Retired Kalamazoo orthopedic surgeon Mark Veenstra is preparing for another eight-week trip the Honduras to help the poor. He and others perform procedures in a clinic in Gracias, Honduras, which has taken them more than two decades to build. The clinic has two operating rooms, a recovery room and a warehouse for supplies. Some patients travel for hours, from hundreds of miles away, just to see the doctors from West Michigan.

Published: January 21, 2019

There are a lot of entities working together to shape the future of downtown Kalamazoo – addressing considerations like the tax base, affordable housing, and deals with developers.

MLive’s Malachi Barrett sat down with Kalamazoo Downtown Partnership President Andrew Haan to understand the big picture and to explore the various pieces of the puzzle – past, present, and future.

Published: January 21, 2019

It was four months after he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and only four weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On the night of December 18th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. came to Kalamazoo to deliver a speech on the campus of Western Michigan University.

Published: January 21, 2019

WMU’s Lee Honors College has introduced a weekly event this semester titled TED Talk Tuesdays. Every week a topic is chosen and a discussion is led by a member of the Honors College staff or faculty. The events are open to the public. The series started off on Tuesday Jan. 15 with a discussion about masculinity led by Anthony Helms, director of academic advising at the Honors College. He drew upon two videos of TED talks about masculinity and what it means to be masculine in this day and age.

Published: January 21, 2019

A “National Day of Racial Healing: Celebrating How We Heal” event will be held 6-8pm Tuesday, Jan. 22, at the Girl Scouts Center, 601 W. Maple St. The event will feature music, poetry, dance and the sharing of stories and food. The event will double as the launch of a series of racial healing initiatives throughout the Kalamazoo community.

Published: January 20, 2019

Comstock STEM Academy in Kalamazoo won an estimated $20,000 in technology after winning the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest. The national contest encourages teachers and students to solve a problem in their community through STEM, short for science, technology, engineering and math. One school is chosen in each state. The sixth-grade students and their teacher addressed homelessness in Kalamazoo by proposing a new invention. Their idea, the solar sunroof, is a hat with a solar panel on top, that is also wired with electronic hand warmers.

Published: January 19, 2019

Once a warehouse for storing oddments from property foreclosures, 1102 E. Michigan, owned by Kzoo Makers member Mike Cunningham, now houses a well-appointed woodshop, welding station, fiber arts studio, electronics area, computer classroom, several 3-D printers, and even a Raspberry Pi, a credit-card sized micro-computer.

All told, there’s 9,000 square feet of state-of-the-art equipment, over $100,000 worth, all with an emphasis on safety, just waiting to be used for a $50 a month membership and adherence to the makerspace policies.

Published: January 19, 2019

This year’s Kalamazoo commemoration/celebration theme is "Kneeling for Justice, Then and Now: As You Choose.” Events on Monday (1/21) include a Communitywide Day of Service, a Convocation at K College, a Teach-In (“Bending a Knee for Justice”) at WMU, and a Community Celebration at The State Theatre. WMU provides a complete listing at the link.

Published: January 19, 2019

“Wait, which one are you again?” This is a question that twin sisters, Eva and Zoe Bugnaski get quite often. Why? They look exactly alike. Eva and Zoe have been living together and eating together their entire lives. They even shared the same womb and have been expected to share everything since then. This can be frustrating for any teen who wants to form their own identity.

Published: January 17, 2019

Research is clear: A woman’s own educational advancement raises the prospects for her children’s success. For more than 23 years the Women’s Education Coalition has helped erase barriers for women in southwest Michigan. The annual scholarships funded by a $1 million endowment in 1997 have also provided more than $112,000 in emergency grants for recipients while they are in school.

Published: January 02, 2019

Rose Gold Coffee Company, a new vegan-friendly coffee shop and cafe, opened for business on Nov. 10, at 220 W. Michigan Ave. in downtown Kalamazoo. The cafe serves pourovers and filtered coffees, manual brews and hand-crafted espressos. Vegan food includes cookies, muffins, scones, sticky buns, cheesecake, pie, beer bread, fresh bread, and soups, prepared by head chef Brittney Ravencrest. 

Published: January 02, 2019

Market on Michigan Ave (MoMA) announced Thursday it planned occupy the last commercial space at the historic Metropolitan Center downtown development, located at 119 E. Michigan Ave. and 121 E. Michigan Ave., formerly a Biggby Coffee. The “urban micro-grocery” aims to serve people living and/or working downtown, offering a variety of fresh and dry goods, a deli, beer and wine selection and basic home needs.

Published: December 28, 2018

What happens when pastors and police officers pair up and both go on patrol? Good things, based on Kalamazoo Public Safety Department’s innovative new program, Pastors on Patrol (POP). POP launched in 2018 and was inspired by KPSD Assistant Chief Vernon Coakley’s desire to bring police and residents together in a way that promotes understanding. “I was looking for some new ideas, some out of the box ideas, to help bridge the gap in our community,” said Chief Coakley.

Published: November 23, 2018

Kalamazoo's Tot to Teen Village children's store closed in 2016, but its well-known sign and elaborate indoor structures have found new homes. 

Published: November 21, 2018