News

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Health Agency has issued a media release regarding January as Radon Action Month. Radon is an odorless, tasteless, radioactive gas that naturally occurs in soil and rock. The agency wishes to remind residents that January is a good month to test for Radon. Radon typically travels into the atmosphere and causes no damage. Sometimes, however, it gets …

Andy Brown’s sentencing in the David Locey murder case was voted the top local news story in St. Joseph County for 2014. The Sturgis Journal revealed its annual top local stories of the year, and Brown’s July sentencing of up to 75 years in prison was No. 1. Next on the list was the June relocation of the Sturgis Depot …

The November unemployment rate in St. Joseph County decreased by half a percent compared to a month earlier. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed St. Joseph County’s 4.1 percent November unemployment rate was less than October’s 4.6 percent. November’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent less than the same month in 2013, when …

Two of four Ohio men linked to a September armed robbery at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds have pleaded guilty to the charge. During a court proceeding earlier this month, 35-year-old John Gregory and Robert Howe, 55, pled guilty and as part of a plea agreement that included dismissal of additional charges. Corderrius Cook, 27, pled no contest, while Samuel …

A clerk at a motel outside of Schoolcraft was robbed at gunpoint earlier this week. Kalamazoo County officials said the incident took place at 4:30 a.m. Monday at the Plainsman Motel, on U.S. 131 in Schoolcraft Township. Investigators said a man with a bandana over his face and a woman with several piercings on her lip and face entered the …

Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates in November declined in 14 of the state’s 17 major labor market regions. According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, total employment and labor force levels rose in the majority of areas over the month. 12 of Michigan’s major regions posted unemployment rates below the national seasonally unadjusted rate of 5.5 percent. The Ann Arbor area …

Cases of influenza are growing rapidly across Michigan, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declares a national flu epidemic, with widespread outbreaks in 22 states, so far. The C-D-C reports 15 children have died already this season of complications from the flu, which is peaking much earlier than normal in December instead of February or March. National officials say about …

The MSU Extension Service has played an active role in St. Joseph County during 2014, according to an annual report presented earlier this month to the county commission. Its role with children and youth included a “Grow Your Own Pig and Sell Your Pig” commodity carnival as a simulation of what it takes to raise a hog for market. Other …

Outgoing State Rep. Matt Lori was honored earlier this month by a number of dignitaries and representatives from a crime-prevention organization. Officials from the group “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Michigan,” a non-profit organization led by more than 500 of Michigan’s police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and crime survivors, honored Lori with a “Crime Fighter Award” during a reception at the …

A 47-year-old Sturgis man died following a two-vehicle accident Dec. 20 in LaGrange County. The LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department said Hugo Fernandez died at the scene after the car he was driving was struck head-on by a vehicle on State Road 9, just south of Howe. Sheriff’s investigators said 44-year-old Christopher Yoder of Sturgis was traveling south on State Road …