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Michigan’s apple growers will harvest nearly 29 million bushels of apples this year, according to the official crop estimate announced Friday at the USApple Outlook meeting in Chicago. Officials say the 28.74 million bushels estimate is in line with the 2013 crop, which was a record size crop of 30 million bushels. Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee, says …

 St. Joseph County is looking for a new engineer/manager, as Christopher Bolt turned in his resignation Wednesday. The action came after the five-member road commission board met in executive session to discuss personnel matters. Bolt, 44, joined the road commission in January 2012. He said the board is choosing to go in a different direction and he has the utmost …

 Officials from Berrien County-based Edgewater Resources were on hand Wednesday in Three Rivers to present an overview of a river-trail master plan and field input from the group of about 30 people in attendance. County commission chair John Dobberteen made clear the intent of the proposed plan. He said any place in the county where a boat can float, the …

Ron Drzewicki’s employment as superintendent of Mason Public Schools is official, as the district’s board of education voted this week to offer a contract. The 50-year-old Drzewicki has served the past six years as superintendent of White Pigeon Community Schools. He was one of 23 applicants for the job as head of the 3,100-student district 15 miles south of Lansing. …

A new director for the St. Joseph County Conservation District was named this week. The employment of Carolyn Grace, a Three Rivers resident and former teacher at Hoppin Elementary, was approved by the conservation district board Wednesday. Grace, 50, has a degree in environmental education. She previously was employed as program director at YMCA Camp Eberhard following a 20-year career in …

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners approved filling the position of Geographic Information System cartographer. The opening was created by virtue of a resignation. In another matter during Tuesday’s meeting, the five-member panel approved the hiring of a probation officer, as Jon Marcus has announced his resignation effective Aug. 29. The position pays $38,000 and it is to be …

Keeping with a successful formula, the Kalamazoo Wings will have a duel National Hockey League affiliation for the 2014-15 season. The K-Wings renewed their affiliation agreement with the Vancouver Canucks and have entered a new two-year agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets. These agreements mark the fifth time in the past six seasons the K-Wings will have a dual affiliation. …

The Deer Forest Exotic Animal Sanctuary in southwest Michigan is closing at the end of this season. The announcement was made Tuesday morning, a day after an arrest warrant was issued in Illinois for Jon Stolarz, one of the park’s operators for failing to appear in court in that state in an animal cruelty case.  He and his wife blame …

  HI! My name is Patsy and I am a female tri-color beagle who has already been spayed. I’m about one year old and am a very sweet little girl. I’m not very big – about 23 pounds – so I can fit in with your family very nicely. Being here makes me pretty stressed out so I would like …

  The courts building of the St. Joseph County Courthouse will soon receive attention in hopes of a remedy from perpetual humidity. Members of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners Tuesday agreed to a $13,000 expense for the architect and engineer firm Tower Pinkster. A separate arrangement for $2,300 was reached with HVAC contractor C.L. Mahoney Co. of Kalamazoo …