News

Officials with the Tri-County Health Department have given the OK for Camp Eberhart to re-open following an outbreak of a suspected norovirus. Community Health Officer Rebecca Burns said the Fabius Township site was cleared to re-open Wednesday. Nearly 50 people, including a few staff members were stricken with a case of vomiting and diarrhea. Laboratory testing by the agency remains …

A man charged in connection with two slayings in Michigan will undergo a competency examination. The Kalamazoo Gazette reports that a St. Joseph County judge on Tuesday ordered the psychiatric evaluation to determine whether 32-year-old Zachary Patten is competent to stand trial. His preliminary examination scheduled for next week has been postponed. Patten was charged last month in the July …

The St. Joseph County United Way is beginning its annual Donut Drive this week. United Way volunteers will be in St. Joseph County’s eight communities over the next week, starting in Centreville today. The agency is not asking for donations, rather it is thanking St. Joseph County residents for their continued support. The Centreville-based agency helps more than 40 local …

The Michigan Department of Education is reminding the public that its “Meet Up and Eat Up” Summer Food Service Program is ongoing through the month of August. The free meal is offered to any child 18 years of age and younger. Locally, meal sites are at Barrows and Huss school sites, and Hoppin and Andrews elementary schools; Constantine High School …

Constantine’s Farmers Market will have a special visitor today. One of the 50 Michigan State Police squad cars painted black and gold to commemorate the agency’s 100-year anniversary in 2017 will be at the market 3 to 5 p.m. Also during the same time span, the company Child Print will offer free ID kits. The kits allow parents to have …

St. Joseph County employees are expected to adhere to a series of customer-service standards following action last week by county commissioners. Introduced by human resources director Teresa Doehring, the resolution to adopt customer-service standards provides four ideals to follow when dealing with the public: *Smile and greet people warmly. *Take ownership of any customer concern. *Assist without being asked. *Respect …

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department has released the name of the motorcyclist killed last week in a Three Rivers traffic crash. Christopher Watson, 29, died after the motorcycle he was driving crashed into a semi tractor-trailer at Broadway and 8th Street. The incident occurred around 10 p.m. Thursday after Watson failed to stop for police for disobeying a traffic-control …

The largest Homes For Our Troops fundraiser in the eight-year history hosted by Jim and Peggy Fassett bodes well for a Grand Rapids-area man and his family. Though it’s not unusual for more money to trickle in a week or two afterward, Saturday’s event at the Fassett’s Park Township farmstead generated nearly $12,000. The figure marks about $2,000 less than …

Two 18-year-old women were arrested over the weekend after police discovered they were in possession of stolen property. According to a media release from the Sturgis Police Department, officers pulled over a car at 4 a.m. Sunday in the 400 block of Marian Street after the department received a report of someone going through parked, unlocked vehicles. Officers noticed what …

Cass County deputies responded last week to a single-vehicle accident in Porter Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said agency officials were called at 11 p.m. Saturday to Tharp Lake Road, north of Chapel Hill Road. The driver, 48-year-old Cassopolis resident Benjamin Burnham was driving north on Tharp Lake and lost control of his vehicle. The vehicle drove off the roadway and overturned …