News

October’s unemployment rate in St. Joseph County remained unchanged from the previous month. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed the county’s 4.2 percent October unemployment rate equaled the same figure from September. St. Joseph County was at the same level as the state’s unemployment average for the month. The agency said the …

State Rep. Aaron Miller last week delivered testimony before the House Health Policy Committee in support of a bill he sponsored to require hospitals in Michigan to disclose nurse staffing ratios to the public. Miller’s bill is part of a bipartisan package intended to combat the under-staffing of nurses, which results in some nurses being required to work 18-hour shifts …

Members of St. Joseph County’s animal control department are optimistic 2018 will be a good year for the agency. Their goal is to secure enough funding to begin firm plans for a new facility. A site – located southeast of the current complex – has been identified. But, Sheriff Brad Balk said, it’s a long road to the goal of …

Kelly Hostetler, executive director of St. Joseph County United Way, recently presented Children’s Trauma Assessment Group with a $10,000 donation. The $10,000 was recently given to the United Way by a county resident who wished to remain anonymous. Also present at the check presentation were Deana Strudwick, CTAG board president; David Tomlinson, probate and juvenile court judge; Tadd Davis, past president United Way Board; and Natalie …

Michigan’s minimum wage will rise to $9.25 an hour starting January 1st. That’s a 35-cent raise from the current minimum of $8.90 per hour. It’s the final definitive increase provided by a 2014 law, the state said Friday. Beginning in 2019, however, the minimum wage is due to increase annually with inflation unless the unemployment rate is high. Employers can …

The death of a Sturgis man has been ruled homicide, according to St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough. Larry Eugene Frohriep, 69, of Sturgis, was found dead early Wednesday at his home at 27810 Maystead Road in Sherman Township. Frohriep’s body was found by a friend around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and the St. Joseph County Major Crimes Task Force was …

Teresa Doehring’s employment as county administrator will become official when the board of commissioners next week is expected to formally present her a contract. But a detail of the agreement hit a sticking point during Wednesday’s executive committee meeting. Committee chairman Allen Balog said Doehring will transition into the county’s highest, non-elected position created by Pat Yoder’s retirement. Doehring will …

St. Joseph County sheriff’s deputies and the county’s Major Crimes Task Force spent much of the day Wednesday investigating a suspicious death in Burr Oak Township. Authorities were called around 11 a.m. to a home at 27810 Maystead Road, where they found a deceased man. Authorities were not releasing additional details until completion of an autopsy, which is scheduled for …

A Sturgis man faces multiple charges after a 30-year old Sturgis man was shot early Tuesday in the 67000 block of Shimmel Road in Sturgis Township. Manan Patal, 29, is in the St. Joseph County jail on charges of felonious assault, felony firearms, reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of firearm while intoxicated, according to sheriff’s deputies. Investigators said …

Morgan Olson has announced expansion of its operations into the former Michiana Event Center facility in Howe, Ind., adjacent to the Indiana Toll Road. The expansion will result in an investment of more than $2 million, company officials said. Morgan Olson is a manufacturer of walk-in vans. With Internet sales growing, the demand for delivery vehicles for items purchased online …