Government

A couple accused of torching eight barns last year in a northern Indiana county now face charges alleging that they also set fire to an Amish school in an adjacent county. Joseph Hershberger, 41, and Sherry Thomas, 32, were charged in December in Elkhart County with eight counts of arson for the barn burnings, the first of which occurred in …

Sturgis City Commission is seeking applications to fill the seat recently vacated by Karl Littman. The seat is for the 4th Precinct, which covers the boundary of Sturgis north of East Chicago Road and east of North Prospect Street. To qualify for consideration, prospective applicants must be a registered voter in the 4th Precinct. Correspondence with name, address, phone number, …

Lockport Township resident Rick Shaffer has announced his candidacy for Second District St. Joseph County Commissioner. Shaffer has served as a county commissioner on two previous occasions. On the ballot during the Aug. 4 primary election, the second district seat will represent Florence and Lockport townships, part of Fabius Township, and part of the city of Three Rivers. It is …

The use of red-light cameras to issue traffic tickets would be banned in Michigan law under legislation that was approved Tuesday by the Senate and sent to the House for further consideration. Neither the state nor municipalities have the automated cameras that have been deployed elsewhere. In 2007, then-state Attorney General Mike Cox issued an opinion declaring them to be …

A Kalamazoo police officer fatally shot a man Sunday when that man fired a handgun toward officers, authorities said. The shooting happened about 10:30 a.m. after officers were called to a neighborhood south of the city’s downtown area about what the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety called “suspected criminal activity.” After officers arrived, the 33-year-old man from Battle Creek, fired …

Legislation headed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk would require county clerks to keep processing concealed pistol licenses during state-declared or locally declared emergencies. The Republican-sponsored bill, a response to what happened in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic struck and prompted government shutdowns, was approved Thursday by the House on a largely party-line 58-43 vote The sponsor, Sen. Lana Theis of Brighton, …

The Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday began voting to lift, for six months, Michigan’s 27.2-cents-a-gallon gasoline and diesel taxes amid pump prices that exceed $4 per gallon. GOP leaders announced the plan a day after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged Congress to suspend the 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax and 24.4-cent diesel tax. Her office did not embrace temporarily halting state fuel taxes, saying …

Michigan drivers with auto insurance will soon start getting previously announced $400 refunds per vehicle. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state’s top insurance regulator said Monday that a $3 billion transfer of surplus funds from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association to car insurers will be completed this week. The companies will have 60 days to issue the refunds — no …

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency is reporting that on Feb. 25, the CDC updated guidance for the general population regarding wearing masks indoors, as well as the requirement for facemasks on school buses and vans. These changes come as a result of the drop in COVID-19 cases in the country. Masks are no longer required on buses or vans …

A Three Rivers man, convicted of stealing catalytic converters in Hillsdale County in 2021, was sentenced to prison Monday in Hillsdale County Judicial Circuit Court. Yutthaphoom Khamphaeng, 34, pleaded guilty to receiving and concealing stolen property valued at more than $1,000, following his arrest in December 2021 on a warrant charging him with the crime and possession with intent to …