Curious about the Michigan Department of Transportation’s list of projects?  Then you’ll want to attend the ‘Early Bird Breakfast’ on Wednesday, May 29th, sponsored by the Three Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce. MDOT will provide an update on current and future projects and take time for questions. The event will be held at the Three [...]

DOWAGIAC – The Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Dr. Stacy Horner as the dean of the college’s Niles Campus. The announcement came during the board’s regular meeting Monday night. Dr. Horner, who has held the position of chair of the college’s School of Business since 2007, was also named dean [...]

Construction of a nearly five-mile, two-lane US-131 bypass of Constantine – a project that began on February 4th – continues to move forward with a target of completion in November 2013. The $18 million project includes a new, 870-foot bridge over the St. Joseph River near Riverside Drive, on the southwest side of the village. [...]

The South County Research Project conducted by the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging has concluded with the release of the Community Survey.  This research process included 7 focus groups representing businesses, church and civic groups, seniors, healthcare, Doyle and Thurston Woods, underserved populations, and municipalities representing the  South County region.  A public forum was [...]

Constantine Village Manager Mark Honeysett introduced a memo at Monday’s (May 20) meeting of the Constantine Village Council with information about a new Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) grant that applies strictly to sewer systems. In the memo, Jon Moxey of Fleis & Vandenbrink Engineering said there had been recent legislation approving a Stormwater, [...]

The Three Rivers Community School Board of Education has given the go-ahead for redoing the tennis courts at Three Rivers High School. The approval came Monday evening (May 20) as the board accepted the recommendation of Kingscott Associates of Kalamazoo to enter into a contract with Quality Asphalt, Inc. of Homer, Michigan, the low bidder [...]

If you’re concerned about ‘political dysfunction’ here in our country and elsewhere in the world, you may be interested in an opinion piece by E.J. Dionne Jr. that was published Sunday (May 19th) in The Washington Post.  Here’s a link that will take you to it: Political dysfunction spells trouble for democracies. Within the Dionne [...]

Tuesday evening (May 21) promises to be a busy one for the Three Rivers City Commission. The agenda for the session includes four public hearings and eight items of business.  Even the ‘consent agenda’, generally handled with a single action, lists a dozen items including two related to the Three Rivers Water Festival in June. [...]

There’s encouraging news from ‘The Magic Capital of the World’ in the form of a Kalamazoo Gazette story by Jef Rietsma reporting on plans for rebuilding Curly’s this summer.  The longtime business was destroyed in a major fire in downtown Colon on March 8th. To access the story and learn more, click on the following [...]

Michigan’s Click It or Ticket campaign is getting a shot in the arm, so to speak, from new and light-hearted messaging that features a health care theme to alert motorists to stepped-up enforcement.  The campaign introduces a make-believe condition called Buckle-phobia. “The clinically proven solution?  The seat belt.  Recent studies show that wearing one inside [...]

Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed Dr. Michael Nassaney of Western Michigan University (WMU) to fill a vacancy on the Michigan Freedom Trail Commission, which preserves and promotes the legacy of the Underground Railroad’s Freedom Trail in Michigan. For more on the story from WMU News, click here. To access an earlier River Country Journal story about Dr. [...]

‘Historic preservation’ is a topic of great interest to me.  That being the case, it was a joy to tune in the CBS Sunday Morning program on Sunday (May 19) and discover that the ‘Cover Story’, reported by Tracy Smith, was a feature that – among other things – focused on the successful efforts some [...]

Monday, May 13th brought the dedication and opening of the Dowagiac Area History Museum. The 4,000-square-foot facility – located at 201 East Division Street – is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. To learn more about the museum, click on the following link [...]

Six ‘Action Items’ are on the agenda for the Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education meeting Monday evening (May 20): Consent Agenda Handbook Adoptions Award of Bid for Tennis Court Improvements Teacher Tenure Attainments Non-Probationary Contract Renewal Recommendation Resolution – St. Joseph County ISD Board Election 2013. Only one item appears under the ‘Reports’ [...]

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon (May 21) has the potential for being a brief one. The agenda for the gathering shows no items of Old Business or New Business. To view the agenda, click here. Tuesday’s meeting will be held in the Commission Room of the Historic Courthouse [...]

There’s a light agenda for the Constantine Village Council meeting scheduled for Monday evening (May 20). Under ‘Consent Agenda’ are routine reports from the Village Manager, Police, DPW, and Fire. There’s only one item under ‘Unfinished Business’ – Mayor Exchange Day. Two items appear under the ‘New Business’ heading – Bathroom Facility Fee and Traffic [...]

(Coldwater, MI) - The week before Memorial Day (May 20–26, 2013) is Recreational Water Illness and Injury (RWII) Prevention Week. Every year, thousands of Americans get sick with recreational water illnesses (RWIs), which are caused by germs found in places where we swim. The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency wants to remind swimmers and pool owners [...]

The Department of Natural Resources has announced a new section of its website that will help inexperienced anglers find great spots to go fishing in Michigan. The Family Friendly Fishing Waters section of the website will connect interested individuals with local fishing opportunities. The Family Friendly Fishing Waters website can be found at www.michigan.gov/fishing and [...]

Natural gas-fueled power plant key to clean, affordable and reliable energy in region State Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, chair of the Michigan House Energy and Technology Committee, on Friday (May 17) hosted legislators for a tour of the 1,100-megawatt Covert Generating Facility near Covert. “The Covert Generating Facility is an excellent example of a clean, [...]

Upton cosponsors legislation to criminalize IRS discrimination against taxpayers WASHINGTON, DC – Following the exposure of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) actions that targeted conservative-leaning organizations, Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, is demanding stronger protections for American taxpayers by making it a crime for IRS employees to engage in targeted discrimination.  Upton is a cosponsor of [...]