This article is part of Overloaded and (Often) Unpaid, a joint solutions journalism project on caregiving and mental wellness between the Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative (of which Watershed Voice is a member) and the New York and Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative, a partnership of news and community organizations dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about successful responses to social problems. The groups are supported by the Solutions Journalism Network.
Immaculate Conception School in Three Rivers recently celebrated Catholic Schools Week. Students capped off their week by inviting Det. Sgt. Sam Smallcombe from the Three Rivers Police Department for lunch and a Q&A session.
Welcome to Screen Tea Podcast! WARNING, WARNING, THIS EPISODE IS FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH SPOILERS for every M. Night Shyamalan movie ever made, including the film your hosts are actually covering, Knock at the Cabin!
Glen Oaks Community College sophomore Yaricel “Tuti” Rodriguez signed a letter of intent to continue her volleyball and academic career with the University of Pikeville, in Pikeville, Kentucky this past week.
Twin County Community Probation Center (TCCPC) has been a fixture in Three Rivers for decades, though most citizens do not know the extent of the work being done there to educate, support, and rehabilitate its residents.
Rural hospitals were already closing at a rapid rate before the pandemic — more than 150 closed between 2005 and 2019, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Without the federal money to prop them up, the Center estimates that 200 rural hospitals across the country are at risk of closing within the next two to three years.
Three Rivers High School students studying Applied Physics are conducting a large scale study of the town’s water quality. Led by teacher Joe Graber, the class will be using commercially available water testing kits. The students are asking for the public to obtain water samples from their homes to aid in the database they are building with collected results.
In this poem Watershed Voice columnist Aundrea Sayrie answers the age old question, when is it OK for white folks to use the “N-word?”
Disclaimer: This poem features strong language, and subject matter that may make some uncomfortable. Reader discretion advised.
Abbott Laboratories is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) almost a year after the Sturgis baby-formula plant closed when illnesses were reported. First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the DOJ’s consumer protection branch is looking into conduct at the plant that led to its shutdown.
Conrad Kaufman, of Galesburg, Michigan, will be featured as part of this year’s Glen Oaks Visiting Artist program.
Alek and Doug are joined by Portfolio Ink owner and tattoo artist Amber Ward, and Portfolio shop manager Jillian Gardner. The quartet discuss Amber and Jillian’s respective upbringings, the interesting routes each took to the world of tattoos and piercings, how their love of art and artistic expression influences most everything they do, and their involvement in and support of Three Rivers Pride.
Watershed Voice columnist Aundrea Sayrie says it’s time to “throw the entire rolodex of excuses away” when it comes to not talking about racism, and have the conversation already.
“I do not understand these reactions to non-accusatory statements. How is initiating a conversation about racism deduced to divisive rhetoric? Is it willful ignorance? Banning books and Critical Race Theory from the classroom doesn’t mean The Devil’s Punchbowl doesn’t exist. That’s not how that works.”
A decision will be made at an upcoming Three Rivers Board of Education meeting on whether to accept a new policy regarding flags and other displays in classrooms.
Watershed Voice columnist Charles Thomas writes, “If you’re lonely this Valentine’s Day, I think it’s normal and even laudable to yearn for the opportunity to love in this active way and to find the kind of love that is real, harsh, and at times, even dreadful.
“But dreaming of a love perpetually frozen in the moments after a meet cute is likely to bring only sorrow. While that kind of love does exist, it’s as fragile as a soap bubble that immediately pops when hit with the faintest of breezes. When that bubble has burst, we are left with a mess that must be cleaned up. Then it’s time for us to start the harder task of active love. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, ‘to love means loving the unlovable.'”
HighDive, Kalamazoo’s newest dining establishment, gets the Bites with Beca treatment. After opening their doors to the hungry public on January 18 for a soft opening, HighDive is making its case as Kalamazoo’s favorite dive bar with high-end food. So what did Beca think? Read the review here.
In an effort to support the local recovery community and raise awareness of the options available to those looking to join a program, Watershed Voice will regularly publish a list of meetings available in Three Rivers, Sturgis, Coldwater, and surrounding areas.
The Sturgis City Commission Wednesday announced the date of the first round of interviews for its vacant city manager position. The interviews will be open to the public.
Watershed Voice columnist Aundrea Sayrie writes, “I have wasted so much of my time and talent centering the ‘White gaze.’ A term coined by Toni Morrison to explain the concept of catering to and living under the constant scrutiny of white supremacy. It is the ethnocentric lens through which all behaviors pass. A tool used to measure anything to its proximity to Whiteness. The gold standard. Including behaviors, languages, bodies, literally everything. A close-minded approach, and standard we have been forced to uphold for survival’s sake.”