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Catalyst Radio: Asian Center of West Michigan a resource to many ethnic groups and multiple generations

This dispatch was added by one of our Nonprofit Neighbors. It does not represent the editorial voice of The Rapidian or Community Media Center.

Ashok Kumar, president of the Asian Center of West Michigan, shares on air the organization's part in the Asian Center movement (started in GR!) and the bevy of services.
2000 census data of ethnicities in GR mapped out. Dot=25 people, Red=White, Blue=Black, Green=Asian, Orange=Hispanic, Gray=Other

2000 census data of ethnicities in GR mapped out. Dot=25 people, Red=White, Blue=Black, Green=Asian, Orange=Hispanic, Gray=Other /Eric Fischer (Creative Commons - BY, SA)

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About Catalyst Radio

Catalyst Radio is the weekly public affairs radio program of Community Media Center, with producer and host Linda Gellasch, along with Denise Cheng. The program is a feature of WYCE and The Rapidian and includes interviews with organizations and people working on social change and community support, examines media and free speech issues, and takes a look at the behind-the-scenes of Rapidian reporting. You can catch it on air at noon every Friday on WYCE 88.1 FM or streaming on the Grand Rapids Community Media Center Website.

Past Catalyst Radio episodes are archived on The Rapidian.

INTERVIEW (7:53)

Ashok Kumar, president of the Asian Center of West Michigan, explains its part in the Asian Center movement (started right here in GR!) and share the bevy of services that it urges people to utilize. 

Music this week comes from Thao + The Get Down Stay Downs with "Swimming Pools" from the album Bag of Hammers and "The Give" from Know Better Learn Faster.

 

ANALYSIS (0:00)

Traverse City reporter wins FOIA information regarding enforcement of marijuana legislation from Michigan cities 
A Michigan researcher and free-lance reporter sent Freedom of Information Act requests to all 83 of the state's county prosecutors asking for information regarding marijuana prohibition law violations where the accused possesses marijuana caregiver registrations cards and was using the voter-approved Michigan medical marijuana law as a defense. Barriers in obtaining the FOIA-requested information have included fees related to compiling the information to the complete denial of the request from Ottawa and Kalkaska counties, according to the researcher. Earlier this week it was reported that Ottawa County has now provided the information he sought for free, and Kalkask County has since agreed to release the requested documents. 
[More: MLive]    

Media nonprofit threatened after quip about former FCC commissioner's job switch to Comcast
Federal Communications Commission's Meredith Atwell Baker left as commissioner and immediately began her work for Comcast, and a Seattle-based girl's empowerment film camp got itself into a bit of trouble. Reel Grrls, which teaches 15 teenage girls each summer how to produce film, used Twitter to express the irony of the sudden move, and a Comcast executive who expressed shock reneged on future funding to the nonprofit, which receives about $18,000 a year from Comcast. Following outrage on social media platforms, another Comcast executive apologized and explained the first Comcast move as unauthorized.
[More: Washington Post]

Citizen journalism site excused in lawsuit, sets legal precedent that contributors, not platforms, liable for their opinions
iBrattleboro, one of the oldest citizen journalism sites, was just cleared in a lawsuit involving a libelous comment left on their site. After the former executive director of an emergency medical services nonprofit had left a comment insinuating one of its volunteers and board members were conducting themselves inappropriately during on-call hours, the volunteer filed a law suit against iBrattleboro, where the comment had been left, and the commentor.
[More: Citizen Media Law Project, iBrattleboro]

 

CALENDAR (26:49)

[EDUCATION] Authors facilitate book discussion
6 p.m. on Sunday, May 29 at The Bloom Collective (671 Davis NW)
Canadian authors Bianca Mugyenyi and Yves Engler facilitate a discussion of their new book Stop Signs: Cars & Capitalism in which they argue that the automobile’s ascendance is inextricably linked to capitalism and involved corporate malfeasance, political intrigue, backroom payoffs, media manipulation, racism, academic corruption, third world coups, secret armies, environmental destruction and war.
[More]

[CIVICS] Corridor improvement meeting for Uptown
Uptown's monthly public Corridor Improvement District meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 1. CID is a strategy that many cities use when they already have a downtown authority, and Grand Rapids has two, one focused on Uptown and the other in the Madison area.
[More]

[DINING + ECONOMY] YMCA Farmers Market's opening day
3 p.m. on Thursday, June 2 at David D. Hunting YMCA (475 Lake Michigan NW)
2011 is the first season for the YMCA Farmers Market, funded through a USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant.
[More]

[HISTORY + DINING + CAUSES] National Donut Day has its roots in Salvation army history
9 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Friday, June 3 in various locations
On National Donut Day, the Salvation Army is teaming up with Krispy Kreme to show its appreciation to local orgs by delivering 2,000 donuts. The public is invited to get involved by nominating local orgs online and stopping into Krispy Kreme locations on National Donut Day for a free donut.
[More]

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