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The festival begins later Thursday evening with the annual Water Festival Parade at 7 p.m., marking the official start of the long-running community tradition. Carnival rides and food vendors will be available throughout the weekend as festival activities continue through Saturday. Residents can expect a packed schedule of events over the three-day celebration, with attractions ranging from arts and crafts vendors to races, live entertainment, and a fireworks finale.

In The Mother Wound, Part Six, Watershed Voice columnist Aundrea Sayrie writes, “Many mothers carried wounds no one ever helped them unpack. “Some were parenting while grieving. Some were surviving a dark reality while mothering. Some were trying to love from places within themselves that had never fully been loved gently either. “And while that does not erase the pain some children experienced, it does create room for something many people eventually wrestle with as adults: “The realization that their mothers were human long before they were ‘mom.'”

After a lengthy discussion about whether to place restrictions on when residents could utilize the expanded district, commissioners approved an amended motion limiting the expansion to only when events are being held at the amphitheater. More than an hour into the meeting, worsening weather prompted Mayor Angel Johnston to temporarily adjourn proceedings and direct attendees to shelter in the City Hall basement as a precaution. During the adjournment, Johnston briefly returned home to retrieve her dog before rejoining attendees in the basement. After the storm passed, commissioners returned upstairs and resumed the meeting.

During public comment, Watershed Voice Staff Writer Maxwell Knauer and Three Rivers Commercial-News reporter Robert Tomlinson both spoke in favor of the city exploring what it would take to begin livestreaming meetings directly. Knauer thanked commissioners for approving the media access policy but urged them to take the additional step of exploring what city-operated livestreaming would require. “I think that is the simplest step to showing your constituents that you care about transparency at all,” Knauer said.

Sturgis Hospital announced Tuesday it will cease operations later this week, closing after years of financial challenges that officials say left the organization unable to continue operating. According to a statement released June 16, the hospital will stop seeing patients at noon on Friday, June 19. The closure will affect all hospital departments and services, including the emergency department, surgery services, laboratory services, medical imaging, outpatient clinics, physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.

As of Tuesday morning, City Manager Andrew Kuk said approximately 175 electric customers remain without power as crews continue restoration work across the city. The storm initially left at least 3,000 customers without electricity after powerful winds brought down trees, power lines, and utility infrastructure throughout Sturgis. Unlike many neighboring communities served by utility companies such as Consumers Energy or Indiana Michigan Power, Sturgis operates its own municipal electric department, meaning restoration efforts have been coordinated directly by city crews alongside outside mutual aid partners.