News

August’s unemployment rate in St. Joseph County was seven-tenths of a percent lower than the previous month. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed the county’s 4.4 percent August unemployment rate marked a decrease from July’s 5.1 percent. St. Joseph County was below the state unemployment average, which was 4.6 percent in August. …

Members of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners have announced Wednesday morning’s executive committee meeting has been cancelled. Meanwhile, the five-member board was expected to meet at 8 o’clock this morning for a budget work session. Commissioners are in the midst of preparing the county’s 2018 fiscal-year budget. The new fiscal year starts Jan. 1. The board’s next meeting …

More than 200 people over the course of five hours Saturday took part in a fundraiser to benefit Colon resident Megan Colpetsir, a mother of six. Currently on leave from her job as an inspector at Maxitrol, the 33-year-old Colpetsir will begin 20 weeks of chemotherapy sessions in mid-November. She was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer after discovering a …

State Rep. Aaron Miller, chair of the House Elections and Ethics Committee, voted last week to advance two measures to protect taxpayers from paying for recounts in elections that are not closely contested. The 2016 recount charade for which Michigan taxpayers were forced to foot the bill shows just how important it is to update statutes before it happens again, …

Two St. Joseph County residents were involved in a two-vehicle accident last week in Cass County’s Penn Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called at 6:30 a.m. Thursday to the intersection of Calvin Center Road and M-60. Investigators determined that a car driven by 45-year-old Veronica Brown of White Pigeon was heading north on Calvin Center Road and failed …

Three Rivers police last week arrested a Constantine man wanted on drug charges and a number of warrants. According to the Three Rivers Police Department, the agency around 7:30 p.m. Thursday received tips about a man in possession of a handgun. Officers obtained a description of the vehicle he was in. A patrol officer later spotted the suspect near an …

State police investigators are looking into the suspicious death of a 27-year-old woman earlier this week in Park Township. Troopers were called around 7:15 a.m. Wednesday to the 52000 block of Johnson Road in response to a report of a female lying at the end of her driveway. Police identified her as Kristen Littlefield. She was pronounced dead at the …

Tuesday’s Celebrity Waiter fundraiser for the St. Joseph County United Way was declared a success. Held at Curly’s in downtown Colon, the benefit drew 11 waiters and waitresses who have various levels of prominence in the community and county. The temporary help took orders, served food and drinks, cleared tables and all other duties related to the task. All tips …

State Rep. Aaron Miller this week testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in support of his legislation to allow golf carts in small towns to be driven on the right side of state trunk lines as long as certain safety provisions are met. In Michigan, a village or city of fewer than 30,000 residents may adopt a resolution …

Officials from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have notified Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency that a fawn in Hillsdale County tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis. It is the first deer in the state found with the virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Mammals, specifically horses, humans and deer, can become infected when bitten by a mosquito that …