News

Deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office investigated a breaking-and-entering incident last week at a location in Burr Oak Township. Investigators were called at 2 p.m. Dec. 21 to the 66000 block of Halfway Road. It was reported that someone entered a barn and took an engine. The engine had aluminum valve covers with the word “Avenger” on it. …

A bipartisan package of bills that makes boating, snowmobiling and use of other recreational vehicles safer has been approved by the Michigan House of Representatives and sent to Gov. Rick Snyder for consideration. The measures lower the lawful blood-alcohol-content level for boaters, snowmobilers and operators of off-road vehicles from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent, the same level as operators of …

Two area state parks will be a part of a free, New Year’s Day event sponsored by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The agency will sponsor free, guided hikes in Michigan state parks on New Year’s Day – plus additional hikes throughout the week – as part of America’s state parks “First Day Hikes” initiative. According to the Michigan …

Grand Rapids is going to extremes — from its snowiest November to what could be the least snowy December. The Grand Rapids Press reports that only three-tenths of an inch of snow has fallen this month in the western Michigan city. The drought starkly contrasts with November, which logged 31 inches. Little or at least less snow has been common …

A 54-year-old Sturgis woman’s vehicle struck a house last week at 302 S. Lakeview Ave. in Sturgis. Authorities arrived to find the vehicle resting on the front porch of the home, as the driver said the vehicle’s brakes had failed. She told police that when she tried to stop, the brake pedal accelerated all the way to the floor. Police …

Two downtown Sturgis properties will install new outdoor signs after the Sturgis Planning Commission voted to allow the placards to be more colorful than historic standards allow. Sign designs proposed by West Chicago Road businesses Gina’s Healing Hands Day Spa and the Sturgis Area Chamber of Commerce had included more than the three building colors allowed in the central business …

Seven property parcels in Fawn River Township have been approved for conditional transfer into the city of Sturgis, based on development agreements inked by the two jurisdictions in 1999 and 2006. Property owned by Roger and Carol Olds at 28204 Fawn River Road, and Evelyn Steffey and Elenora Emerson, at 28246 Fawn River Road, all located between Lakeview Road and …

The Constantine Village Council last week changed zoning designations for parcels at 420 and 460 E. Second St. from residential to industrial. Michigan Milk Producers Association has a sales agreement pending to purchase the properties in order to construct an employee parking lot. Station Street residents Justin and Mollie Kent said they were worried about having a parking lot next …

The state has hired a new director for the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital. Jill Krause will take over managing the facility next month. The appointment comes following allegations of misconduct at the hospital that caused the former Director, James Coleman, to resign earlier this year. Twenty-eight other workers were suspended in a separate investigation but nearly half of them have since returned …

The flu season is well underway in Michigan, and State Department of Community Health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated, before the end of the year. Jennifer Smith, of the Michigan Department of Community Health, says influenza activity normally peaks between January and April in Michigan, which is why those six-months-of age and older need to be vaccinated now since …