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A woman who promoted herself in the Kalamazoo areas as “No. 1 Tax Lady” is in hot water with the Internal Revenue Service. Fontrise Charles is charged with filing false returns for others to ensure big refunds over a three-year period. The indictment also accuses her of filing her own false returns. The 39-year-old Charles appeared Monday in Grand Rapids …

A judge in southwestern Michigan has heard a tearful plea from a young man who killed his grandfather at age 14 but hopes he can get a new sentence that would give him a chance at parole. Nineteen-year-old Dakotah Eliason was in a Berrien County court Friday because the U.S. Supreme Court says teens can’t automatically be given no-parole sentences …

Two people have been arrested in southwestern Michigan on unrelated charges after authorities located a man accused of fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run accident. Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood Jr. says officers executed a search warrant Friday afternoon in Newburg Township after connecting the homeowner to a truck driven in the hit-and-run accident. Officers found two stolen vehicles, marijuana …

The moose population in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula appears to have dropped over the past two years — and a wildlife expert says there’s reason for concern about the species’ long-term future in the state. The Department of Natural Resources says Monday its latest biennial survey produced an estimate of 323 moose in their primary Michigan range, which includes Baraga, …

AAA Michigan reports statewide gas prices have decreased by about 2 cents a gallon within the past week. The auto club says the average price per gallon of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was about $2.28 on Sunday. That’s about $1.47 less than it was a year ago. It marks the second consecutive week the statewide average has decreased. Dearborn-based AAA …

State Rep. Aaron Miller last week voted in favor of House Bill 4122, a measure to end the expenditure of taxpayer money to subsidize film and video production. Miller said the film incentives program is a failed experiment that has not paid off, and there are more worthwhile ways to spend the $50 million set aside for film subsidies in …

Two Cass County residents are awaiting arraignment after being arrested last week in Porter Township. Members of the Cass County Drug Enforcement Team executed a search warrant Thursday evening in the 69000 block of Baldwin Prairie Road. The residents, a 55-year-old woman and 25-year-old man, both from Union, were taken into custody after police located methamphetamine and marijuana in their …

Foggy conditions contributed to a single-vehicle accident last week in Colon Township. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said Shree Goble, 22, of Colon, was driving on West Palmer Lake Road around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Due to heavy fog, Goble did not stop at the Burr Oak Road intersection. The vehicle went through the three-way intersection, up an embankment and …

A tough season for maple-syrup production didn’t seem to faze an estimated 300 people who attended an open house Saturday and Sunday at Butternut Creek Sugar Shack in Mendon Township. The event was organized by maple-syrup producer Terry Moyer, and his family and friends. The third annual event was part of a statewide observance of Michigan Maple Syrup Weekend, to …

M-51 near Niles in southwest lower Michigan had to be closed on Thursday morning after a crash involving a truck that was hauling an excavator machine. Michigan State Police say that the boom of the excavator was up too high to be able to clear the US-12 overpass on M-51, causing the boom to strike the bridge. It spilled diesel fuel …