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February’s unemployment rate in St. Joseph County was two-tenths of a percent lower than the previous month. The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed the county’s 4.1 percent February unemployment rate marked a decrease from January’s 4.3 percent. St. Joseph County was below the state unemployment average, which was 5.2 percent in February. …

State police investigators are appealing to the public in hopes of securing details regarding the theft of stolen guns last fall in Calhoun County’s Athens Township. According to a department media release, the incident occurred Oct. 20 at a pole barn on 2 Mile Road, where a compound bow and two shotguns were stolen. Authorities described the bow as a …

April is National Foot Health Awareness Month and a time when the experts at the Center for Wound Healing suggest people take a moment to stand up for their feet. Right now, 6.7 million Americans are living with a chronic wound, and more than two million of those are suffering from a diabetic foot ulcer. The Center for Wound Healing …

Michigan officials have approved a permit allowing Nestle Waters North America Inc. to pump more groundwater for its Ice Mountain brand. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality ruled Monday the company’s application to increase water output to 400 gallons a minute meets state standards. Officials say in a statement that most of public comments they received expressed opposition to the …

Public safety officers are getting new, standardized guns in a lakeside city in western Michigan. The Muskegon City Commission approved a plan last month to spend nearly $50,000 of drug forfeiture money to purchase 90 new 9mm handguns and holsters. Muskegon police officers previously had to buy their own pistols when hired. “I haven’t ever worked for a department that …

Major League Baseball is standing behind the replay reversal that took the winning run away from the Detroit Tigers in a game last week against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Detroit’s Nicholas Castellanos was initially called safe in the bottom of the 10th inning Friday, and the Tigers spilled onto the field to celebrate what they thought was a win on opening …

St. Joseph County Central’s Dispatch had a demanding year in 2017, marked by failures of equipment, shortage of manpower and a significant amount of overtime. Still, director Dennis Brandenburg, said the agency between 9-1-1 and non-emergency calls fielded more than 96,000 calls last year. The information was provided during a recent annual report presented to the St. Joseph County Board …

An out-of-state resident was injured after he was involved in a three-vehicle crash last week in Cass County’s Penn Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called at 10 a.m. Friday to the intersection of Decatur Road and Kelsey Lake Street, where 19-year-old Jason Thrasher of Jasper, Ind., had failed to stop his vehicle at a stop sign. He was …

Two Niles residents were seriously injured after the dirt bike on which they were riding struck a deer. Cass County sheriff deputies said the incident occurred around 11 p.m. Friday in the area of Wells Street and Reynolds Road in Pokagon Township. Deputies were called to Borgess Lee Memorial Hospital in Dowagiac, where two subjects were dropped off by a …

Centreville Public Schools Board of Education has approved calendars for the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. In each case, the district will begin the school year on Monday prior to Labor Day. Superintendent Stephanie Lemmer said calendars had been built collaboratively with staff and also after surveying parents of elementary and junior/senior high students. Lemmer said a before-Labor Day start …