Focus West Michigan
Focus West Michigan for 7-8-24
(upbeat music) Today on Focus West Michigan, the MEDC announces a slew of business awards for the state. Plainfield Charter Township is hosting a public meeting about M44 construction. Local entrepreneurs from Start Garden are semi-finalists for the Black Ambition Prize and more state and West Michigan news. For WGVU, I'm Joe Blicki. Today is Monday, July 8, 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. Plainfield Charter Township is hosting a public meeting to discuss details of a planned 2025 road construction project. WGVU's David Limbaugh has details on the M44 connector resurfacing project. Residents, community stakeholders, and local business owners are welcome to attend the meeting to discuss a joint project between the Michigan Department of Transportation and Plainfield Charter Township to resurface the M44 connector, also known as Plainfield Avenue from I-96 to Airway Street. MDOT and Plainfield Township officials will be on hand to answer any questions the public may have about the upcoming project. The project is part of the Township's Reimagine Plainfield Initiative and focuses on transforming the corridor into a safer and more aesthetically pleasing space, including creating and inviting atmosphere for pedestrians and cyclists and slowing vehicle speeds by narrowing lanes and adding medians. Crash data analysis shows that Plainfield Avenue has a higher serious crash rate compared to similar roads, with over 700 accidents between 2018 and 2022. The public meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 9th at the Plainfield Township Fire Department from 4 to 7 p.m., with construction slated to begin in the spring of 2025. I'm David Limbaugh. - The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is announcing a slew of business awards for the state, as WGVU's Demores and Reports, a highland company is among those propelling Michigan to become a national leader in clean energy investments. - For the second year in a row, Michigan has earned the top spot for investing in clean energy, according to Climate Power, an advocacy and political action organization that tracks the green economy. The report shows Michigan won 58 projects under the Inflation Reduction Act, securing more than $25 billion in investments and more than 21,000 jobs, beating out Texas, Georgia, California and South Carolina, as the top state where companies are locating new projects. Many of those are in the greater Detroit area, but LT Precision in Holland was singled out for mention. The South Korean-based manufacturer is investing $43 million to establish its North American headquarters in Holland and to build new operations there. The report also ranked Michigan's second for locating projects in low-income communities. More accolades came from business facilities, which identifies leading locations for industries and named Michigan Best in Nation for automotive industry, earning top spots in life sciences, semiconductors, EV investments and customized workforce training. Business facilities also recognized Grand Rapids as one of the top three midsize metro areas in the country for Best Business Climate. I'm Dee Morrison. - A new state program is aimed at providing nutritious meals to Michigan children this summer. Nearly 900,000 Michigan children are eligible for the new Michigan Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program. The new program is based on similar efforts used during the COVID pandemic to address food insecurity for students. Walker City leaders teamed up with state and county officials for a public meeting today to discuss details of a huge construction project to replace the Fruit Ridge Avenue Bridge over I-96. WGVU's Dee Morrison has the details. - We are very much on track because right now we have a structurally deficient bridge that needs to be replaced in that shot clock is on to get that done. - Mayor Gary Kerry is excited for the Spring 2025 project to begin. Plans call for replacing the current narrow Fruit Ridge Avenue Bridge over I-96 in Walker, widening Fruit Ridge from Three Mile Road to North Ridge Drive. - The importance of having a bridge that can handle current and point the numbers as well as future growth is absolutely critical to the health of our city. - A city, he says, with a population that gets 60% larger on workdays with employees commuting in. He estimates there are 15,000 jobs within a two mile radius of the narrow bridge built in the 1960s. - We need those jobs coming in there and we're right on that cusp of this being a potential roadblock for us for businesses coming in. - The project received a $25 million grant from the state and also includes a non-motorized path along Fruit Ridge Avenue and on the north side of Three Mile between Kinney Avenue and Fruit Ridge. That will improve safety for pedestrians and bikers and link with area trailheads in the West Michigan system. - Really, we have here a broken lightfare that you can't get across that walk in our bike and there's just no way. - I'm Dee Morrison. - The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team is hosting an informational meeting concerning a Rockford property. WGVU's David Limba has more on the history of PFAS contamination at that location. The property is located at 5312 11 mile road northeast in Rockford. According to the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team or MPART, the property consists of approximately 100 acres of vacant residential land. In 2018, as part of the state's investigation into over 100 alleged Wolverine worldwide incorporated waste disposal areas in Northern Kent County, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy or EGLE investigated the property and found no evidence of solid waste or disposal activities. However, low levels of PFAS compounds were detected in Creek water running through the property. In July, 2023, EGLE requested Wolverine investigate whether groundwater contamination from the property was emanating from an adjoining property. In the 9,300 block of Cortland Drive northeast where Wolverines headquarters are located. This past April, Wolverine submitted their findings to EGLE, concluding that soil sampled at 9341 Cortland Drive had detections of metals and that groundwater at 9300 Cortland Drive contained PFAS compounds. MPART will host a public informational meeting Thursday, July 18th from 6 to 730 PM at the Rockford Fine Arts Auditorium. Updating the status of residential drinking water around the 11-mile road property, I'm David Limbaugh. - New research from the University of Michigan links long-term exposure to air pollution to how much independence people lose in old age. Dr. Boia Zhang is the lead author of the study published in Network Open with the Journal of the American Medical Association. She says the study looked at data from more than 25,000 study participants or their survivors. - To explore right there, there is a situation between the air pollution exposure and also the mental health attendance. - Nearly 40% reported a new loss of independence during the 10 years they were followed. They often needed help with such things as bathing, dressing, shopping and more. It suggests long-term exposure to pollution can have health effects beyond chronic diseases commonly linked to air pollution from nearby traffic or smokestack industries. The Michigan Supreme Court decision issued on Friday places bright and line rules around the authority of police to stop and detain people who don't agree to being questioned. We have more from Rick Pluda. - There's no dispute that Douglas Prude ran from two Kalamazoo police officers and was chased down after being told he was being detained. He was charged and convicted of fleeing and resisting police. The question was whether the officers should have chased him in the first place. Prude was stopped in a high crime section of the city and would not produce an ID or answer questions. Michael Nichols is a defense lawyer who's not part of the case. He says the decision sets a higher bar for when officers can treat a person as a suspect. - That goes beyond just a hunch. - Even if that hunch was correct. - A hunch is not enough. - The Supreme Court decision was five to two. The dissenting opinion said the convictions should have been upheld based on all the circumstances surrounding the arrest. I'm Rick Pluda. (upbeat music) - New Tuesday edition of the Shelley Irwin Show. We catch up with those on behalf of Creston Neighborhood Association. Good things happening right around the corner. Plus a talk about Lough, L-A-U-P, that and more. That's your tomorrow edition of the Shelley Irwin Show. (upbeat music) - Michigan-based tech entrepreneurs from Stark Garden are semi-finalists for the Pharrell Williams Black Ambition Prize. WGVU's Shelley Irwin talked with Stark Garden's co-director Paul Moore about the competition and more. It's a big day for my next guest. Number one, it's a finale if you're looking to be eligible for a 100 submission process. Today's your deadline. But it's also an opportunity to learn of semi-finalists and a Pharrell Williams-backed event. So I turn to you, Paul Moore, co-director of Stark Garden. Good morning, Paul. - Good morning, Shelley, how are you doing? - I'm doing fine. Let's get with the deadline first. First of all, a reminder of the good work Stark Garden does. And this opportunity to be part of 100. - Yeah, yeah. Well, we're here to get entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs up the ground really focusing on that zero to a million dollars in revenue space, which is really the very earliest days. And so this competition we have going on called the 100 is exactly designed to get ideas off the ground. So there's today's the last day to submit. It's 100.startgarden.com is the website. And you literally record about a 90 second video of your idea and 100 of those videos are selected to receive $1,000, the easiest $1,000 you can get for a business idea. And then out of those on September 18th, all 100 will compete to be the final 10 who get $20,000 each, just no strings attached, grant money to start your business. And in addition, Northern initiatives partners with us to match a $20,000 loan for any of those winners that want it. So it can be up to $40,000 to launch a new business that can be won in September on September 18th. - Of course, this, as you mentioned, no strings attached and certainly what the start garden does and what Grand Rapids and West Michigan does as well. Anything before I go on to the next conversation, any restrictions or is this where an 18 year old IP or she has a dream to go for it? - Oh, 14 years old. We want high school students to take their hand, try their hand at entrepreneurship. We'd love if every high school student in Grand Rapids considered starting their own business as a viable option as to what to do with their lives. So no, we've got a high school competition where any high school student can submit an idea and win up to $5,000, no strings attached to grant money. But again, it's the 100 is $20,000 grand prize and then the high school category of the $5,000 grand prize. - Great, all right, tell me about this link with Ferrell Williams. - Yeah, yeah. Oh, and let me plug the 100.startgarden.com website again as far as submissions being open to 11.59 p.m. tonight. So Ferrell Williams runs a massive nationwide entrepreneur competition to find the black founders that are up and coming from all over the country. So I think there's been 3,000 submissions. The prize money that's on the table is well over a million dollars, I think it ranges from $20,000 to a million grand prize, I think they've done $10 million so far in the few years that they've been operating in prize money, so it's a massive prize and it's for finding black founders that are doing excellent work in all over the country and in the industry. So it can be products, it can be technology, it can be healthcare and the three of our entrepreneurs two of which actually have won the 100 in the past, Dre Wallace of Opener, she won the 100 and also Michael Hyacinth of Whimmy who's running a tech application that's kind of an edutainment, it's got a character named Whimmy that's on PBS and they've got multiple tech, yeah, there you go. Multiple technology apps that are wrapped around that show. So it's kind of a next generation character that's doing entertainment or edutainment television. So the two of them have won the 100 in the past, they won that $20,000 and Darren Riley was also, he was our entrepreneur in residency was also a competitor, he didn't win the year that he was competing but all three of them also went through our Accelerate Equity Pilot Program where we were working with black founders to better connect them into West Michigan and the relationship in West Michigan and the whole startup community here. So that we've known them for quite some time and they've made an enormous contribution to us and to the community with their support. And yeah, we're just really proud that they're among, what, 250 of 3000 people that are selected to be mentored by a for well looms organization and hopefully they make it to that final, final million dollar prize. But I guess only one can do that. Well, again, there does have to be that recipient, yes, Pharrell Williams, a visionary recording artist, producer, songwriter, philanthropist, fashion designer and founder of Black Ambition. So thank you and our three for being put on the map. Anything else to share, Paul Moore? - Now, I'm just really excited to start reviewing all these videos that we'll be doing that all week, this week and selecting those 100 that gets $1,000 and every single year, I just have to say, it's a massive influx of talent, of new ideas. And when we have our demo day on September 18th, the overwhelming response that we get from everybody who comes to visit that on Calder Plaza is just, wow, I had no idea there was this much going on in the city. And so I just encourage people to submit and get inspired and come to the event on September 18th. It's not too early to start talking September, but enjoy the summer. All right, and details one more time, website to submit. - Yeah, 100.startgarden.com. Like I said, you build out a quick profile and then you submit a video. You can use your phone to do it. You can use your laptop to do it. You can use whatever technology you have available. And yeah, do it right through the website. - Don't apply, you don't win. There we are. - Zeeze, is that Paul? Thanks for your leadership as co-director. Startgarden. - Yeah, thank you, Charlie. Good to be back. (upbeat music) - This has been Focus West Michigan from WGVU for Monday, July 8th, 2024. I'm Joe Bilecki. Our audio operations manager is Rick Beerling 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. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)