News

St. Joseph County could be just a few months from having its first dog park. Members of the St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Board this week gave its endorsement to the concept, explained Wednesday by parks and recreation director Jaymes MacDonald. The proposed 4 1/2-acre park would be developed at the 150-acre Meyer Broadway Park in Fabius Township. MacDonald …

Sturgis Township trustees have agreed to join a consortium of townships from at least four southwest Michigan counties to establish a central building code information library that will have its headquarters in Mottville Township. The idea of establishing a regional code library began recently when an existing law began to be enforced. The law requires governmental units with building-code authority …

Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman last week sentenced three men involved in the robbery of two vendors in 2014 at the St. Joseph County fairgrounds. Samuel Davis, 28, of Toledo, Ohio, was sentenced to 16 to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of armed robbery. John Earl Gregory, 35, of Toledo, was sentenced to 14 to …

The Three Rivers Department of Public Services has announced it is ending the water-trickle notice for residents as of Tuesday. All water services that were frozen over the winter have now thawed and frost is out of the ground.

Organizers of the 2015 Sturgis Toy Run have announced the 32nd annual event will feature more vendors, it is accepting sponsors and providing a higher level of entertainment. To that end, tickets for this year’s headline act, Big Smo, go on sale at 10 a.m. today. Big Smo is an American country musician, songwriter, producer and film director who appears …

A jury has awarded more than $14 million in damages to the family of a 49-year-old southwestern Michigan man killed in an accident involving a garbage truck. The Kalamazoo County Circuit Court jury decided Friday that Republic Services, City Star Services Inc. and William Ormerod III will pay nearly $14.5 million to the estate of Lary Blahnik. The Plainwell man …

Tax Day is coming. Both state and federal income tax returns are due on April 15. The Michigan Department of Treasury is reminding taxpayers that all state forms and instructions they need to finalize their 2014 tax returns are available on Treasury’s website at michigan.gov/incometax. Officials say E-filing income tax returns has become a preferred method of filing for millions of taxpayers, …

A new poll from the Lansing-based polling firm EPIC-MRA shows very little support for Proposal 1 on the May ballot, which would increase the state’s sales tax by one-percent to pay for roads, schools, and local governments. Roger Martin is part of the Safe Roads YES! Campaign pushing for adoption, and isn’t too worried about the numbers because he says there …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency is reporting its third flu-associated death this year, as the number of flu cases caused by Influenza B strain increase. The adult who died last week was under the age of 65 with underlying health conditions, said Steve Todd, the tri-county health department’s health officer. The agency declined to state the victim’s gender and …

A driver and passenger in a vehicle involved in a police pursuit remain at large after the suspect’s car was found crashed in Kalamazoo County. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said deputies began pursuing the vehicle shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday on M-60 near U.S. 131. The pursuit continued north into Park Township and the vehicle was found wrecked …