Proud parents and staff fill the small school gymnasium with excitement and cheer as students’ names are called. The event, on a breezy September evening, is not a graduation. It’s a “Promise Signing Day” for the 2018-19 kindergarten class of Northeastern Elementary School.

Paula Poundstone says open mic night at a comedy club is the classroom to learn how to be a standup comedian. She says standup is about the relationship with the audience, “you can’t teach that in school.” With 40 years of standup experience Poundstone calls herself “a proud member of endorphin production industry.” She will perform at the Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater on Thursday April 11th .

Tim Bartik says employers should go beyond thinking of job training as a one-time program. The Senior Economist for the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research says if workers can stay on the job, companies won’t have to take on as many costs that come with job turnover. Bartik and Senior Researcher Michelle Miller-Adams are two of the authors of the Upjohn Institute’s report called Building Shared Prosperity: How Communities Can Create Good Jobs for All . Bartik says job coaches can help find

Author Kevin Young says P.T. Barnum didn’t invent the hoax, but he came close to perfecting it. The author of Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts and Fake News says Barnum provided people with a good show. But Young says some the acts are troubling “when you look at his shows up close.” Note : This interview was originally published in January. Young will speak at Western Michigan University Thursday March 28th at 7:00p.m. in room 2452 of Knauss Hall. His

The Founder of the Dangerous Speech Project says it’s fear, not hatred, that often inspires acts of violence. Susan Benesch studies the type of speech that causes people to commit, or condone violence. Benesch will deliver the annual Winnie Veenstra Peace Lecture at Western Michigan University. Her address called Social Media and Mass Violence begins at 6:00p.m. Monday March 25th in the Bernhard Center. Benesch says dangerous speech can lead to violence when people are afraid. The fear may be of

Western Michigan University Biological Sciences professor Tiffany Schriever says she and a group of students walk the trails down to wetlands from spring to fall. They use nets and water chemistry equipment to test the waters near the Great Lakes coastline. Schriever will be among the presenters at Western Michigan University’s Spring Convocation on Tuesday, March 26th at the Fetzer Center. She says they have found great diversity in wetlands, even those that are relatively close together.

Black women are the fastest growing group of business owners, says a new report . From 2007 to 2018, black female-led businesses grew by 164 percent as compared to 58 percent overall for all women businesses for the same period. The Kalamazoo area is also seeing a spike. It's leading to the creation of new groups, workshops and conferences to provide opportunities for skill-building, support and financing for black and other women entrepreneurs of color.

Learn how free showings of the award-winning romantic comedy "Keep the Change" about a couple with autism is being used by Disability Network Southwest Michigan as part of a lunchtime discussion and film series to encourage more inclusive environments. Screenings are in Kalamazoo (March 18), Battle Creek (March 26), and St. Joseph (March 27). All showtimes are 11:30 a.m.

Lake Michigan Senior Correspondent for Detroit Public Television’s Great Lakes Bureau Gary Wilson says nobody’s going to say they don’t want to take care of drinking water problems in Michigan. But he says there will be debates over Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s proposal to spend $120-million on drinking water infrastructure. Whitmer proposed the supplemental funding as she presented her budget proposal to the state Legislature. The money would be used for replacing lead service lines, responding

Hospice chaplain Kerry Egan says watching a loved one die is hard. She says they may suffer in pain for a long time. But Egan says one benefit of having time before death is that people have a chance to reflect on life, make a connection and say something to a loved one before they can’t say it anymore. The book On Living chronicles the things people told Egan while they were in Hospice. It includes reflections on the meaning of life, and regrets people felt at the end. Egan will speak at the