friday’s meeting drew more than three dozen people and resulted in Vago earning back the post he has held …

Four vehicles were involved in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver over the weekend in Cass County’s Milton Township. The incident was reported at 4:15 a.m. Saturday on M-60 near Reum Road. Investigators said a vehicle driving north in the southbound lane of M-60 struck a box truck driven by 23-year-old Emily Oostema. Oostema’s truck went off the roadway, …

Officials from the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Counties Health Department, along with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, are encouraging Michigan residents to protect themselves from ticks as the warm weather approaches and tick-borne diseases, particularly Lyme disease, are expanding across the state. Lyme disease is transmitted by the blacklegged deer tick. In 2017, there were more than 300 human …

Chris Minger, director of the St. Joseph County Road Commission, has announced he plans to retire at the end of September. Minger began with the road commission part-time in 1971, then was hired on full-time in 1974. By the time of his retirement, he will have served in his current role for five years. Minger said the road commission is in a good spot, with …

A Lansing, Michigan, man thought it might be a prank when he received a call from a microchip company telling him his family’s dog had been found in Toledo — more than 100 miles away — four years after she ran away. “I was stunned,” Bradley Wieferich told The Blade . Toledo police earlier this month found Bambi, who is around 12, …

A 7-year-old child was rescued from drowning in the St. Joseph River in Mendon earlier this week. State police said troopers were called to assist Mendon Police Department just before 5 p.m. Wednesday to Fremont Street in response to a child who had fallen into the river. The victim fell into the river but was subsequently pulled from the water …