By Dan Christmann Problems in the Neighborhood On the morning of Friday May 20th, 2016, residents of Grand Rapids’ Madison Square woke to a cavalcade of government vehicles and yellow caution tape. At the corner of Madison and Hall, health department workers stood discussing the evacuation with building occupants. Over […]
By Dan Christmann Winter last year (2018-19 for those of you browsing through the archive) was manic depressive. Michigan’s weather is always unpredictable, but this was on a different level. I remember spending three days huddled under a blanket in my apartment, wishing I’d chosen a place for it’s insulation […]
By Dan Christmann Jessica Stokes is a disability activist, performance artist, and scholar currently working on her Ph.D. at MSU. She’s also one of my favorite people in the whole world. I was lucky enough to catch up with her a few weeks ago, and have a conversation about disability, […]
By Dan Christmann Building a Better Bowels “I call this a big stomach. Ok?” Charles Schroeder tells me frankly, leaning back in one of the tall chairs that surround the conference room at the Grand Rapids wastewater recovery plant. “We’re making a big stomach is what we’re doing.” In all […]
By Dan Christmann “No, that’s cottonwood, not cotton candy,” Emma, one of WMEAC’s education interns, says leaning over a student checking his tree identification worksheet against an answer key. “Don’t eat it.” “I want cotton candy,” another boy pipes in. “Are we having cotton candy for snack?” “We have […]
By Dan Christmann “You gonna throw that all away?” A bystander asks as I exit the back entrance of the store with a cart full of rotten produce. I shrug and smile a bit sadly as I empty the cart into the dumpster. “You’ve never worked at a grocery store […]
By Dan Christmann It makes sense that WMEAC would hold rain barrel workshops. Water quality is of huge importance to us, and rain barrels are one way to protect the health of our watershed. The workshops also connect staff and interns to individuals in the community, promoting environmentalism on a […]
