Grand Rapids

The city of Grand Rapids is piloting a program that will give residents a food scraps drop-off option. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills by using food waste normally dumped in landfills to create usable compost.

In 2013, Senita Lenear became the first Black woman elected to the Grand Rapids City Commission. She joined Michigan Public to look back on her breakthrough career.

Grand Rapids reckons with another lethal police shooting. Also, perspectives on the relationship between race and space in southwest Detroit.

A listener shares the story of a Blue Heron descending upon her neighbor's backyard koi pond.

The largest immigration detention center in the Midwest is in Michigan. Since October, the average daily population there ballooned to more than 1,300 people. Each week, a retired evangelical pastor from West Michigan goes to visit people there. Our producer Michelle Jokisch Polo tells that story.

A gathering of leaders from multiple faiths on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday called for more involvement from the local community to push back against arrest and detention practices.

We've covered a lot this year, which means you probably haven't gotten a chance to look at all the things we've done. Here are some stories you may have missed.

Residents had pushed back on the plans in Grand Rapids, asking the developer to support more affordable housing options.

Grand Rapids Public Schools and the Grand Rapids Education Association have reached a tentative agreement to increase wages for teachers. GREA members voted Thursday to approve the agreement. Next the school board will need to approve it.

A look back at the year's economy, as experienced by Michiganders. Also, a long- awaited contract for teachers in Grand Rapids’ Public Schools. And our series The Dish is back! Chef Yumna Jawad has some ideas for making holiday kitchen work more manageable.