Niles

Today was anything but a typical day Friday afternoon in downtown Niles. A bank robbery and bomb scare created some tense moments on Main Street. It happened at the Chemical Bank after a women handed a teller a note and said there was a bomb. It's not what you would typically see on Main Street in Niles. "Heard there was a robbery and heard there was a bomb threat and then saw all of the emergency responders of the building and so we didn't know exactly what was going on so we just locked our doors and held tight," said Jamie Boling, who works nearby.

The storm created a dangerous situation for a Niles family Friday morning. Our reporter at the scene says a woman on the first floor of a home in the 500 block of Cass Street became pinned under a tree that fell on the house and her family couldn't pull her out. "I tumbled out of my room and landed in a pile of debris between the tree and the driveway," said Shawnette Baker, who lives in the home with four other family members....

NILES — It took Judy Woodson and her son, Aric, 11, only a few weeks to obtain their passports for a long awaited family cruise. It has taken Jimmy Woodson, Judy’s husband and Aric’s father, six months. And the clock is still ticking. Monday, the Woodsons met with media representatives at their Niles residence to call attention to their problems with the U. S. State Department. Jimmy, 59, said the main difficulty is that he was born at home in Nacogdoches, Texas, in 1951 with help from a midwife and no one at the time filed a birth certificate.

NILES, Mich. - Two suspects, including a man accused of opening fire at a number of people Thursday morning in Niles, were arrested later that night at a South Bend address. The gun believed to be used in the crime was also found hidden at the home, say police. Officers were called to 872 Carberry Rd. in Howard Township just before noon Thursday. A person called 911, saying they had seen someone shooting at individuals in a yard. When officers got to the scene, they found nobody had been hurt, but police were able to confirm that an argument had occurred.

 

NILES, Mich. — Layoffs are now underway in Niles.  National Standard announced that it will be closing the weld-wire portion of its plant, eliminating dozens of jobs.  On Tuesday, many of those employees walked out of work with their notices in hands. The layoffs will affect about 60 people but 15 will be rehired for a new shift and some of the employees will choose to retire, according to company spokesman Harry Stang. "If something doesn't pick up, Niles is going to be a ghost town," Kevin Coomes, currently a temp of National Standard said.

Michigan State Police hope releasing information about a fugitive sex offender will turn up leads in their search for him. Joseph Alli, 74, has failed to verify his address and has a four count felony warrant for that, according to the Michigan State Police Fifth District Fugitive Team. Alli also has a felony warrant for child fondling out of Cass County. Police say Alli is likely homeless and may be staying in homeless shelters in the South Bend, Niles or Dowagiac area.

Marc Bussan, 52, of Niles, told police the thought a merging vehicle may come into his lane early Tuesday morning on U.S. 31 near M-139. A witness told police the merging vehicle didn't crowd into Bussan's lane, but apparently Bussan took evasive action to avoid a potential crash. Police said Bussan braked and slid into the median, and though that action caused his car to roll over, it ended up on its wheels. Bussan was taken to Lakeland Medical Center in Niles, where he was treated for minor injuries and later released.

NILES - Traffic is no longer backed up after a stretch of U.S. 31 was closed early this morning following a semi accident. The accident happened just after 4 a.m. A semi tipped over. The truck was carrying 90,000 pounds of shingles. Clean up crews had to unload the shingles by hand onto another trailer. WSBT was told the driver was hurt, but his injuries were minor and he is expected to be OK. But because of the crash and the fuel that spilled, the portion of U.S. 31 Northbound was closed for awhile.

There's definitely something about the water in Niles. The city recently tapped into bragging rights after receiving the 2011 American Water Works Association award for "best tasting water in Michigan. " Those bragging rights also come with a big trophy the city can showcase for at least the next year.  You might say Niles Water Superintendent Johnnie Hall is very hydrated. He tests the water in the southwest Michigan city at least 15 times a month. In all seriousness though, testing the water is an important process to make sure what you drink is crystal clear and safe.