Low-income Grand Rapids preschoolers are catching up. Will Lansing notice?
In some of the poorest neighborhoods in Grand Rapids, in places inured to academic failure, children are grasping at a chance to defy the odds. So it was one recent spring day, in a pre-K classroom on...
View ArticleGrand Rapids Chamber of Commerce: Immigrants play a crucial role in local...
More than 1,000 people marched through the streets of downtown Grand Rapids Tuesday in support of immigrants and protesting deportations. Andy Johnston is the VP of government and corporate affairs for...
View ArticleHundreds march for immigrants' rights in downtown Grand Rapids
The immigrant community in West Michigan is tired of living in fear of deportation. That’s why about 1,000 people marched in downtown Grand Rapids today. The marchers want to be able to drive to work...
View ArticleResearchers have created a new way to look at public health issues in...
There’s a new tool that Michigan cities can use to better understand their health care needs. The NYU School of Medicine has developed what they call the City Health Dashboard, which looks at 36 key...
View ArticleWhat Metro Detroit and Grand Rapids can learn from regional collaboration in...
The counties in Southeast Michigan cannot agree on a regional transportation plan. Regional unity, as is well known, is an uphill struggle in the state. A new report, recently completed for Michigan...
View ArticleCity of Grand Rapids wants residents to apply for Neighborhood Match Fund
If you’re a Grand Rapids resident with an idea for a community engagement project, the city could give you money to make that idea happen. Residents can apply every three months for up to $2,500 in...
View ArticleFeds putting more prosecutors in Detroit, Grand Rapids
The U.S. Justice Department is adding more prosecutors in Michigan. U.S. attorneys in Detroit and Grand Rapids say they'll benefit from the government's focus on fighting violent crime. Six are being...
View ArticleDEQ awards Grand Rapids $330,000 to redevelop brownfield site
A $330,000 state grant will help redevelop a contaminated site in Grand Rapids. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality approved the grant for the brownfield site earlier this week. Kara Wood,...
View ArticleFinding a community helped West Michigan man kick addiction. Now, he’s...
The opioid epidemic has been devastating to families and communities across America. For those struggling with addiction, getting clean can be a grueling process, even when they are able to get into a...
View ArticleArtPrize festival will switch to every other year
The Grand Rapids Art Prize festival will no longer be an annual event after this fall. In 2019 and every alternating year afterward, there will be a citywide art project – or "Project 1" as organizers...
View ArticleThree migrant dads reunited with their children in Grand Rapids
Three parents were able to finally see their children again today in Grand Rapids. It had been three months since these dads seeking asylum in the U.S. were separated from their children. All of whom...
View ArticleRacial discrimination, segregation provided “tinder” for 1967 Grand Rapids...
Today marks the 51st anniversary of the 1967 uprising in Detroit. What some call a rebellion, some a riot, left 43 people dead and thousands of buildings in the city destroyed. Michigan Radio did a...
View ArticleTwo officers - one white, one black - remember the 1967 Grand Rapids riots
When a rebellion exploded in Detroit on July 23, 1967, cities around Michigan watched as bullets flew, windows were smashed, and buildings burned. Two days later — 51 years ago today — an uprising was...
View ArticleTwo generations of Grand Rapids leaders reflect on how the city’s changed...
This week marks the 51st anniversary of the riots that broke out in Michigan during the summer of 1967. While the uprising in Detroit is the most well known, Grand Rapids faced a similar event, albeit...
View ArticleSome people struggle to afford pads and tampons. This Grand Rapids nonprofit...
People everywhere need access to pads, tampons, and other feminine hygiene products, but throughout Michigan, some women and people in the transgender community are forced to go without. It’s a global...
View ArticleIrredeemable: Coming clean
(Editor's note: We recommend you listen to the story before reading.) It was December when Rick Tholen was killed. He was working at M&J Grocery in Grand Rapids. He’d just graduated college and was...
View ArticleNew artistic director at Grand Rapids Ballet wants to spotlight city’s “world...
James Sofranko has spent decades dancing on stages from Florida to New York to San Francisco. After growing up in Cincinnati, he went on to study at Juliard. He's trained with dance legends, some of...
View ArticleGrand Rapids downtown shuttle extending hours
The Downtown Area Shuttle – or DASH bus – in Grand Rapids will have new hours starting in late August. Beginning August 27, the DASH will run seven days a week. It will also run until 1:30 a.m. on...
View ArticleBus riders in Grand Rapids will have a new way to pay their fare
Grand Rapids’ bus service wants to be more efficient and help the environment. That’s why it’s introducing a new electronic fare system Tuesday. The new Wave cards will replace the paper tickets and...
View ArticleICE protest spurs Kent County to move meeting to different location
A Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting had to be relocated earlier Thursday, because protestors caused too big of a ruckus, according to county officials. Kent County’s Board of Commissioners...
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