On July 1st, things began looking up for Kalamazoo County residents who can't afford an attorney. Now, defendants can turn to a central office of 22 attorneys dedicated exclusively to such cases, and soon two social workers will be on staff to link clients with community resources so they can live healthier in hopes of preventing recidivism. The newly created Kalamazoo Defender is the first ever public defender's office in the county.

Anyone who has a hummingbird feeder – or the right kind of flowers - in their yard has probably wondered at the tiny birds they attract. But two biologists in Kalamazoo County are doing much more. They’re helping keep track of hummingbirds by catching and banding them.

South Haven is celebrating an anniversary. On May 10th, 1869 it was incorporated as a village. Tom Renner, a member of South Haven’s Sesquicentennial Planning Group says the first historical records of the area’s existence date back to 1787 “The Native Americans back then called this land, ‘Ni-No-Kong’ which meant beautiful sunsets.”

Joe Sacksteder believes that all art forms meld. He works in several mediums—music, literature, and filmmaking. He’s also the director of creative writing at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Kalamazoo has plenty of official historic sites. But the Hidden Kalamazoo tour took a different approach to the story of the city’s downtown. For half a decade, it led curious visitors through unofficial but revealing locations - places like old apartments and long-defunct department stores. Those rooms said something about how life used to be lived. There wasn’t a tour this summer, but as we hear in an interview that first aired in June, the people behind Hidden Kalamazoo are trying another approach.

For five years, the Hidden Kalamazoo tour offered a different take on the history of the city’s downtown. It took people to storage areas, to basements and old apartments. They weren’t traditional historic sites, but they offered clues about how life has changed over the last 150 years.

The Ann Arbor-based Akropolis Reed Quintet will finish off the 31st season of the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck on Thursday and Friday, with concerts at 7:30 pm in the Woman's Club of Saugatuck. Now in its 10th year, the unusual quintet of clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, and oboe has won seven national chamber music prizes since 2011, including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal and the 2015 Fischoff Educator Award.

Saxophonist Matt Landry talks to Cara Lieurance about the group's passion for new music and making new arrangements of popular works. He also describes Together We Sound,  the Akropolis Reed Quintet's Michigan-based contemporary music festival with a variety of performances and shared activities.