News

Two victims of a house fire last week in Mendon Township were migrant farm workers. St. Joseph County Undersheriff Mark Lillywhite said the cause of the blaze might never be known due to extensive damage to the house in Mendon Township. The home was owned by an area dairy farm, according to Lillywhite. Lillywhite said other occupants of the farmhouse …

The St. Joseph County Bar Association has selected Janice Clark, of Michiana Guardianship Services, as the winner of the 2018 Liberty Bell Award. Clark has been providing services to St. Joseph County citizens and courts for almost 20 years. The owner and operator of Michiana Guardianship Services, Clark has worked for the Cass County Community Mental Health system for nine …

Saturday’s collection of household hazardous waste, tires, paper, paint and electronics was the most successful in the 13-year history of the spring event. Pat Kulikowski, secretary of the St. Joseph County Solid Waste Committee – the event’s sponsor – said she can attribute its success, in part, to the fact it was a free drop-off. There was no charge for …

Rescue life rings are expected to be installed on a southwest Michigan pier along the shores of Lake Michigan before Memorial Day weekend. St. Joseph commissioners have approved a plan for a dozen life rings along the city’s North Pier where historic lighthouses are located. The city was one of the few communities along Lake Michigan that hadn’t installed rings …

Two men have been arrested in connection with damage earlier this year at a cemetery in Coldwater. The Daily Reporter in Coldwater reports that 19-year-old William Vanness and 20-year-old Christopher Palmerton, Jr. are charged with conspiracy to maliciously damage property and malicious damage to tombstones. The newspaper reports that 125 tombstones and grave markers were damaged in March at Oak Grove …

A body that has washed ashore in southwestern Michigan has been identified as that of a man who went missing from a marina earlier this month. The Benton Township Police Department says the body found along the Lake Michigan shoreline Friday morning was that of Ralph Ford of White Pigeon. He was last seen April 10 on his dock at …

A local, pet-friendly organization is staging for the 16th consecutive year a fundraiser to benefit its mission of spay and neuter. Mendon Township resident Loralee Knepper, Animal Rescue Fund of St. Joseph County vice president, said the organization is able to maintain a budget of roughly $20,000 a year thanks in large part to donations and especially fundraisers such as …

The U.S. Small Business Administration wishes to remind businesses, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters in Michigan of the deadline to submit disaster-loan applications for damages caused by severe storms and flooding Feb. 19- 21. The deadline to submit applications for physical damage is May 29. Low-interest disaster loans are available in nearly two dozen counties, including St. Joseph and …

Michigan Department of Transportation will begin a major repaving project next week in Branch County. Ten miles of U.S. 12 between Bronson and Coldwater will start Monday morning. Construction includes removing the bridge over the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, installing concrete curb and gutter, upgrading guardrails, improving drainage, and new signs and pavement markings. The $2.4 million investment will improve ride …

Michigan voters will decide in November whether to allow recreational marijuana, after officials certified Thursday that there were enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot. The proposal, which the bipartisan state elections board allowed to proceed on a 4-0 vote, would make Michigan the 10th state and the first in the Midwest to legalize the drug for recreational …