Local News Archives

State Senator Kim LaSata has introduced legislation designed to ensure students at Benton Harbor High School still receive their promise zone scholarships if circumstances cause them to graduate from another high school in the area. LaSata says

The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission is conducting a water quality survey this summer in Berrien and Cass counties, and everyone’s asked to take a few minutes to respond. Associate planner Kris Martin tells the overall goal is

LGBTQ state lawmakers and their supporters this week introduced an amendment to the state’s Civil Rights Act to add protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in Michigan. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, passed in 1976, makes

The Pokagon Fund has announced more than $300,000 in grants to organizations around southwest Michigan and northwest Indiana. In total, $313,000 was approved by the Pokagon Fund Board of Directors at the fund’s final quarterly meeting of

The city of South Haven is welcoming a new assistant finance director and a new human resources director. It says Carol Stricklin is now the assistant finance director. She’s currently the lead accountant for South Haven Public

From the Associated Press — Wet spring weather has pushed Lake Erie’s water level to its highest point ever recorded. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday the shallowest of the Great Lakes hit the milestone

St. Joseph’s Jordan Brewer is headed to the Houston Astros system. The University of Michigan baseball star was selected by Houston in the third round of the 2019 MLB amateur draft this week. Brewer graduated from St.

A bill which would give as many as 2.5 million undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship is now headed to the U.S. Senate following passage this week by the House. The American Dream and Promise Act passed

Just as things come to a head for Benton Harbor Area Schools, its superintendent and CEO is leaving. The Farmington Public Schools Board of Education has approved a three-year contract with Robert Herrera to take over the

Indiana Michigan Power is going to use helicopters to conduct some routine maintenance on its transmission lines around southwest Michigan. I&M says the work will be done between Lakeville, Indiana and Bridgman starting this week and continuing

Police are looking for a man who robbed the Chicken Coop restaurant on M-139 in Benton Township just after 8:30 Tuesday night. The Benton Township Police Department says the suspect is a black man, around five-feet-eight, who

A Tuesday night meeting to talk about the fate of Benton Harbor High School took the form of a rally as the community did just that for its schools. Kicking things off was Benton Harbor Area Schools

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has heard the message coming out of Benton Harbor the past two weeks. At a Tuesday board of education meeting regarding the proposed closure of Benton Harbor High School, Whitmer spokesperson Poppy Hernandez read

Local advocates for the LGBTQ community are questioning Congressman Fred Upton’s vote on the Equality Act, which passed the House last month. The OutCenter’s Mary Jo Schnell tells WSJM News the act would amend the Civil Rights

In town this week to show support to Benton Harbor Area Schools as the state offers to wipe out some of its debt in exchange for closure of the high school is Chicago-based activist Jitu Brown with

Two new members have been added to the Berrien RESA Board of Education. On Monday, Dr. Michael Lindley of Grand Beach and Jon R. Martin of Niles were selected for the board during RESA’s biennial election. They’ll

Monday night’s meeting of the Benton Harbor City Commission nearly ended with the entire agenda being tabled due to an issue with a possible sale of city-owned property at 200 Paw Paw. Mayor Pro Tem Duane Seats

The City of South Haven is getting closer to a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for a grant for the Center Street project. The city council has set a public hearing during its June 17th

Despite being urged to attend by the community and school district leaders, Governor Whitmer is not making the trip to Benton Harbor High School tonight for a forum on the future of the high school. The meeting

Eight students from Dowagiac Union High School are now both high school and college graduates thanks to the Early Middle College program at Southwestern Michigan College. The eight became their high school’s first class to complete the

Video Playback Not Supported <iframe class=’wpb_videoplayer video-single-player-iframe’ allowfullscreen scrolling=’no’ width=’600′ height=’330′ frameborder=’0′ src=’https://www.wsjm.com/wp-content/plugins/wpb-video/wpb-video-embed/wpb-video-embed.php?blogid=321&id=64661&flag_call=singleVideo&playerid=fbqwxde&player_slug=wsjm-com-stories&chkFlagFrom=meta_insert_video’></iframe> Over 100 in-need seniors are receiving free hearing aids thanks to multiple foundations and a local audiologist. Dr. Kasewurm’s Professional Hearing Services in St.

The Berrien County Democratic Party is taking a stance opposing Governor Whitmer’s administration regarding the plan to close Benton Harbor High School. The has passed a resolution urging the governor’s office and the Departments of Treasury and

Michigan State Police are encouraging everyone to make sure they have emergency kits for their pets. Spokesperson Dale George tells WSJM News while many families make sure to have those kits for themselves, the family pet is

From the Associated Press — A man has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for a July 2018 crash that killed a newlywed couple in western Michigan near where they were married weeks earlier.

From the Associated Press — Lest We Forget has announced its war reenactment program for 2019. The St. Joseph-based organization says this year’s events will take place on June 22 and June 23 and feature guest speakers

From the Associated Press — Michigan officials have decided to allow solar panels for larger commercial solar arrays to be built on more farmland around the state. Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural

Police officers from across Michigan are in Lansing this week to take part in a homicide investigation training school. Michigan State Police Detective First Lieutenant Chuck Christensen with the Paw Paw post tells WSJM News  it runs

A new flu vaccine may be on the horizon that would target an area on the head of the flu virus. Part of the difficulty in developing a vaccine is that part of the flu virus changes.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer is pointing to the negotiations that led to the signing of reforms to the no-fault auto insurance system as proof Republicans and Democrats can find common ground in Lansing during this term. “I think