News Goon
Climate change expert no longer coming to WMU after State Department pulls grant
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A Fulbright Award-winning scientist is no longer planning to come to Western Michigan University next fall after the U.S. State Department announced it was withdrawing a grant. A government official said the decision was made following “changing priorities of the (White House) administration.” Javier Becerril Garcia, a professor from Mexico, was slated to spend nine months at WMU teaching courses, helping develop curriculums and engaging with the local community. His specialty is “decoloniality” or “degrowth” and how climate change impacts the economies of vulnerable populations. WMed residents to strike amid contract negotiations Allen Webb, an English professor at WMU, was set to co-teach a class with Garcia focused on the social and cultural dimensions of climate change. He said this is an especially important time to have a closer relationship with Mexico to collaborate and learn how best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The kind of thing the grant offered was an opportunity to work across countries to develop understanding of each other and define strategies that would help us address the climate crisis,” he said. “The climate crisis is coming at us like a freight train… We’ve got to take action to solve the planet crisis so we have a planet that’s going to be livable to us all.” Webb told News 8 that Garcia, his wife and his 9-year-old daughter were set to move in August. His housing and his daughter’s schooling were already arranged. He said he found out about the cancellation in an email that said the program was “no longer consistent with the administration’s priorities.” “It’s pretty much unheard of for a Fulbright grant to be canceled like that, especially without any more explanation or reasoning,“ he said. His students were excited to learn about climate impacts, mitigation and adaptation in Mexico and the global south and were disappointed in this cancellation. “I was really devastated,” Abigail Jueckstock, a WMU junior studying freshwater sustainability and science, said. “I thought it would be really interesting to hear different perspectives… I want to fight climate change, so it’s a blow to think that I’m going into something that’s not appreciated.” Damaris Potter, a senior in environmental sustainability and political science at WMU, told News 8 the decision raises bigger concerns about federal support for climate education. “For the Trump administration, I think it’s really easy to have a message like his about prosperity, about building business and helping our industries,” Potter said. “It’s really easy to appeal to people and it’s very individualistic, but if we’re going to have a world that’s relying on sustainable practices, it has to be collective.” Sign up for the News 8 daily newsletter The WMU Climate Change Working Group said the simple loss will have a wide-ranging impact even beyond campus. Mia Breznau, a WMU student and a leader with the local Ardea Youth Climate Coalition, was working on plans to have Garcia talk to local schools about the impacts of climate change. She says the White House’s decision to cut education funding is “unacceptable.” “It speaks volumes that this administration’s first attack was on our world’s brightest minds. We see the track this country is heading on, and students like myself will not stand for this mistreatment of experts and suppression of knowledge,” Breznau stated.
Tri Unity Christian advances to 5th straight final
EAST LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — There’s already one Keeler Court at Tri Unity Christian High School but if there were to be a second, it should be at the Breslin Center. Coach Mark Keeler has taken the Defenders to 16 state semifinal appearances and with a win on Thursday, he finds himself in his fifth-straight state final. It was clear this team was ready — they opened with a 20-6 run and never looked back. “This is nothing new to us,” senior Noah Silverton said. “I feel like we play our game, we trust each other, I trust my point guards, I trust my bigs, I trust everybody and they trust me. I feel like the hot start came from us trusting each other and working hard.” The win is a bit bittersweet. It means no matter what happens Saturday, Mark Keeler will coach his final game with this team. “You know to have it at this stage, it’s unbelievable. I’m so happy,” Keeler told News 8. “I’m happy for them, happy for me, happy for our community.” Keeler has accomplished plenty in his time as the head coach of Tri Unity Christian. There’s one thing that’s avoided him: winning back-to-back state titles. He has one more crack at that accolade this Saturday.
Rockford parents with young children quietly eye preschool at Parkside
ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — A decision by Rockford Public Schools means the end of Parkside Elementary as it is now and the expansion of early childhood education — a plan that has upset many Parkside parents but also piqued the interest of parents with small children. In a 5-2 vote Monday, the Board of Education OK’d a plan to relocate students from Parkside Elementary School to Valley View Elementary School and repurpose the Parkside building for early childhood learning. Rockford school board votes to repurpose Parkside Elementary Public comment during the meeting was emotional, with parents opposed to the plan saying that the process broke their trust and that the move would negatively affect students. “You are taking living, growing children and you are pulling them, roots and all, out of the school,” one woman told the board, pulling a plant from its pot as a visual aid. “It’s heartbreaking, but you would rather listen to your experts. It is so disrespectful for you to just yank this up.” But with the decision made, families who support the addition of an early childhood center are saying they looking forward to it. “I thought maybe there would be a little more availability. If you aren’t using the elementary, then maybe early childhood might be able to benefit from that,” Sarah, a parent, said. Rockford joins a number of Michigan districts — including Grand Haven and Holland — in prioritizing child care, preschool and early childhood education. “Districts are really now focused on, this is a real opportunity to help prepare our students to be successful once they get to kindergarten,” Rockford Superintendent Steve Matthews said. There is demand. Parents with children too young for elementary school say that right now, their options for preschool are few. “We have a 7-month-old and it’s not great. I’ll tell you, the waitlists are two-plus years. We have thought about it and it’s been very hard to get in, for sure,” Sarah said. “From the research that I have started to do, there’s a few things. I’ve only found one in Rockford, specifically, that I am interested in — just heard about it from a friend. Otherwise, I don’t see a ton of advertising about that kind of stuff, early ed specifically,” another parent, Talia, said. A couple who has a student at Parkside now and another ready to begin preschool said they thought from the beginning the restructuring was the best thing for both kids, but felt pressured to keep silent. Citing that pressure, they declined to speak on camera to News 8 Tuesday. Grand Haven parents outraged over elementary school closure Matthews said that in-district school of choice remains an avenue for parents that would rather see their kids at a school other than Valley View. He also said district leaders will continue dialogue with frustrated parents. The restructuring will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year. That means the transition will start happening soon. Step one is to start to reach out to families at Parkside and Valley View to build a combined community, the superintendent said. Once school is out for summer, the physical work of updating the buildings will begin. Furniture currently inside Parkside will move to Roguewood Elementary. “We’ll place an order now for some early childhood furniture that will be appropriate for the size of students that are going to be in that (Parkside) building now,” Matthews said. “We’ll talk to our construction manager about what we can do between now and September to enhance the playground space, to enhance the outdoor space for those students who will be there in the fall.”
GRFD: Female rescued from Grand River
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A person was rescued from the Grand River Thursday afternoon, the Grand Rapids Fire Department confirmed to News 8. Around 3 p.m., crews responded to a report of a female who had gone into the river, GRFD Battalion Chief Matt Keusch told News 8. It happened at Veterans Memorial Bridge, located on N. Park Street near Monroe Avenue. The bridge, which connects Grand Rapids and Walker, was closed to traffic as crews responded. “Right away, we put two rescuers over the side of the bridge,” Keusch said. The rescuers assessed the female and offered medical attention. They strapped her into a rescue basket and then got her into the water rescue boat, Keusch explained. “So we had her up off the water — the ice, that is — loaded on our boat and medical care within less than 25 minutes,” he said. He told News 8 that the female was alert. It’s not clear how she went into the water in the first place, according to Keusch. Crews respond to Veterans Memorial Bridge on Feb. 27, 2025. Crews respond to Veterans Memorial Bridge on Feb. 27, 2025. Besides GRFD, Keusch said the Walker Fire Department, Grand Rapids Police Department, Kent County Sheriff’s Office and Life EMS responded. “We all joined together. We worked well together,” he said, crediting Walker for using its drone. “All hands worked together fast, steady, and did a great job today to get our patient out.” The battalion chief warned the public of the danger of ice. “Anytime there’s fast-moving water — especially right now with ice on the river, people want to go out on the ice,” he said. “Do not go on that ice. Any river, stream that has moving water, the ice is so dangerous right now.”
VA secretary: ‘We’re not cutting benefits’
(The Hill) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins on Thursday defended the Trump administration’s recent layoffs at the department, arguing that cuts have not been made to “critical health care” or other benefits. “We’re not cutting critical health care, we’re not cutting health care benefits. We’re not cutting benefits,” Collins said Thursday evening on NewsNation’s “The Hill.” “In fact, we’re actually making it faster in our VBA [Veterans Benefit Act], our benefit side, to get your answer quicker, we’ve already instituted we’ve had some record decisions weeks where we’re actually posting more and more benefits to claimed and conclusion than we ever have,” he added. The former Georgia lawmaker’s response comes after a slew of executive orders from President Donald Trump raised concerns that treatment options for service members, veterans and their families could be impacted. The secretary also denied claims that the VA was cutting a crisis response line after 1,000 probationary workers and approximately 60 diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staffers were let go, as ordered by Trump’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM). “That is just wrong,” Collins told “The Hill” host Blake Burman. “We did not cut any veteran crisis line responders who actually pick up the phone and talk to those who need to talk to a veteran crisis line.” “They’re trying to use that with some other things that were going on in the back offices that did not happen,” he continued. “So just for your listeners and you’re watching tonight, trust me when I tell you, we’re doing everything for the veterans, so we’re making sure we do it efficiently.” Despite the comments, veterans have been among those laid off at various agencies as part of spending cut initiatives spearheaded by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Democratic lawmakers have fought many of the changes, citing a crippling impact on American workers and former soldiers. “It’s a middle finger to our heroes and the law and their lives of service,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a veteran, told reporters during a Wednesday press call. The Illinois Democrat said she spoke with two crisis line workers who were fired. Officials have called on leaders for more clarity in regard to moves that restructure the federal workforce. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, also weighed in. “There is an almost total lack of transparency and communication here,” he said Thursday.
