Public defender’s offices provide free legal help for criminal defendants who can’t afford an attorney. But Kalamazoo County’s office also provides assistance with substance abuse, mental health, employment and other challenges. The approach is believed to be breaking new ground.

Theater companies around the world are trying to find new ways to reach audiences as the COVID-19 pandemic rolls on. That includes theater groups in Kalamazoo. WMUK reviewer Gordon Bolar has this look at the Face Off Theatre Company’s summer season.

It may seem like a conductor's job is to spend all their time rehearsing musicians and conducting concerts, but according to Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra resident conductor Daniel Brier, that's only 10% of the work. The other 90% is studying and interpreting the scores. So when the COVID-19 crisis prevented Brier from conducting, he found new ways to be productive.

Republicans are looking for someone to replace Congressman Justin Amash in Michigan's Third District that includes Battle Creek.

What's it like to be an identical twin, so close that you share almost every thought and emotion? That’s the subject of Michigan native Sharon Harrigan’s debut novel, Half (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020).

There are Republican and Democratic primaries Tuesday in Michigan's Sixth Congressional District, which includes Kalamazoo.

The Primary Election on August 4 includes races in several southwest Michigan State House districts. WMUK spoke with MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette reporter Lindsay Moore about contests in the 60th and 61st districts.

Choral conductor Nick Sienkiewicz graduated in April from Western Michigan University with degrees in music and biochemistry. He also helmed the Unitarian Universalist Community Church choir and was working with the Kalamazoo Children's Chorus. But the pandemic changed all that. In an interview with Cara Lieurance, Sienkiewicz shares his science-oriented perspective on how choral activity was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and why it's important to use current research to find ways to continue singing. 

Sienkiewicz summarizes some of the recent developments in our understanding of the transmission of the virus, and vaccine development. He says that even with his background in biochemistry, it's still a challenge to read and absorb the latest research published in different science journals. That contributes to laypeople's confusion about COVID-19. It doesn't help that official guidance from the Centers for Disease Control  is being contradicted, questioned and even changed by the current administration. But, he says, the efforts of scientists working around the clock to combat COVID-19 is a beacon of hope.

Sienkiewicz will attend Indiana University-Bloomington this fall to pursue a Master's degree in Choral Conducting.

Funding for emergency dispatch is on the August 4 ballot in Kalamazoo County. Voters will decide on a 0.65-mill tax proposal that would fund the countywide dispatch center that opened in 2018.