One paddle at a time: Kalamazoo rallies to rescue democracy
At Kalamazoo’s Democracy Fest, community members were urged to move beyond protest and pick up a paddle — taking local action to defend democracy together.
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo’s name is so distinctive strangers around the world have been known to break into song at hearing the name. With such a recognizable moniker you’d think Kalamazoo wouldn’t need nicknames, but through the years changing names have reflected the city’s refusal to stand still. The Zoo, Celery City and the Mall City are a few. The innovative thinking that brought downtown K’zoo the nation’s first pedestrian mall in 1959 continues to work today. Innovators have developed thriving life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. They build on the expertise of Kalamazoo’s universities. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Davenport College all are centers of research, development and technology. They surround a downtown vibrating with condos, apartments and homegrown, top-notch restaurants. The universities are woven into the city’s social fabric and contribute to a cultural scene that Kalamazooans love to boast about. The Kalamazoo Symphony, Kalamazoo Institute of Art and a vibrant local theater community are a few of the offerings. Locals also love their festivals that fill the air with music and the scents of ethnic foods wafting over the Arcadia Festival grounds and the Kalamazoo River. Outdoor activities from biking on the Kal-Haven trail to disc golf and standard golf on a nationally-acclaimed course in Milham Park are the start of the city’s leisure side. Sports fans have competitive college teams, minor league baseball and hockey to follow. And it all comes with a Promise. All high school graduates who live in Kalamazoo qualify for a scholarship that pays 100 percent of their tuition at any public university or community college.
OutFront is out front— launching Gender-Affirming Care Fund during “Trans Out Loud!” event
During a powerful evening of poetry, music, and storytelling, OutFront Kalamazoo launched the Gender-Affirming Care Fund, a community-driven initiative to expand access to life-saving healthcare for trans and nonbinary residents of Kalamazoo County.
Murder Mystery Dinner helps solve the need for senior day care services in Battle Creek
Join the Marian E. Burch Adult Day Care & Rehabilitation Center for a thrilling night of mystery and masquerade, all to support compassionate care and vital services for aging adults and their caregivers in Calhoun County.
Voices of Youth: Spot and Stop program fighting invasive plant species
Invasive plants threaten Michigan’s ecosystems, but the Spot and Stop program in Kalamazoo, Calhoun, and Barry counties empowers residents to fight back through community action and tech tools.
A Recipe for Abundance: Kalamazoo artists, food vendors, musicians, unite to reimagine community
"A Recipe for Abundance" is a free community event in Kalamazoo using art, food, and music to inspire connection, care, and local resilience.
Give them shelter: The Landing Place for unhoused families to open in phases, starting in December
The conversion of a former hotel on Kilgore Road into an 80-unit shelter where unhoused families can receive support as they transition back to permanent housing is urgent, local housing officials say. And work is expected to get underway soon to move the project forward in hopes of housing some families by the end of the year.
City of Kalamazoo unveils possibilities for housing development in Edison neighborhood
The City of Kalamazoo has put together conceptual plans that would encourage143 to 200 homes on the nearly 15-acre lot that was once home to the former Health and Human Services building. Soon, the Edison Neighborhood will be weighing in on the idea.
Answering the cry: A Kalamazoo rehabilitator’s journey of love, loss, and saving wildlife
“We need to start thinking of wildlife, particularly urban wildlife, as native, indigenous to the land that we developed. As such, we need to learn how to coexist in a way that we don’t feel like they’re encroaching on us, but rather that we’re encroaching on their habitat."
Poet’s Press: “The Streets Still Remember,” reflections on growing up on Kalamazoo’s Northside
Poet's Press, a Second Wave quarterly series presented in partnership with the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival, launches with our first installment by poet Markeva Love and collaborating artist Taylor Scamehorn. This series features news poems — an experimental form that examines local people, places, and events through a personal, poetic lens.
Heavy music, humid nights: Kalamazoo’s RunOff brings the noise — and the heart
In a sweltering Kalamazoo garage known as The RunOff, a tight-knit DIY music community gathers for a night of blistering metal, haunting sax solos, and family-style chaos — raising the volume, and funds, in equal measure.
