News

St. Joseph County’s second-smallest K-12 school district is looking for a new leader, as Colon Community Schools Superintendent Christine Barnes has announced her plan to resign effective Aug. 1. Barnes, 53, has spent the past two years as chief of Colon Community Schools. She previously served as principal at Constantine High School. An Iowa native, Barnes said she has accepted …

A Three Rivers man was arrested this week after he led officers on a foot chase outside a Three Rivers business. St. Joseph County Sheriff’s deputies said they attempted to arrest 26-year-old Chase Rohm Monday after initial contact with authorities took place inside the Three Rivers McDonald’s. Authorities said Rohm fled on foot and ran into a nearby trailer park. …

St. Joseph County has hired a new finance director to replace Joni Smith, who resigned to take a position closer to her family in South Carolina. Ryan Post started work Monday. He most recently was controller at Family Health Center in Kalamazoo. Prior to that, he was finance director for Health Services of Kalamazoo County.

A crash early Monday on the Indiana Toll Road claimed the life of a Sturgis man. Indiana State Police said 41-year-old Brian Fox was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred shortly after 7 a.m. at mile marker 109.6, about 2 1/2 miles east of the Middlebury exit. Police said Fox was driving west when his vehicle …

A Sturgis man was injured over the weekend after the motorcycle he was driving struck a trailer in Sturgis Township. Sheriff’s officials said the incident occurred shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday on Fawn River Road, east of Balk Road. Deputies said 57-year-old Gregory Miller was driving east on Fawn River Road when a truck pulling a trailer entered the roadway …

Two people, including a Three Rivers resident, had to be extricated from a vehicle Saturday after it went off the road and down an embankment in Cass County’s Porter Township. The Cass County Sheriff’s Department said the occupants, 28-year-old Krystal Taylor of Three Rivers and Rebecca Mallo, 27, of Cassopolis, were involved in the incident that occurred between 4 and …

State police are investigating the theft of a personal-watercraft lift from a lake in Branch County. Troopers were called at 8:30 a.m. Monday to the 500 block of Lake Drive on Coldwater Lake in Ovid Township. The victim told police a Ski-Doo lift was taken from a dock between May 14 and June 19.

Kathy Messner recently received the Paul Harris Fellow recognition from Constantine Rotary Club as a means of showing appreciation for her contributions to the community. The local organization will contribute $1,000 in Messner’s name to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Rotary President Mark Honeysett presented the award, saying he can’t think of anyone more deserving than Messner. Messner for …

Five people have been injured after four motorcycles crashed near Bristol in Elkhart County. The Elkhart Truth reports that the chain-reaction crash started about 6:40 p.m. Saturday on S.R. 120 near Bonneyville Mill County Park. Authorities say an eastbound motorcycle traveled left of the roadway’s center line while trying to pass another eastbound vehicle and crashed head-on into a westbound …

Three people were injured last week in an accident in Mottville Township. State police said troopers were called at 1:35 p.m. Thursday to Riverside Drive, near Mann Road. According to investigators, Brian Waldron of Constantine was driving east on Riverside Drive. His vehicle approached a car that had slowed to turn left into a private drive when it passed the …