3/3/2023: What would make a good superintendent?

KPS wants your input on what qualities will make the best superintendent. Also: Michigan’s top court is hearing a case that will decide whether the survivors of catastrophic auto accidents will get full medical help. And a former WMU football player has turned his sights on building up his community.

News You Need To Know

KPS seeks input on superintendent search

Kalamazoo Public Schools officials want to know what the public wants out of a new superintendent. The district on Thursday issued a community survey in English, Spanish, Arabic, and French. The three-item questionnaire asks people in the KPS community to select their top ten qualities out of a list of 31. The qualities include things such as “Is able to build consensus and commitment among individuals and groups,” and “Has classroom experience in a K-12 setting.”

The district has been without a permanent superintendent since Rita Raichoudhuri abruptly resigned in December. Last week, the board of trustees picked Iowa-based Ray & Associates to run the search for her replacement. They have an aggressive timeline – district leaders want to have a new superintendent in place by June 1. [MLive]

Supreme Court hears arguments in no-fault auto insurance case

Michigan’s Supreme Court heard arguments on Thursday in a case that could restore home health support to thousands of Michigan residents. At issue is a 2019 law that revised the state’s no-fault auto insurance requirements. That law cut payments to home health care workers by nearly half, forcing many businesses to close and stripping care away from more than 18,000 people who had survived devastating car crashes before the law was enacted.

Attorneys representing the crash survivors argued that it was unconstitutional to take away benefits that had already been paid for. “The Legislature can’t take away the rights of these severely injured persons to their full no-fault benefits as they existed when they bought their contracts,” said Attorney George Sinas. On the other side were attorneys representing insurance companies. They argued that the state legislature had the right to rewrite insurance rules and that those rules were retroactive. Several lawmakers involved in the rule change have said that was not their intent. The court will make a decision in the case by the end of July. [Michigan Radio]

From running back to running a business

It’s no surprise to many that Jamauri Bogan is where he is today – leading the construction of a housing development in Kalamazoo. When he was 12, a visit to his mother’s real estate investment office lit a fire in him that continues more than a dozen years later. But it hasn’t been a direct route here. Bogan went to Western Michigan University on a football scholarship where he became a star running back under then-coach P.J. Fleck. But even while he was hard at work on the field, he was also hard at work in the classroom. Bogan emerged from WMU with a bachelor’s degree in personal finance and an MBA.

Upon graduation, Bogan launched himself into real estate development. He told Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave that his goal is to help build up Kalamazoo’s Black community. That’s why he launched Zone 32, a planned multi-use development on Frank Street in the city’s Northside Neighborhood. It will provide affordable housing as well as a child care center and spaces for businesses. “Right now the focus is, number one, affordable housing, which is the crisis that is going on all over America,” he said. “Number two, it’s providing neighborhood services that are missing in our African-American community.” [Second Wave]

Things To Do In Kalamazoo

14th Annual Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival (RAD Fest) – Epic Center
3:30pm 3/3, 9am 3/4, 10am 3/5

Art Hop – Downtown Kalamazoo
5:00PM 3/3

Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival – Kalamazoo Valley Museum
5:30pm 3/3, 9:30am 3/4

Music with Steve Kamerling – Brick + Brine
6:00PM 3/3

Food Not Bombs Benefit Show – Dormouse Theatre
6:00PM 3/3

Pitch Night – Startup Zoo
6:00PM 3/3

Breakin’ Ballet Live – Epic Center
6:00PM 3/3

Brothers Proper – Gull Lake Distilling Co.
6:00PM 3/3

Laser Cutters – Basic Principles and “Will It Cut?!” – Kzoo Makers
6:30PM 3/3

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington – With Stars in His Eyes – Kalamazoo Astronomical Society
7:00PM 3/3

The Rainbow Fish Musical – Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
7:30pm 3/3, 3/10; 2pm 3/4-5, 3/11-12; 10am 3/8-9

Pajamas with Chirp – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
8:00PM 3/3

K-Rock Presents: Winter Concert 2023 – K College, Welles Dining Hall
9:00PM 3/3

The Winter Craft Show – Kalamazoo County Expo Center
9am 3/4, 10am 3/5

“What’s New For 2023: Trees, Shrubs and Perennials” Seminar – Wedel’s Nursery
11:15AM 3/4

International Fly Fishing Film Festival – Presidential Brewing Co.
12:00PM 3/4

Kalamazoo Wine Not? – Fetzer Center
1:00PM 3/4

Kalamazoo County Regional Spelling Bee – Chenery Auditorium
1:00PM 3/4

Mind, Body & Spirits (indoor yoga) – Green Door Distilling Co.
2:00PM 3/4

A Father Daughter Dance – The Fountains Banquet Center
6:00PM 3/4

The Magic of Rob Lake – Miller Auditorium
7:30PM 3/4

Western Invitational Jazz Festival – WMU, Dalton Center
7:30PM 3/4

The 9th – Kalamazoo Philharmonia
7:30PM 3/4

Sounds of the Zoo Presents: The Rebel Eves – The Clover Room
8:00PM 3/4

David Ramirez & Dylan LeBlanc – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
8:00PM 3/4

Star Tissue wsg Mooch Globe – Papa Pete’s
8:00PM 3/4

Dogs in a Pile w/ The North 41 – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
8:00PM 3/5

See more upcoming events here.

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