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Members of the Sturgis Fire Department were dispatched last week to a house fire in the 200 block of North Fourth Street. The blaze was reported at 3:19 p.m. Friday. Firefighters arrived on the scene to discover smoke coming from a two-story residence. Neighbors reported no one was in the home. Fire crews deployed two hose lines and entered the …

An 84-year-old Indiana man is in critical condition after he fell into a Cass County Lake last week. Sheriff’s officials said Paul Schafer, of Bremen, Ind., was in a floating lawn chair shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday on the west side of Diamond Lake. Dispatchers in Cassopolis were asked for assistance in the 61000 block of Lake Street after witnesses …

Officials at a Battle Creek high school say students won’t be allowed to have or use cellphones or cellphone-sized electronic devices during class. Lakeview High School Principal Jeff Bohl tells the Battle Creek Enquirer that teachers previously could set cellphone policies for classrooms, but that flexibility posed issues for some students and caused distractions in class. Bohl says educators found “some …

Authorities say an inmate who killed two bailiffs during a July 11 escape attempt from a southwestern Michigan courthouse wrote a letter to his ex-wife explaining that he was “going on the run” or would “die trying.” Details of the letter by 44-year-old Larry Darnell Gordon, as well as video and audio from courthouse cameras were revealed Friday during a …

Four people were reappointed to the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging Board this week. Members of the county commission voted Tuesday to renew the two-year terms of Margaret Shultz, Jon Withers and Steve Boland. Meanwhile, at-large appointee Joseph “Al” Heivilin was also reappointed, but to a one-year term. Shultz currently serves as chair of the COA board. County commissioner …

Centreville Public Schools is looking for a new junior high/high school principal, as Dennis Kirby announced his resignation to take a job outside the district. The 46-year-old Kirby, a Centreville High School alumnus, accepted the job of assistant middle school principal in Vicksburg. Centreville superintendent Rob Kuhlman said a committee of district staff and administrators will assemble to secure a …

St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners Chairman Allen Balog has assembled a six-person panel, called the Roads Committee, whose members will strive to improve roads throughout the county, according to a memo Balog distributed during Tuesday’s county commission meeting. A summary Balog provided states that the purpose of the Roads Committee is “to establish mutually acceptable responsibility and cooperation between …

Security at St. Joseph County’s historic courthouse and its courts building is in store for a significant enhancement following action this week by the county board of commissioners. The boost will cost more than $500,000 in personnel alone. Undersheriff Mark Lillywhite told commissioners Tuesday quotes regarding several other precautions – including external and internal security cameras, replacing glass and doors, …

Michigan’s jobless rate dipped to 4.6 percent in June, a slight drop from May but the lowest in 15 years. The state says it was the second consecutive monthly decline and the fourth so far this year. Jason Palmer, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, attributed the June decline to fewer people active in the …

A former western Michigan postal employee has been sentenced to two months in prison for opening mail belonging to other people. WZZM-TV reports 24-year-old Samantha Rose Gentz learned her punishment on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. She pleaded guilty in March to a charge of unlawfully opening mail from the route she worked in Muskegon County. She …