Focus West Michigan
Focus West Michigan for 7-11-24
(upbeat music) Today on Focus West Michigan, there's new funding for tribal lands to combat climate change. New WIC guidelines allow for more families to receive help. Jennifer Moss visits high tea grand rapids and more state and West Michigan news. For WGVU, I'm Joe Bilecki. Today is Thursday, July 11, 2024. Focus West Michigan is brought to you by listeners like you to support this show and everything we do. Visit WGVUNews.org and click the donate button. (upbeat music) The Biden-Harris administration is investing $120 million in new funding to support climate-related threats to tribal land. WGVU's David Limbaugh spoke to leaders with West Michigan's Gun Lake Tribe about how this funding could help them. U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Holland announced the availability of the $120 million while visiting the Gun Lake Tribe earlier this week. The funding can be used by tribal communities across the country to combat problems related to climate change. Virginia Sprague Vanderband sits on the Gun Lake Tribal Council. She says the tribe received $4 million through last year's Tribal Climate Annual Award, which it used to install solar infrastructure and purchase electric vehicles for use in the tribe's casino transportation services. - I think when you're looking at how we're taking care of the land, that is a great way to complete the circle. We were big users of that component and we wanted to look for ways to take care of ourselves and if there was a way that we could give back. - This year's funding is part of a $560 million federal investment for tribal climate resilience programs through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Sprague Vanderband says this funding provides opportunities to furthering environmentally friendly initiatives while also boosting future developments. - When you think of tribal nations and you think of how we are stewards of the land, you know, of Mother Earth, of the water, we want to be sure that we're cognizant and again that our approach is safe for the environment and it's safe for us as people of the land. - I'm David Limbaugh. New guidelines mean more families may be eligible to receive help putting food on the table. WGVU's Dean Morrison reports. - The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, recently updated guidelines in Michigan, allowing people who earn a bit more to now qualify for those benefits. The federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows participants to receive benefits through Michigan's EBT cards used at participating grocery stores and pharmacies. The cards are used to buy food staples with a focus on health and nutrition, such as milk, eggs, bread, yogurt, whole wheat items, fruit, vegetables, and infant formula. The Kent County Health Department Program Supervisor, Abby Bishop, urges anyone who previously applied and was turned down for benefits to reassess and reapply to see if they qualify under the new guidelines. The WIC program offers nutrition, education, breastfeeding support, healthcare referrals, high-risk nutrition counseling, immunizations, and supplemental foods. The new income eligibility guidelines went into effect June 1st. I'm Dee Morrison. - After years of discussion and disagreement, WGVU's Phil Dawson reports that Mesquitekin now has a new logo. - Now that it's been formally adopted and approved. (crowd cheering) - Approved and unveiled by the City Commission, Mayor Ken Johnson says Mesquitekin is ready to roll out their new logo. - People are gonna have differing views as to, oh, I would do this differently, I like this, but I don't like that, and it's an eye beholder. - The new logo is an M, fashioned out of eight blocks inside each a silhouette of some significant city landmark. - We're made up of many, many features that a lot of people throughout the community love. - Mesquitekin Community Engagement Manager, Deborah Sweet. - It's not water, and it's not sun, and it's not dunes, because our residents believe that we're more than that. - The new logo replaces the old familiar purple design that included a sailboat, a musical instrument, and the former Hackley administration building. Dan Callis of Kindred Marketing developed the new logo. - Something in here will hopefully resonate with everyone. We can't make everybody happy, we know that. - To create the new logo, City Manager, Jonathan Seiforth says there were many meetings, dozens of opinions were considered, a community survey was distributed. - This was the number one pick of everybody. - I'm Phil Dawson. - An organization of women with family members in the military gets its own day of honor in Michigan, thanks to a law sign this week. WGVU's Dean Morrison reports. - The Blue Star Mothers of America is a national organization of mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, foster mothers, and female legal guardians who have a family member serving in the military, guard, or reserves, or who is a veteran. It was founded in Flint in 1942 and has grown to over 200 chapters nationwide. The organization supports troops, honors veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice, visits the injured in hospitals, and provides support to families who have lost a loved one in service. Previously in Michigan, a member of the state legislature had to sponsor a resolution annually to honor the work of the Blue Star Mothers. But a bill signed into law this week now designates February 1st each year as Blue Star Mothers Day. The goal is to raise awareness of the work the organization does on behalf of service members and their families, and to promote resources available to them. I'm Dean Morrison. - A fruit port man has been found guilty of making threats to Michigan courts. WGVU's David Limbaugh has the details. Tuesday, a Kent County jury in the 17th District Court found 60-year-old Daniel Kellahan of fruit port guilty on charges of false report or threat of terrorism and using a computer to commit a crime. Kellahan was arrested March 4th, 2023 in charge for threats he made in a pleading he filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals during oral arguments in a civil case. According to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nestle's office, Kellahan voiced his frustration with the government on February 15th, 2023 asking, quote, "What is it going to take somebody to get shot "before the state acts on it?" end quote. Later that same month, Kellahan filed a pleading in which he stated if the state court of appeals and Supreme Court did not act lawfully and grant relief in the case, they and other entities would earn a quote, "Future Performance Award for MSU Stage Act Two, "West Michigan 2023," end quote. Court officials interpreted this as a threat to commit a mass shooting similar to the one that happened at Michigan State University only 10 days prior. Each offense is a 20-year felony. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. I'm David Limbaugh. - Despite calls for President Joe Biden to leave the presidential campaign, Michigan U.S. Senator Gary Peters remains supportive. Peter says he met with the president this week. - I've had opportunities to work with him. I've always found him and able to deal with complex issues and that's what I will let everybody know. - President Biden is scheduled to campaign in Michigan tomorrow. Senator Peters will not be with the president. Michigan's U.S. Senator says he has a previous commitment taking him out of the state. West Michigan Congresswoman Hilary Scolten, however, is calling on President Joe Biden to exit the presidential race. WGVU's Dean Morrison has more. - U.S. Representative Hilary Scolten is calling for President Joe Biden to drop out of the campaign for president. In a statement released Thursday, the Democrat from Grand Rapids wrote, "For the good of our democracy, I believe it is time for him to step aside from the presidential race and allow a new leader to step up." Scolten noted his incredible legacy, but said, "Joe Biden has been that leader for so long, but it is not about the past. It's about the future. It's time to pass the torch." She went on to say, "With the challenges facing our country in 2025 and beyond, it is essential that we have the strongest possible candidate leading the top of the ticket, not just to win, but to govern." Scolten ended by writing, "The choice is Biden's. She will respect his decision if he chooses to remain in the race and vote for him." Scolten was elected in 2022 to represent Michigan's third congressional district and is running for re-election this year. I'm Dee Morrison. The US Department of Energy is investing $500 million to support electric vehicle production at a General Motors plant in Lansing. The funding will help the Grand River Assembly plant transition from combustion engine manufacturing to making EVs in the future. US Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor, visited the plant today. She says the project will bolster the state's economy. - We're gonna support thousands of shop owners and restaurant employees and other folks in the Lansing communities whose livelihoods depend on a robust auto industry on the pulse of Michigan's auto economy. - The Lansing GM plant conversion is part of a nearly $2 billion federal investment to manufacture electric vehicles across the country. The grant funding is subject to an environmental review and negotiations with the Department of Energy. (upbeat music) - For the next jazz night in America, love. Suspense, crimes of passion, and rousing musical numbers from The Big Blind. A jazz radio drama written by Phil Goldstein and me, Kurt Emmett. Tune in as I guest host jazz night and hear selections from our world premier performance from jazz at Lincoln Center in 2019. - That's next time on jazz night in America. I'm Christian McBride. - Sunday morning at 10 here on WGVU, NPR and jazz in West Michigan. (upbeat music) - Last night on WGVU, public televisions living West Michigan, Jennifer Moss visited high tea grand rapids to talk to owner Melissa Langley about bringing a British tradition to West Michigan and to get some customers' reactions as well. - We want to take you now to a beautiful spot in grand rapids. High tea grand rapids is proud to present their version of afternoon tea in an elegant setting following the English tradition. It makes you feel a bit like royalty. So come and join me now for a spot of tea as I visit and explore their beautiful welcoming space. (upbeat music) - We are so excited to be here today at high tea with tea owner Melissa Langley. Thanks so much for joining us and allowing us into your beautiful space here. - I have always been enamored by high tea. I love the custom. I've done high tea across, you know, in different places. You have brought that British experience right here in grand rapids. What has it been like? It hasn't been pretty receptive. - With any new experience when you come to town you don't really know how it's going to be received. And we've been very lucky in that people have really been open to the new experience. They don't always understand it, but they enjoy being here and trying something new. And I think grand rapids has really grown in that way. What made you embark upon this journey though? I know when we had a conversation prior, you said, I love all things British. And so was that part of it? I do love all things British. It has to do with my international backgrounds and spending a lot of time in England and Europe. Everything in London, they're just so warm and they're so welcoming. And I just love the tradition and history. There's just history everywhere. - So what do you think is so infectious about high tea? - I think it's the experience. It's welcoming and inviting because of what it stands for, what it is, which is very simply enjoying good food and tea and conversation in company. And I think that that's what people miss a lot in their everyday lives and especially in the States. We're not very good at slowing down and taking time. So this space really becomes an intentional space to cultivate relationships and to just float out and enjoy those connections. And that's one of the things that I read as I was looking at differences of tea and the different types and that sort of thing. But one of the key components was conversation. The ability to sit down for a minute like you said and take that minute and get to know someone or revisit with family and friends. Yes, yes, absolutely. If you look around, you will notice that people are in conversation. They're not on their phones. They're not distracted. They're sitting across from someone, catching up about the day or the week and just having that time is so valuable. I think it's really fun that we now in West Michigan have this to offer because I really have never been to anything like this in West Michigan. And I think it's authentic. The China said, the taste of the tea, the little sandwiches, the coordination chicken, everything, the scones, yeah. It's fun to live a afternoon in England. There is a difference between high tea and afternoons tea, correct? Yes, absolutely. Afternoon tea is what we have as far as the finger sandwiches and on the trays. High tea is more of the working class dinner. Traditionally, afternoon tea or the sandwiches are mostly savory. And then we have the scone, which is very important to the British tradition. We've been told by the British community, our scone is actually quite authentic. I'm very pleased with that because that was my mission just to make everything as authentic as possible. And everything's made here. Everything is made here. Yes, the clotted cream I bring in from Devonshire and then the teas I bring in from England. But for the most part, everything is made here. There are four or five different restaurants that I watch in England to see what their menus are doing. So I try to keep very authentic to the experience. So take your tea strainer, put it on top here and then what we're going to do, and this is a China rose penalty. This is kind of what I consider the signature tea for high tea. So we'll just pour it like that and then the leaves will catch into the strainer. I'm going to hand that to you. Thank you. Beautiful. Do a lot of people use sugar in their tea? I mean, if they're going for the full authentic experience? They will put sugar in their tea, but what they don't understand is how important it is to have like a sugar cube. So you know that saying like one lump or two? This is where that comes from. Well, cheers. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for being here. I like the ambiance. I like having choices of new teas that I haven't tried before. So I like this China rose penalty. That was really good. I always wanted to try a cucumber sandwich. So I had that experience. That was good. When you come into the door into your space, there's a beautiful collection of authentic China that you have collected over time. How did you start that? And what's the significance of that to you? Because I know you take it very personally. Oh, I have a lot of pride in my genetic collection. Again, it comes back to the British tradition. It was a marker of special occasions. And I really think they're beautiful. I love the tradition of afternoon tea and tea time. So I have, I've started collecting. And I'm learning about China as I go. And I'm learning about brands and I'm learning about patterns. And it's just, it's a fun hobby. So this is a passion. It's my fun. It's my passion. And I love connections and relationships. It's a combination of the two things that I love the most, which is the tradition of afternoon tea, everything British, but then also preserving relationships and maintaining those connections. Living West Michigan airs on WGVU Public Television Wednesdays at 6 p.m. And can be found on the PBS app and WGVU's YouTube page. This has been Focus West Michigan from WGVU for Thursday, July 11, 2024. I'm Joe Bilecki. Our audio operations manager is Rick Birling and our news and public affairs director is Patrick Center. We'll be back with more news and events in West Michigan tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle music)