“It’s relatively easy to act nice and normal in front of a crowd, or in public. The tricky part is doing it in private.”
~Robert Black
Where are they coming from?
Where are they going?
We really want to know.
After serving more than a quarter-million passengers in the month of July, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) topped that with an August that served close to 300,000 passengers.
August marks the eighth record-breaking month in a row for 2018, and the airport has seen growth in 61 of the last 68 months. August 2018 was the busiest August ever, with passenger numbers up 17.8-percent year-over-year.
Through August 2018, GFIA has already surpassed its annual total reached in 2012, with 2,176,525 passengers served in 2018. Read more here.
It’s about time:
Kent County appoints
first female sheriff
Kent County administration announced Thursday that Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young has been appointed Sheriff to fill the unexpired term of Sheriff Larry Stelma, who retires on Nov. 1 of this year.
Two individuals applied for the position — Undersheriff LaJoye-Young and Lt. Marc Burns. Kent County Chief Probate Judge David M. Murkowski chaired the statutorily mandated selection appointment committee and served along with Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus-Lyons. The committee’s decision was unanimous. Read more here.
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Secrets revealed
Manufacturers throughout West Michigan are holding community open houses and student tours that showcase their facilities and career options. The tours are part of Manufacturing Week 2018, which runs through Oct. 5, 2018. More than 100 manufacturers are hosting more than 1,000 students during this year’s event.
According to Talent 2025’s 2017 West Michigan Talent Assessment and Outlook, manufacturing is the largest industry in West Michigan, accounting for more than 20 percent of all jobs in the region. Manufacturing has added more than 38,000 jobs since 2009, a growth rate of 33.3 percent. Read about it here.
Fun Fact:
51% of people think stormy weather affects cloud computing.
J.S. Bach’s “Air on the G String”is an all-time audience favorite melody. It’s a sure bet you’ve heard it before.
It’s part of a larger work, Bach’s Orchestra Suite No. 3, which theGrand Rapids Symphonyperforms onFriday, Oct. 12, in St. Cecilia Music Center’s Royce Auditorium.
Principal Oboist Ellen Sherman is soloist onThe Baroque Concert: Bach and Beyond, which includes music from the Baroque plus a contemporary piece by Brazilian’s most famous composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, that’s inspired by the music of Bach. It’s the first of four concerts in theGrand Rapids Symphony’s Great Erasseries.
Marcelo Lehningerleads the Grand Rapids Symphony at 8pm Oct. 12 in Grand Rapids plus a repeat of the entire concert at 8pm Saturday, Oct. 13 in Holland at the Jack Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College.
The Grand Rapids Symphony also plays a shorter version of the concert at 10am Oct. 12 at St. Cecilia for theCoffee Classicsseries. The one-hour concerts are held without intermission, and doors open at 9am for complementary coffee and donuts.
By Megan Andres, Grand Rapids Public Library, Seymour Branch
Serpent, Clive Cussler’s first National Water & Marine Agency Files book, gives readers a new hero for a new age. Kurt Austin has a master’s degree in Systems Management from the University of Washington and much experience in marine recovery. In Serpent, Austin and his Special Assignments Team of Joe Zavala and Drs. Paul and Gamay Trout find themselves conquering a mystery of legendary caliber.
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”; Austin and his team soon find that there were a lot of things left out of the popular children’s rhyme. With the help of Nina Kirov, the team investigates industrialist Don Halcon. Halcon is dedicated to carving a new country out of the southwestern United States. To do so, Halcon needs a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity buried in the battered remains of the sunken Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria, and he’s prepared to do anything to get it.
Admiral James Sandecker, from Dirk Pitt fame, sends Austin and his team all over the world to stop Halcon before he can get his hands on the artifact. Austin and Zavala soon find themselves diving the Andrea Doria itself in order to gain access to a secured vault left behind when the liner sank fifty years before.
With a hefty dose of actual historical fact and fictional license, Cussler dishes out a wonderful first episode in the lives of the new heroes of NUMA. The subsequent novels in the series, Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death, Lost City and Polar Shift, all follow Austin as he pursues a life of intrigue and danger. Fans of Cussler’s Dirk Pitt will find much to love in Kurt Austin.
Sean Blackman presents Fiesta Caribeña has been announced as the third event in the Latin Entertainment Series, celebrating Latin culture in Michigan. The series is presented by SMG-managed DeVos Performance Hall and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority’s Community Inclusion Group (CIG). “Fiesta Caribeña” will feature live music and dancers performing salsa, bachata, reggaeton and kizomba. The music comes from the Caribbean regions including sounds from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti fused together with Detroit Soul. The third series event will take place at DeVos Performance Hall on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, at 7:30pm.
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place® and Van Andel Arena® box offices, online at Ticketmaster.com, and charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000. VIP tickets include a reserved seat in the first few rows and two (2) complimentary drinks.
About Sean Blackman
Sean Blackman has been honored with many Detroit Music Awards, launched and directed World Music Festivals and worked as creative director of entertainment for corporate events for Red Bull, Chrysler and the grand opening of the McNamara Terminal at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport — one of the nation’s most state-of-the-art terminals.
As an established world-music musician, Blackman continues to compose and produce new material that links different genres of music with dance and theatrical performance. Whether on the streets, in front of thousands at a theater concert, or inside a smoldering hidden nightclub, Blackman’s music is disciplined from a lifetime of training, yet his raw passion makes every note seemingly intimate.
About CIG
The Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority’s Community Inclusion Group (CIG) is a task force comprised of local community leaders that strive to make DeVos Place, Van Andel Arena and DeVos Performance Hall West Michigan’s premier multicultural entertainment venues. Established in 2005, the Community Inclusion Group actively guides the venues in increasing community access and awareness, attracting top level events and talent, and fostering inclusive staff and supplier development and engagement.
As a result of these ongoing efforts, the West Michigan community has enjoyed visits from a number of diverse artists, including Gerardo Ortiz, Pepe Aguilar, Kevin Hart, Shen Yun, Snoop Dogg and more, and several community events such as the annual Spectrum Health Jump Jam and Grand Rapids Community College Giants Awards. The support of the Community Inclusion Group continues to ensure that DeVos Place, Van Andel Arena and DeVos Performance Hall remain “Three Premier Venues: Welcoming All.”
By Lori Nieboer, PA-C, MPH,Physician Assistant at Union High School Health Center
Parents dread “the talk.” Conversations about sex can feel uncomfortable, but remember… if your kids aren’t getting this information from you, they are likely getting bad information from friends, the TV or the internet. So, here are some tips for making sure you are prepared to discuss this hot topic with your kids at all ages:
It’s never too early to start. Find opportunities to talk to your kids to normalize these conversations.
Keep it simple; you don’t have to share it all at one time.
Use real names for private parts.
Keep your kid’s age in mind.
Young kids – talk about how boys and girls are different or name body parts.
Older kids – answer questions honestly and in small doses.
Look for teachable moments: a pregnant neighbor or a scene on TV can start a discussion.
Share with your children what your feelings and views are on sex.
Make yourself available; listen more than you talk.
Take time to explain what makes a relationship healthy.
Find a friend or family member you trust that your child can also go to with questions.
If you don’t know an answer to a question, be honest, look it up with your child and learn together.
Manufacturers throughout West Michigan are gearing up for community open houses and student tours that will showcase their facilities and career options. The tours are part of Manufacturing Week 2018, which runs from Oct. 1-5, 2018. More than 100 manufacturers are expected to host more than 1,000 students during this year’s event.
According to Talent 2025’s 2017 West Michigan Talent Assessment and Outlook, manufacturing is the largest industry in West Michigan, accounting for more than 20 percent of all jobs in the region. Manufacturing has added more than 38,000 jobs since 2009, a growth rate of 33.3 percent.
Manufacturing Week is part of the nationwide Manufacturing Day® movement, created to change people’s outdated images of the industry and to inspire the next generation of manufacturers.
“My freshmen students are able to experience and observe modern technology and equipment at Dicastal — one of the world’s cleanest foundry environments, which is only 20 miles from their homes,” said Jeff Mercer, a teacher with Tri County Area Schools.
“Dicastal could have built their beautiful plant anywhere in the world, and they chose Montcalm County. Manufacturing Week shows students that they have abundant opportunities in their own backyard.”
“Collaborating with manufacturers [during Manufacturing Week] shows students all of the countless career opportunities available in manufacturing,” said Angie Huyghe, finance and human resources manager at Swoboda, Inc., a Manufacturing Week participant since 2015.
Students aren’t the only ones invited to Manufacturing Week activities. The following Grand Rapids-area events open to the community:
Paragon D&E: facility tour and presentation on Tuesday, Oct. 2 from 8:30-9am.
Resource MFG: job fair on Thursday, Oct. 4 from 9am-12pm.
Walker Tool & Die: facility tour and presentation on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 6pm.
Custom Profile: facility tour on Friday, Oct. 5 at 12pm.
Fisher Unitech: presentation on Thursday, Oct. 18 from 9am-3:30pm.
To see all West Michigan Manufacturing Week events, visit mfgday.com.
Employment Expertise is provided by West Michigan Works! Learn more about how they can help: visit westmiworks.org or your local Service Center.
“The prize and the voting are really just mechanisms. It comes back to building a creative culture in West Michigan.”
~ Rick DeVos in a 2011 speech about ArtPrize
Don’t Forget to Vote!
If you haven’t made it downtown to ArtPrize, there is lots to see including the WKTV VOCIES trailer which is recording artists’ stories for the next two weekends near the corner of Lyon and Monroe. Local filmmaker and longtime volunteer Rose Hammond is showing a trailer of her upcoming documentary “Between the Trees,” about the communities of Woodland Park and Idlewild at the Grand Rapids African American Museum, which is on the short list for best venue. Also check out Kentwood resident Meochia Thompson’s “Hugs” near the city center and Nidal Kanaan’s “Blue Courage” at Flanagan’s Irish Pub, which features the Wyoming K-9 unit. Round 1 voting ends tomorrow at midnight with the Top 20 Public Vote announced on Sunday. ArtPrize runs through Oct. 7.
Keeping it Real
Missy Young
Self-run cars. Robots taking care of the children. It all sounds a little sci-fi, but it is quickly becoming a reality. On Wednesday, Oct. 3, Switch, Inc. Chief Information Officer Missy Young will discuss artificial intelligence in her presentation “Artificial Intelligence: Keeping the Human in Humanity,” which is part of the Grand Valley State University’s Peter F. Secchia Breakfast Lecture. The program, which is at 7:30 a.m., is at the L. William Seidman Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.
The Leaves Are Changing – Yea!
Henderson Castle and Winery in Kalamazoo
Weather gurus are predicting that the leaves will change later this year with our area being in prime color around Oct. 20. With that in mind, now is the time to start planning that fall color tour. The West Michigan Tourist Association has a plethora of bed and breakfasts ideas in West Michigan that can make any weekend trip a special adventure. So it doesn’t matter if you stay in Kalamazoo’s Henderson Castle Inn and Winery or Saugatuck’s Sherwood Forest Bed and Breakfast, you are certain to see Michigan in full color.
Fun Fact:
1.32 Acres
That is the size of the average football field, which is 120 yards in length and 53 and half yards in width. Times the two numbers together and the total square feet is 57,600. One acre equals about 43,560 square feet, making a football field about 1.32 acres. Now that you know this little fun fact, go out and enjoy some football as many local teams will be squaring off tonight. WKTV will be at the Kelloggsville vs. Godwin Heights game, which is certain to be a good match up.
By Stephanie M. White, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch
Funeral home director Thomas Lynch’s essays are as much about poetry as they are about undertaking, as much about life as they are about death.
Acclaimed essayist and poet Lynch runs the family funeral home in Milford, Michigan. Bodies in Motion and at Rest is a collection of essays that addresses both of Lynch’s professions but, more importantly, links them wholly to one another. Lynch writes about the struggles of each profession and the struggles of mixing them. “Reno,” an essay that touches on marketing strategies for a poet/undertaker, contains moving passages comparing words of a poem to words spoken at a funeral.
In essays such as “Bodies in Motion and at Rest” and “Johnny, We Hardly Knew You” Lynch writes with the knowledge of an undertaker and the wisdom of one who has experienced the death of loved friends and family. He speaks against those who pretend that death may never affect them, and against those who allow the drama of celebrity deaths to overshadow their own losses.
Lynch doesn’t shy away from other serious topics. In “The Way We Are” he describes the alcoholism that runs in his family, writing with honesty about his own collisions with the disease and, more tragically, his son’s. As a victim of and a witness to alcoholism, Lynch writes with sensitivity and honesty about the grief of alcoholism.
These essays contrast with the funny, lighthearted tone found in the other essays of this collection. “Notes on ‘A Note on the Rapture to His True Love’” is a step-by-step approach to writing a good poem. With humor and satire, Lynch makes it clear that he is a humble, sincere poet. “Y2Kat” is a hilarious account of Lynch’s despised pet and adored son.
Like good poetry and good funerals, Lynch’s essays contain some death and some life, some humor and some sobriety, and plenty of honest wisdom.
We recently asked Beth, a talent development instructor at West Michigan Works!, for some insider information on their free workshops. Beth has been teaching workshops for seven years and one of her favorite workshops to teach is Cover Letter Writing. This is what she told us about the workshop:
What is Cover Letter Writing?
Cover Letter Writing is a free, one-hour workshop open to the public. This workshop provides job seekers with the skills to craft a strong cover letter that presents them as a strong candidate for the job.
Why is this such an important workshop for job seekers?
It is crucial in today’s job market to understand how employers use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to screen cover letters and resumes for certain key words and skills related to the job. Job seekers need to know how to tailor their cover letter for ATS screening to get their application materials in front of an actual human. Participants will leave with a good understanding of:
what an ATS is and how they work. INSIDER TIP: the website jobscan.co gives an inside look at how ATS scans your application materials for key words.
the importance of using specific skills and keywords to tailor your cover letter for each job you apply for.
the basic format and content of a cover letter.
how to create an opening statement that hooks the reader and makes them want to keep reading. INSIDER TIP: If the first few sentences sound generic, it won’t set you apart from other candidates.Start with whatever you feel is the most impressive aspect of our experience (relevant skills or abilities, year of experience, etc.).
What is something job seekers tell you they were surprised to learn in the workshop?
Cover letters should not be intimidating or seem daunting! Once you have your first cover letter written, it is a lot easier to change or update key words/skills as you go. Remember that the skills you have in your 20s may not be the same skills you want to highlight in your 30s, 40s, and so on. Your cover letter will always be a working document.
Here ArtPrize piece, also titled “In Between the Trees,” is located at the Grand Rapids African American Museum, 87 Monroe Center NW. In her ArtPrize entry, Hammond has the trailer and three canvas pieces that let the the individuals who created the communities of Idelwild and Woodland Park tell their stories. For a look at Hammond’s entry, click here.
Hammond will be presenting a discussion about her work Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 6 p.m. at the museum.
Hammond said she is thrilled to be showing her work at the Grand Rapids African American Museum, which was one of five venues on the ArtPrize Juried Short list for best venue. The venue features eight artists including Hammond and Heather Johnson, whose piece “But Did You Die?” made the jurors’ short list for best 2-D work.
Looking for a home-away-from-home? With the West Michigan area’s bed and breakfasts, you’re sure to find a warm and welcoming place to spend the night. You’re in good hands when you visit these cozy retreats, as you’re served breakfast each morning and retire to a comfy bed.
Book a stay at one of the area’s most popular bed and breakfasts this fall, the Henderson Castle Inn and Winery in Kalamazoo, for the vacation of a lifetime. You are just minutes away from theaters, shopping, and a vibrant nightlife of downtown, yet secluded enough to enjoy a quiet night free from the noise of the city. Start the day with an incredible breakfast and then soak in the rooftop hot tub while taking in the breathtaking view of downtown Kalamazoo.
When staying at Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast in South Haven, you can expect impeccable hospitality, lavish gardens, relaxing decks, wholesome food, and spontaneous fun. Just a stone’s throw from the beach and walkable to everything in the laid-back resort of South Haven, this is the perfect destination for your next weekend away.
White Rabbit Inn B&B in Lakeside is every couple’s dream for a romantic weekend away. Surrounded by woods and Lake Michigan, it is the perfect spot to go and escape the hustle and bustle of your everyday life.
Gordon Beach Inn, Union Pier
Recognized by the State of Michigan as a historical site, Gordon Beach Inn in Union Pier should be on your bucket list of places to stay this fall. They have great on-site restaurants and convenient beach access. You can even bring along your furry friend to this pet-friendly hotspot!
Sherwood Forest B&B in Saugatuck invites you to their beautiful wooded setting where they are situated just steps away from Lake Michigan. End the day watching the sunset from their relaxing wraparound porch to complete your perfect getaway.
Serendipity Bed and Breakfast in Saugatuck provides guests with countless amenities to suit every need you may have. Start your day’s adventure with good food and even better company at the daily complimentary breakfast. After breakfast, take on the town, just steps away! Unique shops, artist-owned galleries, great restaurants, the boat docks, boardwalk, and more will have your day filled up with one-of-a-kind adventures.
You will not regret booking your stay at Twin Oaks Inn in Saugatuck. Right in the heart of downtown near countless shops, restaurants, art galleries, and marinas, it makes for the ideal weekend getaway. The inn is also just a short drive to beautiful orchards and wineries, perfect for bringing in the fall season.
National House Inn, Marshall
The city of Marshall is home to some of the best inns and bed and breakfasts in the state, including the celebrated National House Inn, the oldest operating bed and breakfast in Michigan. Their 15 rooms offer modern luxuries with a 19th-century flavor. Your stay at the National House Inn is only a few steps from downtown, museums, shopping, and restaurants.
The capital city of Lansing is the perfect destination for any B&B lover. The city is filled with unique and charming spots perfect for a weekend away that will leave you speechless. These destinations are known for great hospitality and will give you the feeling of time standing still.
Book your stay at the Maplewood Hotel in Saugatuck, a unique boutique hotel with over 150 years of experience in providing nothing short of exceptional hospitality to guests from all over the state.
Wickwood Inn, Saugatuck
The Amble Inn in Fennville is the perfect place to take in the award-winning Art Coast! After checking out nearby galleries, shops, and beaches take the time to relax in a rustic setting and forget all of your worries.
Stop by the Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck for your next weekend getaway or family vacation. The beautiful and cozy inn is stocked with original art, antiques, and an impressive library to help you unwind by the crackling fireplace.
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).
This summer (2018) has brought us an overabundance of kitties with injured legs, so when a Kentwood resident called the clinic asking for help with a cat whom she thought had a bone sticking out of its leg, Dr. Jen had them bring the kitty right down. As it turns out, this darling little girl (born in early 2017) had suffered a traumatic injury to her right rear leg, but the amputation had occurred some time ago, leaving behind a stump just above where her hock (ankle) should have been.
She did come with heavy fleas, a horrendous case of ear mites, a puncture wound on her neck that wasn’t healing well, and sadly in the early stages of pregnancy which Dr. Jen discovered during spay surgery. We can’t imagine what this poor cat went through, but thankfully her skin and bones healed, and even though she is a tripod without a foot, she is fearless in her fight and fabulous with her ferocity for fun!
From the get go NOTHING has slowed her down: she runs, leaps, bounds, twirls, kicks and literally jumps for joy, so giving her the name Rockette seemed to fit her perfectly. The observations of our shelter and cat care managers mirrored Dr. Jen’s impression of exuberant Rockette:
“Our girl so super sweet! She has made herself at home since the minute she arrived at the shelter. Her injury doesn’t hold her back at all; she climbs, runs, and jumps just fine. She can be very sassy with the other cats so she might enjoy being an only cat. She would do very well with kids though!”
“Despite her missing part of a leg, she is purr-petually on the move. She has a very sweet personality and craves attention. While she’s not one to be held for long, she will hop up on your lap and soak up whatever attention are willing to give. I love how she holds her own against the 4-legged cats, occasionally swatting, but yet playing nicely with them MOST of the time. Loves the laser show, and sprawling out on the toddler beds. Would do well in a home with another cat or two, but I think dogs may be a bit too much.”
We’re making it our mission to find our goofy girl a home that has children that can match her energy and enthusiasm for life, yet a kid or two who also wants a cuddly companion when playtime is over; we don’t think this will be a difficult task at all. Rockette is going to be kicking up her heels (er, heel) once we find her a family of her own, and we simply can’t wait!
More about Rockette:
Medium
Domestic Short Hair (Gray/Blue/Silver/White)
Adult
Female
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Spayed
Not declawed
Good in a home with other cats; children
Want to adopt Rockette? 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.
From Sweden to the USA, they’ve shaken hands with the mightiest in both lands. They’ve saved energy and published books. And along the way, Anders and Ewa Rydåker have planted roots and learned what it means to belong in a place. Join us for a chat with Alan’s favorite immigrants!
"Art is not a cleverness contest. It is an honesty contest to hone the capacity to truly be that which you are."
~ Ran Ortner, ArtPrize's first public vote winner
Take a ‘leep’ into art
“Pink House” by Kendra Postma
The Leep Art Gallery, in the Postma Center at the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, will be featuring the work of Kendra Postma in the exhibit titled “These Are A Few of My Favorite Things.”
“My paintings often take on a dreamlike or spiritual aura to me. Inspiration often comes from walks on the beach with the water lapping at my feet and fills me with a sense of peace, or sometimes it’s my chickens which influence what I create. I always have an intense desire or need to create something that nourishes my soul,” Postma said.
The exhibit runs Oct. 3 – Jan. 2. Find out more here.
Better Homes
The Frey Foundation is currently seeking innovative ideas to accelerate access to sustainable, quality housing opportunities in Kent County. The foundation is specifically focused on addressing housing access for people who are employed yet may be struggling to make ends meet.
The foundation will award a grant of up to $150,000 to an agency or partnership that submits an innovative, actionable plan, concept or collaboration that effectively reduces the number of ALICE families paying more than 30 percent of monthly income for housing. Submissions will be evaluated, and an idea selected, by an external, multi-sector advisory committee coordinated by the Grand Valley Metro Council.
Ideas are currently being accepted online. The deadline for submission is Oct. 29. More information is available at freyfdn.org/housinginnovation. Go here to learn more.
But Some Swing In It
Glenn Bulthuis with the Hark Up horns
The Van Singel Fine Arts Center has announced its upcoming season which kicks off with Swing Night at the Van Singel featuring Glenn Bulthuis and the Hark Up Big Band. The event is Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. with tickets $18 for adults and $12 for students (high school and younger. Click here, for more information.
By Laura Nawrot, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch
Although her novels are classified as mysteries, Janet Evanovich really deserves a category of her own. Her stories fall somewhere between soap opera and a cheesy whodunit by combining over-the-top drama with a healthy dose of humor and a Nancy Drew twist or two.
The beauty of this series is that readers don’t need to read each book in succession to get a sense of the characters. Stephanie Plum is a moderately successful bounty hunter with a little too much spunk and not quite enough common sense who can’t seem to commit to a permanent relationship. The difficulties between Stephanie and the men in her life, Joe Morrelli and Ranger, pale in comparison to the difficulties she encounters in her job, all of which brings her to a life changing decision: time for a career move.
In Eleven on Top, Stephanie convinces herself that life in the law enforcement field is over for her, so she attempts to start a new career. While this is great in concept, she just can’t seem to adapt to the mundane and finds herself doing office work for Ranger instead. The tension escalates as Stephanie walks the line between Ranger and Joe and tries to maintain her balance while seeking the identity of the stalker who is trying to kill her.
Back in the winter of 2000, Rick Eding went to the Zeeland Community Hospital emergency room with a sinus infection.
The then-25-year-old never expected the experience to reveal a much deeper and mind-numbing problem: severe heart problems.
“I was totally blindsided,” the Hamilton, Michigan, resident said. “I had cough and cold symptoms and sinus pressure in my head.”
ER doctors gave him a prescription for Bactrim, an antibiotic he’d tolerated well in the past. He started on the medicine, but within a couple of hours, allergic reactions flared—red skin, lethargy, difficulty breathing.
His dad drove him back to Zeeland Community Hospital.
By the time he arrived, his blood pressure nosedived.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
“I felt like I had a brick wall on my chest,” Eding said. “I didn’t know what in the heck was going on. Basically, I went into cardiac arrest.”
Emergency response teams rushed him to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“I bounced back alright, even with cardiomyopathy,” Eding said as he dropped his 15-year-old son off at Hamilton High School football practice.
But as the years went on, Eding’s weight went up. And his heart function went down.
Working as an electrician, he traveled across the United States and Canada.
“I just kind of wrote it off as, ‘I’m traveling, I’m not eating like I probably should. I’m getting older,’” he said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t do anything. I was probably 300 pounds. I had chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, all those classic symptoms.”
Diagnosis? Heart failure.
At 31 years old.
LVAD
“From 2006 to 2011, I really battled the heart failure thing,” Eding said. “I was constantly in and out of the hospital. In 2011, the decision was made to have an LVAD placed.”
An LVAD, left ventricular assist device, picks up slack for the heart and helps it pump blood as it should.
“Basically it got to the point where they needed to do a tandem heart,” Eding said. “It’s an exterior device that buys you time. They needed to do something within a day or two or there wouldn’t be any choices. It was very scary. I was young. I was married with kids and the whole bit.”
Doctors placed Eding on the heart transplant list. But the more he waited, the more he weighed.
His weight spiked to 330 pounds—60 pounds more than when he got the LVAD.
Then, in 2013, more devastating news.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
His growing weight made him ineligible for a heart transplant.
“The worst thing for me was hearing, ‘We need to take you off the transplant list. You’re too big,’” Eding said. “It’s like a kick in the teeth. It’s horrible. The glimmer of hope you had of having a good life … gone.
“Being so young, the goal of a transplant was totally getting your life back,” he said. “That goal was stomped on. It wasn’t even attainable at that time.”
Eding dove into research—diets, surgeries, “you name it.”
He tried a slew of diet plans with minimal success.
“I would drop 20 pounds and in some way or some form, I’d have a setback and ‘boom,’ the weight comes back on,” he said.
Shrinking appetite
Eding learned about patients experiencing similar frustrations with an LVAD, and how they had success with bariatric surgery.
He spoke with Michael Dickinson, MD, a cardiologist with the Spectrum Health Richard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Clinic.
“It was like, hands down, I’m ready,” Eding said.
He met with Spectrum Health bariatric surgeon Jon Schram, MD.
“We took our time to make sure everything was good, which was very reassuring to me,” Eding said. “The surgery was done at the Meijer Heart Center. He was confident in what he had to do and that made me feel real good. “
Dr. Schram performed a sleeve procedure last October.
“We removed about 80 percent of his stomach,” Dr. Schram said. “The stomach is shaped like a big flask. We changed the shape of the stomach to about the size of a small banana.”
That does two things. It limits how much food the patient can eat at one time and also limits a hormone produced by the stomach that regulates hunger.
“By removing that much of the stomach, we create a situation where he’s not as hungry all the time,” said Dr. Schram, who performs about 400 of these surgeries per year.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
Dr. Schram said the unique partnership between Spectrum Health’s bariatric division, cardiothoracic division and advanced heart failure team gave Eding a second chance.
The weight loss results? Almost immediate.
“It was like a pound a day for the longest time,” Eding said. “Yesterday I was 268.”
Best of all: As of late January, he’s back on the transplant list.
“I’m just ecstatic,” Eding said. “It’s unbelievable this roller coaster I’ve been on, with the highs and the lows. I’m definitely flying high and so thankful and so blessed to be back on the list.”
Digging in
The father of six is feeling blessed to be living a more normal life while he waits. No more hospital stays and no harsh symptoms.
The LVAD seems to be doing its job.
That means more time for fishing with his kids, more time for coaching Little League baseball, more time to dream of a future that could be there if the stars align and he gets a new heart.
“He’s not being held up by his weight now,” Dr. Schram said. “He’s just waiting for a donor. He suffers from severe heart failure. The longer he goes without a heart, there’s a possibility his heart could give out.”
But giving in is not an option.
“A lot of people would have given up a long time ago,” Eding said. “But I dug my feet in and put my nose to the grindstone and really took it head-on.”
And he has another goal: swim with his children again.
Since the LVAD is an electrical device, he can’t swim with it in him.
A transplant, of course, could change all that.
“I can’t wait to go swimming again,” Eding said. “The kids all love to swim and go to water parks. I feel like I’ve robbed them of being able to do that with them. As soon as I get the go-ahead, we’re going to Great Wolf Lodge or Michigan’s Adventure and we’re hitting the water park.”
“Every good painter paints what he is,” Jackson Pollock said.
“Treat a work of art like a prince. Let it speak to you first,” said Arthur Schopenhauer.
And Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Art is the path of the creator to his work.”
Everybody has something to say about art. The good news is, you don’t have to be famous to have an opinion—and WKTV VOICES will have its mobile recording studio down at ArtPrize 10 all three weekends to invite and encourage artists and voters to share their own thoughts about art: Artists, what inspires you to create a work of art?
Voters, what compelled you to vote for a particular work of art?
Sofia Hernandez Ramirez
With hundreds of artists and hundreds of thousands of attendees expected at ArtPrize this year, we expect there will be a lot to say—and for us to collect and record.
Last year, VOICES debuted at ArtPrize Nine, introducing our 1958 Airstream trailer and collecting the stories of winning ArtPrize artists Daniel Oropreza and Sofia Hernandez Ramirez.
This year, VOICES will again collect stories from artists. Look for our Airstream on the corner of Lyon and Monroe NW. Look for the Voters Feedback Booth right next to the trailer where voters are encouraged to share what they voted on and why.
A free public service of WKTV, VOICES travels throughout the West Michigan region to encourage neighbors, friends and family to tell their stories—the narratives that make us human—of our lives, experiences, sorrows, triumphs and tragedies. We all benefit from knowing each other’s background; the shared bond that helps us build community.
VOICES’s comfortable, mobile video recording studio offers a relaxed atmosphere, and utilizes high-tech video and audio equipment to capture the narratives for posterity. Interviews usually take place between two people who know and care about each other. These can be friends, family, or mere acquaintances. Any topic may be explored, whether a specific event in a person’s life, a childhood memory, a family tragedy—no subject is off limits.
Oral history—the collection and study of individual histories, experiences of disasters, important events or everyday life—is a tradition as old as civilization itself. Using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews, oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives, most of which cannot be found in written sources. Some academics consider oral history akin to journalism as both are committed to uncovering truths and compiling narratives about people, places, and events.
VOICES participants find the experience valuable and gratifying. Read and listen to people’s stories online on our Facebook page here and visit our website here for more information and important links.
All VOICES conversations are audio- and video-recorded to provide participants with a link to each conversation and for possible airing on Channel 25 in Wyoming, Kentwood and Gaines Township (U-Verse Channel 99).
The second Saturday of each month, VOICES parks its Airstream trailer at Marge’s Donut Den at 1751 28th St SW, Wyoming, MI for ‘Second Saturdays at Marge’s’. And, beginning Oct. 17, VOICES will be parked at Kentwood Public Library, 4950 Breton Rd. SE, the third Wednesday of each month.
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
By Kristen Krueger-Corrado, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch
I am new to the world of historical fiction, having assumed that it would be similar to a very dry history course full of esoteric facts and dates. I selected Abundance to read because I was interested in seeing the recent film about Marie Antoinette and thought this might be a good primer. Imagine my surprise when I read the entire book (over 500 pages) in one day, dragging myself away from the engrossing story only to eat dinner or to tell my husband to stop talking to me while I was reading. For days afterwards, I delighted him with interesting facts I had picked up until he begged me to stop.
Marie Antoinette gets a bad rap in history textbooks — the frivolous young queen who cares little about her subjects, an attitude that ultimately leads to her demise. But in Abundance, the queen is portrayed in a much more flattering light. The story begins with her marriage to the Dauphin, Louis August, at the age of 14 and chronicles their 22-year marriage, the births of their four children, the fall of their monarchy and their beheadings.
Marie Antoinette was a devout Catholic, dedicated to her family and friends, determined to keep her marriage together and lived to serve the people of France. The book is told in the first person, and it is very evident that while Marie Antoinette had good intentions, she could not even begin to understand the plight of her people. And although I knew how the story would end, I was rooting for her to succeed. Abundance is a good read, but not one to lose your head over.
You can find 2018 ArtPrize artist Meochia Thompson giving hugs at church events, retirement homes, or around the community. Now you can find her downtown embracing strangers during ArtPrize for her entry HUG, a campaign that stands for “help uplift goodness”
Standing 10 feet tall, Thompson is building a hug stage, a safe place located at Grand Rapids City Hall where strangers can gather to embrace each other. An entry that is based on volunteer hugger groups of five or more can rent out the stage to give hugs.
Meochia Thompson with some friends in an earlier Hugs campaign.
“I just love hugging people.” Thompson said. “I know how it feels to be alone…So I decided to create a hug campaign. I prayed about it and I’m like ‘okay God what do I do with this.’”
Thompson’s campaign started four years ago in her hometown of Chicago. Money from her first campaign went to caregivers, people who bear the stress of taking care of other peoples loved ones.
“I was able to raise $5,000 and I just started giving it out to caregiving organizations” Thompson said. “They’re not around people all of the time. They’re dying for a hug, they’re dying to be around the regular public.”
Talking about hugging strangers, Thompson said there’s nothing weird about it. Showing compassion and love to people you don’t know is what Thompson said this whole campaign is about.
A mock-up of the Hugs stage which is located at Grand Rapids City Hall.
“Every time that you hug somebody, it doesn’t matter what they did in their past. It doesn’t matter who they are now or how much money they have. When you hug somebody it’s not about any of that. It’s just about at that moment showing love for mankind.” Thompson said about hugging.
Although winning ArtPrize would be a great accomplishment for a first time ArtPrize artist, Thompson has something bigger in mind.
“My goal is to make Grand Rapids hug city; the place to be for a good hug”.
If you would like to learn more about Thompson’s entry or would like to get involved yourself, visit her website mylifechats.com/hug.
Many people in West Michigan look forward to the harvest season every year. The freshest produce is available straight from the farms, and activities like corn mazes, hayrides, and harvest festivals make every weekend a treat. Find your favorite way of celebrating the harvest right here in West Michigan.
Harvest-centric events & festivals
The harvest fun starts after Labor Day at Post Family Farm in Hudsonville. Post Family Farm is serving up pumpkin donuts daily. Activities, including hayrides, the nature trail, and tube tunnels, run through Nov. 3rd.
Be a part of the Farm-to-Table Dinner & Tour at Castle Farms in Charlevoix. On Wednesday, Oct. 10th, enjoy a delightful farm-to-table dinner and live music along with a twilight tour at Castle Farms. Catered by Grey Gables Restaurant & Catering, a local favorite, the three-course meal plus welcome tasting will showcase meats and vegetables sourced from local farms.
The St. Joseph area is hosting three harvest-time events in September, starting with their ongoing farmers market every Saturday through Oct. 13th. The festivities continue on Saturday, Sept. 22nd, for Fall Fest. Bring the family for a weekend filled with fun events for all ages. Live music, local tastes, and Lake Michigan take center stage at the new Roots & Brews on Saturday, Sept. 22nd.
A variety of harvest-centric events are coming to Muskegon this fall. In addition to their farmers market, visit Pioneer County Park from Sept. 28th to 30th for the 4th Annual Halloween Harvest Weekend. Decorate pumpkins, hop on the hayride, and celebrate both Halloween and the harvest.
Hosted by the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, the 42nd Annual Harvest Fest is Sept. 28th to 30th. This year will include returning events such as the Classic Car Show and the Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, Sept. 29th, and will also feature children’s activities, a movie in the park, and Scarecrow Building!
Boyne City’s Harvest Festival will take place on Saturday, Sept. 29th. The farm market booths will sell a variety of apples and other harvest items, including pumpkins, squash, apple butter, jam, honey, and cider. When you’re hungry, stop for a bite to eat in one of the many downtown restaurants.
With so many fun, family-friendly fall festivals, Shanty Creek Resorts is the perfect place to stay while celebrating the harvest in northern Michigan. Mark your calendar for the Bellaire Harvest Festival & Scarecrow Extravaganza on Saturday, Sept. 29th, and the 40th Annual Charlevoix Apple Festival from Oct. 12th to 14th. Throughout the fall season, visitors can experience fall color from a new perspective, from a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain or a four-hour fall color tour of one of Shanty Creek Resorts’ four championship golf courses.
Cheboygan’s Fall Fest is Oct. 5th to 7th. A community celebration of Cheboygan’s waterways, trails, and harvesting heritage is presented annually during the first weekend in October. Nearly 50 events are on tap for this year’s festival, with coordination among over 25 groups and organizations.
Visit Battle Creek with the whole family for fun harvest activities. The Pumpkin Festival is Saturday, Oct. 13th, and includes games, pony rides, pumpkin arts and crafts, food, and more. You can also stop by for hayrides every Saturday and Sunday from Sept. 29th to Oct. 28th to enjoy one of fall’s favorite traditions.
Prepare yourself for fall flavors and fright-filled nights with Haven Harvest in South Haven from Oct. 19th to 21st. Taste the flavors of fall as hayrides roll, pumpkins fly, headless horsemen ride, and haunted houses awaken. Experience a true South Haven harvest with apple orchards, bonfires, pumpkin carving, and delicious good-as-grandma’s pies.
The Michigan Maritime Museum is being transformed into a maze of terrifying thrills and chills that are not for the faint of heart on Oct. 19th and 20th. This annual event, now in its fourth year, occurs during South Haven’s annual Haven Harvest Festival weekend.
Virtue Cider in Fennville is hosting their 3rd Annual Apple Fest on Saturday, Oct. 20th. If you can’t make it for the event, or you would like an in-depth look at Virtue Cider’s operations, they host Harvest-Time Tours every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, where you can learn how they make cider using all Michigan-grown apples.
The Arts & Eats tour through Allegan and Barry Counties may not be until Oct. 20th and 21st, but you can still celebrate the harvest with them in September. Visit some of the tour’s stops this month for a harvest-centric meal, including one serving fresh carrots, green and yellow beans, red skin potatoes, and onions.
Farm fun & produce to bring home
Begin your journey to local farms and farmers markets with the help of Michigan Agritourism. This statewide resource helps keep family farms sustainable, support local economic growth, and provide rich and unique experiences for visitors to make lasting memories.
Corn mazes are a fan-favorite fall activity, and the corn maze at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery in Grand Rapids is now open. This year’s theme is Gummy Bears.
It’s time to decorate your porch and bring home fall flavors with the help of Lewis Farms & Petting Zoo in New Era. Take a ride on the apple express wagon to the orchards where you can pick apples yourself, or visit the pumpkin patch and pick out the perfect pumpkin to take home and carve. You can even purchase straw bales, corn stalks, and more to spruce up your front porch. Finish up your visit with a cup of apple cider and an apple cinnamon or pumpkin doughnut.
Twin Oaks Inn is located in downtown Saugatuck, hosting guests in a harvest wonderland. Many guests who stay in the fall visit Crane Orchards and Fenn Valley Vineyards in Fennville, located only 15 minutes away from the inn.
Since September is the beginning of the harvest months, there’s bound to be those looking for fall activities in Mecosta County. Some of the area’s local farmers markets provide plenty of harvest treats. This is where you can find farm-fresh produce which changes as the seasons do.
In addition to the farmers market, Holland has a new restaurant that takes advantage of the early fall harvest. Stop by for one of their unique recipes, or bring the harvest home and see what you can create with these fresh ingredients.
Matthew Stone didn’t need to look any further than the faces of his two children for motivation to lose weight and live healthier.
“You want to see these little people grow up and you start thinking about, ‘What’s going to happen to me?’” Stone said. “I realized that I cannot expect someone else to take care of me, I need to start taking care of myself.”
With the support of his wife, Kristin, and his two children—Henry, 6, and Evelyn, 3—Stone started making big changes.
In July 2016, at the age of 33 and pushing 400 pounds, Stone had gastric sleeve surgery to start his weight-loss journey.
He has since lost more than 150 pounds, weighing in at 232 pounds. He eats well and exercises six days a week, including lifting weights, running and cycling.
“I always say that it’s not that I didn’t have a good life before, but now I am living a better life,” Stone said.
Last year, when he laced up his running shoes for the Spectrum Health Danish Dash in Greenville, Michigan, it had been his first time competing in an official organized run. By the time he competes in the race again this year, on Aug. 18, he’ll have some other 5K races under his belt.
Making changes
Stone said he had always been a big but active kid. Growing up in Midland, he remembers shoveling his dirt driveway in the winter so he could play basketball.
He also played high school sports. As a sophomore, he was a 6-foot-1, 300-pound athlete.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
But the weight kept creeping up.
“It doesn’t seem like much each year, but then you look back and you’re up 50 pounds,” he said.
Over time it became more difficult to ignore the signs that something needed to change.
He married in 2007 and it soon became a growing challenge to keep up with his two young children. He couldn’t buy life insurance to protect his family—his weight made it cost-prohibitive. He had to take medication for high blood pressure.
He then experienced a liver issue, which turned out to be the start of fatty liver disease. His weight, meanwhile, restricted what he could accomplish in the weight room.
“At age 33 I was OK, but it was only a matter of time before I would end up on a bunch of meds,” Stone said. “My body was showing signs it couldn’t keep up.”
He tried to diet but success proved elusive. He’d get discouraged when he didn’t see results.
“I realized that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet,” Stone said. “I can do a lot more damage with my mouth than I can out-do with my body.”
Feeling like he was “chasing his tail,” he signed up for a consultation with a bariatric surgeon.
“I really felt like the surgery was the first step, because when you’re pushing 400 pounds, I knew I was limited, but I didn’t fully understand how limited I was by the weight,” Stone said.
He started off easy, first by walking and then going to the gym and jogging on the treadmill.
“From there, it has taken off,” Stone said.
His current routine is six days of exercise, including four to five days of 60 to 90 minutes of weight lifting at Fresh Start Fitness in Greenville. He also gets in one or two runs per week—each about 3 to 5 miles—and about 30 minutes of cycling on the Flat River Trail or the stair stepper at the gym.
He follows a low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet. He recently eliminated all sugars, getting all his carbs from vegetables.
Transformation
Stone’s body has indeed changed. He went from a size 56 pants and XXXL shirts to a size 38 and large. He actually enjoys shopping now.
At the beginning, he would catch his reflection in a mirror and not recognize himself.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
But has he really changed? It’s one question he reflects on frequently. He looks to his wife to help him process it.
“I know that divorce rates are high for people who have big weight loss after surgery,” Stone said. “I ask my wife, ‘Have I changed? Let me know if you think I’m changing.’”
As an optimistic, outgoing person, Stone feels more comfortable in his skin now.
“I feel like my body matches my personality now, that it matches who I really am,” Stone said.
He works as a football coach at Greenville High School and as an associate pastor at Greenville First Church of God.
He said his faith and the strong support system from his family and community have helped him in this journey.
“I see this as part of being a better steward of who I am and what I have,” Stone said.
He also hopes he’s providing a good example for his children and his football players.
“For too many years, I just didn’t want to deal with it and make the commitment,” he said. “It’s good for everyone around me and good for me to see this is how we live better. Not that I didn’t live good before, but this is better.”
Americans have said it so long, it approaches cliché: “The U.S. is the land of opportunity.” However, this still rings true for thousands of newcomers every year, including Guatemalan-born Natanael Krische. Listen to the story of 18-year-old ‘Nate’ who entered illegally and worked hard to became a citizen, small business owner, and pillar in his West Michigan community.
On Friday, Sept. 28th, the Box Factory for the Arts (1101 Broad Street, Saint Joseph, MI 49085) will celebrate the opening of its Series 6 Art Exhibition. The public is invited to a free opening reception which will be held from 5-7:30pm and include an Artist Talk led by Eli Zilke at 5:45. All the details of the evening can be found on Box Factory’s Facebook Page. The exhibition will run from Sept. 28 through Nov. 10th.
The exhibition presents the works of a number of artists: Eli Zilke Collaborative with “Collaborative Nature,” Box Palette Group with “Bloomin’ at the Box” and Jennifer Tomshack with “Spirit of Place.”
ELI ZILKE COLLABORATIVE – COLLABORATIVE NATURE
Williams Gallery
The Eli Zilke Collaborative presents “Collaborative Nature” in the Robert Williams Gallery. Eli runs the studios at Water Street Glassworks, 140 Water Street in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He has designed this show with a number of very talented glass artists from the immediate area and beyond. The show speaks to the collaborative nature of how glass is made. Lynne Clayton, Executive Director of Water Street Glassworks, is among the artists who will exhibit work in the show.
In addition to the pieces which will be shown, there will also be an interactive piece in which visitors can have a hand in creating. The show will conclude with a demonstration event on Friday, Nov. 2nd hosted at Water Street Glassworks where this piece will be completed and then brought back to the Box Factory to be displayed for the final week of the exhibition.
For more information about Eli Zilke and Water Street Glassworks or the artists who are showing works in “Collaborative Nature,” please contact Eli at eli@waterstreetglassworks.org.
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).
Dr. Jen wrote this biography in a bit of reverse order, because she felt that the astute observations of the cat care team paints a pretty accurate picture of darling Dove, a 4-year-old (born in the spring of 2014) who came to us quite suddenly in mid-July, 2018.
“Dove has been a complete surprise, as we all expected her to be a complete challenge after how she first acted at the clinic with Dr. Jen; she settled in almost immediately and is loving (free-roaming) shelter life. She has a soft coo that she elicits when she purrs, so Dove is the purr-fect name for her. She will swat occasionally when she gets overwhelmed, so I think it’s best that she is adopted into a home without small kids. She gets along great with the other cats so a feline roomie would be to her liking.”
“Dove has finally become more social and is tolerant when we pet her, although she does set the tone of the interaction. As a matter of fact, recently when I was petting her, even though I THINK she realized she liked it, she still slapped me. To me she acts like she may have lost some trust in humans. If I remember right, didn‘t her previous owner pass away, and then she was taken in by someone else who also had to leave her? If so, I guess it’s no wonder she’s not fully able to trust right now, but deep down I know there is a good girl in there looking for a new person to give her a home of her very own again. It would be nice to see her placed in a quiet one that will take the time (and be patient) to help her build up her confidence again, and knock down the wall she’s put up. I am a softie for dilute calicos and she is no exception, even though she may be a bit of a diva.”
It’s totally true: Dove HATED the mere sight of Dr. Jen that first day after our cat care director came to kitty’s aid and retrieved her, even though she literally walked right into the travel carrier. Although Dr. Jen took it very slow and easy with her, losing one owner, then being shuffled off to another only to lose that one within two months, had to have turned Dove’s delicate world completely upside-down. Dr. Jen was concerned that all of the TLC in the world wasn’t going to right what Dove perceived as wrongs, but once out of that clinical setting and into a laid-back space that allowed her room to adjust and acclimate, she showed us her sweet side — and hasn’t stopped since, even though she spices it up a bit.
Dr. Jen would love to see Dove in a home with a mature couple who have homebody tendencies as Dove would love nothing more than a lap to claim and a human who would stroke her fur and tell her how beautiful she is, eliciting that soft coo we have all come to know and love.
More about Dove:
Extra Large
Dilute Calico & Domestic Short Hair Mix
Adult
Female
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Spayed
Not declawed
Good in a home with other cats; no children
Want to adopt Dove? 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.
ArtPrize 10 is here which means for the next two and half weeks much of the community will be focused on and discussing art.
WKTV will be joining the conversation with WKTV VOICES. Introduced at ArtPrize Nine last year, VOICES is housed in a 1958 Airstream trailer and collects stories. Last year, it focused on collecting the stories of artists. This year, the trailer will again return to the corner of Lyon and Monroe, across from the Amway Grand Plaza, collecting stories of artists but also hosting a Voters Feedback Booth, where voters are encouraged to share what they voted on and why.
And what should participants expect to see at this year’s ArtPrize? Well, a few of the venues reached out to us with information about who will be at their venue.
“1934,” by Amiri Farris
Gerald R. Ford International Airport
5500 44th St. SE
Visitors and passengers coming through the airport will be see 14 exhibits on display at the
Gerald R. Ford International Airport. Art at the airport is on display upstairs along the mezzanine, in the indoors observation deck area, and in the east end of the terminal building near the valet ticket counter and exit to rental cars.
“We are thrilled to once again serve as a gathering place for ArtPrize –as a venue, a sponsor, and as a way to welcome artists and visitors into our great city,” said GFIA President & CEO Jim Gill. “The Ford Airport strives to be reflective of the people and events in West Michigan, and we have a chance to brighten up our space with local and national artwork that showcases many different types of art. We hope people take advantage of the art on display here and visit us during the competition whether as a traveler or just a general visitor.”
Among the feature pieces is “1934,” by Amiri Farris, a portrait of a young President Gerald R. Ford and teammate Willis Ward. This large size painting depicts how President Ford overcame mounting adversity and racial discrimination to hep a friend. Artist Tom Howing, who is battling cancer, worked with his autistic son, Matthew, to put his views of the world into a 3-D format display titled “Matthew’s View.” Also artist Elizabeth Paul Healey fled her home in North Carolina this past weekend as Hurricane Florence approached and is here with her piece “Fear Less.”
Petra Kuppers, Salamander by The Olimpias. (Courtesy of the artist)
Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park
1000 E Beltline Ave NE, Grand Rapids
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will host 16 contemporary sculptors in an innovative exhibition jointly organized by DisArt, a Grand Rapids based arts and cultural organization promoting the full participation of disabled people in and through the arts. The exhibition is titled “Process and Presence: Contemporary Disability Sculpture”.
Through examples of three-dimensional practice including sculpture, performance, installation and video art, this exhibition emphasizes the relationship between disability and the fundamental human experiences of change and embodiment. The exhibition offers audiences a survey of contemporary disability sculpture through artists whose work represents local, national and global perspectives on the experiences of living with disability.
“Process and Presence: Contemporary Disability Sculpture” will be free of charge during ArtPrize (Sept. 19 – Oct. 7). The exhibition areas will be open to the public during Meijer Gardens’ regular business hours. All other areas of Meijer Gardens observe regular hours and standard admission fees.
Arizona-based artist duo Lauren Strohacker and Kendra Sollars shed light on the displacement, reintroduction, and loss of wildlife in urban areas, and have collaborated with Blandford Nature Center to create their time-based entry, Animal Land.
Grand Rapids Art Museum
101 Monroe Center St. NW
The Grand Rapids Art Museum’s ArtPrize 10 exhibition will showcase a broad range of contemporary art by local, regional, national and international artists—competing in every ArtPrize category: 2D, 3D, Time-based and Installation. The total number of artists/artist pairs is 10. The exhibition includes outdoor installations and large-scale nighttime projections on the building’s exterior, and also contains sculpture, painting and interactive performance works.
“Visitors to ArtPrize 10 at GRAM will find the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s most ambitious presentation yet—dazzling installations adapted to interior and exterior public spaces, technology-based interactive experiences, monumental sculpture and more,” commented GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen.
Several themes can be found within the artwork on view—Venezuelan artist, Saskia Jordá, uses her work as a call to action to end violence and hunger. Michigan-based artist John Gutsokey addresses loss, grief, and the aftermath of hate crimes, as well as gun violence, homophobia, violence against people of color and the transgender community, and LGBTQ rights. Arizona-based artist duo Lauren Strohacker and Kendra Sollars shed light on the displacement, reintroduction, and loss of wildlife in urban areas, and have collaborated with Blandford Nature Center to create their time-based entry, Animal Land.
“Geode” by Carlson Garcia
Grand Rapids Public Museum
272 Pearl St. NW
The Grand Rapids Public Museum will once again host an outdoor exhibition in which the work of 17 artists will visually lend itself to the setting of the Museum grounds. Each year the GRPM curates a rewarding experience with approachable art that is intriguing, distinctive and engages the viewer’s capacity for awe and curiosity. Located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids along the busy river walkway, the GRPM is able to offer a not-to-be-missed immersive, 24-hour experience.
During ArtPrize Ten the GRPM will be open with regular Museum hours and half off general admission fees. The GRPM will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays of ArtPrize. For more information about artists, exhibitions, special programming and tickets visit grpm.org.
By Amy L. Cochran, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch
In this historical novel The Terror, Dan Simmons weaves known facts, extrapolation, and Inuit beliefs into his own vividly harsh version of the fate of the lost Franklin Expedition. The book is part thrilling arctic survival fiction, part horror, part nautical adventure, and completely impossible to put down.
Back in 1845, Sir John Franklin led an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage and disappeared completely along with two ships and 128 men. Simmons uses the last known whereabouts of the ships Erebus and Terror to alternate between the present in 1847, as the men try to make it through their second icebound winter, and flashbacks that show how badly informed route decisions and cheap supplies have left the expedition stranded and low on food.
You’d think that being stuck in two wooden ships in pack ice 1200 miles from any chance of rescue would be enough to handle, but Simmons just keeps increasing the tension. After expedition leader Sir John Franklin dies, Captain Francis Crozier of the Terror must somehow get his men home in spite of encroaching scurvy, -82 degree daily temperatures, rotten canned food, and the constant fatal attacks of a terrible beast that seems to be a 14-foot polar bear impervious to bullets. Just about the time the beast appears, Lady Silence, a mysterious Inuit girl with no tongue, comes aboard. She alone can find fresh meat; unfortunately, none of the surviving men have any luck hunting during even the slightly warmer summers. A last-ditch attempt to build morale by staging a winter carnival goes horribly awry, and on top of the deadly natural conditions and animal attacks, human nature shows its ugly side and turns sailor against sailor.
Simmons does an amazing job of providing in gritty detail the nasty, smelly uncomfortable conditions on board ship and the symptoms of advanced scurvy, as well as the harsh realities of surviving for any length of time in the Arctic. In conditions almost beyond comprehension, the men fiercely struggle to stay hopeful and escape their doomed situation. And after reading this excellent historical novel, I have to say that, despite our nasty Michigan winters, we’ve got it pretty good. Compared, at least, to the plight of the men of the ships Erebus and Terror.
By Alisha Walker, Bilingual Dental Referral Coordinator Team Lead at Cherry Street Health Center
Diabetes can affect every part of the body, including your mouth. If you or someone you care for has diabetes, you need to spend extra time and attention to maintain great oral health. Tooth and periodontal (gum) diseases are more common and serious for people with diabetes. Periodontal disease is a broad term used to describe various stages of disease that affect the gums and bone surrounding of the teeth. Periodontal disease can also make it harder for people with diabetes to control their blood sugar, however by taking better care of your oral health both periodontal disease and diabetes can improve.
Are you at higher risk for periodontal disease if you have diabetes?
Yes, when diabetes is not under control your mouth and your body’s germ-fighting powers are weakened.
What other oral health problems can develop if you have diabetes?
Diabetes also makes you prone to other mouth problems such as oral infections like thrush, dry mouth which can cause soreness, ulcers, infections and cavities and poor wound healing.
What are the early warning signs of periodontal disease?
Red or swollen gums
Bleeding gums
Painful or tender gums
Loose or shifting teeth
Constant bad breath or taste
Pus between teeth and when gums are pressed
Gums pulling away from teeth
Should you tell your dentist and dental hygienist that you have diabetes?
Yes, people with diabetes have special needs. Keep your dentist and dental hygienist informed of any changes in your condition and any medication(s) you might be taking.
How can I keep my gums and teeth healthy to prevent and/or fight off periodontal disease?
Keep blood sugar as close to normal as possible. That means taking medications that were prescribed as directed. It also means keeping the amount of consumed carbs in check.
Brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste.
Floss your teeth at least once every day.
See your dentist at least twice a year, or as often as your dentist recommends.
Remember, good dental care can result in a healthy mouth and a smile that will last a lifetime.
By Matthew Makowski, Grand Valley State University
For the past 15 years, West Michigan audiences have enjoyed a series of six free events every fall at Grand Valley that celebrate the positive impact of the arts. President Thomas J. Haas said these events are offered as gifts to the local community that has supported the evolution of the university.
“Each year, these six diverse and free events provide us with the opportunity to thank the West Michigan community for its continued support of the performing arts at Grand Valley, and the university as a whole,” said Haas. “The arts lift us up, make us think and provide an endless variety of entertainment and enrichment, and we hope others will join us in celebrating the richness of the worlds of poetry, dance, art, music and more this fall.”
Here are the upcoming Fall Arts Celebration events for October. For more event details, go here.
What is Art in the 21st Century?
Lecture presented by William Deresiewicz
Oct. 1, at 7:30 pm
Location: L.V. Eberhard Center, 2nd floor, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
In today’s world, creativity is a necessity for successful collaborations in business and to develop and expand vibrant cultures. As business and the arts draw closer together, how are they changing each other? Expanding on his viral essay for The Atlantic, “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur,” award-winning essayist, critic and best-selling author William Deresiewicz will answer that question by addressing the understanding and practice of creative work and the creative life. Deresiewicz is the author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harper’s, The Nation, The New Republic, The American Scholar and The London Review of Books.
Ada Limon (photo supplied)
An Evening of Poetry and Conversation with Ada Limón and Carl Phillips
Oct. 18, at 7:30 pm
Location: L.V. Eberhard Center, 2nd floor, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Two unique poetic voices will share their work with the West Michigan community during an evening of poetry and conversation. Ada Limón is the author of five books of poetry, including her new book, The Carrying (2018). Her volume Bright Dead Things was named one of the top 10 poetry books of the year by The New York Times. Limón currently serves on the faculty of Queens University of Charlotte’s low-residency Master of Fine Arts program.
Carl Phillips (photo supplied)
Carl Phillips is the author of 14 books of poetry, including his most recent works, Wild Is the Wind (2018) and Reconnaissance (2015). The latter won the PEN USA Award and the Lambda Literary Award. A four-time finalist for the National Book Award, Phillips’ honors include the Los Angeles Times’ Book Prize for Poetry, the Kingsley Tufts Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Library of Congress and Academy of American Poets. He is currently a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis.
Meet Nate: Nate had no work experience and a disability that made getting a job difficult. Through the Youth Employment Services program, Nate got an apprenticeship with a local electrical company after graduating from high school, attended community college and is on his way to a career in electrical engineering.
If you are out of school, having a hard time finding or keeping a job and wondering how to start a career, the West Michigan Works! Youth Employment Services program can help you, just like it did Nate.
How can Youth Employment Services help me?
The program offers free services to young adults, ages 16-24, who are experiencing challenges to finding employment. Participants can get on the path to a successful, long-term career through individualized employment and training activities.
Obtain your GED or high school diploma.
Use assessments and career exploration to develop a career pathway.
Participate in work experience to build your resume.
Get help removing barriers to employment/training like assistance with transportation, professional clothing, credit recovery and more!
Scholarships may be available for additional job training.
Do I qualify?
If you are a young adult, age 16-24, who is experiencing circumstances that make finding and keeping employment challenging, you may qualify. Eligibility is based on income in addition to many other factors.
How do I get started?
Certain documentation, like specific forms of ID and proof of income, will be required to enroll. Contact your local program provider to learn more and find out if you are eligible:
Bethany Christian Services
1530 Madison Ave NE Grand Rapids, MI 49507 616-254-7739
"If you can't tolerate critics, don't do anything new or interesting."
~Jeff Bezos
Food, glorious food!
Blue Spoon will again be at Kentwood’s End of Summer Food Truck Festival. (WKTV)
And there will be food trucks galore! The free-to-attend event will run from 11am to 10pm, on Saturday, Sept. 15 in the parking lot of the Kent District Library — Kentwood (Richard. L. Root) Branch. Throughout the day, there will be live music, a beer tent and a variety of local eats.
Ferrand Park got quite the facelift, and Wyoming residents are thrilled. The park features a number of new amenities such as a shelter, pathways into the park, architectural features that help to identify the park, and a new, expanded playground area.
Gerald R. Ford International Airport has launched a new app that features real-time flight departure and arrival information, updates on parking availability at the airport, and security wait times. Additionally, amenities such as food and beverage locations, kids play areas, nursing rooms, and the military welcome center are featured on the app.
The Grand Valley Writers Series has a long history of enlisting distinguished and emerging writers to visit the campuses of Grand Valley State University to read from their work for the community, visit classes to interact with students and discuss their career paths.
This year’s Writers Series will feature eight acclaimed authors, two of which are Grand Valley writing faculty members, during multiple events between September 17, 2018 and April 9, 2019.
Author Marian Crotty will kick off this year’s Writers Series on September 17 when she discusses her craft of fiction writing. Crotty is the author of the short story collection What Counts as Love, which won the John Simmons Award for Short Fiction.
Author Lindsey Drager visits Oct. 4.
She has received fellowships from the Yaddo Corporation, The Camargo Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creating Writing, and also received a Fulbright research grant to the United Arab Emirates. She currently serves as an assistant professor of writing at Loyola University Maryland and as an assistant editor for The Common.
Her fiction work has appeared in Kenyon Review, Southern Review and Alaska Quarterly Review, and her personal essays have appeared in various journals, including Guernica, Gettysburg Review and New England Review.
Below is the full schedule of this year’s Writers Series events. For more information, visit the Writers Series website, or contact Todd Kaneko, Writers Series coordinator and assistant professor of writing at kanekot@gvsu.edu.
Fiction Craft Talk and Reading with Marian Crotty Sept. 17, 2018
Fiction craft talk: 1:30-2:45 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270, Allendale Campus
Reading and book signing: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room, Allendale Campus
Fiction Reading and Q&A Session with Distinguished Visiting Alumna Lindsey Drager Oct. 4, 2018
Reading and book signing: 2:30-3:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room
Q&A session: 4-5:15 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 0072
Nonfiction Craft Talk and Reading with Michele Morano
November 15, 2018
Craft talk: 4-5 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270
Reading and book signing: 6-7:30 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 0072
Grand Valley Faculty Reading with Chris Haven and Gale Marie Thompson
February 5, 2019
Reading: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room
Author Arunava Sinha wraps up the series on April 9.
Poetry Craft Talk and Reading with Kaveh Akbar and Paige Lewis
March 14, 2019
Craft talk: 6-7 p.m., DeVos Center, room 203E, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Reading and book signing: 7:30-8:30 p.m., DeVos Center University Club, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Translation Craft Talk and Reading with Arunava Sinha
April 9, 2019
Craft talk: 4-5 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270
Reading and book signing: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room
After retiring from the United States Army in 2015 following 17 years of service, Kimberly Walker began searching for her purpose as an artist, which she eventually found in the form of sharing stories of sexual assault in the military through art.
During this year’s 10th anniversary of ArtPrize, Walker’s piece, “Locked and Loaded,” will be the sole entry located at the Eberhard Center on Grand Valley State University’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus.
The piece will consist of 46 military-issue duffle bags representing 46 cases of sexual assault in the military. Walker, an Ohio-based artist, said through her research, she discovered that none of the cases were disclosed to the general public.
Walker will discuss her ArtPrize entry, as well as her journey from soldier to artist, during a special presentation on Thursday, Sept. 20. “Finding Your Purpose With Art” will take place at 6 p.m. in room 716 in the Eberhard Center. A reception will precede remarks at 5:30 p.m. outside the Veterans Upward Bound office.
Following Walker’s remarks, Tim Marroquin, director of Veterans Upward Bound, and Krystal Diel, Victim Advocate in Grand Valley’s Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity, will discuss resources on campus available to veterans, current students, victims and survivors of sexual assault, and advocate community members.
“Locked and Loaded” was chosen by members of Grand Valley’s Art Gallery staff during an ArtPrize Pitch Night in May. These events provide artists in five different cities an opportunity to present to judges an idea for a piece of artwork that would be on display at a high-profile venue in Grand Rapids during the competition. The selected artists each received a $5,000 grant to bring their ideas to life.
By Laura Nawrot, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch
I was feeling rather sluggish and thought a good mystery would get my blood moving, so I decided to try something by an author I hadn’t previously read. I turned to bestselling authors to help with my selection.
Short Straw by Stuart Woods seemed to fit my criteria; Woods is a bestselling author and the synopsis promised an intriguing, fast-paced mystery, and I looked forward to diving into my first Stuart Woods novel. Unfortunately, this will also be my last Stuart Woods novel. While there were a couple of interesting twists in the plot, overall I found it to be very dull and predictable. The characters were flat and lifeless, and I found myself not caring what happened to any of them. In fact, I felt like they got what they deserved for the most part.
Apparently, a familiar character from an earlier book, Ed Eagle, resurfaces in Short Straw only to be taken to the cleaners by his soon-to-be-ex-wife. A pair of incompetent men, hired by Eagle, follow Barbara all over Mexico to prevent her from getting her hands on all of Ed’s money. If this is typical of his work, I certainly don’t plan to read any further.
On the other hand, I found Capital Crimes by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman to be just what the book jacket promised: “…a gripping pair of original crime thrillers…” This was my first experience with Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, also bestselling authors, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this time I wasn’t disappointed.
Although I didn’t initially realize that Capital Crimes was actually two novellas combined under one cover, both stories stood well on their own, and I will definitely read more of their work. The characters were far more colorful than those in Short Straw, and the pace moved much quicker. I felt more involved with the stories and interested in the outcomes.
The only criticism I have is that the language in Capital Crimes was a little rough. While the usage of rough language was well within the boundaries of keeping in the voice of the character, I sometimes find it distracts from the story when the dialogue is spotted with conversational swearing. I didn’t find it distracting enough, however, to put this book down and recommend it for a taste of both Jonathan and Faye Kellerman.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Calvin College #1 overall among Midwest regional colleges in its 2019 Best Colleges Guidebook. This marks the third consecutive year Calvin has topped its category.
Released online today, the report helps prospective students and their families evaluate colleges and universities based on 16 widely accepted indicators of excellence, such as first-year retention rates, graduation rates, and the strength of faculty. The report also takes into account qualitative assessments by administrators at peer institutions.
“Calvin’s mission to equip students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world remains our constant source of motivation,” said Michael K. Le Roy, Calvin College president. “It is encouraging when independent sources like U.S. News & World Report recognize the exemplary work of our faculty, staff, and students.”
In addition to sharing the top overall ranking among its peers with Taylor University in 2019, Calvin also garnered U.S. News’ #1 ranking among Midwest regional colleges on its “Best Undergraduate Teaching” list, and appeared in the top five of its lists of “Most Innovative Schools” and “Schools with the Most International Students.”
Calvin was also listed as a “Best Value School” by U.S. News & World Report, and the college’s engineering program received special recognition as one of the best undergraduate engineering program in the country. The college tied for 71st among schools whose terminal engineering degree is a bachelors or masters.
About Calvin College Founded in 1876, Calvin College is a top-ranked, liberal arts college that equips its more than 3,700 students from 45 U.S. states, 65 countries and five Canadian provinces to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world. Calvin is proud to offer 100+ majors and programs, including graduate-level offerings in accounting, education, and speech pathology and audiology. Calvin students engage in intensive internships, community-based service learning, and significant research that results in publishing and presenting alongside world-class faculty.
And the college’s 400-acre campus, located in the vibrant city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, serves as a launching pad for students who, in any given year, participate in 40 faculty-led off-campus programs on six different continents. Discover more at www.calvin.edu.
About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is celebrating its 85th year as a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. USNews.com focuses on education, health, money, travel, cars, and civic, providing consumer advice, rankings, and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and advice. U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a text message and several phone calls from a friend frantically trying to reach me, “I got a strange notice on my computer saying I had to call or they would disable me!”
When I contacted her later, I was relieved to hear she refused to give them her credit card number and they hung up on her. Too often, people who receive these pop-up notices on their computers, tablets or phones fall prey to these scare tactics, losing hundreds of dollars and sometimes their identity as a result. Tossing your computer out the window or smashing your phone with a hammer are not the answer. You can take steps to avoid falling victim to malware.
What is malware? When most people call for help, they say “A virus got into my computer!”. The mess that malware creates can certainly make us feel sick, but it is not a computer virus in the traditional sense. Malware, also referred to as Adware or Spyware, is a type of software that is usually embedded in something else. Whether it is a ‘free’ app you downloaded to your tablet, a ‘free’ software you downloaded to your computer, or a ‘free’ game you play through your internet browser, most likely you clicked ‘OK’ and, buried in the fine print you agreed to having the malware files downloaded to your device. When it comes to apps and software, nothing is free.
When these files get downloaded to our devices, strange things begin to occur. Like my friend, a message window might randomly open up saying we have a virus or claim that our computer has been hacked and requires immediate attention. We open our internet browser and without touching a key, it will begin bringing us to websites we don’t want to go to or the screen suddenly fills with 100s of popup windows advertising everything under the sun. We could even find our inbox filling up with messages to buy things that normally require a prescription or even our phone begins to ring with telemarketers.
What can we do to protect our devices from these types of software?
First, don’t download anything unless it comes through an official app store like Google Play or Apple and even then, use caution if it says are there advertisements in the app.
When advertisements pop up in your browser, be careful where you click. Many of these are designed to fool you by including a ‘No Thanks’ button or even a fake X button usually on the opposite side of the window. Close the pop up using the X in the upper corner.
If you make a mistake and download some malware to your computer, stay calm and know that any threatening messages you receive are not real. Microsoft, Apple or Google will not send a warning message to your screen demanding you call them ‘or else…’. If you’re getting these messages, it’s most definitely fake.
Do not call the 800 numbers that appear on your screen, give out any personal information, or allow anyone remote access to your computer.
You can often get free assistance by going to the manufacturer of the device. For a Microsoft device you can get virtual assistance at support.microsoft.com, an Apple device support.apple.com or a Google/Android device go to support.google.com.
Sometimes we need more than help articles; there are services you can pay for help. Best Buy’s Geek Squad offers support in-home, in-store, 24/7 online and phone support at (800) 433-5778. HelloTech also offers in-home tech support, online support at hellotech.com and help over the phone (888) 485-9455. These companies are reputable, established companies unlike the 800 numbers offered in the popup windows. You may have local tech support companies in your community.
Stay in charge of your devices! While your son, daughter or grandchild may seem tech savvy and well meaning, unless they are a certified technology support specialist, they should not be trying to fix your computer, tablet or phone. People of every age fall victim to malware and internet scams and our well-intentioned relatives might make matters worse.
When we run into problems like these, our inclination may be to give up on technology all together, especially if we’re new to it. Technology is engrained in every part of our society though and can actually go a long way in helping us remain independent as we age. Today we can order our groceries and have them delivered to our home, call for a ride, see our doctor through a video call, pay all of our bills and connect with friends and family using a smartphone, tablet or computer.
It’s worth sticking with it and to learn more. Local libraries offer technology classes for adults, as well as many community and senior centers. If you’re a member of a group who would like a class on learning about how technology like tablets and smart phones can enhance your life, Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan will bring a class to your organization. You can contact us at (616) 456-5664 or aaainfo@aaawm.org for more information.
We really want to know.
Kent County administration announced Thursday that Undersheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young has been appointed Sheriff to fill the unexpired term of Sheriff Larry Stelma, who retires on Nov. 1 of this year.
Manufacturers throughout West Michigan are holding community open houses and student tours that showcase their facilities and career options. The tours are part of Manufacturing Week 2018, which runs through Oct. 5, 2018. More than 100 manufacturers are hosting more than 1,000 students during this year’s event.
