Category: Features

Winter is still here and giving us snow. The roads are still slushy and the sidewalks are still icy. A winter storm just happened. From midday Wednesday to Thursday night we got lots of freezing rain and snow from the winter storm. Northern Michigan above Big Rapids received mostly snow, mid-Michigan areas of grand rapids, Lansing, Saginaw and Flint received freezing rain and sleet as well as snow. Southern Michigan got freezing rain with normal…

Swirl is almost here! It is taking place tomorrow, February 25 from 8-10 pm. The theme for this year’s swirl is winter wonderland. Tickets are being sold for $15 on Monday – Friday. Because of the two unexpected snow days this week, tickets sold at the door will also be $15, but the lines will be long, delaying your entrance into the dance. Is there anyone that you would like to bring to the dance?…

After a long time, 30 minutes, but it felt like 2 hours of shopping, the children have finally begun the descent to exhaustion. Their weary eyes flutter, and feet drag languidly through the isles. Many other shoppers hear the usual, “Can we go home now?” from the begging child. Yet, once kids arrive at the checkout line, their faces are alight with glimmers of interest for one particular reason: a sticker. A light at the…

Today in 1564, Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy and nothing would be like it ever was. The great physicist would shake the world by its core and challenge the catholic church. Later in his life, Galileo will be tried for heresy and eventually found guilty. “Eppur Si muove [yet it moves]” were Galileo’s last words before the catholic church found him guilty in 1942. Galileo taught the Heliocentric worldview, in which the sun…

Valentine’s day hasn’t always been about love. Long ago, people weren’t giving out love letters, heart-shaped chocolates, or sending teddy bears to the people they fancied. Although historians don’t know exactly how the holiday or love came to be, these are a few of the ideas about how the holiday evolved into what is today.  Valentine’s day origins were not all lovey-dovey; they were in fact very gruesome. Valentine’s day’s earliest possible origin was the…

February is here and it’s known as the month of love and romance. Is there someone in particular that you want to get flowers for? That someone does not necessarily have to be a romantic partner. Roses are typically seen as romantic flowers, but there are many different colors besides red, and all those different colors have many different meanings besides the typical ‘I love you’ or ‘will you be mine’ sort of thing. Here…

Long ago, Shakespeare penned Romeo and Juliet, one of the most famous pieces of literature to date. In the tale, which is arguably the greatest love story ever written, Romeo Capulet says, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This got me thinking about what truly is in a name, which led me down a rabbit hole of interesting and out-there names that celebrities…

This year, Forest Hills Eastern is presenting the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Bye Bye Birdie is about the famous young rock singer Conrad Birdie. Conrad was about to record a song with Albert Peterson’s recording studio AlmaeLou until he unexpectedly got picked in the draft. Albert’s girlfriend, Rosie, seeing Albert is about to lose his mind, comes up with an intelligent plan and pushes Albert to go through with the plan. Everything goes smoothly until…

On Monday, January 23, Jeopardy! super champion Ken Jennings spoke at Calvin University. He enlightened the audience on his views of the importance of generalism in a specialized society.  Ken Jennings is best known for his six-month conquest (74 games) of the CBS show Jeopardy! and winnings of $2.52 million. Both honors are considered new and enduring records in American Game Show history. Yet, who is Ken Jennings apart from his accomplishments on Jeopardy!? Ken…