Monarca’s Ice Cream and Mexican Food in Schoolcraft provides homemade, authentic cuisine that draws food lovers from around the region. Check out the savory, sweet, and spicy treats of Monarca's (monarch in Spanish).
“I think there’s a negative aura around youth and detention facilities and youth who commit crimes... They aren’t bad kids, they’ve just made a poor choice,” says Tori Benden, Calhoun County Youth Center Director. Programming changes are helping to build self-worth and confidence in youth.
A foreign exchange experience in the 1970s led to a lifelong friendship that involved world travel and the collection of an unlikely souvenir: flyswatters. SPLAT: The Buzz about Fly Swatters, showing until January 7, 2024, at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, features 1,250 unusual swatters. Learn more here!
For the LGBTQA+ community, Pride is a yearlong affair. Many communities celebrate Pride in June, but a few, like Battle Creek, celebrate in July. The popular BC Pride Festival takes place this Saturday, July 22, at Leila Arboretum. On the Ground Battle Creek will be there!
Have an idea and want to start a new business? As a Community Development Financial Institution, Northern Initiatives has been supporting Michigan startups with education, coaching, and needed financing — for 30 years. Check out these two success stories in Comstock and Battle Creek.
Among the mantras at Batlle Creek's Sunlight Garden is "Food is medicine." Now you can get your prescription for fresh produce filled at Farmacy, located at the two-acre urban farm, 245 N. Kendall Ave. Farmacy, which will feature affordable, local organic produce, eggs, and wholesome snacks, will be accepting Double Up Bucks and other programs, and seeks to dispel the myth that healthy food is more expensive.
Kid Grid provides an easy-to-read grid to quickly preview service options. The listing at the end of the document has more details on mental health services, listed alphabetically by provider. This guide also includes a listing of inpatient facilities for youth with more severe mental health issues.
Coming out safely is not one-size fits all, as Voices of Youth Battle Creek Artist Athena McCarthy explores in her comic strip illustrations. "I wanted to bring to light the different experiences people can have when coming out," she says.
Abandoned buildings are an eyesore and pose safety hazards. Youth may see these buildings as an invitation to explore and at times engage in unsafe behaviors. Voices of Youth Reporter Mar'Chionna Sardin, a sophomore at Battle Creek Central High School, says "I never thought I would be writing a story about vacant buildings. You see issues with the community, but you don’t think you will ever do anything about it. When you decide to write about an issue, you find out how much deeper the story is and you learn a lot from it."
Calhoun County Administrator/Controller Kelli Scott looks beyond some of the setbacks and challenges brought on by the pandemic to the county’s goals for the horizon: broadband, transportation, housing, and more.
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