Thursday, May 16, 2013  3:05:13 PM

    STURGIS – Starting this fall, Sturgis High School students will be going to back to semesters.
    The Sturgis Board of Education was informed during their meeting this week that the change would go into affect starting with the 2013-2014 school year.
    Sturgis Superintendent Thomas Langdon says there were two main reasons for the change back to semesters.
    Assistant Superintendent Julie Evans says Principal Ron Ehlers and the High School staff really looked at every option before recommending going back to the semesters.
    For the last four years Sturgis High School students have been operating on a trimester schedule.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  3:04:03 PM

    LAKE PLEASANT - An Orland man was tasered Wednesday night as police tried to arrest him for allegedly being in possession of a one pot methamphetamine lab near Lake Pleasant.
    39-year-old Larry Wiseman Junior was charged with a Class B felony for manufacturing meth and a Class A misdemeanor for resisting law enforcement.
    According to Steuben County court records, Indiana State Police and a Steuben County Sheriff’s deputy were talking with a property owner who said a trespasser left behind a meth lab. Wiseman was identified as a suspect and he was spotted driving by. Police followed him to a nearby driveway. Eventually, police say Wiseman resisted and had to be tasered as he was being placed into custody.
    Wiseman was taken to Cameron Hospital before he was booked at the Steuben County Jail. None of the police officers involved were injured.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  11:55:48 AM

    UNDATED - A wage and benefits study of the four corner counties in northeast Indiana reveals some promising data.
    It says 86 percent of the companies reported hiring in the last six months, equaling about 1800 new jobs.
    57 percent planned to make new hires this year and more than one-third expect to continue hiring next year.
    On the wage side, 90 percent reported wage increases in the last twelve months, and nearly as many (85 percent) plan to increase wages again next year.
    The survey covered nearly 90 employers in LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and DeKalb Counties and was conducted by the economic development organizations in those counties.
    Sponsors included Indiana Michigan Power, Wabash Valley Power, NIPSCO, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, and the Northeast Indiana Workforce Investment Board.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  11:54:38 AM

    STROH - An attempt to serve an arrest warrant led to new charges against a couple in the Stroh area early Thursday morning.
    LaGrange County deputies and Indiana State Police went to a residence at 4095 South 1170 East at the request of Steuben County deputies.
    They had a warrant for 22-year-old Kayla Wallace charging her with possesion of meth, marijuana and paraphernalia.
    Wallace and 22-year-old Tyler Collins of Garrett were found at the residence. The officers noticed odors believed to be from controlled substances coming from the bedroom where the two were found.
    A search located suspected methamphetamine, marijuana and paraphernalia.
    Officers arrested Wallace on new charges of maintaining a common nuisance, possession of marijuana with a prior conviction, and possession of paraphernalia. They charged Collins with possession of meth, maintaining a common nuisance, and possession of paraphernalia.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  11:52:35 AM

    UNDATED - Three area men were arrested Wednesday on sex offenses.
    68-year-old Cecilio Trevino of Edwardsburg (MI) was arrested by LaGrange County sheriff’s deputies on a charge of child molesting.
    20-year-old Justin Persing of Sturgis was also lodged in the Lagrange County Jail on a sex offender registration violation.
    28-year-old Nicholas Krebs of Auburn was arrested in Hamilton for a sex offender registration violation.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  11:51:32 AM

    CENTREVILLE – St. Joseph County residents are being warned of a new phone scam.
    St. Joseph County Sheriff Brad Balk says his department was contacted Tuesday by a county resident who says they received a call at their home from a company called YHG, and they would be sending new Medicare cards out to the person.      
    YHG provided the name, address and account number off of a checking account belonging to the intended victim.  YHG advised this would cost the person 500 dollars, but they would be refunded 463 dollars.
    The resident was alert and did not provide any information to the caller, but questioned them instead.  YHG provided a verification phone number, but when the resident called that number, there was no answer.  The intended victim then called their bank and froze their account.
    Balk reminds everyone to please be aware of any company calling you.  Do not provide personal information over the telephone to anyone.
    If you feel you are being scammed, Balk says to contact your local police department and the Federal Trade Commission.

Thursday, May 16, 2013  11:50:31 AM

    CENTREVILLE – Three St. Joseph County Central Dispatch employees were recognized for their efforts in coordinating an investigation.
    Executive Director Jon Uribe (er-BEE) say just after 10 PM on April 24, Dispatch received a phone call from a man who reported seeing a domestic assault inside the Riverside Townhouse Apartment Complex in Three Rivers while he was driving by.  Approximately 20 minutes later, a silent panic alarm was reported at the BP Gas Station at 715 West Michigan Avenue for an armed robbery.
    Central Dispatch Staff Keli Bazant, Angela Guthrie and Yvonne Kline dismissed the domestic assault report as a diversion.  After doing a data search, they found the phone number the man called from was a residence at the Riverside Townhouses.
    After gathering further information, they determined that the suspect caller was also the robber at the BP station and he was heading for the Indiana Toll Road.
    For the next two hours, Bazant, Guthrie and Kline coordinated a tri-state search for the man with other law enforcement agencies.  Police located the abandoned vehicle in Chicago but the suspect has not yet been apprehended.
    Uribe says the intuition and expertise of Bazant, Guthrie and Kline greatly reflect upon themselves, their colleagues and all of Central Dispatch.

Saturday, May 11, 2013  7:34:37 AM

    FORT WAYNE - U.S. Attorney for Northern Indiana David Capp said on Friday that an Angola drug case led to the federal investigation that rounded up 18 suspects in northeast Indiana, Michigan and Las Vegas.
    The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports that Capp says 25-year-old Pedro Salud Rubio-Garcia started to share information with police after his arrest almost two years ago.
    A total of four Steuben County residents were indicted during the investigation.

Friday, May 10, 2013  9:26:38 AM

    STURGIS – Another step was taken Wednesday to reconstruct a Sturgis street.
    City Engineer Barry Cox presented a task order for 78 thousand, 500 dollars for Fleis and Vandenbrink Engineering to oversee the construction on the South Street improvement project.  They will serve as the onsite resident project representative during the reconstruction of the street between South Lakeview and South Nottawa.  Milbocker and Sons of Allegan will actually be doing the construction.
    Commissioner Mike Gay voiced a concern about the City using Fleis and Vandenbrink. He went on to say that he would like to see how much the city is paying Fleis and Vandenbrink on an annual basis for their services.  He says that Sturgis should be bidding out for these jobs instead of using Fleis and Vandenbrink all the time.
    City Manager Mike Hughes says he has no problems with doing a request for quotes process for the 10 year road construction project, but he also sees the need for using someone familiar with city.
    After some more discussion, the commission approved the task order request by a unanimous vote.

Friday, March 01, 2013  14:33:23

    LAKE JAMES - Innovation in Motion, Aptica LLC and David Ballinger from Farmers State Bank were honored on Friday during the 13th annual Angola Area Chamber of Commerce Business Expo.
    Ballinger was named the Chamber’s Business Professional of the Year. The award honors a business person every year for their positive impact on the community.
    Innovation In Motion was named the Chamber’s Business of the Year which honors a business for growth, excellence in leadership and increased productivity.
    Aptica earned the Customer Service Excellence Award which recognizes a business and its staff for successfully demonstrating quality customer and client service.
    Cameron Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Burns delivered the keynote speech entitled "The Case for Strategy in the Middle of Tumultuos Times." Part of his speech touched on the decisions hospital officials had to make in recent years concerning the construction of the new hospital and the steps in securing financing from the U-S-D-A.

Friday, March 01, 2013  14:31:22

    GOSHEN - A Goshen cabinet maker announced plans today to add 76 new jobs by year’s end.
    MasterBrand Cabinets will expand its facility on Eisenhower Drive and invest more than half-a-million dollars there.
    The expansion, which is expected to be completed by the end of March, will include the installation of a new miter cell, shaping and finishing equipment, an oven and additional tools to facilitate assembly.
    The company already employs 780 in Goshen.
    The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc. up to $350,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $80,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans.