LAGRANGE, Indiana — The LaGrange County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police arrested Jessie Lee Moore, of rural Orland, after searching his property at 10110 E 800 N in LaGrange County, WANE television news reported.Two more men are being sought while police are looking into thefts and drug activity along the Michigan-Indiana border counties over the last several months.During the search of the property just south of the state line, police [...]
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One more arrest, two more sought in thefts
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Bacteriological contamination of inland lakes
The many beautiful lakes in Branch and Hillsdale counties provide excellent recreational opportunities for swimming and fishing. There are also potential homesites on some of these lakes. In the past, people built their homes in lakeside locations where a municipal sewer system was not available yet building took place anyway because on-site, subsurface septic systems could be installed. This is still the case today and standards for engineering proper on-site sewage disposal systems are [...]
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Tip-Up begins Thursday
OSSEO — Despite a lack of ice due to warm temperatures over the past couple of weeks, the Hillsdale County Conservations Club’s annual Tip-Up Festival will go on as scheduled.This year’s festival begins Thursday with the annual Euchre tournament beginning at 7 p.m. at the clubhouse, located at 3835 S. Bird Lake Road.The Tip-Up mayor this year — chosen by member votes — is Russel Dalton of North Adams.Fishing and hunting contests will [...]
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Bassage charged with cop impersonation
COLDWATER — Jasen Bassage likes playing cops. Because of his latest incident, he may be headed to prison for a probation violation.Bassage, 43, was charged with twice impersonating an officer on June 30, 2016, three weeks after he was placed on probation for possession of meth. He had been arrested in October 2015 on Butcher Road. He admitted he purchased meth components to trade for heroin when he was sentenced last June to two years probation.According to the probable [...]
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Split vote rehires auditors
COLDWATER — The new Branch County Commission, in its first key vote of the year, rehired current auditors, Abraham & Gaffney, for three more years in a 3-2 vote.The contract through 2018 is for $104,200.Commissioner Don Vrablic said rehiring the firm “is more than just comfort. We have new staff in the drain office, relatively new staff in the treasurer’s office.”He said it was the recommendation of the treasurer — his wife, Ann [...]
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Driver seriously injured
BETHEL TOWNSHIP — John Bertich, 34, of Coldwater suffered serious head and internal injuries after he crashed his vehicle into a tree at the dead end of Batavia Road Tuesday around 8 p.m.Bertich was headed south on Batavia Road when he ran the stop sign at the Central Road tee intersection, and hit a tree. He was pinned in his vehicle and had to be extricated by the Bronson Fire Emergency Medical Responders.Bertich was not wearing his safety belt at the time of the crash [...]
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Interact Club announces upcoming event
COLDWATER — On Monday, the Coldwater Board of Education voted to make trustee Nick Krzeminski vice president of the board and Ronald Lanford a trustee in place of the open position left after former vice president James Hiscock resigned. In other news, the board approved the 2017-18 school year calendar with a before-Labor Day start date. All districts within the county must approve the early start date for the upcoming school year.As of the Monday meeting, Quincy [...]
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February Planning Commission meeting delayed
COLDWATER — Because of quorum issues, the Coldwater Planning Commission will delay its February meeting from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20 of the month, Coldwater Interim City Manager Keith Baker said.During that time, NRP Properties of Cleveland and its developer, Mary Hada, will take the extra time to make some modifications in the proposal for apartments on the 9.25 acres optioned from Coldwater Community Schools.To go forward, the land would need to be rezoned from single-family [...]
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Kellett sent for evaluation
COLDWATER — Branch County District Court Judge Brent Weigle signed an order sending Harry Kellett, 61, to the Michigan Forensic Center in Ypsilanti for a psychiatric evaluation.At the request of the Branch County prosecutor and defense attorney J. R. Colbeck, doctors will determine his competency and if he were criminally responsible at the time of his arrest.Kellett was arrested in an apartment, north of the Willows, on Dec. 29, charged with home invasion third degree [...]
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Michigan has work to do to
LANSING — The American Lung Association's "State of Tobacco Control" report (http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/tobacco/reports-resources/sotc/) has found that in 2016 Michigan failed to do enough to implement proven-effective policies that would save lives. The 15th annual report grades states and the federal government on policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use. The report shows that most states and the federal government earned poor grades. Michigan has not increased the age of [...]
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Lakeland Prison back in Coldwater
COLDWATER — Lakeland Prison, and the surrounding 389.5 acres are back in the city of Coldwater after approval of resolutions by the city council and Coldwater township board.The final legal description does not include the 21.4 acres of township park which is the Creal AYSO Soccer fields, nor does it include 5.9 acres owned by Branch County where the Altrusa Teen Share housing units are located.The transfer undoes a 2000 “detachment” of the prison land to [...]
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Fugitives found in Indiana
ANGOLA, Ind. — Two wanted men sought as part of a state-line string of thefts are in custody, after tips to police.Fort Wayne Police captured Jeremy Tuttle, 31, before midnight on Wednesday driving a vehicle stolen from Steuben County (Indiana) last month.Aaron Robert Loffer, 23, was arrested at a home in Angola, Indiana, Wednesday afternoon.Loffer and Seth Danning, 23, were identified on Jan. 19 as the two men who stole a 1995 Chevrolet pick-up truck from a [...]
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Public welcomed to join celebration
BRONSON — An open house will be held at the Bronson Fire Department from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday to honor Ken Stutzman for his 50 years of service with the fire department. The public is welcomed and encouraged to join the celebration.
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Mastronardi gains positive publicity for Coldwater
COLDWATER — Thanks to a Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development commissioned article, the Mastronardi greenhouses in Coldwater are receiving publicity around the Midwest and in the produce industry because of its state-of-the-art production methods.In New Wave, Model D and produce magazines, it promotes the two greenhouses, comprised over 60 acres, which relies on a variety of technologies, including grow lights and LED research lighting to control temperature, [...]
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Crowdfunding Campaign launched
BRONSON — Earlier this week, the City of Bronson announced the launch of crowdfunding campaign, through Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity, to raise funds to complete the final phase of Memorial Park — in honor of longtime city mayor Thomas Rissman — in downtown Bronson. If the campaign goal of $12,500 is reached by March 10, a matching grant will be provided to the city by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places program. The [...]
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Liquor thief joins brother in prison
COLDWATER — James Sandusky, 31, will join brother Jeremy, 40, in Michigan prison after Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady imposed 16 months to five years for organized retail fraud.Judge O’Grady sentenced Jeremy to 23 months to five years for organized retail fraud, theft of more than $9,000 in liquor from stores in this area.Both Elkhart, Indiana brothers face charges in multiple counties in Indiana and Michigan for the same crime. James [...]
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Another arrest in Lakeland Prison drug smuggling probe
COLDWATER — Michigan State Police charged former Lakeland inmate Charles Dale, 64, with introducing contraband — the drug Suboxone — into the prison on two dates in April 2016.The Warren resident was transferred to the Branch County Jail from Macomb County where he is being held under a $100,000 bond on the five-year felony.The probable cause affidavit said the charge came from an investigation by Det.Sgt. Heather Lass of “a trafficking ring pushing [...]
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Branch County in top 20 for jobs
LANSING — The numbers are in for 2016, and unemployment for Branch County averaged 4.5 percent for last year.December was down to 4.2 percent but above the low of 3.8 percent in September when schools reopened for the year, according to Dr. Leonidas Murembya, Michigan Coordinator of Regional Economic Research, Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic InitiativesBranch County is in the top 20 for the state, in employment, behind St. Joseph and Kalamazoo at 3.4 [...]
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Trump treasury pick Mnuchin misled Senate on foreclosures, Ohio cases show
President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. treasury secretary was untruthful with the Senate during the confirmation process, documents uncovered by The Dispatch show.
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BISD, county winners in latest state funding
LANSING — It was Christmas in January for townships, some school boards, and various other agencies as the Local Community Stabilization Authority Council doled out more of its $445 million in shared tax revenues.Branch County Commissioners received another $134,764 after it received an unexpected payment of $249,737 from the November allocation.The authority was created when Proposal 1 passed, which cut small business personal property taxes for businesses below $80,000 [...]
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