Berrien Springs

BERRIEN SPRINGS - A three year old child is dead after an apartment fire in Berrien Springs. Firefighters got the call around 6:20 this morning, but by the time they arrived in the 8700 block of Valley View Drive the building was fully engulfed. Before three family members were taken to the hospital, they told firefighters their 3-year-old daughter was still inside the burning home. WSBT's Kristin Bien has been at the fire all morning. She says firefighters have not been able to get into the home yet to find that missing child.

BERRIEN SPRINGS - Firefighters recovered the body of the 3-year-old girl that died in an apartment fire in Berrien Springs early Tuesday morning. Witnesses said the child's mother and father tried to get her to come to the window, but she wouldn't.  “I kept hearing shattering glass and screams,” said Rhodel Kabah who lives in the apartment complex. Before hoses hissed and timber tore, the only sound people heard was heartbreak. “This is the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life was to stand and listen to the mother cry and know there's a kid in there,” said neighbor Quigley Morris.

The bypass has now reopened after a 17-vehicle pileup at the 15 mile marker in Berrien Springs, says Michigan State Police. Click here for a map. This happened shortly after 8:37 a.m. Police told a WSBT photographer at the scene the crash was caused by a car that slowed down in the fog, causing a chain reaction. Only one person was taken to the hospital with a slight injury. Stay with us for updates

A van driver told police he couldn't avoid hitting a pedestrian who was standing in the middle of Shawnee Road at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday. The pedestrian was severely injured. The driver, who was not injured, was driving east when they suddenly saw the pedestrian.   Berrien Springs-Oronoko Police said, via a news release, alcohol doesn't appear to be a factor with the van driver. Police are continuing their investigation. Police noted the accident occurred on Shawnee Road near Sylvester Avenue in the Village of Berrien Springs, an area that has a 25 mph speed zone.

Join the WSBT Sports Team - Pete Byrne and David McCoy - for all the biggest and best plays around Michiana! Don't miss Friday Night Football Fever - Friday nights at 11 p.m. on WSBT News. Scores and highlights will be posted as they come in. INDIANA FOOTBALL SECTIONALS Semifinals CLASS 5-A Sectional 2 Penn 58, Elkhart Memorial 28  F.W. Carroll 28, Goshen 10 CLASS 4-A Sectional 10 Mishawaka 42, Riley 15  Washington 35, Hobart 10 Sectional 11 Concord 43, East Noble 16  NorthWood 49, Plymouth 16 CLASS 3-A Sectional 17 St. Joseph's 35, Culver Military 15 Marian 22, Glenn 14  Sectional 18 Jimtown 22, Lakeland 0   CLASS 2-A Sectional 26 Bremen 47, Manchester 14 Lewis Cass 28, Rochester 7 CLASS 1-A Sectional 33 South Newton 43, Winamac 6  Culver 24, West Central 14  MICHIGAN District pairings Division 3 Holland 27, Lakeshore 16 Mason, 38, Sturgis 26 Division 4 Plainwell 57, Edwardsburg 48 Division 5 Dowagiac 24, Parchment 8 Hopkins 35, Berrien Springs 20 Division 6 Cassopolis 34, Schoolcraft...

INDIANA Bristol: (not set as of 10/18/11) Elkhart: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 Goshen: 5:30-8 p.m. Oct. 31 Lakeville: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 Mishawaka: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 Nappanee: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 North Liberty: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 Osceola: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 Plymouth: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 Roseland: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 South Bend: 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31 St. Joseph County...

An alcohol sales compliance check by Berrien Springs-Oronoko Township Police netted the arrest of a store sales clerk. When police notified the store owner, the clerk was fired. Police Chief Milt Agay released information Monday about the March 24 compliance checks on all liquor establishments in the Village of Berrien Springs and Oronoko Township. Agay’s news release states officers used an 18-year-old decoy who had training through the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

NILES — A Berrien Springs funeral home owner will be sentenced May 2 for embezzling more than $260,000 of people's prepaid funeral funds over the last several years. Matthew Purchase, 40, of East Washington Street in Berrien Springs, is the owner of Legacy Family Funeral Services in Berrien Springs. He was arrested last August on 15 embezzlement related charges and faced a March 8 trial. Thursday, Purchase pleaded guilty to two counts, one count of racketeering and conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony, and one count of attempted embezzlement over $20,000, a five-year felony.

ST. JOSEPH — The Berrien Springs mother accused of handcuffing her son to a chair as punishment for shoplifting will not be charged with a crime, the Berrien County prosecutor’s office announced today. Her 16-year-old son told police Feb. 8 he had been directed to stay in a 6-foot by 4-foot room at their home over the past three weeks because of the shoplifting incident Jan. 17. In a news release today, Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter said that after interviews with the boy, along with his parents’ openness to counseling, he did not believe it to be in the best interest of the family to pursue charges.