By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — 2024, like any other year, had its highs and its lows when it came to the top news stories of the year.
As we wrap up 2024 and look ahead to 2025, we take a look back at 10 of the most notable stories that we reported on in 2024, in no particular order.
Tornadoes hit county in May, August
One of the biggest stories to come out of the county this year was Mother Nature wreaking havoc on several areas of the county on a couple of occasions.
The biggest of those occasions happened on May 7, when a confirmed EF-2 tornado touched down at 5:41 p.m. on the south side of Centreville and tracked northeast, passing north of Colon before crossing into Branch County near Havens and Goodrich Lake. The tornado reportedly lifted and weakened south of the Union Lake area.
The tornado, which had a peak wind speed of 130 miles per hour, caused extensive damage to trees and center pivot irrigation systems along the track, with the most significant damage occurring from the area north of Colon to north of Sherwood. Several homes in that part of the storm lost roofs and/or walls, with widespread damage along the entirety of its path. The storm also leveled a pole barn owned by Nottawa Gas next door to its store in Centreville, debris from which flew over more than a quarter-mile radius.
At its peak intensity, the NWS confirmed that the May event was a multi-vortex tornado.
A state of emergency was declared by the county and the state the night of the storm, with disaster assistance being made available in July.
However, the area was not done with tornadic activity after that. Just before 8 a.m. on Aug. 6, another confirmed EF-2 tornado touched down near Lewis Lake and traveled southeast to the north side of Three Rivers, with an estimated peak wind speed of 115 miles per hour.
Damage from the August tornado was highlighted by the roof of the Team Manufacturing and Supply building on North Main Street being heavily damaged, with portions of its rubberized roof and other materials strewn about in a near quarter-mile radius, including a large portion caught in a tree across from the Sto-N-Go storage facility. That debris was cleaned up weeks after the storm.
Other damage was reported west of Three Rivers in Fabius and Flowerfield Townships, with local primary elections somewhat affected in Flowerfield.
Only a couple non-life-threatening injuries were reported with the May tornado, while no injuries were reported from the August tornado.
Ken Linn found guilty of sexual assault
In the most high-profile court case of the year involving someone from St. Joseph County, former Fabius Township Supervisor Ken Linn was found guilty of a 2010 sexual assault in Kalamazoo County back on March 21 in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.
Linn was found guilty by jury of all four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a trial that lasted seven days and about three hours of jury deliberations. On April 16, Linn was sentenced to 225 months to 50 years in prison.
The incident Linn was found guilty of occurred on Aug. 14, 2010, when he sexually assaulted a then-22-year-old woman in her Portage apartment following a golf outing at Sauganash Country Club in Three Rivers. The woman, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s office, was physically helpless due to extreme intoxication at the time and was unable to give consent, with the sexually-penetrating acts – which constituted the four counts – resulting in physical injury.
The case was one of many that has been brought to the courts under the state’s sexual assault kit initiative (SAKI), which investigated sexual assaults related to previously-untested sexual assault evidence kits. The victim’s kit in this case was done the day after the incident, and wasn’t submitted for testing until 2016 as part of a statewide initiative. A suspect DNA profile was not developed at the time, and in October 2021, the kit was re-submitted and Linn’s DNA was found on the victim’s cervical smears, resulting in the charges against him.
Linn’s trial featured multiple witnesses testifying, including the victim, as well as several expert witnesses. During sentencing, Judge Kenneth Barnard said Linn had “killed” the victim’s innocence as a result of what he did.
“She was still youthful enough to think she could get drunk and she wouldn’t get sexually assaulted. She still was innocent enough to think these outstanding businessmen would never do anything to her. That innocence died, and you stomped it out, you killed it,” Barnard said.
The case is currently in the appeals process in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
New sheriff, prosecutor highlight 2024 elections in St. Joseph County
Voters in St. Joseph County voted for new leadership in two key county races during the August Republican primaries.
On Aug. 6, Chad Spence, a former St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department detective sergeant and current Career and Technical Education (CTE) Public Safety class instructor, won the Republican nomination for St. Joseph County sheriff over Undersheriff Jason Bingaman, while Deborah Davis, a former assistant prosecutor for the county, won the Republican nomination for St. Joseph County prosecutor, upsetting the incumbent David Marvin. Both ran unopposed in the November general election.
Spence replaces the embattled Mark Lillywhite as sheriff, who did not run for re-election amid his multiple controversies over the last couple years, while Davis will replace Marvin, who had fired Davis as an assistant prosecutor in January for allegedly lying to a judge, a charge Davis has denied.
“I’m happy for our county. I’m happy for all the citizens, because that’s what we’ve been about throughout this campaign,” Spence said back in August. “I’ve said it over and over, it’s not about me, it’s not about anybody but serving our citizens, so I’m very happy for our county.”
“I definitely owe it all to my voters that came out, and they spoke. When voters say there needs to be a change, and the number of people that show up for me that did, I really believe I’m in the right spot where I should be,” Davis said in August. “I’m going to help rebuild this prosecutor’s office and make it something to be really proud of.”
In other elections, Jeff Wenzel edged out Josh Harter to remain Drain Commissioner, Steve Carra defeated Erin Schultes for a third term in the Michigan House, Luis Rosado and Christina Yunker won elections for the Fourth and Fifth District County Commission seats, and four challengers in White Pigeon Township essentially flipped their township board in one of the more massive upsets in the county in the August primary.
In November, voters in the county voted in Kevin Kane to be the new probate court judge for the county, defeating Kelly Ward in the race for an open seat vacated by the aged-out David Tomlinson.
Flowerfield Township gives go-ahead for controversial gravel pit
In a process that took nearly half the year to be resolved, Flowerfield Township gave the green-light in June for a controversial gravel pit owned by the St. Joseph County Road Commission to move forward on Cranberry Lake Road.
The move came after the Road Commission purchased 65 acres of land off Cranberry Lake Road between Day Road and Bent Road in December 2023 for the purpose of putting a gravel operation in the area, citing a need for gravel in St. Joseph County as the main reason the operation was necessary.
Residents of the road heavily criticized and opposed the proposed operation, citing impacts to air quality, environmental impact and possible impact to property values and existing farmland, while also questioning whether there even was a shortage of gravel in the county. According to a geological report paid for by the Road Commission, the property holds approximately 1.24 million tons of gravel and sand.
Exchanges between residents and township planning commission members got heated at times during public hearings, with accusations by some residents that the planning commission and township board had already made up their minds while the hearings were going on. On the township’s side, there was a little bit of controversy when the township’s board two days prior to the planning commission’s May hearing on the subject, voted to remove board member Alan Pearson, who lives on Cranberry Lake Road, from the planning commission due to accusations of him not fully removing himself from discussions during prior votes regarding the gravel operation. He was replaced on the planning commission by board member Deb Spencer. Pearson eventually lost re-election to the township board in the August Republican primary.
Ultimately, over about three days of public hearings over three months, the township’s planning commission approved all three recommendations put forth regarding the gravel operation, with the township board approving all three recommendations on June 11.
According to the 80-year site plan, there are three areas that will be mined during the lifespan of the operation. The first site, toward the front of the property, is expected to produce 45 years’ worth of gravel, approximately 680,000 tons of material. The second site toward the northwest corner of the property, will generate approximately 260,000 tons of material in 15 years, and the third site, in the northeast corner, is expected to generate 300,000 tons of material in the final 20 years of the site. Gravel processing is also only expected to take place four weeks every five years.
Lawsuits against both the township’s board and Planning Commission, as well a separate appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision, were filed in May in St. Joseph County 45th Circuit Court by Lara and Craig Mahr and Janice and John Kindig respectively, however both cases were dismissed in November and December.
Judge rules Lockport/Park 425s invalid for Lowry property; Lowry continues to seek annexation of land into city
A new annexation and land transfer battle between Lockport Township and the City of Three Rivers also took center stage in 2024, as a St. Joseph County judge ruled on Oct. 1 that the Public Act 425 land transfer agreements between Lockport Township and Park Township regarding a 38-acre property on Buckhorn Road in Lockport Township owned by Three Rivers mayor Tom Lowry were invalid.
The ruling was made in St. Joseph County Circuit Court following a bench trial in Lowry v. Lockport Township, which sought the invalidation of the two land transfers, with Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman stating that because the first land transfer agreement in April 2023 wasn’t rescinded before the second land transfer agreement between the two townships was done in November, he declared the second land transfer “null and void” as to Lowry’s property.
The first transfer, Stutesman added, was also ruled invalid due to Lowry not receiving a referendum vote of the people following submission of a petition to do so after the first transfer agreement was passed.
Lowry had sued Lockport and Park in December 2023 over the transfer agreements, and a preliminary injunction was put in place in March of this year. Lowry had sought a 425 land transfer himself for the property from Lockport to Three Rivers for the purpose of bringing city sewer and water services to the property, which he has planned to develop as up to 95 single-family residential lots, which will be sold to homeowners with the profits going to the Three Rivers Promise.
The townships argued during their case that the goal for the transfers was to provide sewer and water service to those properties, which is currently in the planning and feasibility stages at this point as part of a larger project with the South County Sewer and Water Authority.
During the process of the bench trial playing out, Lowry had filed an annexation petition to the State Boundary Commission to officially annex the property from Lockport Township to the city, with a public hearing held for the proposed annexation of the lone parcel at the Riviera Theatre on Oct. 17.
The annexation is expected to be decided at the Boundary Commission’s next regular meeting on Feb. 19, 2025 at 10 a.m. at 611 W. Ottawa St. in Lansing.
Lockport, TR Public Library come to agreement on library services contract after tense negotiations
While the drama involving Lockport Township and Tom Lowry was going on, another tense battle took place between Lockport Township and the Three Rivers Public Library this year with regards to a new library services contract.
After months of tense negotiations, which also included a heated and unproductive shouting match between Lockport and library officials at a public township meeting in August, the two sides in September agreed to a new services contract that will allow Lockport residents to use the library with a library card for free.
The offer approved by the township is a three-year contract for $20,822.16 in the first year, with 2 percent increases every year, re-negotiations after three years, and a clause that the contract can be terminated by either side by six months prior to the end of the fiscal year.
Negotiations began back in May, with counter-offers proposed a couple of times during the process, each with their own sticking points for either side, some having to do with the percentage increase per year between 2 percent and 3 percent, which had been the library’s position until ultimately offering a 2 percent increase in late August, a couple weeks following the Aug. 12 shouting match meeting.
That Aug. 12 meeting started as an effort to prove to those in attendance at the Lockport Township Hall that the township’s proposal was better than the library’s, but it quickly became a shouting match after TRPL Interim Director Erin Zabonick tried to defend the library’s position, with both her and township trustee Rick Daniels getting to the point of raised voices trying to be heard over each other. It later involved township supervisor Mark Major, who then got in his own argument with Zabonick over multiple subjects. Daniels eventually claimed the library “brought people in here to bully us,” with Zabonick saying the township was “telling your residents wrong information.” Daniels then later said, after saying the Nottawa Township Library and the Three Rivers library were the same, “If you can’t live off of that, and we get no vote, then it’s time for you to go.”
Things seemed to cool down in negotiations after that fever pitch, with both sides praising the deal that eventually got done.
“We really appreciate everyone’s input. We had quite a few people speak to this. We’ve got email, I’ve gotten texts. It’s something that’s very important to our community and something we want to be a part of,” Major said.
“We’re glad an agreement has been reached and appreciate the township’s commitment to supporting our library. We look forward to moving forward for the benefit of our community,” Zabonick said.
The library is now currently about to go into negotiations with Fabius Township on a new contract, after township officials there gave six months’ notice of withdrawing from their current contract in September. Negotiations are expected to begin in January.
Tasty Nut Shop demolished
A landmark of the Village of White Pigeon that had fallen into disrepair was put to the wrecking ball this year.
The historic Tasty Nut Shop building at the corner of Chicago Road and Kalamazoo Street in the village was torn down beginning on March 19, and completed over the course of a few days. The demolition of the Civil War-era building came after a number of events over the last couple years that ultimately led to its slow demise.
The building was initially condemned in 2021 by village code and building enforcement after reports of some pieces of brick and mortar had fallen from the building. Most of the problems have mainly been with the southwest corner of the building, which had begun to settle for quite some time before the partial collapse of that corner on Thursday, March 14. In late November 2021, it was then recommended to be demolished after a report issued by Jones Petrie Rafinski of South Bend, Ind. The owners of the building, including the late former Tasty Nut Shop owner Marjorie Hamminga, challenged the condemnation and the demolition order in court, while in the process a new nonprofit, Union Hall Block Building Inc. (UHBBI) took control of the building while the Tasty Nut Shop ceased operations.
Eventually, the building was given a chance, as UHBBI in late 2022 was given three months to stabilize the building and six months to demonstrate the financial ability to complete a structural renovation. However, while the building was stabilized with netting in the southwest corner, funds to complete a structural renovation, which would have cost in the ballpark of $2 million to $3 million, did not materialize. In June 2023, UHBBI sent a letter to the White Pigeon Construction Board of Appeals stating that the building was “no longer a viable restoration project,” and would be “focusing our efforts on the safe and effective demolition of the building.”
A $578,556 grant from the state was received by the village on Feb. 22 to demolish the building. By the afternoon of March 23, the 160-year-old building was reduced to a pile of bricks on the corner of Kalamazoo Street and Chicago Road, where it had stood ever since it was erected.
“I think we all will admit that March 23, 2024, was a very sad day for the Village of White Pigeon and its residents, but we also feel that it is a day of safety for the community,” Zoning Administrator Doug Kuhlman said in a village press release on March 25. “There is no longer a threat to the Village of White Pigeon, its residents, and visitors to be in any danger of this building.”
“It’s a sad day. It’s such a landmark for the village of White Pigeon, and it has such history to it,” resident Don O’Rourke said. “I hate to see it go, but it’s in a dangerous condition. Once it’s in a dangerous condition, something needs to happen.”
Notable criminal cases ongoing into 2025
A few notable criminal cases that began in 2024 will be ongoing once the calendar flips to 2025.
On April 19, Miguel Hernandez-Ruiz was arraigned in St. Joseph County 3B District Court on one count of home invasion and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct on a person under the age of 13, stemming from an alleged March 20 incident, where Hernandez-Ruiz is accused of breaking into a home in the Sweet Lake Mobile Home Park near Sturgis and sexually assaulting two girls, aged 7 and 6. After two days of a preliminary examination hearing, the case was bound over to Circuit Court in July, where Hernandez-Ruiz is now awaiting trial.
On April 30, three former owners of the Broadway Market convenience store in Three Rivers, Ikbahl Singh Machhal, Kartar Chand and Shila Devi, were charged by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office with one count of Human Trafficking – Forced Labor and one count of Human Trafficking Enterprise after allegedly having labor-trafficked a woman, now 33, to the United States from India under the auspices of marriage. The trio are accused of requiring the victim to work eight to nine hours a day, seven days a week, against her will and under threat of “severe physical, mental, and emotional abuse” for eight years, and having not been paid for her labor. A preliminary hearing was waived in the case, and is awaiting trial in St. Joseph County Circuit Court.
On Nov. 7, 21-year-old Paige Nichole Bohne was charged with open murder after her 2-year-old child was found unresponsive at a home in the Memory Lane Mobile Home Park in the 25000 block of U.S. 12 in Sturgis Township. She was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter before the charges were upgraded at her arraignment. A preliminary hearing was waived on Nov. 14, and on Dec. 16, a request for bond was denied. She is still awaiting trial in Circuit Court.
Finally, on Dec. 2, 29-year-old Logan Thomas was charged with driving with a suspended license causing death when he allegedly failed to see a group of children while driving westbound on Banker Street, hitting one of the kids, 10-year-old Anthony Miller, who was pronounced dead. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, which could come with life in prison as a fourth habitual offender. Last week, Thomas pleaded no contest to a bond violation after he reportedly tested positive for meth in a drug test conducted at the Day Reporting Center on Dec. 16, three days after he was released on $100,000 bond. He got a day in jail for the bond violation. He is still awaiting a preliminary hearing in District Court.
Sewer breaks plague Gleason Road, Constantine; TR has two wastewater spills
A litany of sewer breaks found headlines in 2024, both in the Gleason Road area of Fabius Township, and at the Three Rivers Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Gleason Road area faced numerous breaks from a force main that connects the Village of Constantine and Three Rivers, with seven wastewater spills reported to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) from June to September, and had been part of a pattern of breaks – over two dozen – that have occurred since 2017 in the area, with 19 of them happening in the last two years.
The litany of breaks led to a very sternly-worded letter from EGLE to the Village of Constantine, who maintains the force main, which stated that the “uncontrolled flow of sewage down a public roadway, through public property, and into a wetland is unacceptable,” and that the flow of the force main “must be controlled either via bypass pumping or pump and haul as soon as possible.”
Residents of the Gleason Road area had been upset about the constant breaks, with some saying they had been “living in sewer” in interviews with the Commercial-News. Those frustrations have also been shared with village council members over the years.
On Sept. 10, the Constantine Village Council approved a $114,747.09 bid from Morris Excavating to install 1,200 feet of pipe to bypass that section of the force main, which was installed within the next month. Since then, Gleason Road has not had any reported sewer breaks since the bypass was installed – one break was reported in the King Road area – and a new wastewater treatment plant is expected to be completed by spring of 2025, which would effectively shut down the force main.
Meanwhile in Three Rivers, they had a couple of wastewater spills occur this year. On Oct. 14, it was reported that an estimated 50,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into the St. Joseph River, which Wastewater Superintendent Taylor Davis in a statement, occurred due to “complications” during a transition to a new pump station on Broadway Street. The spill was stopped within two hours of its discovery, and a no-contact advisory was issued, which was lifted a few days later.
On Nov. 1, a 10,000-gallon spill was reported in Three Rivers, which was caused by a leak out of a hose at the Fourth Street lift station into a storm sewer on the road by the pump station while a contractor was bypassing the station. The leak, Davis said, was found just after 7 p.m. and fixed by 8 p.m. No wastewater was reported to have leaked into the river.
Glen Oaks welcomes new president
A new president was selected for Glen Oaks Community College in the middle of 2024.
Dr. Bryan Newton was named in May as the ninth president of Glen Oaks in a unanimous vote of the college’s Board of Trustees. Newton replaced the retiring Dr. David Devier, and began his tenure in July.
Newton holds a Ph.D. in Education and Human Resource Studies from Colorado State University, a Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University College of Law, and a Bachelor’s degree in History from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Previously, he was a vice president for enrollment management and student services at Aiken Technical College in Graniteville, S.C., and was Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Ind.
The announcement of Newton as president comes after a months-long search that included a number of public forums, including one held with Newton back on April 23. The college also considered Dr. Vernon Smith and Dr. Katherine Zatz for the position.
“I am honored and humbled to be chosen as the next president of Glen Oaks Community College,” Newton said in a statement. “I plan to build on the excellent work of Dr. Devier and work together with Glen Oaks Community College employees and our students to continue the tradition of excellence they have established. The college plays a vital role in the educational and economic development of St. Joseph’s County, and I look forward to working with business and industry, government officials, secondary institutions, and other partners to continue to grow the college and the region.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
