On the latest episode of WKTV Journal In Focus, we spend some time with the director of the City of Kentwood’s important and unique Adaptive Recreation Program. Then we have the video version of a podcast we produced bringing together three guests who are knowledgeable and passionate on the subject of sustainability … a word that means much more than simply recycling.
First up In Focus is the City of Kentwood’s Adaptive Recreation Program, a program with the stated goal “to help people with disabilities live meaningful, healthy and adventurous lives.” With us is the program director Katelyn Bush, who work with Kentwood’s Parks and Recreation Department organizing programs for seniors and adaptive populations.
WKTV Journal In Focus podcast on sustainability, with (from right) Kentwood City Commissioner and community advocate Emily Bridson, Janay Brower of Public Thread, Kari Bliss of Padnos Recycling and Scrap Management, and In Focus host Ken Norris. (WKTV)
Then In Focus is a special In Focus episode where three guests discuss the multifaceted topic of sustainability — from re-imagining manufacturing to reducing landfill waste to supporting a vibrant equitable workforce. Visiting our studios, each with unique perspectives on the subject, are Kentwood City Commissioner and community advocate Emily Bridson, Janay Brower of Public Thread and Kari Bliss of Padnos Recycling and Scrap Management.
For a link to the audio podcast, click here; for a link to the WKTV’s Facebook “The Whole Picture Podcasts” interview video, click here. (If you’d like to give us some feedback on our special In Focus podcast, please contact Ken Norris at ken@wktv.org.)
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (see our Weekly On-air Schedule for dates and times). All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
S.S. Roger Chaffee is the newest Northrup Grumman Cygnus Cargo Craft.
On Wednesday, April 17, WKTV will be featuring, via the NASA channel, the launch of the newest Northrup Grumman Cygnus Cargo Craft, the S.S. Roger Chaffee, to the International Space Station.
Named after hometown hero Roger B. Chaffee, who died in the Apollo 1 spacecraft fire, the space station resupply craft will deliver several tons of cargo including food, supplies and live mice for scientific experiments.
Coverage begins at 4:15 p.m., with the launch scheduled for 4:46 p.m. from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
On Friday, April 19, WKTV will feature the rendezvous and capture of the S.S. Roger Chaffee to the ISS. Coverage begins at 4 a.m., with the capture scheduled at 5:30 a.m. Installation of the craft to the Unity Module of the Space Station starts at 7 a.m.
For more information on NASA TV or the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov. NASA TV can be seen on the WKTV 26 Government Channel on Comcast and AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.
The Michigan State University Vegetable Entomology Lab started working on honey bee health in pickling cucumber fields two years ago as part of a USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant. This project aimed at improving our understanding of how to balance cucumber production and pest management against pollinator health.
Our research has shown that honey bees are the dominant pollinator of cucumbers in Michigan, and that effective pollination depends on large numbers of bees. Honey bee colonies are robust, but are exposed to many stressors in the cucumber production system. Watch our new video to learn more about this topic.
Thanks to Joy Landis and colleagues from MSU CANR Communications for helping us create this video. Follow us on Twitter @msuvegent!
The Parks, Trails and Recreation Advisory Committee will review improvements identified in the Parks and Recreation Business Plan, Parks Master Plan and Non-Motorized Trail Plan. (WKTV)
By City of Kentwood
The Kentwood City Commission approved a resolution on Monday, April 8, to establish an advisory committee that will review and prioritize improvements to Kentwood’s parks, trails and recreational programming to align with the needs of the community.
The Parks, Trails and Recreation Advisory Committee will review improvements identified in the Parks and Recreation Business Plan, Parks Master Plan and Non-Motorized Trail Plan and recommend an implementation and sustainable funding plan to the City Commission by December 2019.
“To reach and sustain a rewarding quality of life, all aspects of a community, including businesses, schools and neighborhoods, need to achieve a level of exceptional value and significance,” said Mayor Stephen Kepley. “The ongoing ownership, maintenance and development of our public parks, trails and recreational programming is part of this equation and is important to nurture in order to create and maintain a thriving community benefiting all.”
The advisory committee will be a broad collaboration between the Parks and Recreation Commission, the City Commission’s AD HOC Strategic Planning Committee, the Planning Commission, residents and business owners to ensure the diverse needs of the Kentwood community are represented in the process.
“After celebrating the City’s 50th anniversary, we are heavily focused on planning for the next 50 years,” said Val Romeo, Parks and Recreation director. “We want to ensure we continue to provide high quality services that meet the needs of our diverse community.”
The Committee of the Whole also recommended approval to authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement with MCSA Group Inc. to assist with the advisory committee process and additional master planning.
Individuals interested in joining the committee may apply online at kentwood.us.
Please contact Deputy City Administrator Mark Rambo at 616-554-0770 or via email at rambom@kentwood.us for more information about the advisory committee. The proposed schedule for the advisory committee consists of approximately nine meetings from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of every month beginning June 3.
Marking its 15th year, Jake’s Music Festival returns this Saturday at Elevation @ The Intersection, 133 Grandville Ave. SW. The event is a fundraiser for The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, with an emphasis on fun as it features a number of area bands such as Barrel Bones, Cabildo, and Young Pioneer. There is a silent auction and DJ SYLX will be spinning some of the tunes. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission and $25 VIP seating with a free drink. Visit jakesmusicfestival.com.
Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) will be playing out their final scenes in the final season of Game of Thrones. (Supplied/Helen Sloane/HBO)
War & Games
Unless you have been living under a rock, you should know by now that the final season of “The Game of Thrones” starts Sunday. (They even have a special Oreo cookie package for the event, so you know it has to be big.) 20 Monroe Live will be hosting a watch party starting at 7 p.m. And while you are waiting, Disney release the trailer to its last (??) “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” The film comes out in December.
Wyoming Historical Chairman Bill Branz and Kathey Batey talk about Tanglefoot. (WKTV)
Box It Up
Head down memory lane with the Wyoming Historical Commission as Chair Bill Branz talks about one of Wyoming’s first manufacturers, Tanglefoot. Tanglefoot produced flypaper and had a plant on the northwest end of town near the railroad tracks. Click here to read more.
Darth, Dr. Doom is Your Father
George Lucas was a fan of Marvel comics and according to reports was influenced to some degree by Marvel’s villains. It is said that the archenemy of The Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom served as the basis of Darth Vader. (Source)
It’s spring and that means employers are starting to post summer employment opportunities. Now is the time for young adults to prepare for summer employment. Summer work experience provides an excellent opportunity for teens to earn money, gain valuable experience and build confidence.
Teen workforce participation
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, teen participation in the labor force peaked in 1979 at almost 60 percent. It dropped sharply during and after the recession in 2007 and has continued to hover around 34.1 percent.
While some may be quick to chalk it up to teen laziness, the fact is, more teens are attending school during the summer, they’re participating in more activities and they’re competing against a growing number of older workers and underemployed college grads.
Summer opportunities
Teens that are willing and able to work during the summer months are most likely to find positions in businesses that have seasonal surges: movie theaters, amusement parks, hotels, farm labor, construction and landscaping. A quick search on Indeed.com for summer jobs near the Holland/Zeeland area pulls up 350 entry level jobs; a mix of temporary, full-time, part-time and internship opportunities.
Teens may also want to explore volunteer opportunities where they can learn valuable employability skills, such as time management, teamwork and responsibility.
Preparing for a successful job search
Here are three tips to help teens compete for summer employment:
Research the job opportunity. If it’s a retail job, visit the store and observe the current sales staff. Visit the company’s website and social media accounts.
Create a simple resume. List any volunteer work, school activity or odd job that demonstrates responsibility, commitment and a positive attitude.
Rehearse the interview. Practice a firm handshake, making eye contact and speaking with a clear, enthusiastic voice. Prepare a few questions that will show the employer that you’re genuinely interested in working for them.
Employment Expertise is provided by West Michigan Works! Learn more about how they can help: visit westmiworks.org or your local Service Center.
Kent County Seasonal Job Fair
When: Tuesday, April 16, 2-4:30pm
Where: West Michigan Works! 215 Straight Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504
Who: Kent County Road Commission and Parks Department
What: Over 30 Seasonal Openings, including maintenance, equipment and engineering positions, and park workers
We all have those nights when you’re home late from work or when picking up kids from their various activities throws your schedule way back. Your stomach is growling, the kids are hangry, and the temptation is strong to swing by a fast food drive-through for a quick fix.
But, deep inside, you know that’s not the best nutritional solution, and you’ll regret your decision as soon as the soda gurgles at the bottom of that paper cup.
While I generally encourage home-cooked meals, I understand the reality that our busy lives sometimes makes this ideal more difficult to achieve.
So here are some recipe ideas you can throw together in a pinch to deliver a healthful meal on the table in no time.
Nine of our family favorites:
1. Black Bean Quesadillas
Simply add a can of no-salt-added black beans to a whole grain tortilla with shredded cheese and a handful of baby spinach, then cook on a heated pan until the cheese is melted. Or, if your kids are food detectives as ours are, mash up white beans and spread in a thin layer on the tortilla before adding toppings. That adds some hidden nutrition.
2. Chicken or Tofu Stir-Fry
As time does not allow for much produce prep on these evenings, I opt for frozen stir-fry vegetables and a quick homemade teriyaki sauce of honey and tamari or soy sauce. Serve alongside brown rice (keep some ready to go in the freezer, refrigerator, or opt for a bag of microwavable rice). If you’re lucky, you may even have leftover chicken on hand that you can slice up; if not, quickly squeeze the moisture from firm tofu, dice, and stir-fry away!
3. Tortellini Pasta
I try to keep a well-stocked kitchen with pantry staples for Plan B nights. A few of the staples? Whole grain tortellini, spinach and marinara sauce. When you get home, begin simmering the marinara in a medium saucepan on the stove. In a separate skillet over medium, toss your fresh spinach or slowly heat your frozen spinach. Add the cooked tortellini to the spinach (or keep separated for little ones still learning to enjoy these flavors together) and top with the marinara. If you have any leftover chicken, turkey or beef, you could certainly serve this in or alongside this dish.
All you need is whole grain bread, eggs, cheese, and if you prefer, fresh spinach leaves and sliced tomatoes. If you want to take things up a notch, add sliced avocado. Serve sunny-side up alongside a dish of fresh fruit for a complete (and completely simple) supper.
7. Pizza-Dia
Think pizza on a tortilla. In all honesty, we have even made these using whole grain bread or portabella mushrooms. All you need is mozzarella, tomato sauce, and the toppings of your choice.
8. Super Sloppy Joes
Another winner is this healthy sloppy Joe recipe made from ground meat (consider lean turkey), whole grain buns, and the veggies of your choice. Done and done.
9. Taco or Wrap Night
This meal can be served in a variety of ways. Whether you choose to go with traditional beef or bean tacos in a hard corn tortilla, or you choose to mix things up, the goal is to have a self-serve meal to save a bit of effort on your end. My family loves these fish tacos from Real Mom Nutrition.
To commemorate its 50th year, Festival of the Arts is excited to announce renowned designer Stephen Frykholm as its 2019 poster artist. One of the longest running festivals in the state of Michigan, Festival of the Arts will hold its 50th celebration on June 7, 8, and 9 in downtown Grand Rapids.
“Steve was an obvious choice to create the 50th celebration poster,” said Festival of the Arts Executive Director David Abbott.” He is a luminary in the design community and we knew he would create something unique and compelling to commemorate this milestone event.”
Frykholm started his career at Herman Miller in 1970 as the company’s first graphic designer. In 1986 he received the Carl F. Frost Award, Herman Miller’s highest recognition for an employee. In 2007, AIGA, the professional association for design, awarded him an AIGA Fellow, and in 2010 he earned AIGA’s most prestigious award, the AIGA Medal. Steve has been recognized as an annual report design legend by Graphis magazine and he was acclaimed as an American design icon in the 50th anniversary issue of Communication Arts. He retired from Herman Miller in 2015.
“When David Abbott asked me if I would design the Festival of the Arts poster this year, I couldn’t say no, because it’s the 50th year of the festival. That’s a big deal!” Frykholm said. “It was also 50 years ago that the critically acclaimed Calder stabile was installed, and it is the epicenter of the festival. After reviewing all the former posters in the lower level of City Hall, I decided on my direction–the iconic Calder would be my focal point. The Grand River and the Native American mounds are also important city symbols, and I wanted to include them. The large poster I came up with is simple and direct in its design and typography with a blue sky for optimism. I hope it inspires people to start their summer–and perhaps a suntan–by attending the 50th Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts in June.”
This year’s poster will be available for sale in the Festival Store and at the Gift Shop at the GRAM during Festival of the Arts. Both signed and unsigned versions will be available at different price points.
The Calder stabile, or La Grande Vitesse, was formally dedicated on June 14, 1969, and has since become the civic symbol of the City of Grand Rapids. Its installation inspired the first Festival of the Arts, a three-day community arts celebration held each year on the first full weekend in June. Festival began in 1970 and was originally sponsored by the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids.
Festival started with two stages, some artwork and a few food booths. Today, the celebration covers much of downtown Grand Rapids with three performance stages, dozens of food booths, and endless art and activities for all ages. Now in its 50th year, Festival of the Arts is one of the longest running festivals in the State of Michigan.
Spring is finally here and to celebrate, Wyoming’s spring carnival is coming back again this year.
West Michigan families are invited to come out to Lamar Park, 2561 Porter St SW, and enjoy carnival rides, food, and games April 26 – May 5. The carnival will be open Monday through Thursday from 4–8:30 p.m., Friday from 2– 8:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon–8:30 p.m.
“What says family fun like a spring carnival?” said Rebecca Rynbrandt, director of community services for the City of Wyoming. “The carnival is a great opportunity for the community to come out and celebrate the change in seasons in a fun and exciting atmosphere.”
Proceeds from the carnival support City of Wyoming parks and recreation services and the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance or GWCRA. Funds raised support youth scholarships and youth and family programming through the Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department. The GWCRA distributes funds to the community through their annual grant awarding process.
The carnival will include various rides, games and food options. There is sure to be fun available for all ages.
About Wyoming Parks and Recreation
The City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department is a key service area of the community services department and is committed to providing leisure and recreation opportunities by developing and maintaining green spaces, facilities, and programs to enrich the quality of life for the citizens of Wyoming and the greater metropolitan area. For more information about Parks and Recreation programs and events please contact the City of Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department at 616-530-3164 or parks_info@wyomingmi.gov or visit our web site at: www.wyomingmi.gov.
Vendors of all types are active at the City of Kentwood’s Farmers Market. (WKTV)
By City of Kentwood
The Kentwood Farmers Market is now accepting vendors for its fifth season, set to begin June 1. The market will take place each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Kent District Library – Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch, located at 4950 Breton Road SE. Vendors have the option to sign up for individual dates or for the full season, which will end Oct. 5.
The Farmers Market provides community members the opportunity to buy a variety of goods ranging from produce, baked goods, syrup and cheese, to fresh-cut flowers, coffee and handmade items.
“We are looking forward to welcoming a variety of vendors and continuing to host special events throughout the season,” said Lori Gresnick, Kentwood recreation program coordinator. “The Kentwood Farmers Market is a great opportunity for the community to support local businesses, and likewise, it’s a great way for our local vendors to connect with Kentwood residents and neighbors.”
Upcoming events include the following:
June 1 – Opening Day will include special giveaways for the first 30 visitors.
July 20 – Dog Days of Summer will feature vendors who provide specialty pet products.
Sept. 21 – Kentwood Cares will allow guests to bring nonperishable food donations to support Kentwood’s Little Free Pantry or monetary donations for the Youth Scholarship Fund, which helps low-income youth participate in Kentwood’s recreational programs.
Aug. 4–10 – National Farmers Market Week will include vendor spotlights on Facebook.
Oct. 5 – Harvest Celebration will mark the closing day of the season and feature music, games and baked goods.
The Kentwood Farmers Market accepts food assistance benefits, including SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks and Senior Project FRESH/Market FRESH.
In its fourth year, Kentwood welcomed 18 vendors throughout the season and nearly 330 customers per market.
Vendors can reserve a spot for $15 per day for $250 for the full season. More information about the Kentwood Farmers Market, including vendor applications, can be found online at kentwoodfarmersmarket.com .
For many women, a healthy lifestyle is not enough. They want some kind of treatment to help them feel better and get back to feeling like themselves. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Too many women suffer needlessly from symptoms of hormone changes and menopause.
Women want to age with health and vitality, but often are taken by surprise with midlife body changes. It is unfortunate that not enough women know the facts about hormones and options for healthy aging.
We are fortunate these days because there are so many treatment options available.
There has been significant research to help us understand how to individualize these options for each woman depending on her preferences, medical history, stage of menopause and degree of symptoms.
Options abound
The foundation of treatment for the symptoms of menopause is a healthy lifestyle. This is defined by the SEEDS, or seven essential elements of daily success.
Following the SEEDS each day includes:
Eighty ounces of water
Seven hours of sleep
A healthy balance of healthy carbs, protein and fats with only one unhealthy carb treat
A multivitamin and vitamin D
Exercise and stretching
Fiber
Calm breathing and gratitude
For some women, this is enough to feel good through menopause. Twenty percent of women get through their transition with only minimal symptoms.
For many women, however, a healthy lifestyle is not enough. They feel so in the hole of symptoms that they want some kind of treatment to help them feel better and get back into good habits. This is when we talk about the most effective treatment for hot flashes, night sweats, pain with sex, sleep and mood disturbances and decreased sex drive.
Estrogen medication works quickly and is safe for many women. There are many fear-based untruths out there that keep women from using medication that can help them feel like themselves again.
A recent study of hormone use showed that the risk of blood clots has a higher association with oral estrogen use, not with transdermal—absorbed through the skin—estrogen therapy. And for oral estrogen use, the risk was higher with equine estrogen, also known as premarin, and not with the bioidentical, FDA-approved form of estrogen.
Now, for women who have taken premarin for years and do not want to stop, the risk of associated blood clots is mainly in the first year. Switching is possible, but for those women who choose not to, the advice would be to minimize other risks for blood clots by maintaining a healthy weight, staying hydrated, and taking a baby aspirin when on long car trips or plane rides. And always talk to your doctor about your risk.
Bottom line, be informed, make decisions based on facts, and get advice from doctors and other health care providers who are menopause certified. Every woman is different and what works for her or is safe for her may not apply to another.
Test your hormone knowledge
True or false? Hormones will make me fat.
False. Menopause is associated with belly fat, hormone medications are not. Studies show that hormone medication may help with sleep and reduce insulin resistance, so if women do the work to stay healthy, hormones can help maintain a healthy weight.
True or false? Estrogen causes breast cancer.
False. In the aforementioned study, women who were on estrogen because they had a hysterectomy had a lower risk of breast cancer. Estrogen does not cause cancer, but if a woman gets breast cancer, we do not give estrogen in the blood (via a patch or pill) because of concerns it could cause a recurrence. We might prescribe vaginal estrogen, but not systemic. The only women in the Women’s Health Initiative study with more breast cancer were older and on synthetic oral progesterone more than seven years. This study helps us understand safe ways to give hormones and which type.
True or false? Prescription medication is not bioidentical.
False. It is biochemically identical to the estrogen the ovary makes before menopause. We prescribe FDA-approved estrogen and progesterone, meaning it is the same every time you place a patch or take a pill. There is no batch-to-batch variability like in the compounded medications. Insurance will cover the FDA-approved medication.
Hormone guidelines to consider
If the below criteria describes you, hormones could be a safe option:
Less than 10 years from last period
No history of breast cancer
No vascular heart disease (heart attack, or high risk for heart attack)
No history of blood clot in the leg or lung
No prior stroke
No dementia
No metabolic syndrome (combo of high blood pressure, central obesity, high blood sugar, high cholesterol)
These are only guidelines. If there are any questions regarding risk, your provider will bring in partners from cardiology, diabetes, hematology, and cancer care to help guide decisions.
A probably sold-out crowd that comes to Meijer Gardens Summer Concert series. (Supplied Meijer Gardens/Tony Norkus)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
The most-anticipated aspect of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s summer concert series is the quality and varied line-up but usually the least-anticipated aspect of the concerts was the lines to get in and after: the crush when the gates open, the lack of a (shall we say) ‘nearby’ line to the rest rooms, and the lines for the concessions.
This season, The Fifth Third Bank Summer Concerts at Meijer Gardens 2019 lineup will continue its great musical line-up featuring 30 shows ranging from the every-season sell-out of Lyle Lovett (whose summer concert streak will now be at 14 years) to the ‘Who is that?’ Garden’s debut of Mandolin Orange.
But Gardens upgrades will ease the other three issues, with more entry points due to extra gates in an expanded plaza area, an expanded and modernized concession area, and access to new and expanded restrooms first from the outside for those lined up and then from the inside.
The physical changes conclude a two-year effort of significant expansion and improvement of the venue while maintaining the intimacy of the venue, including the renovated the Steve & Amy Van Andel Terraces for sponsor seating, added new support areas for visiting artists, backstage and loading dock improvements and increased the space — but not capacity — in the 1,900-seat general seating area.
As usual, there will be multiple ways to lay down your money and get your tickets, in various technology forms, and not all of them require standing in lines. For all the details of the ticket options, which is its own separate story, check out The Insider’s Guide on the Meijer Gardens website (scroll down on the page to Insiders Guide to Buying Ticket and follow the link).
And now for the good stuff: who’s coming!
Let’s separate the list into who’s coming back for an encore, who’s into classic rock, and the who’s next in music whom you might want to catch up with — at least in my humble opinion.
Lyle Lovett keeps coming back to Meijer Gardens, and we sure appreciate it. (Supplied)
First the encores, at least a sampling of such: Lake Street Dive + The Wood Brothers, June 12; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, June 27; An Evening with Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, July 26; Michael Franti & Spearhead, Aug. 23; and The B-52’s + OMD + Berlin, Sept. 11.
Foreigner will strut their stuff on Meijer Gardens’ outdoor stage. (Supplied/Foreigner)
The classic rock (and other classic) bands offering up their classic hits, from about 40 years of such things: Buddy Guy + Kenny Wayne Shepherd, June 10 (ya, I know it’s blues but classic blues.); Steve Miller Band + Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, June 24; Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles, June 30 (as close as we’ll now ever get to the Fab Four); Three Dog Night, July 11; The Temptations + The Righteous Brothers, July 28 (OK, classic soul); An Evening with The Beach Boys, Aug. 1; An Evening with Styx, Aug. 9; Foreigner, Aug. 11; and Stray Cats, Aug. 15.
And for who’s coming that either you might want to check out or simply should not miss:
Nahko, at left, and his band. (Supplied/Meijer Gardens))
Nahko And Medicine For The People, June 6. Describing his latest release, “My Name is Bear”, Nahko says on his website: “So many dear people helped me write and live these stories. The two summers I spent in Alaska, half the winter in Louisiana and the other half holed up in my van in Portland, and then the first year in Hawaii were transformational.” Sounds to me like someone worth a listen.
Andrew Bird (Supplied/Meijer Gardens)
Andrew Bird, July 18. Bird has been around but if you missed his 2016 solo release “Are You Serious”, and the single “Capsized”, which got the most airplay, you missed a great multi-leveled, alt-whole bunch of things, collection which featured guest vocals from Fiona Apple and some fine shredding on his electric violin. His visit last year to Meijer Garden with Esperanza Spalding was, arguably, the hippest night of the season. More recently, Bird has released a series of site-specific improvisational short films and recordings called Echolocations, recorded in remote and acoustically interesting spaces including a reverberant stone-covered aqueduct in Lisbon. Ya, someone to definitely check out.
Los Lobos (Meijer Gardens)
The Mavericks + Los Lobos, July 25. I’ve yet to hear The Mavericks but they had me at Los Lobos. The hard working, constantly touring band – led by David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin – rolled into their fifth decade with 2015’s “Gates of Gold”, their first full length studio album since 2010’s “Tin Can Trust”, the band’s outstanding Grammy nominated (for Best Americana Album) release that is constantly in my personal setlist. Can’t wait.
Mandolin Orange is singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz. (Meijer Gardens)
Mandolin Orange, Sept. 4. Don’t know much about the the North Carolina duo of singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz, but I really like what I’ve heard of their just released “Tides of a Teardrop” — described by one listener as “the duo’s fullest, richest, and most personal effort. You can hear the air between them — the taut space of shared understanding, as palpable as a magnetic field, that makes their music sound like two halves of an endlessly completing thought.”
The rest, and no offense to fans of, include: Rodrigo y Gabriela with Justin Townes Earle, June 9; Big Head Todd and The Monsters + Toad the Wet Sprocket, June 20; Old Crow Medicine Show, June 21; The Mighty O.A.R. Summer Tour 2019 with American Authors, June 26; Amos Lee, July 15; Gipsy Kings with Simi, July 21; Dawes + Margo Price, July 31 (Margo’s alt-country is worth the price of admission by herself); An Evening with CAKE, Aug. 7; Sarah McLachlan with Orchestra, Aug. 8; JJ Grey & Mofro + Jonny Lang, Aug. 14 (Same thing I said about Margo applies to Jonny); Tash Sultana with Leo James Conroy, Sept. 8; and Calexico and Iron & Wine, Sept. 18.
And a few details that remain the same
The Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater tickets are general admission. Concertgoers are welcome to bring a blanket or low-rise chair to sit on. Low-rise chairs are defined as 12-inch maximum from ground to front of seat bottom and 32-inch maximum to top of chair back in highest position. These rules are strictly enforced. No other chairs will be permitted in the venue. A limited number of standard-height chairs will be available to rent for $10 (located in designated area-may not be removed) on a first-come, first-served basis.
All concerts take place rain or shine (weather delays possible). Concertgoers are also welcomed to bring their own food, sealed bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages in their original sealed containers.
Photo 1. Oak wilt symptoms. A) Dying red oak showing foliar wilt symptoms. B) Crack in the bark indicating mycelial mat presence. C) Nitidulid beetle visiting a mycelial mat. D) Gray spore containing mycelial mat and pressure pad. Photos: Monique Sakalidis
By Monique Sakalidis, Michigan State University, Department of Forestry
Species name
Bretziella fagacearum (used to be known as Ceratocystisfagacearum) is a fungal pathogen that causes the disease oak wilt.
How did oak wilt come to the United States and how long has it been here?
Oak wilt was first recognized as an important disease in 1944 in Wisconsin, where in localized areas, over half the oaks had been killed. The fungal pathogen was thought to be native to the Eastern U.S. Difficulties in identifying the fungus led to a delay in recognizing the exact extent of its impact until the 1980s. More recent evidence suggests oak wilt is an exotic disease that arrived in the U.S. in the early 1900s. The fungus has not been reported in any other country other than the U.S., so its origin remains unknown. In Michigan, it was first reported in the 1970s.
Extent of range
In the U.S., oak wilt has been confirmed in 24 states, including 829 counties. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has confirmed oak wilt in 56 Michigan counties. Oaks comprise about 10 percent of the forest in Michigan and oak wilt has the potential to impact the 149 million red oak trees across 20 million acres of Michigan forest land (private, state, local government and federal ownership).
Why is oak wilt a problem?
Oak wilt is a serious disease of oak trees that mainly affects red oaks. The disease also affects white oaks, but because they are somewhat more resistant (due to their better ability of compartmentalizing the fungus whilst maintaining a functioning water transport system), the disease progresses more slowly. Activities that result in tree wounding such as pruning, tree climbing spikes, nailing signs on trees, hanging lanterns on trees, tree barking and storm damage during the warmer months of the year can result in more new tree infections. Oak wilt causes devastating ecosystem damage and is also an aesthetic blight across the landscape.
Oak wilt symptoms
An infected tree is often first noticed due to a sudden drop or browning of leaves in the summer months (Photo 1A). Leaves may be brown, omewhat bronzed or partially green. Often, leaf tips and margins will be bronze or brown whilst the leaf base will remain green (Photo 2). There are other pest, pathogen and environmental problems that may cause similar symptoms and therefore it’s important that suspected oak wilt-infected trees are lab verified.
How it kills the tree
Once the fungus enters the tree either via a spore coming into contact with a tree wound or via interconnecting root grafts, it grows throughout the water conducting channels of the tree—the xylem vessels. These vessels are eventually blocked both by the fungus and structures produced by the tree, meaning water cannot be effectively transported and we start to see the “wilting” effects. Tree death in red oak is rapid and can occur within three to four weeks after initial appearance of symptoms.
Six to 12 months after the tree has died, the fungus will complete its life cycle and produce spore-containing mycelial mats (Photo 1D) on the dead tree. These mats form under the bark and, as the mats mature, produce specialized, non-spore producing structures in the center of the fungal mat called “pressure pads” that exert pressure outward to the bark, causing it to split (Photo 1B) and thus provides a route for insects to reach the mycelial mats. These mycelial mats have a distinctive odor that makes them attractive to a variety of beetles (Photo 1C) that will feed on the mat then fly to other mats or fresh tree wounds, through which the fungus then enters the tree and starts the infection process anew.
How it is spread
Spread of the disease is rapid and there are multiple ways the disease can be spread.
Below ground by root-to-root transmission. Local spread of oak wilt occurs when the fungus travels through the interconnected roots of infected and healthy trees. This can account for up to 90 percent of new infections each year. This type of spread results in outwardly expanding pockets of dead trees (infection epicenters) in the landscape (up to 39 feet per year). One important management strategy when dealing with oak wilt is disrupting these root grafts via trenching or vibratory plows.
Overland by insect transmission. Nitidulid beetles carry fungal spores from sporulating mats on infected trees to wounds on healthy trees, from which a new infection can develop. Overland transmission results in new infection centers. Removing the entire infected tree, including stump removal, and limiting activities that result in tree wounding is essential to reduce overland infection.
Overland by firewood. Since mycelial mats develop on dead oak trees, they can also form on wood cut from infected oaks. Sporadic long-distance infections can result from moving firewood. Specific handling of firewood is mentioned below.
Cool and unusual facts
One way this fungus is spread is by sap-feeding nitidulid beetles, also known as picnic beetles, and, to a lesser extent, bark beetles. The mycelial mats smell like fermenting apple cider vinegar, red wine or even bubblegum.
Management actions and options
Because red oaks have no natural resistance to this disease, the only way to stop new infection is to prevent the spread of the fungus to new, healthy trees and reduce the fungal presence or inoculum load in known oak wilt-positive locations. This is done by reducing activities that cause tree wounding, disrupting root grafts that may have formed between healthy and infected trees, and by removing confirmed oak wilt-positive trees.
Once oak wilt is confirmed at a site either by the presence of mycelial mats or lab-based confirmation (from branch samples that show black streaks in the vascular tissue). Management decisions can be made and action taken normally between August and when the ground is frozen. Working when the ground is frozen will minimize wounding events that lead to overland spread as well as minimizing the chance of spores moving via root grafts (underground spread).
Management options once oak wilt is confirmed on a site vary depending on the accessibility of the site (steep versus flat), type of site (forest versus yard) and the number of trees affected. Management is primarily centered around disrupting root grafts that may allow infection to spread from diseased to healthy trees and removing and destroying infected material, including firewood (best to cover firewood until the bark has fallen off).
Photo 2. Typical fallen leaves associated with oak wilt. Photo by Monique Sakalidis | MSU.
What you can do to help prevent the spread of oak wilt
Do not prune oak trees during the warmer months of the year. Limit any activity that results in tree wounding or movement of cut trees, such as pruning, harvesting, thinning, utility line clearance and firewood. To prevent above-ground spread, trees should not be pruned from April 15 to July 15 during the highest risk periods. There may be some risk of spread outside of this date range, but at a reduced amount.
Paint tree wounds with tree-wound paint or latex-based paint as soon as they are made. Beetles have been known to find their way onto wounds within 10 minutes of pruning.
Do not move firewood. If you cut oak down, either chip, debark, burn or bury it. If you cut it into firewood, cover the wood with a plastic sheet (minimum 4-millimeter thickness) and bury the edges of the plastic underground, making sure none of the plastic breaks. This needs to be left for six to 12 months until the wood has dried out enough—and therefore isn’t conducive to fungal growth—and the bark falls off.
A few years ago when Bill Branz was visiting in Colorado, he found an old wooden box with the word “Tanglefoot” printed on the side. The Wyoming Historical Commission chair quickly snapped it up.
Tanglefoot is one of the most well-known flypaper manufacturers, and while some know that the company got its start in Grand Rapids, many may not realize Tanglefoot had a factory operation in Wyoming.
“Back in the early 1900s we had this little factory operation here in Wyoming Township and it was a family of four brothers who worked with their father in the late 1800s in Grand Rapids,” Branz said.
The Thum family ran a drugstore in the late 1800s. Due in part to the horse-drawn carts, flies were a big problem during that time period, with farmers to lawyers visiting the local drugstore to have flypaper, paper covered in a sweet, tacky substance, prepared.
“The two younger brothers discovered with the chemistry that their family played with that they could make this flypaper out of some of the chemicals they were using,” Branz said. The flypaper was a hit and the family patented the product.
Where the former Tanglefoot building was located. The building is still there. (WKTV)
“They stated up a factory operation right along the old railroad track line that ran from the Kalamazoo/Allegan area into Grand Rapids,” Branz said. “They made enough money to become what is considered wealthy and moved to California, the Pasadena area, and the youngest brother, William, became the mayor of Pasadena.”
The wooden box is now housed at the Wyoming Historical Room, located in the KDL Wyoming Branch, 3350 Michael Ave. SW.
“I thought it was an interesting story and it is just fun to have something like this in our room to show people and bring back a little story involving our local history,” Branz said of the box.
The Wyoming Historical Room is always looking for items related to the history of Wyoming. If you have something you would like to donate or if you are interested in volunteering, call 616-261-3508 or visit the Wyoming Michigan Historical Room on Facebook.
Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
Holy moly, did it take a long time (and a massive effort) to corral this badly injured boy and convince him (and others) that he needed to be taken in out of harm’s way.
About two years ago, this three-year-old, intact male (born in early 2016) took to wandering around a Wyoming apartment complex, befriending a few of the residents who let him in from time to time. Then in the summer of 2018, he was terribly traumatized, most likely the victim of a nasty cat fight that caused his initial neck wound.
It seems that some of the residents had taken a shine to our boy, but instead of seeking medical care for him, they let nature take its course and went so far as to insist that he needed to stay put as ‘their’ outdoor cat; they would miss him too much if he were gone. Finally, his skin had progressively been damaged over the harsh, horrible winter we had, and he was brought in for long overdue medical attention.
Dr. Jen has smelled a lot of foul things in her career as a veterinarian, but this matted, chronically abscessed and necrotic skin flap was a doozy! Once anesthetized and prepped for surgery, the good doctor gently cut away the nasty, useless chunk of skin that was overlaying a 4-5 cm open wound, with another full-thickness hole present beneath. After flushing and debriding the wound site, Dr. Jen started this kitty on broad-spectrum antibiotics and pain medication, then set about neutering, conducting internal and external parasite control, administering vaccines, bathing (repeatedly to remove layers of grime), and testing.
It was no surprise that Donut tested positive for FIV, a transmissible feline virus acquired from deep puncture/bite wounds, disheartening but not unexpected. By the time he was done being brushed and blow-dried, he looked like a million bucks, albeit one missing a huge section of flesh.
Although his recovery was routine, the next morning Dr. Jen was not greeted by the happy, hungry hunk she left the night before, but a depressed kitty with an elevated respiratory rate who was lying in his feces—and very subdued while she re-bathed him. Dr. Jen was concerned about a reaction to the drugs used to sedate him or, more importantly, an underlying cardiomyopathy, so she ran a specialized test that showed elevated levels of an enzyme we can see in cats with heart disease.
Thankfully, after a course of subcutaneous fluids and the passing of a very large bowel movement laden with roundworms, this guy immediately perked up, his breathing resumed normal, and he was back to filling his face. A few days later, Dr. Jen sent him off to Sid’s with a vial of topical Silvadene cream in tow to be applied to his skin defects twice daily. Although an instant fan of belly rubs, Donut was understandably weary of any sort of human contact involving his head, so there was a bit of a learning curve for everyone involved. However, over the course of the next four weeks, his healing plugged along at a good clip, and although he will sport one heck of a scar, overall he really is none the worse for wear.
The majority of the time Dr. Jen spent with Donut was at the clinic, so she wanted to get a more in depth summary of his personality and observations made by his caretakers for his biography:
“I can’t say enough good things about him,” said one volunteer. “He absolutely loves all the comforts of indoor life. He’s crazy about wet food, treats, and humans. While taking care of his neck wound, he’s been nothing short of a gentleman, just sits and waits patiently for the treats at the end. He really does love people, knows his name already, and is starting to follow us around. He was slow to venture out of his safe place/room, but he knows he’s safe now, and has been strutting around with confidence. He can be a little selfish and push his way through when I’m interacting with him and a few of the other cats, but he’s not aggressive about it; he’s just trying to make upon for lost time.
“Donut has come such a long way since he came in. He has turned into a very sweet boy who absolutely loves his new life of luxury. He can still be pretty reserved and prefers to snuggle up in a cubby, but if you sit and talk to him or offer him a few treats he will come right out for attention. He loves canned food more than anything else and probably will eat until he explodes if you let him! He doesn’t seem to care at all about the other cats, so he could probably live with or without them. He would do great in a quiet home without kids, one where he could be the center of quiet, gentle attention.”
Now that you have read all about this amazing creature, ‘do-nut ya wanna’ take him home and make him your very own?
More about Donut:
Domestic Short Hair / Gray & White
Adult
Male
Large
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Neutered
FIV-positive
Good in a home with other cats
Prefers a home without children
Want to adopt Donut? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
Can’t adopt, but still want to help? Find out how you can sponsor a cat!
Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary have a common mission: To
take at-risk stray cats off the streets of the Greater Grand Rapids
area, provide them with veterinary care and house them in free-roaming,
no-kill facilities until dedicated, loving, permanent homes can be
found.
Reyna Orellana Masko shares some of the unspeakable horrors of life, violence, and death in her native El Salvador. A U.S. citizen today, she calls for the national administration to reinstate Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for the 200,000 Salvadorans at risk of being sent back to a land of estrangement and danger. Relatedly, she calls for Ottawa County residents to create a more welcoming community that is able to attract and retain diverse workers who are the global doers of tomorrow.
[Parental Warning: May not be suitable for younger children.]
Do you find yourself making tough choices about which bills to pay in tight months? In Michigan, 14 percent of individuals reported that in 2015, their household spent more than their income (not including the purchase of a new home, car or other big investment), according to the National Financial Capability Study. This same study reported 18 percent of individuals have medical bills that are past due. If you are struggling to make ends meet, you can prioritize based on what might happen and decide which bills are the most important to pay this month. This article contains recommended steps and suggests several possible strategies.
Understand the risk of not paying certain bills now. What things do you need to keep or get a job, like transportation, childcare, tools or work uniform? To stay housed and keep your utilities connected? What insurance do you need to pay for, including car, health, home or renter’s insurance? Do you have other important financial obligations, such as court-ordered child support, other loans or credit cards?
Assess the pros and cons of your situation. Remember that the costs of losing a place to live add up fast and can make it harder to find a new one. Also, consider consequences, legal or otherwise, of delaying payment. For example, credit card companies might raise your interest rates if you pay more than 60 days late.
Prioritize your bills. You are responsible for all your bills. If you cannot pay all of them at once, decide the payment order from highest to lowest priority. Keep in mind, if you fall behind on secured debt payments, you can lose your house or car.
Next, you can create an action plan to make this month’s most important payments. Use the Personal Monthly Budget spreadsheet or another budgeting tool to list your income and monthly expenses like rent or mortgage, utilities, transportation, education, childcare, cell phone and groceries. How much do you have left to use for debt payments? How balanced are your income and spending?
Now that you see your personal budget numbers, decide on your strategy. Here are five possibilities to consider.
Look at each line item and ask yourself if you can increase income as well as if you can decrease or eliminate some expenses.
If you have to miss a payment, you can try to call the creditor to tell them why and work out a short-term agreement. For example, are they willing to forgive an occasional fee?
If a certain bill is difficult to pay because of the due date, try to negotiate a new due date which better lines up with the dates you receive your income or benefits.
Another strategy is to rotate the bills you pay each month. While this is not ideal, it can prevent serious consequences such as losing your car or house, having a utility shut-off, or defaulting on a loan.
Find out if there are local resources to turn to for help. Those listed below are in Michigan:
Help with health care bills, food, child care: MiBridges. For medical debt, ask if there is a prompt payment discount, “charity care” or an affordable repayment plan.
Setting goals and planning to pay your bills on time are best practices to help make your financial hopes and dreams come true. Having a monthly budget shows your sense of control to understand your situation and make your action plan. And you will save money by paying down debt to avoid the interest costs from borrowing on credit. Financial planning takes time, patience, and discipline. Find more information about making money decisions and to learn about educational events in your area at MIMoneyHealth.org.
Summer leagues are now forming at both the Kentwood and Wyoming Parks and Recreation Departments. (Supplied)
Warmer weather = more fun
Both the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming have released spring/summer brochures with a host of activities available. There is a league for just about everything from volleyball to baseball along with fitness activities, day trips and more. Curious, well then click here to check out Wyoming’s brochure and for Kentwood’s, visit the story by clicking here.
According to scientists and some users, Lake Michigan is seeing an impact from global warming. (Supplied)
Water, water everywhere
Tomorrow, the Kent District Library kicks off the series “Oceans, Lakes, and Streams: Protecting Water Globally and Locally,” which focuses on our waterways. Tomorrow’s program, which starts at 6:30 p.m. at the KDL Kentwood Branch, features Dr. David E. Guggenheim, known as “The Ocean Doctor,” discussing the “State of the Oceans.” The program is free. For more, click here.
An Allegiant Airlines plan at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (Supplied/Ford International Airport)
Head South
Let’s be honest, the threat of snow has us all wishing we could head south for warmer weather. Good news! Allegiant now offers non-stop service to Sarasota from Grand Rapids. Bonus: to celebrate the airlines is offering a special airfare rate making it possible for you to head there right now, if you wanted to. For more, click here.
Fun fact:
38
That is the number of parks/trails that the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood have combined. Wyoming maintains 21 which range from the Buck Creek Nature Trail to Lamar Park, home of the Wyoming’s Concerts in the Park. Kentwood has Jaycee Park, famous for its Disc Golf site, and Kelloggs Wood Park, which has a dog park. As the weather warms up, now is the time to enjoy these lovely assets of the cities.
In conjunction with Limb Loss Awareness Month, the City of Kentwood is again partnering with Hanger Clinic — a local prosthetic and orthotic patient care provider — to offer the second annual Limb Loss Awareness 5K race on Saturday, April 27.
Open to people of all abilities, the family friendly event will continue to raise funds for Kentwood’s adaptive recreation programs, which exist to provide people of all abilities a chance to recreate in a positive and safe environment.
The race route will include sections of the East-West and Paul Henry-Thornapple Trails. Packet pick-up is at 9 a.m. followed by the start of the clock-timed race at 10 a.m.
Jessica Curtis, whose right leg was amputated below the knee five years ago, will share her story before the race kicks off. Curtis was born with one leg shorter than the other and went through numerous leg-lengthening procedures before electing to have her leg amputated. Now fitted with a custom-designed prosthetic leg, Jessica is able to be more active and will be walking the 5K with her family. As a certified peer visitor through Hanger Clinic’s nationwide AMPOWER program, Curtis is a supportive listening ear and confidant for others who are on an amputation journey.
“We are honored Jessica will share her story with the community at the Limb Loss Awareness 5K, and hope it inspires others to do the same,” said Katelyn Bush, Kentwood recreation program coordinator. “The addition of a speaker is one of several new features planned this year to really set the tone for the event as inclusive, educational and fun for everyone involved.”
This year’s event will include a one-mile fun run just for kids beginning and ending at Bowen Station Park, 4499 Bowen Boulevard SE. Kids who participate will receive a t-shirt and ribbon. Top finishers will be awarded medals. The kids’ race will start at 11 a.m. and costs $5 per child. Also new this year will be a bounce house, face painting, games and food trucks.
At 9:45 a.m., individuals who have experienced limb loss will be encouraged to participate in taking photos for #ShowYourMettle, a social media campaign organized by the Amputee Coalition that will take place the same day of the race. The Amputee Coalition’s “Show Your Mettle Day” emboldens amputees to proudly wear and show their prosthetic and/or assistive devices.
Hanger Clinic Community Care Coordinator Nikki Stoner says the event is a great way for individuals who have experienced limb loss to connect with others in the amputee community.
As an amputee herself, Stoner knows just how important it is to have a strong support network when experiencing limb loss. Since having her leg amputated after experiencing a gunshot wound on the opening day of deer hunting season almost 25 years ago, limb loss awareness and support of fellow amputees has been a passion for Stoner.
“Whenever I meet a new amputee, I always say, ‘welcome to the family!’,” Stoner said. “Being able to truly empathize, to say I understand because I’ve been through it, makes a big difference in helping someone through their amputation journey. It is incredibly impactful when the limb loss community gathers together for an event like this.”
The day will feature several educational components. Signs with facts about limb loss and amputation will be placed throughout the race course. When participants are not racing, they can learn about amputation at community booths.
Hanger Clinic will have one of Winter the dolphin’s prosthetic tails for kids to look at and touch as an interactive learning experience. Winter is the dolphin that lost her tail after it became entangled in a crab trap in 2005. In 2006, Kevin Carroll, an expert prosthetist and vice president of prosthetics at Hanger Clinic heard her story and offered to fit her with a prosthetic tail that would allow Winter to swim again. Her movie debut in “Dolphin Tale” premiered on Sept. 23, 2011.
In addition, Hanger Clinic will have other prosthetics, as well as orthotics, on hand to show people how they are made and answer questions. Spectrum Health, Advanced Cardiac & Vascular Amputation Prevention Centers and College Park Industries will also have booths on-site.
Race results will be put on display at Bowen Station Park and posted online shortly after the race. Four first place awards will be given to the first adult men and women amputees and non-amputees who cross the finish line. The event is set to conclude at 1 p.m.
Registration for the 5K is $30 in advance at runsignup.com or $35 on race day. Registrants will receive a t-shirt and goodie bag.
Race organizers are also seeking volunteers for the event. Those interested may sign up online.
Michigan State University senior Gabby Huizenga has tinkered with cells, experimented with environmental toxins and hypothesized complex scientific theories about disease — but she still has time to remember her roots.
The Wyoming High School Class of 2015 graduate visited science classes recently to share the pathway she took from high school to a Ph.D. program, and how other young science lovers can take similar routes in pursuing their goals.
Michigan State University senior and Wyoming High School graduate Gabby Huizinga returns to Wyoming to talk about opportunities to go far in science
Huizenga said the hours she spent in MSU research labs — not to mention changing her major a few times– has led her to where she is now: enrolled in the Immunology Postgraduate Doctoral Degree program at University of Michigan. She was accepted into several colleges’ programs before choosing U of M. After listening to her story, Wyoming students asked her about college, financial resources, ways to get involved, and courses to take now and in college.
“I really want to get them excited about science and research and share one particular path they can take,” Huizinga said. “One of the things I didn’t realize is that for a Ph.D., instead of you paying them they pay you. I think that is a great opportunity.” (Many universities fully fund doctoral students with tuition covered and a stipend.)
While finishing up her undergraduate degree, Huizinga is involved in research for MSU assistant professor Andrew Olive, in the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. She’s studying how humans and animals interact with invading bacteria or viruses and experimenting with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The research could eventually lead to a new tuberculosis drug.
“We are trying to figure out why only five percent of people who are affected with the bacteria actually get TB,” she said.
She’s also researched toxic chemicals produced when waste is incinerated. “We’re wondering if we can use bacteria to clean up the chemicals in the soil because they are really cheap to produce and really efficient,” she said.
Gabby Huizinga is researching the bacteria that causes tuberculosis
High School Students, Take Note
Huizinga said taking AP classes and other challenging courses at Wyoming, where she graduated as co-valedictorian, helped prepare her for college. But learning about myriad options once at MSU led her to explore different paths before choosing a double major in microbiology and molecular genomics and genetics.
She will graduate in May and take the direct route to her Ph.D.
“My dream job would be to be a research professor at a large research institution,” Huizinga said.
Huizinga encouraged students to get involved in college life and offerings in order to make the most of their years there. Attending a diverse school like Wyoming led her to get involved in the honors college multicultural program, Mosaic.
“Attending Wyoming gave me a huge appreciation for the world I don’t think a lot of other students had,” she said, noting she “found her people” through Mosaic.
Junior Lio Matias said it’s interesting to hear about options from a recent Wyoming graduate. “It’s helpful hearing how far she’s come,” he said.
Stephanie Rathsack, who teaches AP biology, honors chemistry and chemistry, said a college student’s point of view and knowledge is valuable to high schoolers.
“It’s nice to hear from someone who is closer in age to them, who can answer questions in a small group setting,” Rathsack said.
Added Superintendent Craig Hoekstra, “I think this is a great opportunity for our students to hear from one of our former students about their Wyoming experience, and the importance of making the most of every life experience to achieve what one sets out to accomplish.”
For more local school news, visit the School News Network website, schoolnewsnetwork.org.
Gabby Huizinga’s undergraduate experience included research on dioxins. (School News Network.)
The Michigan State University Vegetable Entomology Lab started researching squash pollination two years ago when the USDA Organic Research and Extension Initiative funded a project that focused on all aspects of squash management. One of our goals was to learn about the impact of management practices on a little-known native pollinator that specializes in pollinating winter and summer squash: the squash bee.
The squash bee is a unique insect because it naturally occurs in most squash productions in Michigan and must find squash pollen to feed its young. The female creates nests in the ground and our project focused on finding out how soil disturbance impacts squash bees.
West Michigan’s recovery from the Great Recession began 10 years ago this month and it continues at the same slow pace since 2009, said Brian G. Long, director of Supply Management Research in Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business.
Long surveyed local business leaders and his findings below are based on data collected during the last two weeks of March.
The survey’s index of business improvement (new orders) remained virtually unchanged at +17, up from +16. The production index retreated to +5 from +16. The index of purchases waned to +4 from +16, and the employment index declined slightly to +15 from +17.
Business confidence rebounded in February after posting near-record lows in January, Long said, but March saw that optimism fade.
“Short-term confidence for March slipped for a number of reasons — no resolution to the Chinese trade war, Brexit, the softening world economy and retreating monthly auto sales,” said Long.
The long-term business outlook (perception for the next three-to-five years), remained steady at +28, up marginally from February’s +27.
Long added that auto sales are continuing to fall as predicted, but West Michigan auto parts producers are not feeling pinched. “Just as it has been for many months, the decline in auto sales has been very orderly, so far,” he said.
The Institute for Supply Management survey is a monthly survey of business conditions that includes 45 purchasing managers in the greater Grand Rapids area and 25 in Kalamazoo. The respondents are from the region’s major industrial manufacturers, distributors and industrial service organizations. It is patterned after a nationwide survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Management. Each month, the respondents are asked to rate eight factors as “same,” “up” or “down.”
U.S. veterans return from duty with knowledge, skills and abilities that employers are looking for in their workforce. Here are some transferrable skills that veterans bring to civilian jobs:
TEAMWORK: Most military activities are performed with the help or coordination of others. Veterans have learned to collaborate with others to complete tasks and stay safe. Veterans who have served as team leaders have learned to evaluate situations, make decisions quickly and accept the consequences of those decisions, good or bad.
FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY: Life in the military is ever-changing. Service members learn to adapt to the changing needs of any situation while remaining calm and moving towards the goal.
EDUCATION: All service members are required to have a high school diploma or GED. Many have college degrees as well.
CRITICAL THINKING: Service members are trained to examine the results and consequences of a specific action. They learn to use reason and evidence to make decisions and solve complex problems.
WORK ETHIC: In the military, mission comes first. Service members are recognized for finishing their missions in a timely and effective manner. They learn to take responsibility for their duties and complete them with minimal supervision.
LEADERSHIP: The military’s focus on duty, honor and responsibility give veterans leadership skills that are highly valued by employers. They have been taught to take responsibility for other people, activities and their own behavior and to motivate others to achieve results.
GLOBAL OUTLOOK: Service members are stationed across the globe, exposing them to different cultures, economies and languages. Veterans can bring a diverse outlook and new ideas to the workplace.
Veterans who need help translating their military skills, qualifications and experience to their job search can visit a West Michigan Works! service center to be connected to a veterans representative.
Employment Expertise is provided by West Michigan Works! Learn more about how they can help: visit westmiworks.org or your local Service Center.
Kentwood’s annual Senior Expo is coming later this month. (Courtesy/Vista Springs Assisted Living)
By City of Kentwood
The Kentwood Parks and Recreation Department will host the 20th Annual Spotlight on Seniors Health & Fitness Expo in partnership with Georgetown Seniors on Tuesday, April 23 — an event which will include more than 70 vendors, free health screenings and lunch.
All are invited to connect with others, learn about local services, and enjoy free snacks, lunch, and giveaways at the free-to-attend event, which will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Kentwood Activities Center, located at 355 48th St. SE.
“Our annual Spotlight on Seniors expo is about celebrating our seniors and connecting them with resources to promote healthy living,” said Lorraine Beloncis, Kentwood Parks and Recreation assistant director. “We are grateful for the opportunity to create a valuable and enriching experience for both familiar faces and new folks each year thanks to the support of our sponsors, vendors and the Georgetown Seniors.”
Attendees will be able to visit more than 70 vendors from a variety of senior-oriented businesses and receive free health screenings for balance, blood pressure, hearing and more. Door prizes, free snacks and a boxed lunch will also be offered.
“The strong partnership between Georgetown and Kentwood Seniors has allowed us to provide a truly resourceful event for both communities,” said Pam Haverdink, director of the Georgetown Senior Center. “This expo is a great opportunity for seniors to learn more about their health, inspire movement and fitness, and mingle with friends.”
Participating vendors include the Kentwood Police Department, AARP, Area Agency on Aging, Kent District Library and the Michigan Attorney General. Others participating include professionals knowledgeable in everything from physical therapy and assisted living, to home improvement and legal aid.
“We are so thankful for our vendors,” said Haverdink. “They make the expo a fun and exciting event that seniors can look forward to every year.”
The gold sponsors of the 20th Annual Spotlight on Seniors Health & Fitness Expo are Sheldon Meadows Assisted Living Center, Health Bridge Post-Acute Rehabilitation and Ready Ride Transportation. Silver sponsors are Vista Springs Assisted Living Memory Care and We Care 4 U @ Home.
Expo organizers always welcome volunteers. Those interested should contact Beloncis at 616-656-5278 or beloncisl@kentwood.us.
Allegiant(NASDAQ: ALGT) begins service today from Grand Rapids to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) beginning April 5, 2019. To celebrate, the company is offering fares on the new route as low as $55 each way*.
“We are excited to begin service to Sarasota/Bradenton from Grand Rapids,” said Drew Wells, Allegiant vice president of planning and revenue. “This beautiful destination offers fun for everyone in the family, and we’re sure that area travelers will enjoy getting away on these convenient, nonstop, ultra-low-cost flights.”
The new year-round flights will operate twice weekly. With the addition of this new route, Allegiant will now serve seven cities from Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR). Beginning in June, the company will also operate an aircraft base at GRR. Also in June, Allegiant will add service to Nashville, Tennessee and Savannah, Georgia. Flight days, times and the lowest fares can be found only at Allegiant.com.
“We are thrilled to add a seventh Allegiant destination to our route map, and our ninth destination in Florida,” said Gerald R. Ford International Airport Interim President & CEO Brian Picardat. “We had a long winter, and starting service to Florida’s Gulf Coast is a great treat to kick us into spring. We are thankful that our partners at Allegiant recognize the growth opportunities in Grand Rapids and continue to invest their services in our market.”
Allegiant offers a unique option to Grand Rapids-area travelers with low base fares and savings on rental carsand hotels. Travelers can book their entire vacation with Allegiant for less.
*About the introductory fares:
Price displayed reflects purchase of a round-trip itinerary and includes taxes, carrier charges and government fees. Seats and dates are limited and fares are not available on all flights. Flights must be purchased by April 7, 2019 for travel by June 28, 2019. Price displayed reflects purchase of a round-trip itinerary and includes taxes, carrier charges & government fees. Fare rules, routes and schedules are subject to change without notice. Optional baggage charges and additional restrictions may apply. For more details, optional services and baggage fees, please visit Allegiant.com.
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Many of the women who come to our midlife and menopause clinic have a common problem: sleep issues.
As an OB/Gyn doctor who still delivers babies, I admit I don’t always get as much sleep as I should, but I do strive to get my seven to eight hours most nights.
Also, as a doctor, I am well aware of the problems people often encounter as a result of poor sleep habits: decreased cognitive function (also known as brain fog), difficulty remembering things, decreased job performance, and an increased chance of having a vehicle accident.
If you aren’t sleeping well, your overall quality of life suffers, and you may feel less motivated to follow a healthy and active lifestyle. This, in turn, can cause mood disturbances such as anxiety and depression. You may not suffer from major depression, but even having an underlying sense of dread or being in a bad mood is not a healthy way to live your life.
Having a hard time sleeping?
It may make you feel better to know that you’re not alone. In fact, about 69 percent of people have sleep problems, and women have 50 percent more problems with sleep than men.
Nearly 20 percent of people have chronic sleep issues that can cause serious medical risks, especially if they average less than six hours per night and have poor quality sleep. Some of these health threats include an increased risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
These are serious health issues for people of all ages, but for women who are also navigating their way through menopause, sleep issues add more stress to an already difficult time in their lives.
So, why do sleep problems become worse during midlife and menopause, and what can you do to start getting more (and better) sleep?
The answer to the first question has to do with hormones. My experience with helping women in midlife and menopause has shown that a common pattern develops in women during this time, especially as their hormones start to change.
Even if your periods are regular, as you get older, your hormones can change three days before your period, causing night sweats. Early in the transition, you might not even think you are having night sweats, but waking three nights in a row in the middle of the night can actually be a slight nighttime hot flash.
Unfortunately, what happens to we busy women is that we turn a simple night of waking up into a catastrophe that may look something like this:
“OMG—I’m awake! I cannot afford to be awake. Oh geez, I have to pee, but I don’t want to get up to pee. Now I really have to pee, but if I get up, I might not be able to fall back asleep. What should I do? Oh, I will just lie here. Well, that is not working. Toss, turn, toss, turn. Fine—I will get up! Now that I’m up and can’t sleep, maybe I should clean, or check email, or watch TV, or check Facebook. Maybe then I will feel tired.”
Of course, then you fall back asleep at 4:30 a.m. or so, and the alarm goes off at 5:30 or 6 a.m. You wake up and you feel stressed, cranky and craving sugar.
Does this scenario sound familiar? If so, you know how poor sleep makes you feel, and it’s not good. To make matters worse, as women progress into perimenopause and then into menopause, the symptoms can stretch from happening three days a month to every night.
The result is what I call a hot mess.
What can I do about it?
Don’t fret. There is hope.
There are several treatments for sleep disorders, but it really comes down to how well you follow the recommendations and treatment guidelines from your physician. It’s important to treat any medical conditions, such as snoring, sleep apnea and obesity, that may be causing your sleep issues to worsen.
I talk to patients about using hormone replacement therapy for improving sleep issues. Such therapy is not a sleep medicine, but it can reduce hot flashes and night sweats, thereby reducing nighttime waking events.
We also discuss sleep hygiene, which includes developing a regular sleep schedule, avoiding stimulation such as caffeine or screen time before sleep, avoiding naps longer than 20 minutes in the afternoon, and keeping a regular exercise schedule of at least 20 minutes per day.
Probably the most effective recommendation I make for my patients is to make time each night before bed for metered breathing.
If you’re not familiar with this technique, here’s a quick explanation: Find a peaceful place in your house, outside of the bedroom. I call this your Zen spot. Turn on a low light and get into a comfortable position. Close your mouth, open your eyes, stare at a particular spot in the room, and just breathe. Breathing should not deep or forced. It should be relaxed.
Be aware of the sound of your breath. As you are aware of your breathing and focused on one visual stimuli, your mind will become still. If an annoying thought or worry enters your mind, simply think about it for a second and then go back to the sound of your breath.
Do this for five minutes, then go straight to bed, close your eyes and enter dreamland.
It may take several nights of practice before it works effectively. If you wake in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep, go to your Zen spot and do your metered breathing.
You will be pleasantly surprised how well it works.
Finally, the sun is shining, and the grass looks greener if you squint: spring is officially here! For many people, ditching the winter blues in favor of longer days means brighter moods and higher energy, but a little boost never hurt in getting the most out of warmer weather. Here are seven of our favorite heart-healthy, energy-boosting foods to kick-start your spring.
1. Whole grains
Whole grains are great sources of long-lasting energy that powers you throughout the day. Refined grains, such as white flour and white rice, lose about 25% of the protein contained in the whole grain, and contain significantly smaller amounts of at least 17 key nutrients. Eat hearty whole wheat toast in the morning or a delicious quinoa salad, full of antioxidants, for lunch. The carbs from these whole grains provide your body with a slow-burning energy source that also doesn’t cause your blood sugar to spike, giving you consistent energy all day long.
2. Asparagus
Fresh, succulent asparagus is a spring favorite, and it’s full of energy- and health-boosting nutrients that your body craves. Asparagus is full of fiber, which may help lower cholesterol, vitamin K for bone strength, and folate, a mood-boosting vitamin to lift your spirits and your energy levels. It’s also incredibly versatile — grill it, bake it, or saute it, and serve it beside lean proteins or in pasta dishes for a scrumptious and nutritious meal. In the Midwest, fresh-picked asparagus is available from April through June, and the sooner it gets from field to plate, the more delicious it is!
3. Dark chocolate
Easter is approaching fast, and grocery store aisles are reflecting the date with displays of pastel colors and chocolate. And while that sugar-loaded milk chocolate bunny isn’t going to do your body any favors, indulging in dark chocolate as a snack or dessert can do wonders for your energy and mood. Eating a square or two of dark chocolate is great as a pick-me-up in the afternoon, as the small amounts of caffeine can jump start your body without the crash. Dark chocolate also contains flavanols, heart-healthy flavanoids that reduce blood pressure and increase blood flow to the brain.
4. Cold-water fish
Fishing seasons in the Midwest generally open in mid- to late-spring, and fatty, cold-water fish can be extremely beneficial for senior nutrition in general, and energy levels specifically. Not only are cold-water fish full of protein to keep you alert and full, but they’re also packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids that lower cholesterol, and riboflavin and niacin, which help you process food more effectively into energy. While fried fish is undeniably delicious, try it grilled or baked for a healthier meal that’s still full of flavor. For added fun, get a fishing license and serve your own catch to family and friends!
5. Mushrooms
Morel hunting is a favorite Michigan pastime, but eating them is even better. Mushrooms, and not just morels, are high in iron and fiber, and have more protein than most vegetables. There are a wide variety of mushrooms that can be used in many different cuisines and dishes, making it easy to add variety while reaping the benefits of these yummy fungi. If you can get your hands on some spring morels, try a hearty mushroom soup. Add mushrooms to your gravies, stir-fries, omelettes, and more to add fantastic savory flavor.
6. Eggs
While eggs and mushrooms don’t seem all that similar, eggs are also champions of versatility that are chock-full of protein. They sometimes get a bad rap for being contributors to high cholesterol, but while you should be aware of how much dietary cholesterol you have in your diet, saturated fats are much more likely to impact your risk of heart disease. Hard-boiled eggs are a great snack on their own, or as toppings on sandwiches and salads. Eat them scrambled (with your whole grain toast) in the morning to start your day with protein.
7. Water
Yes, water’s not really a food, but staying hydrated and getting enough water throughout the day is key to all other aspects of senior nutrition and health. The old 8×8 rule, or eight ounces of water, eight times a day, is a good rule of thumb, but recommended intake varies based on age, gender, and activity level. Plain old water is a great option for everyone (especially if you’re watching your weight) but you can also mix it up with coffee or tea. Just be sure to stay away from sugar-laden drinks, such as fruit juices, sodas, alcoholic beverages, and sweet coffee drinks, as sugar is a fast-burning energy source that can cause you to crash, and they tend to add a huge amount of calories to your diet without also contributing nutrients.
This spring, try incorporating some or all of these foods into your diet for energy that lasts you all day. With higher energy levels and a brighter mood, you’ll be ready for a full of life spring!
“I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.”
― Randy Pausch
Thompson Square is the husband-and-wife duo Keifer and Shawna Thompson. (Supplied)
A little Friday night music
The country duo Thompson Square makes at stop at the college’s Covenant Fine Arts Center, on Friday, April 5, at 8 p.m., for an acoustic — and tickets are just $25. For the complete story, visit here.
The poster for the film fest.
Catch the next ‘Roma’?
The Grand Rapids Latin American Film Festival will run this weekend, April 5-7, at the Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St SE, Grand Rapids, with free admission but donations are appreciated. For the complete story, visit here.
Grammy Award winning country-swing band Asleep at the Wheel. (Supplied)
Roadtrippin’ Asleep at the Wheel
St. Cecilia Music Center’s Acoustic Café Folk series will present Asleep at the Wheel, 10 GRAMMY Award winners with more than 25 studio and live albums to their 48-year history, onThursday, April 11. For the complete story, visit here.
Fun fact:
50.88 Billion
Country amassed 50.88 billion streams in 2018, a 46 percent inflation over the 2017 numbers. That performance slightly outpaced the overall industry, which counted 901 billion streams, a 43 percent increase. (Source)
Eric Achtyes, M.D., M.S., D.F.A.P.A. (photo supplied)
By Colleen Cullison, Pine Rest
Pine Rest has been chosen as one of five organizations to participate in a National Institute on Aging study.
The 5-year study will investigate the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to treat severe agitation and aggression in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The study was made possible by a 5-year award which is expected to total $11.8 million from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
Researchers at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Affiliate, will lead the study. Pine Rest will receive a $1.3 million sub-award for the study from McLean. The NIA, part of the National Institutes of Health, leads scientific efforts to study aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
The study will be the first randomized, double-blind, controlled study of ECT for agitation and aggression in Alzheimer’s dementia. It will compare how ECT treatment plus standard treatments, such as antipsychotic medications and behavioral therapies, compares with standard therapies alone for individuals with Alzheimer’s dementia with severe aggression and anxiety.
For the study, 200 patients will be enrolled across the five sites. The study will be open to older adults or individuals who have been admitted to the inpatient geriatric psychiatry units of any of the five participating sites and who have moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease, are experiencing agitation and aggression, and who have not been responsive to other forms of treatment. Enrollment is expected to begin in spring 2019.
“We have been interested in the use of ECT for the treatment of advanced dementia for many years and have been offering this treatment to patients and families for a long time,” said Eric Achtyes, M.D., M.S., D.F.A.P.A., staff psychiatrist, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, and Michigan State University – College of Human Medicine, associate professor and chair, department of psychiatry west.
“Several years ago, we conducted a pilot study of ECT in this patient population which showed promising results for reducing agitation associated with dementia,” Achtyes said. “Now, thanks to this grant, we will be able to conduct a definitive study to assess the benefits and risks of using ECT for these individuals and the families who care for them.”
Dr. Louis Nykamp (photo supplied)
“Agitation and even aggression are unfortunately common in the context of the brain changes which occur in the late stages of Alzheimer’s dementia,” said Dr. Louis Nykamp, Pine Rest’s geriatric fellowship director and electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation clinic director.
“Many people can think of a family member or friend to whom this has occurred,” Nykamp said. “There are currently no approved treatments and the medications typically used for these complications of the illness can come with troublesome side effects and often they don’t work as well as we’d hope.”
A $20,000 grant from the Pine Rest Foundation will fund preliminary work to prepare Pine Rest’s ECT Clinic to participate in the NIA grant.
When the study begins this spring, the teams from the five hospitals will interact regularly with a data safety monitoring board composed of experts in geriatric psychiatry, biostatistics, and ECT who will review every piece of data as well as the overall conduct of the study to provide an independent objective review of safety. The researchers will also provide a yearly progress report to the NIA.
Inflammation is the body’s initial reaction to infection and injury. It can be classified as acute or chronic.
Acute inflammation is a short-term, physiologic response that can occur for minutes or days. It is caused by injury, infection or irritation.
Chronic inflammation is a long-term physiologic response that can occur over weeks, months or years. It’s caused by poor nutrition, obesity, viruses and chronic infection. This prolonged, continuous or chronic inflammation state is what can generate hormones and proteins that can damage your body’s healthy tissues and cells and increase your risk for cancer.
Follow these anti-inflammatory nutrition tips to help lower your risks:
Fill your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables: Five servings of fruits and 2.5 servings of vegetables per day can provide anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and fiber. Fiber can lower levels of C-reactive protein, which is a protein in the blood that signals inflammation. The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends adding plant foods to at least two-thirds of your plate. Make one-quarter of your plate whole grains and starchy vegetables, then make the other half non-starchy vegetables and fruits.
Limit red meat and processed meats: Keep pork, beef and lamb consumption to less than 18 ounces of cooked meat per week, and avoid processed meats, to decrease your cancer risk. Substitute these with other healthy sources of protein, such as beans, lentils, tofu, fish, poultry, low-fat dairy products, high-protein grains and non-processed soy protein.
Consume foods rich with omega-3 fatty acids: Eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid from fish and alpha-linolenic acid from plant sources help protect your body from inflammation. Tuna, salmon, flaxseed, walnuts and avocado are high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Promote probiotics in your diet: Add a daily serving of cultured dairy foods like kefir, Greek yogurt and yogurt.
Eat fewer foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients: Foods with added sugars and fats can cause weight gain and prevent the intake of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
How does body weight influence inflammation?
Stay physically active: Studies suggest that physical activity reduces inflammation and also helps you lose weight. The American Institute for Cancer Research suggests adding 30 minutes of daily activity, then slowly increasing it to 60 minutes or more of moderate activity or 30 minutes of vigorous activity.
Aim for a healthy BMI and waist circumference: Being overweight or obese can cause chronic inflammation. Fat cells release a variety of hormones, proteins, cytokines and growth factors that increase inflammation. Obesity increases the risk of numerous cancers—pancreatic, kidney, postmenopausal breast, colon, esophageal and endometrial. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. As BMI increases, cancer risk increases. A waist measurement of 31.5 inches or more for women and 37 inches or more for men can also increase your cancer risk.
Did you know if you start daily reading at birth, and read with your child for 30 minutes a day, they will go to kindergarten with over 900 hours of literacy time? If you reduce that to 30 minutes a week, they lose over 770 hours of this critical “brain food” and go to kindergarten with just 130 hours of literacy time.
Developing early literacy skills makes it easier for children to read. These early skills, such as building vocabulary, rhyming, and book handling skills make it easier for children to learn how to read when they get to kindergarten. However, more than one in three American children are starting kindergarten without the essential skills they need to be ready to learn to read.
Make a commitment to help your child be ready to succeed in school and commit to engaging in 30 minutes of daily literacy skill-building time starting at birth. Here are seven tips from Michigan State University Extension and ideas to support your young child’s literacy development.
1. Promote high-quality language interactions
Think of yourself like a sports commentator. You are providing the play by play for the infant or toddler in your life. Narrate the world around them, their interactions with toys, even diaper changes. Talk about what is going on, what you are doing, what they are seeing, etc. Research shows that when children have higher levels of language stimulation in the first year of life, they have better language skills, including larger vocabularies.
2. Make art a regular part of the day
In infancy and toddlerhood, young children are learning that their movements and motions can make the marks on the paper. Art experiences provide young children with the ability to practice gripping and holding a marker or crayon, learning to be purposeful in making marks on paper and phenomenal sensory feedback (feeling the paint squish between their fingers, smelling the crayons, etc.). Provide children with a wide variety of art experiences including, but not limited to, coloring with markers and crayons on heavy and thin paper, painting, finger painting, molding paint and clay, etc. Consider using non-traditional paints like chocolate pudding or shaving cream for a fun sensory experience.
3. Read, read, read
Build children’s print awareness and book handling skills by reading to them every day and making books available for children to explore. Consider heavy-duty board books that will survive heavy duty toddler usage. MSU Extension offers ideas to expand on your child’s experiences with books in our free, reproducible Family Book Sheets.
4. Nursery rhyme time
Research in early literacy has proven that regular exposure to rhymes help boost children’s abilities to master pre-reading skills such as rhyme prediction and detection. Add rhymes and rhythms to your child’s day. Read nursery rhymes, sing songs with rhyming words, find fun books with rhymes and add chants or rhymes to routine times of your day, such as cleanup time or bath time.
5. Use baby sign language
Did you know that babies who learned to sign first have been found to have significantly higher vocabularies and higher IQ scores? In fact, babies who learn to sign are more likely to be reading on grade level by the end of third grade. Use signs to teach your baby and toddler basic communication words like eat, more, milk, tired, wet, hot, etc. You can tell your baby is starting to be old enough to sign when you see them waving bye-bye or mimicking other gestures to communicate, such as pounding on their high chair tray for more food.
6. Read it again, and again, and again!
While reading books again and again might be frustrating for parents, toddlers love to have their favorite books read aloud multiple times. The act of re-reading a book helps young children build their comprehension skills and their vocabulary. Consider having special books as parts of your routine, such as a bedtime book you read at the same time every night. Ask questions while you read, can they predict what will happen next?
7. Literacy rich environments
Point out to your baby or toddler all the things you read in a day. Read in front of them, emphasize that reading is something you value. Read cereal boxes at breakfast, magazines in the doctor’s waiting room, street signs while you are driving. Make books accessible to your child. Help your child grow up valuing reading as a critical skill and worthy use of their free time.
It is critical to help your child be ready to read when they go to kindergarten. According to 2017 M-STEP data, only 50 percent of Michigan’s children were reading on grade level by the end of third grade. This is a crucial benchmark because in fourth grade, children shift from learning how to read to reading to learn. The Michigan Department of Education is working diligently to improve reading proficiency, beginning with supporting language, literacy and pre-reading skills in early childhood.
Do your part in supporting your child’s early reading skills. Make an effort to keep reading a priority in your home; a family activity that is fun, engaging and something you do together, every day. Helping your child learn to love reading is an amazing gift.
Second-grader Alexa Montano will be working with 11th-graders Kaniya Raby, left, and Sharolyn Rodriguez over the next two months to learn more about Plaster Creek (School News Network)
On a sunny, spring-like day, Kara Jones rounded up her second-grade students from Godfrey-Lee’s Early Childhood Center and walked with them across the district’s athletic fields adjacent to Plaster Creek. Their destination? The neighboring East Lee Campus, Godfrey-Lee Public Schools’ alternative high school program.
Once inside the building, Jones’ students scattered to classrooms and got acquainted with East Lee students, who read the younger pupils books that they had written about the creek outside.
Some of the second-graders were timid; others talkative. One girl had a case of the giggles. The meeting was the first of several weekly meetups that will happen between the two groups from now until the end of May as part of a “Community Legacy” unit at the high school, which uses a problem-based learning model.
Sharolyn Rodriguez and Kaniya Raby, 11th-graders, were all smiles as they got to know second-grader Alexa Montano. Kaniya said that creating the book was a little stressful and a lot of fun.
“Reading it to her just makes it all the more worth it,” said Kaniya, pointing to Alexa.
Second-grader Alfredo DeLeon said he liked the book that East Lee students Logan Barton and Joel Garcia wrote to teach him about Plaster Creek.
“We made it fun — added a time machine — and didn’t try to use big words,” said Joel. “I tried to make it as simple as possible.”
Second-grader Carlos Urbina and 10th-grader Christopher Andrade get to know each other at East Lee Campus. (School News Network)
Troubled Water
While keeping it as simple as possible will be necessary in order to share what they’re learning with the second-graders, East Lee students have chosen a complex issue to tackle for this unit.
“As a school we’re trying to do something that makes an impact on the bigger community around us,” said English teacher Sarah Byrne, who is team-teaching the unit with social studies teacher Justin Noordhoek. “The students have chosen to focus on cleaning up Plaster Creek, which is the most polluted waterway in West Michigan, we’ve learned.”
The unit began with students researching the waterway, which runs alongside East Lee Campus and the Early Childhood Center, and taking a bus tour of the Plaster Creek watershed and Wyoming area led by David Britten, former superintendent and current historian for the district. The bus tour gave the students a chance to photograph the current landscape and understand the historical factors that contributed to pollution in the creek.
While they’re still gathering data and learning about Plaster Creek, East Lee students are moving into the action phase of their study. The students will look to Plaster Creek Stewards, a project led by faculty, staff, and students from Calvin College, for guidance. The group will lead the Godfrey-Lee students in activities at Shadyside Park in Dutton to help them recognize creek-related problems in agricultural areas, then will advise them on ways they can help to restore the watershed. This may include hands-on restoration efforts such as planting trees and installing rain gardens.
Partnering with with Jones’ class to pass on what they are learning seemed like a good fit for the East Lee students.
Noordhoek said that in the past, he’s noticed the students really thrive when working with younger students.
“I really think a lot of them have so much talent with little kids and they don’t sometimes see that in themselves,” said Noordhoek.
Second-grader Diego Pina-Salcedo answers questions about his likes and dislikes with East Lee Campus student Bryan Barrios. (School News Network)
Leaving a Legacy Together
Jones, who has created and taught thematic units in her second-grade classroom on legacy concepts, was a natural partner for East Lee. The high school students will soon create lesson plans about Plaster Creek and teach them to Jones’ class. The two classes will also journal, take field trips, and plant trees together.
Jones said that teachers don’t often get the chance to bring different age levels together to work on a shared project. She said she hopes the collaboration will push her students to learn and will make the older students mindful of how they interact with younger ones, challenging everyone involved.
“I hope that they understand their environmental impact and that they make a new friend in the process,” said Jones.
Noordhoek said that he hopes this project shows students that they don’t need to wait for someone else to come and make a difference, and that they will feel empowered to do something when they recognize a problem: “They can be their own agents of change.”
Added Byrne, “Always our goal, no matter what projects we do, is that students are aware that they have the power to make the world a better place. If we can improve their literacy and critical thinking skills, and knowledge of history while doing this — that’s perfect.”
Using what they’ve learned about Plaster Creek so far, East Lee students created books to share with students in Kara Jones’ second-grade class. (School News Network)
By Drew Dargavell, WKTV Sports Intern ken@wktv.org
For 30 years the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has honored the best student-athletes in the state. Each year they award 32 students with $1,000 scholarships based on achievement and leadership in athletics and extracurriculars.
This year, the student-athletes were honored at halftime of the boys high school basketball championships at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University. And among those students awarded was Wyoming High School’s Avery Robinson III.
“It was a great experience, not only being surrounded by all those fans, but also meeting other scholar athletes. It was incredible.” Avery said to WKTV after being honored at the Breslin Center.
“It’s great to be recognized for all the hard work I’ve put in for the past four years,” Robinson said. “But I also feel like it’s a representation of how great the Wyoming community is and all the hard work they put in to their students and their athletes.”
To be eligible for this award, the student must have a 3.50 GPA or better and have earned a varsity letter in an MHSAA-sponsored sport — and Robinson is gifted both athletically and academically.
He lettered in three sports including track and field, tennis and golf. He was varsity in track all four years and was the school’s only pole vaulter. In tennis, he played No. 1 singles, and finished in first place at two invitationals this past season and was named all-conference in the OK-Gold division. Avery was even named the West Michigan Fox Motors Athlete of the Week in October 2018.
Robinson tries to go above and beyond in all of his sports, activities and academics, according to track coach Brent VanEnk.
Avery Robinson has excelled at tennis for Wyoming high. (WKTV)
“Every time we’re at the meet he says ‘What do you need me for coach?’ and especially as a high school coach, that’s great to have,” VanEnk said about his lone pole vaulter. “I couldn’t think of anyone better, especially in this school, to get that award.”
Not only does he work hard in athletics but Robinson excels in his studies as well, accumulating a 4.15 GPA, while taking a total of nine AP classes during his junior and senior years.
He is also very involved in extracurricular groups and community service. He is the President of the school’s National Honors Society, an officer of the Key Club, a drum major for the marching band, a participant in the science olympiads, and he qualified for state in Business Professionals of America.
“Time management is very important,” Robinson said on juggling his academics and extracurriculars. “Keeping priorities, I usually try to do one thing at a time and strike a balance by scheduling and organizing.”
The next step for the soon-to-be Wyoming grad is choosing a four-year university. He has several offers on the table, but is still in the decision-making process. He hopes to pursue social sciences and possibly go the pre-law route.
Many distressed homeowners had poor experiences during the mortgage crisis, including runarounds and surprises. In response, mortgage servicers must do a better job and comply with the new federal loss mitigation procedures implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in 2014. The rules are designed to provide consistent and meaningful protections for borrowers.
Only the five servicers who were part of the National Mortgage Settlement (See my related articles from April 9 and April 26, 2013) must comply with the CFPB procedures. The five Servicers are Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, CitiMortgage, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. The new rules do not apply to small servicers and community banks.
Servicers: Before foreclosing by advertisement, these five servicers must now do all of the following:
By 36 days after a homeowner misses a payment or cannot pay the full amount, the servicer must make a good faith effort to establish contact by telephone or at an in-person meeting.
If the borrower’s situation calls for it, the servicer must tell the borrower about loan modification or workout options available.
By 45 days delinquent, the servicer must send a written notice to the borrower encouraging the borrower to contact the servicer that contains the name, address, phone number and e-mail of assigned employees responsible to help them avoid foreclosure. The correspondence must also contain information about how to find a housing counselor.
After 45 days late, periodic or monthly mortgage statements must include a “delinquency box,” containing information on the possible risks the borrower faces, the amount needed to bring the loan current, how to find a HUD-approved housing counselor and any loss mitigation programs the borrower has already agreed to.
Only after 120 days of late payments can a mortgage servicer make a first notice or filing for foreclosure. This gives the borrower time to learn about workout options and file an application for mortgage assistance. If the borrower has already submitted a complete application, the foreclosure process may not begin while the Borrower is being evaluated for a loss mitigation plan. This provision restricts Dual-Tracking, which hurt many consumers who thought they were working out a resolution with their banks and were shocked to learn of a scheduled foreclosure sale.
If a loss mitigation application is received at least 37 days before a foreclosure sale, Servicers must review and respond to the borrower within 30 days. If the sale is more than 45 days away, servicers must inform the borrower if the application is complete within 5 business days of receipt.
Borrowers: The earlier that borrowers seek help, the more protections they have under CFPB rules:
Borrowers have the most protections if they submit a complete application for mortgage assistance within 120 days of the first missed payment. The servicer is not allowed to start a foreclosure process during those 120 days. There is no deadline to apply, but the sooner the better.
If a borrower submits a complete application 90 or more days before a scheduled foreclosure sale, the servicer must give the borrower at least 14 days to accept or reject an offer of a loss mitigation option. Plus, in this timeframe, the borrower may file an appeal of a denial for any loan modification within 14 days.
If the borrower submits a complete application for loss mitigation options 45 days or more before a scheduled Sheriff’s Sale, the servicer must send a written notice to the borrower encouraging the borrower acknowledging the receipt of the application within 5 business days. If the application is not complete, the servicer must tell the borrower what additional information and documents must be provided. If the borrower’s application is less than 45 days before a foreclosure sale, the borrower is not entitled to a written notice that their application has been received.
If the borrower submits a complete application 37 or more days before a scheduled foreclosure sale, it will be evaluated for loss mitigation options. The servicer must give the borrower written notice of the decision.
When servicers deny a borrower for a loan modification option, they must give specific reasons for the denial for each available modification option.
Borrowers who sought help before and were rejected may apply again for an evaluation under the new rules. Their complete application must be filed more than 37 days before a scheduled Sheriff Sale.
Anyone who has ever had a bad habit to break knows that life would have been easier if they had never started the habit in the first place. Bad sleep habits in young children can cause fatigue for the caregivers along with irritability and learning difficulties for the child. The following are tips for starting your child off with a good night sleep:
Newborn babies typically go through cycles of playing, eating and sleeping every 3-4 hours. If your baby has been recently fed and seems fussy, try to calm them by walking or rocking them. When they seem calm but are not quite asleep, place them in a crib on a firm surface on their back with nothing extra present. Doing this while they are tired but still awake will help them develop the ability to fall asleep on their own, which eventually helps them get back to sleep when they awaken at night.
If the baby gets fussy when put in the crib, try rubbing their tummy and softly shushing or singing a lullaby.
Never let a baby fall asleep with the bottle or breast in their mouth, as this habit is very hard to break and can cause severe dental infections that are often painful and require surgery to fix.
Establish a firm bedtime routine. It is good to have bedtime at the same time every night. Choose 2-3 things to do the same prior to saying goodnight. For example, you could read a book, sing a song and say ‘goodnight’ to a favorite stuffed animal.
Avoid stimulating activities such as television, phone or tablet use for 30 minutes prior to bedtime. This tip can help people of any age sleep better!
