Tag Archives: fair wage

Snapshots: Wyoming and Kentwood news you ought to know

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, , , ,

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.

Jerry Seinfeld



By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

The portion of U.S. 131 between exits 80 and 81 has been named the PCF Nicholas H. Blodgett Memorial Highway. (Tom DeVette)

Remembering the heroes

Have you noticed some new signs along U.S. 131? The signs honor three fallen soldiers who were all from Wyoming: Army Private First Class Nicholas Blodgett, Marine Cpl. Ross Smith, and Army Specialist 4th Class Eric T. Burri. All three died during the Iraq conflict. State Rep. Tommy Brann introduced a bill earlier this year for the memorial highways with the signs being installed this spring. To learn more about the three men honored, click here.

Interim CEO Brian Picardat swears in new Police Chief Bill Nowicki (Ford Airport)

Ford Airport’s Top Cop

William “Bill” Nowicki has been sworn in as the Gerald R. Ford International Airport’s Chief Airport Law Enforcement Officer. Nowicki comes to Gerald R. Ford International Airport after 27 years with the Grand Rapids Police Department. Nowicki replaces Chief Rick Aro, who retired in March.

Wage theft can occur everywhere, in offices, on construction sites and in farm fields. (WKTV)

Fair Wage

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), last week announced he is conducting an investigation into illegal wage theft practices that “harm American workers.” And he is asking for worker input on possible wage theft in their lives. In a statement issued by his office, “wage theft violates basic fair pay laws and denies workers a fair wage for their work. It takes many forms, including failure to pay the applicable minimum wage, failure to compensate employees for overtime, and misclassifying employees as ‘independent contractors’ to avoid paying certain benefits or taxes.” If you are interested in sharing your story, click here.

I’ve Got a Gal…

So we are talking about our neighbors to the south, Kalamazoo. Michigan is the only state to have a city named Kalamazoo, which is believed to be a Native American name meaning “mirage of reflecting water” or “bubbling” or “boiling” water. It is the midway point between Detroit (142 miles to the east) and Chicago (138 miles to the west) and the home to some pretty famous businesses: Gibson Guitars and Upjohn, to name a couple. And of course, it is memorialized in that famous Glenn Miller song “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo,” which with the help of Bell’s Brewery, for some has become “I’ve got a beer in Kalamazoo.”