Government

St. Joseph County Commissioner Gerald Loudenslager has made official his decision to not run for re-election in November. Addressing his elected peers at the conclusion of Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Loudenslager confirmed media reports last week that he will not challenge Board Chairman Rick Shaffer for a newly drawn district created as a result of the county’s reapportionment. The …

The Three Rivers City Commission is back at full strength, as Larry Matson was sworn into the post Tuesday. After taking the oath of office from city clerk Lindsay Howes, the 68-year-old Matson took his seat to the seven-member panel. Matson, a longtime former member of the Three Rivers Zoning Board of Appeals, is filling the seat left vacant by …

More than 1,000 pigs died over the weekend when three adjacent barns on a property near Bronson, in Branch County, were destroyed by fire. The incident was reported about 4 a.m. Saturday in the 1200 block of Kibiloski Road. Two pole barns, each measuring 40-by-120 feet, were engulfed in flames when fire personnel arrived, Branch County emergency officials said. A …

Deputies with the St. Joseph County Sheriff Department responded Sunday morning to a single-vehicle accident in the 6100 block of Constantine Road. A 37-year-old White Pigeon man told police he had left his truck and trailer parked along the St. Joseph River, with the trailer still in the water while he took his boat downriver to go fishing. The truck …

St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Department Director John Pence said Meyer Broadway Park, located west of Three Rivers, has reopened to the public after a public-safety issue involving what was initially six stray dogs. St. Joseph County Animal Control and county park staff have seen no sign of three remaining dogs that have been at large since a confrontation …

Four people were arrested Saturday following complaints of a chemical odor emitting from a room at a hotel in the 1700 block of South Centerville Road. Upon further investigation, Sturgis Police officials were denied access to the room because it was not in the name of the lone occupant. A search warrant, however, was secured from prosecutor John McDonough. Police …

Sturgis city officials said Balkema Excavating will begin water main construction on West South Street starting today, meaning detours will be in place. Westbound traffic on South Street, starting at South Nottawa, will be detoured north to Magnolia Avenue, then south on Prairie and back to South Street. There will be one-way traffic eastbound only on South Street between Jefferson …

Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz announced that Jaren Wade was convicted of first-degree murder last week by a Cass County jury. The 12-member jury found that the 21-year-old Wade murdered Darius Nickens, 29, in April 2011 in Dowagiac. Trial testimony established that Nickens was shot once in the arm and twice in the back. The jury also convicted Wade of …

Authorities say a 64-year-old man has been killed in an early morning fire at his Kalamazoo home.  The Kalamazoo public safety department says in a news release that officers arrive at 1:30 a.m. Saturday and found the house engulfed in flames.  It was extinguished several hours later, and the man’s body was found.  No one else lived in the house. …

Fire officials from the Michigan State Police are continuing to investigate the cause of a fire Tuesday that destroyed the Trilium building, in the 26000 block of West U.S. 12. Located in unincorporated Sturgis Township, the building was fully engulfed in flames as personnel from the Tri-Township and city of Sturgis fire departments arrived shortly after 8 p.m. The fire …