TODAY: Partly cloudy skies, then turning mostly cloudy by the afternoon. High of 55.

TONIGHT: Cloudy and breezy with a chance of showers. Low of 40.

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy and breezy with a chance of showers. High of 58.

THURSDAY: Cloudy and breezy with a chance of rain during the day. High of 56.

FRIDAY: Cloudy with showers likely and a high of 50.

SATURDAY: Cloudy with a chance of rain and a high of 49.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. High of 46.

Police Looking For Hit And Run Driver
3/9/2010 - 12:40 PM
Mike Stiles
(WHITE PIGEON TOWNSHIP) – Police are looking for a person involved in a hit and run accident. The St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department was called to Sevison Road north of Fawn River Road just after 10 PM Monday. Deputies says 42 year old Jeffrey Buglione was driving north on Sevison Road through the curves when a southbound auto hit his vehicle, forcing it off the road and into some trees. The driver of the second vehicle never stopped to identify himself. The suspect vehicle is described as a smaller style pick up or SUV. Evidence left on Buglione's vehicle shows that the suspect vehicle is possibly white or another light color. Anyone with information on this accident is asked to call the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department at 467-9045.

Village Leaders Looking To Fill Rexam Building
3/9/2010 - 12:40 PM
Mike Stiles
(CONSTANTINE) – Constantine Village officials are hoping the Rexam building doesn't sit empty for long. Officials with Rexam Plastic Packaging announced in February that they would be closing their Constantine facility in December. Village Manager Mark Honeysett says he is getting help with from the St. Joseph County Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and from Michigan Works to market the facility and the workforce. Honeysett says the facility has a lot of positivites, including being relatively new, close location to U.S. 131, U.S.12 and the Indiana Toll Road, and having its own rail spur. Honeysett says an analysis of the Rexam workforce is being done to see what kind of training they have and could receive if a new business should move into the facility. The plant opened in 1972 and makes molded closures for soft drinks and bottled water. It currently employs 240 people.

Lakeland School Board Approves Retirement Buyout
3/9/2010 - 12:40 PM
Tim Murray
(LAGRANGE) – The Lakeland School Board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Lakeland Educators Association on a teacher retirement buyout plan Monday evening. The incentive is aimed at reducing the number of teacher layoffs the district is facing. Lakeland Superintendent Risa Herber says the document was negotiated with the teacher's bargaining unit last week. The buyouts will only be offered within a certain range of teachers. Only one teacher in the Lakeland district had indicated their intention to retire at the end of the school year prior to the buyout. The school board will hold a public work session on the budget March 22nd and has tentatively scheduled at meeting for March 29th to take action on cutting 630 thousand dollars from the general fund.

Sturgis Man Dies From Injuries
3/9/2010 - 8:50 AM
Mike Stiles
(STURGIS) – A February accident has claimed the life of a Sturgis man. Deputy Police Chief David Ives says 38 year old William Yake died Sunday from injuries suffered in a February 23 accident. Yake had been riding his off road vehicle at a high rate of speed on East Lafayette at 7:25 P.M. on February 23 when a dog is believed to have run into his path. Police found the dog dead in a ditch and Yake critically injured laying in the roadway. He was not wearing a helmet. Yake was taken to Sturgis Hospital and then flown to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo where he passed away.

Man Leads Police On High Speed Chase
3/9/2010 - 8:50 AM
Mike Stiles
(CENTREVILLE) – A St. Joseph County man is in jail after leading police on a high speed chase. Sheriff's Deputies initiated a traffic stop Saturday at 11 PM on Roberts Road near Gleason Road. The driver of the pickup, a 39 year old Three Rivers man, fled from deputies and led them on a high speed pursuit. The chase lasted 20 minutes, going through Constantine Township and into Cass County, where it was finally stopped by Cass County Sheriff's Deputies and the driver taken into custody. Charges are being sought in both St. Joseph and Cass Counties, including fleeing and eluding and driving while license suspended.

Council Approves Subsidy For Fawn River Crossing
3/9/2010 - 8:50 AM
Tim Murray
(LAGRANGE) – A divided LaGrange County Council voted to subsidize sewer and water rates at the Fawn River Crossing development from economic development funds Monday morning. The recommendation came from county commissioners in order to keep the rates for the fledgling industrial and commercial development competitive with Sturgis. Commissioner George Bachman says making those rates competitive is crucial to attract development at Fawn River Crossing. But Councilman Mike Strawser doesn't like the idea of an open-ended subsidy. Joe Pierce of the LaGrange Economic Development Corporation says it could be awhile before the subsidy is no longer needed. The council voted 3 to 2 to appropriate up to 78 thousand dollars per year for the rate subsidy from 200 thousand dollars in economic development income tax funds.

Habitat For Humanity Auction
3/9/2010 - 8:50 AM
Tim Murray
(LAGRANGE) – LaGrange County Habitat For Humanity's 15th annual benefit auction will be a one day affair this year. The local Habitat affiliate will hold its big auction on Friday, August 6th, at the Shipshewana Auction Barn. Past auctions featured a haystack supper and musical entertainment on Friday evening with the auction beginning on Saturday morning. This year's auction will begin at 3 P.M. on Friday, with the quilt auction scheduled to begin at 4 P.M. The auction will feature a one-of-a-kind quilt designed by Janice Nelson that includes many items related to Habitat's mission of "Building houses in partnership with god's people in need." The quilt was commissioned and donated by friends of LaGrange County Habitat For Humanity.

Cass County Car-Deer Collision
3/8/2010 - 8:50 AM
Mike Stiles
(UNDATED) – A car-deer collision sent a woman to the hospital. Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood says deputies were called to a crash just before 8 P.M. Saturday night on U.S. 12 just west of M-40. Sixty-six year old Owen Stewart of Bristol, Indiana was driving west on U.S. 12 when he struck a deer. Stewart was not injured, but his wife, 60 year old Dolly Stewart, received minor injuries in the crash. She was taken to Elkhart General Hospital for treatment. Underwood says seatbelts were worn by both of the Stewarts at the time of the crash, which remains under investigation.

Pursuit And Crash
3/8/2010 - 8:50 AM
Tim Murray
(WOLCOTTVILLE) – A South Bend man was hospitalized after leading police in Wolcottville on a pursuit just after midnight Saturday morning. A LaGrange County deputy attempted to stop Bruce Stahl for a traffic violation at 102 North Main in Wolcottville. They say Stahl sped away on State Road 9 before losing control in the curve on the south side of Rome City. Stahl's vehicle rolled over several times before coming to rest on its top. Firefighters had to extricate Stahl from the wreckage, and he was flown by Samaritan to Parkview Hospital with unspecified injuries. Police will seek charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, operating a vehicle with a lifetime suspension, and operating while intoxicated.

Stutzman Straw Poll
3/8/2010 - 8:50 AM
Tim Murray
(WARSAW) – The results of a straw poll taken during a tea party event in Warsaw Saturday were encouraging for Marlin Stutzman's Senate campaign. A debate among four Republican candidates for U-S Senate was followed by the vote, and Howe's Stutzman came in first with 80 votes according to the South Bend Tribune. Fisher's businessman Richard Behney was second with 76. Don Bates of Richmond got 47 tea party votes. Former Congressman John Hostettler received 18 and for Senator Dan Coats came in last with 16 votes. The Tribune said about 400 people attended the debate and 237 participated in the straw poll. The results may indicate how the conservative Tea Party movement and conservative Republicans are viewing the race.

Survey: Mich. school districts bracing for layoffs
3/8/2010
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A new survey says 86 percent of Michigan's public school districts expect to have layoffs in the coming year. The survey to be released Monday by an advocacy group says 21 percent of school districts expect to close at least one school building. The report will be released by a coalition of education groups called Save our Students, Schools and State. The state cut school funding by a minimum of $165 per student this academic year. Districts are worried cuts will be even deeper in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 because of Michigan state government's budget problems.

Report: Many Indiana nursing homes understaffed
3/8/2010
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indianapolis Star has found that many of Indiana's nursing homes employ fewer critical staff members than are needed to care for their often frail residents. The newspaper found that staffing levels are particularly low at the state's large number of for-profit nursing homes. The Star also found that those for-profit nursing homes dominate the ranks of Indiana's most poorly performing homes.
The newspaper reviewed thousands of pages of nursing home documents and analyzed data compiled by regulators and provided by the industry. Its investigation found a system that tolerates nursing homes that skimp on quality to maintain profits. It found that pay and benefits are low, especially in for-profit homes, for the grueling work of caring for elderly and frail residents.