News

The Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport will receive $300,000 to study runway improvements. The funding comes from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Runway Incursion Mitigation Program. The FAA says runway incursions involve “the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of aircraft.” The FAA says through the Runway …

A Kalamazoo lawmaker says the recent crash that killed five bicyclists may renew the push to make roads safer for people not driving cars. Two state senators have introduced legislation after a pickup truck crashed into a group of bikers June 7 in the Kalamazoo area that could mean tougher penalties for those who fatally hit a bicyclist. It would …

Michigan State Police investigators have been asked to look into the theft of material from the St. Joseph County Road Commission. The incident stems from a situation May 22 at the Colon Township garage on M-66, where asphalt used for road patching was loaded onto a flatbed trailer by a Sherman Township man. The man, an Omena Lake resident, was …

Members of the St. Joseph County Animal Control Advisory Board expressed their disappointment Wednesday over this week’s sentencing of two suspects in an animal-cruelty case. Two Mottville residents arrested in January 2015 pled guilty to torture of an animal based on negligence at their Barker Road residence. On Monday, Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman sentenced Jessica Achberger, 40, and Troy Michael-James …

A fundraiser last month staged by the Animal Control Advisory Board of St. Joseph County has resulted in the purchase of two, new air-conditioning units. Loralee Knepper, an animal shelter volunteer, said the $5,000 raised during the May 13 event in Sturgis allowed for the purchase of the 14,000-BTU portable air conditioners. The devices also serve as heaters and can …

A Three Rivers pastor faces charges of criminal sexual conduct following his arrest Wednesday. Three Rivers police said James Bailey Jr., 66, was charged with three counts each of criminal sexual conduct third degree and CSC fourth degree. The charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred at Three Rivers Bible Church on two separate dates in April and May, according …

A bicyclist who survived being hit by a pickup truck that killed five of her fellow riders in southwestern Michigan says she has no recollection of the crash scene. Sheila Jeske tells WOOD-TV she visited the crash site in Kalamazoo County’s Cooper Township after being discharged from the hospital. She says: “All I can say it was a beautiful place …

An Indiana man charged with murder in a 1977 southwestern Michigan killing that police initially classified as a suicide has been ordered to stand trial. Police in May arrested 57-year-old Raymond Robert Richmond in South Bend, Indiana. A judge on Wednesday in Michigan ordered him to stand trial in the death of 25-year-old Robert Stasiak. Richmond, who was 18 at …

Michigan health officials say they’ve confirmed the first case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever contracted in the state since 2009. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that the case involved a child in southwestern Michigan’s Cass County. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is caused by bacteria and can be fatal if not treated promptly and correctly, even …

Gov. Rick Snyder has vetoed legislation that he says would have increased the cost of auto repairs in Michigan and possibly car insurance, too. The bill won overwhelmingly approval in the Legislature. It would have amended the law to state that when repairing certain parts during the first five years of a vehicle’s warranty, body shops could use only new …