From the Associated Press — Justin Amash has left the Republican Party over his opposition to President Donald Trump, and Democrats are celebrating. The Michigan congressman’s departure means a three-way race in his politically shifting Grand Rapids-area
The Benton Harbor City Commission has given final approval to nearly $1 million in street repairs for this year. At a Monday meeting, a bid of $990,000 was approved for Kalin Construction to do the 2019 street
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is seeking some college students to serve on her office’s new Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force. The force is intended to make recommendations for improving voter engagement among college students. Benson
A woman who walked all the way around Lake Michigan and wrote a book about the experience will be making a presentation in Bridgman on Thursday. Loreen Niewenhuis took the trek in 2009, and has since toured
A new campaign to educate the public about marijuana has been launched by the Berrien County Health Department. Spokesperson Gillian Conrad tells WSJM News The Dirt on Weed features a new website, billboards, radio ads, social media
From the Associated Press — Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has appointed a former U.S. homeland security official to oversee the state’s efforts related to immigration. Fayrouz Saad worked at the Department of Homeland Security during Barack Obama’s
Thirteen months is all it took for the Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan to pay off its mortgage loan on the new Yeager Family Pet Shelter. The organization says on June 9, 2018, the debt was over
UPDATE: The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office says the search has ended for 84-year-old Chuck Hazard of Grand Junction. He had last been seen around 4:20 a.m. Saturday in the Hastings area, and had admitted he was
Gas prices are up over last week in just one state: Michigan. Triple-A says the statewide average rose 6¢ a gallon over the past week to $2.70, with Ann Arbor’s $2.79 being the highest and Traverse City’s
Police are asking for help trying to find a missing 84-year-old Grand Junction man with dementia. The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office says Chuck Hazard was last seen in the Hastings area between Kalamazoo and Lansing around
There will be no charges filed in the July 28, 2018 fire at the Cosmo Extended Stay motel in Benton Township that killed a woman and five of her children between the ages of 2 and 10.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is bringing attention to the state’s child support system now that Governor Gretchen Whitmer has declared this to be Child Support Month. Department spokesperson Bob Wheaton tells us nearly
A grand reopening of the historic Chapin Mansion in Niles will be held this coming week now that a rehabilitation project for the landmark is complete. Niles History Center Director Christina Arseneau tells WSJM News improvements have
Three people are in the Cass County Jail thanks to a sheriff’s department K-9. Faust tracked a 19-year-old man from Edwardsburg, a 30-year-old Niles woman, and a third suspect about four-and-a-half miles from a home in the
The American Cancer Society is looking for some volunteer drivers to take cancer patients to medical appointments. The organization’s Mindy Klein tells WSJM News the Road To Recovery program helps patients have one less thing to worry
The Pokagon Fund has awarded a $5,000 grant to the United Way of Southwest Michigan to expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Harbor Country. The United Way says this means more kids under the age of five
Michigan State Police have begun Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign for Labor Day. It started Wednesday, and now extra police patrols are out on the roads watching out for drunk drivers. The three week Labor
The Berrien County Parks Department is planning its next meeting to hear from the public on its five year parks plan. The department says the plan covers the developments planned at all county parks from 2020 through
Rolling into St. Joseph this coming week will be the YMCA’s Veggie Van, courtesy of Spectrum Health Lakeland. Spectrum’s Kelsey Haynes tells WSJM News the Veggie Van is a mobile farmer’s market loaded up with fresh fruits
State officials are proposing the creation of a Community Engagement and Advisory Committee to be tasked with assessing problems at Benton Harbor Area Schools and then coming up with recommendations to fix them. At a Friday meeting
From the Associated Press — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is spending $3.7 million to remove copper mining waste rock from a Lake Superior harbor where it threatens an important fish spawning area. Waste known as stamp
Local experts say the latest changes to federal immigration laws would have damaging ripple effects on Michigan’s immigrant families. Under the new rule, legal immigrants who are applying for green card status would be denied if they’ve
Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Laesch has received an award for her work on behalf of the community as the sheriff’s department crime prevention coordinator. The department says Laesch got the Joe D. Sutton Call to Justice
Berrien County property owners are being reminded their summer tax bills are due soon. Berrien County Treasurer Bret Witkowski tells WSJM News all but two taxing units in the county have a due date of September 16
From the Associated Press — Off-road vehicle enthusiasts can explore Michigan’s 3,700 miles of trails and five “scramble” areas that are open to them for no charge this weekend. All rules pertaining to ORVs still apply. But
Police have an arson and assault suspect locked up in the Van Buren County Jail. South Haven police and county sheriff’s deputies were called to a car fire on Center Street in Bangor early Friday morning, and
Several state officials, including new state Superintendent Michael Rice, will be in Benton Harbor today for a meeting with the Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education. Rice is on record opposing the Whitmer administration’s proposal to
From the Associated Press — Michigan’s attorney general has approved $1.3 million in compensation for a 61-year-old man who spent nearly three decades in prison before being exonerated in the arson-related deaths of his wife and two
It’s back to school time, and while parents are buying backpacks, pencils, and notebooks for their kids, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is also hoping they’ll add vaccinations to their checklists. Spokesperson Lynn Sutfin
The Berrien County Board of Commissioners has approved its operational objectives for 2019 and 2020. The document was approved unanimously at a Thursday meeting. It comes out of strategic planning sessions held in the early part of
