Non- Profit organization Development & Guidance Integrative Services along with Mecosta County catering service Triple D Catering is hosting a coat drive all month long for under privileged kids. The first annual Winter Wraps for our Kids coat drive hopes to exceed its goal of helping 50 kids keep warm this winter. Dina Crosby of Triple D Catering says she decided to be apart of the coat drive to make a positive impact on a child's life. If you would like to donate a lightly used or new coat, donation locations are at the Ferris State University Sports Complex and Holiday Inn in Big Rapids.

Around 70 people attended the Friends of the Library Appreciation Reception Friday night at the Big Rapids Community Library. The event included a presentation by the library renovation team.

TransCanada Corporation and emergency officials from Mecosta County are conducting a joint emergency exercise drill this morning to test response procedures in the unlikely event of a pipeline incident on the company’s Great Lakes Gas Transmission pipeline system. The exercise will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude by 11 a.m. The drill will include reports of a pipeline rupture, including hearing a loud sound of escaping natural gas.

After two years, a Mount Pleasant man accused of sexually assaulting a female Ferris State University student has been brought back to Mecosta County for prosecution. In April, 28-year old Christopher Lauer was sentenced to four to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of felony rape in Pennsylvania. In Mecosta County, he is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly raping a hearing-impaired female student at Ferris State in 2010. Lauer also is hearing impaired.

A 31-year old Big Rapids man faces up to four years in prison on charges connected to a stabbing at a Big Rapids apartment complex last month. Deandre Rashawn Anderson was arraigned in Mecosta County District Court on one felony count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Big Rapids DPS officers say they were called on August. 23 to Appleridge Apartments where they say during a verbal altercation in the apartment’s parking lot, a 21-year-old man was stabbed, leaving a wound that went completely through his arm. Anderson waived his right to a preliminary exam and his case heads to circuit court.

Employees at Wolverine World Wide in Big Rapids return to work today after someone called in a phony bomb threat over the weekend. The Michigan State Police Bomb Squad arrived at the scene early Saturday afternoon, after a Wolverine Worldwide employee received several phone calls from someone claiming to have planted a bomb at the facility. MSP Bomb Squad and bomb sniffing dogs searched the shoe and boot making factory without finding any evidence of a explosive device. Police are now investigating the origin of the phone call.

A Stanwood Couple was arraigned Thursday in Mecosta County District Court on charges connected to storage unit thefts around Mecosta County. 20-year old Johnathen Anderson and 18-year old Samantha White were charged with four counts of breaking and entering a building with intent to commit larceny and one count of receiving or concealing stolen property valued between $1,000 and $20,000. The two are also being held on separate charges of retail fraud investigated by the Michigan State Police.

Two teens came away with minor injuries after a two car accident that resulted in one car being rolled over on Perry Avenue in Big Rapids Tuesday. Big Rapids DPS officers say a 16-year old Big Rapids male made an improper turn off of Ferris Drive onto Perry Ave and collided with another car driven by a 19-year old Walled Lake man who lost control and rolled the vehicle over onto its roof. Police say both parties refused medical attention. The 16-year old was cited for failing to yield at the light.

A Big Rapids teen died after getting hit by a car while riding his bicycle Sunday afternoon on Perry Street in Big Rapids. Mecosta County Sheriff deputies say 17-year-old Cody Campagna and a car driven by 19-year-old Logan Schnieder of Wisconsin, were heading eastbound on Perry, when Campagna turned left in front of the vehicle. The Big Rapids teen was transported to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital where he was later pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the accident.

Two people were taken to the hospital after a two-car accident on Perry Street in Big Rapids Friday night. Police say a 20-year old Detroit woman pulled out of a private drive in the 700-block of Perry Avenue and into the path of a westbound vehicle driven by a 25-year-old Baldwin man. Heavy damage was done to both vehicles, both drivers were injured and transported to Mecosta County Medical Center.