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Some words that have changed over the years. The word “drugs” used to be a good thing. It was a cure for many ailments. Today, if someone has drugs in their possession, it is considered a bad thing. To attend a “concert” sixty years ago, was a different experience than attending a concert today. I’m devoting most of the column …

A St. Joseph County-based agency is organizing what it hopes will become an event that lands it in the book of Guinness World Records. In partnership with Glen Oaks Community College’s Phi Theta Kappa and the St. Joseph County Family Violence Taskforce, the event is being spearheaded by the St. Joseph County Great Start Collaborative. The mark for most strollers …

A Three Rivers man will serve more than four months in jail after he was sentenced for embezzling funds from the Three Rivers Little League. Clint Roberts, who was found to have taken more than $14,000 from the league’s account while managing its finances, was sentenced earlier this month by Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman to serve 4 1/2 months …

The St. Joseph County United Way is poised to start its 2014 campaign with the annual Donut Drive event coming next week. Executive director Kelly Hostetler said the donut drive also serves as a public thank you for the support provided to the Centreville-based agency. United Way volunteers will be in each of the county’s eight municipalities over an 11-day …

St. Joseph County’s Board of Commissioners last week agreed to a modification regarding its lease agreement with renters at the Meyer Broadway Park house. Tenants Dan and Sarah Hershberger have requested use of an attached, two-car garage known as Dimmick Lodge. The Hershbergers said they wish to park their vehicles inside the structure, and have offered to pay an additional …

A 48-year-old man has received the mandatory sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder in the 2010 gun slaying of a man in the victim’s Kalamazoo front yard. Police found the body of 38-year-old Joseph A. Salib on Oct. 3, 2010. Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet sentenced Randy P. Smith on Monday, also giving him life for …

A disabled man will be able to take a shower without assistance thanks to a hands-free, automatic shower system designed by students from a college in northeastern Indiana. A team of senior engineering students at Trine University developed the shower for 60-year-old Terry Haffner of nearby Fort Wayne. Haffner was born without arms and with partial legs. He says the …

The June unemployment rate in St. Joseph County increased by seven-tenths of 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 8.4 percent June unemployment rate was more than May’s 7.7 percent. June’s unemployment rate, however, was four-tenths of a percent less than the same …

Saturday’s Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce fundraiser was deemed a success by event organizers. A catered dinner inside the Langley Covered Bridge drew about 100 guests, who were seated at a cluster of 16 tables for a meal prepared by the Sturges-Young Auditorium. Christy Trammell, chamber president, said pontoon-boat rides and a professional photo next to the historic landmark …

The 76th Abbott’s Magic Get-Together is in the books and Greg Bordner, head of the four-day event, said the event went as smoothly as it possibly could. Several hundred fans and participants of the trade spent at least a portion of the four days in the village, where nightly performances at Colon High School drew strong crowds and world-class talent. …