Recent Posts

Glen Oaks receives two awards

Glen Oaks Community College’s communications and marketing department is the recipient of two recent awards. For the second straight year, Glen Oaks received a Gold in the 34th Annual Educational Advertising Awards for the 2018 Glen Oaks holiday card titled “Winter Watercolor.” The cover of the card depicted a snowy evening scene on the main campus entrance. A national panel …

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Road commission recommends reappointment of Shafer

St. Joseph County Road Commission members last week voted to send a letter to the county commission requesting that Eric Shafer of Three Rivers be reappointed to the road commission when his term expires Dec. 31. Shafer, currently vice chairman, has served on the road commission for eight years. He works as a district manager for Waste Management. Road commission …

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Voter information class held for those awaiting trial

St. Joseph County Clerk Lindsay Oswald said undersheriff Mark Lillywhite recently hosted a voter-registration information class for jail inmates awaiting trial. Staged in conjunction with Oswald, the class resulted in 10 percent of the jail population registering to vote and several others were able to verify their registration. Oswald said the purpose was to inform people of their constitutional rights …

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Life sentence affirmed in drug-related death in Kalamazoo area

An appeals court has upheld a life sentence for a man who was blamed for the drug-related death of another man in the Kalamazoo area. The federal court says the sentence is “severe and perhaps even misguided as a matter of criminal justice policy” but still constitutional. Steve Whyte was accused of providing heroin that caused the fatal overdose of …

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Procedure to replace retiring Sheriff Balk

St. Joseph County Clerk Lindsay Oswald said a procedure is in place for anyone interested in serving the remaining 11 months of Sheriff Brad Balk’s term after he retires Jan. 31. According to a notice Oswald posted Friday, prospective successors are advised to submit a letter of interest and résumé to her office by 4 p.m. on or before Nov. …

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Centreville agrees to sale of land

Members of the Centreville Village Council voted recently to sell six acres of property in its industrial park to a company looking to put in a manufacturing facility. The Centreville Downtown Development Authority previously approved up to $60,000 to build 400 feet of road to the facility. In an unrelated matter, the village has purchased new Christmas decorations. As a …

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DAR works on cemetery restoration

A workday was held last month at Old Centreville Cemetery, the first in a series organized by the Amos Sturgis Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, as they attempt to restore the plot of land. An active cemetery from 1833 through 1971, the area was designated a Michigan State Historic Site. It is located at the corner of Dean …

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Michigan sees a decline in hunting licenses across the state

Hunting wildlife has long been ingrained in Michigan’s culture, but it is currently on a decline across the state. The decline is partly due to more baby boomers aging out. Young adults, urbanites and others are also far less likely to participate in hunting. Michigan had as many as 1.2 million hunters in the 1970s, ’80s and into the ’90s. …

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Man dies in Cass County crash

An Elkhart man died in a single-vehicle crash last week in Cass County’s Porter Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called shortly before 4 p.m. Friday to an area on Bellows Road, near Idlewild Street. Chase Miller, age 28, was driving north on Bellows Road when his vehicle left the roadway and went into a pond. Miller’s body was …

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Stolen vehicle – Man arrested

Deputies from the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department last week arrested a man driving a stolen vehicle in Sherman Township. According to a department media release, deputies were called Thursday to a report of a man driving a stolen vehicle. They responded to an area near Banker Street and Shimmel Road and eventually found the vehicle in question. John Fox …

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