The Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative (SWMJC) will host “Women in Media: Behind the Headlines” on April 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo. The free event, which is open to the public, will feature a panel of local women working in journalism and media. Space is limited, and RSVPs are recommended.
The Northside is one of Kalamazoo’s poorest neighborhoods. It’s also 83% Black. But the neighborhood of 4,500 residents has just one banking institution: Advia Credit Union at 706 N. Westnedge Ave. It’s carrying the load to help Northside residents build financial security.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has appointed Andrew Lievense to the Michigan Court of Appeals, First District, a court that hears appeals affecting residents in Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties. Lievense, of Northville, currently serves as an assistant U.S. attorney. He previously worked as a litigation associate at Honigman LLP in Detroit and clerked for U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn.
Kalamazoo City Commissioner Chris Praedel said the process reflected strong community engagement. “It’s refreshing to see these outcomes when it happens this way. It does not always turn out this way, and I am grateful that it has — but it only happens this way when everybody is willing to lean in and try something a little bit different,” Praedel said. The project combines improvements along two corridors — Winchell Avenue and Howard Street — under a single MDOT contract, meaning the elements cannot easily be separated for approval.
The event features mostly filmmakers from Kalamazoo and the surrounding region, with films shot in — and in some cases about — the city itself. One of the featured filmmakers, Jerod Kauffman, created a documentary about the final days of the longtime dive bar Harvey’s on the Mall, which closed after a buyout. Kauffman said he wanted to capture the story of a place that helped define Kalamazoo’s nightlife culture. “The closure was sudden to everyone — the community and staff — so I wanted to immortalize a place that was loved by so many,” Kauffman wrote to Watershed Voice. “I saw a fence and bulldozer outside the building today on the way to work. I think it's going to be torn down, so I am happy I was able to capture a piece of Kalamazoo history and the bar that stood and served the community for 40+ years.”
Designed to introduce people to filmmaking while also challenging experienced creators, Kazoo 48 gives teams 48 hours to complete a short film between one and six minutes long. Each team must incorporate an assigned genre, line of dialogue, character, location, and prop into their film. Once completed, the films are judged by a panel of local talent. Awards include prizes for best use of an assigned item and the festival’s signature award — a gold engraved kazoo — presented to the best films in both the amateur and professional categories.
As Helping Other People Exceed (HOPE) continued to grow, one issue kept appearing: many people had jobs and income but still could not find landlords willing to rent to them because of past criminal records. Many were couch surfing, sleeping in cars, or moving from one temporary situation to another. Eventually Founder and CEO Gwendolyn Hooker said, the solution became clear. “If people aren’t going to rent to the population that I serve,” she said, “then I’m just going to build my own houses.”
On Sunday, March 10, around 30 IBEW workers, including representatives of KEI electrical construction and Perkins Electric, gathered in Three Rivers to provide free, professional support to those in need. “We heard our neighbors needed help cleaning up after the storm, so I decided to ask my union brothers and sisters to come lend a hand,” IBEW 131 President Eddie Leboeuf said.
The item, if approved, would have accepted a 2025 COPS Hiring Program award from the U.S. Department of Justice, authorized the city manager to sign grant documents, approved 10 new officer positions and amended the city’s general fund budget by $1.52 million. Of that amount, $1.25 million would have come from the federal grant, while $270,000 would have been covered by the city to pay a portion of salary and fringe benefits for the new officers, according to the agenda packet. The COPS Hiring Program is a federal initiative that provides funding to local law enforcement agencies to hire additional sworn officers, typically covering part of salary and benefits for a set period. City Manager Malcolm Hankins did not provide an explanation for removing the item, and commissioners did not discuss it during the meeting.
The 10-week internship generally runs through the organization’s Back to School Celebration at the August Second Saturday Farmers Market. Interns are paid $17.50 per hour and are expected to work about 20 hours per week. Every other week, they attend professional development training at Western Michigan University as part of the Broncos LEAD program. For Co-founder Rob Vander-Giessen Reitsma, the internship is about more than seasonal help — it’s about formation. “We hope students learn about small-scale food production, community development in a small town, and how our work is rooted in the core values of our organization,” he said.
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