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The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday announced recipients of two high-profile awards. Undersheriff Jason Bingaman said Mark Mellinger was named Uniformed Services Deputy of the Year for 2022. Meanwhile, Gabriel Keely received Corrections Deputy of the Year for 2022. Bingaman said the county is a safer place because of Mellinger, while Keely is an employee who goes above …

Constantine municipal officials are looking into moving its Civil War cannon at South Washington Street Park to the township cemetery. Village resident and local historian Rebecca Shank last month asked the council if it would consider relocating the cannon to a place of honor. A cemetery, she said, would be more appropriate than a community park. Shank said the cannon …

Michigan will ditch a system that gave A-through-F grades to public schools each year after state education officials called the system overly simplistic and a duplicate of federal requirements. The Michigan School Grades System, which was narrowly passed in 2018 by the Republican-led Legislature, assigned each public school in Michigan letter grades and rankings based on the school’s annual performance in …

A team of wranglers — including one on horseback — chased down and captured a wayward steer named Lester across several lanes of a Detroit-area freeway. State police in-car video shows the tail-end of Sunday afternoon’s chase on northbound Interstate 75 in Holly, about 57 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. A rider on horseback and three people in two ATVs …

A Constantine man suffered life-threatening injuries in a single-car crash last weekend in Constantine Township. Undersheriff Jason Bingaman said deputies were called shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday to the area of Zerbe Road and U.S. 131 for what was reported as a crash with injuries. Upon arrival, deputies found that a 57-year-old Constantine man was driving east on Zerbe Road …

Sturgis Public Schools teacher Tyson Dilts has received the 2023 John E. Oster Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dilts accepted the award Friday at the Sturgis Area Community Foundation’s annual Impact Celebration at the Sturges-Young Center for the Arts. Dilts, a first-grade teacher at Wenzel Elementary, has taught with Sturgis Public Schools for six years. Superintendent Art Ebert said Dilts …

St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a breaking-and-entering incident in Park Township. Undersheriff Jason Bingaman said deputies were called last week to a business in the 16000 block of Cotherman Lake Road. According to a department media release, a number of items were stolen. The incident is believed to have occurred between May 19 and May 22.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave final approval Monday afternoon to a red flag law that aims to keep firearms away from those at risk of harming themselves or others as the state grapples with ways to slow gun violence in the wake of its second mass school shooting. Michigan joined Minnesota as the second state in under a week to implement a red flag …

A crane being towed on a barge hit the main span of the Mackinac Bridge, although an official says inspectors found no significant damage to the span linking the Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. The incident happened May 7 to the 5-mile-long span when the barge passed under the bridge over the Straits of Mackinac. The barge operator didn’t realize …

A Sturgis man was found guilty of felony offenses stemming from an incident last summer in Sturgis. Prosecutor David Marvin said Brandon Forbes, 29, was found guilty by jury of one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of resisting/obstructing police after a one-day trial last week in front of St. Joseph County Circuit Court Judge Paul …