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Opinion

 

Erwin Erkfitz mural approved by Historic Preservation Commission

Submitted 11-11-2009 under OPINION

It is funny how one small change in the urban ecosystem can create major positive improvements in a neighborhood. One of these small changes is the mural created by Erwin Erkfitz at 217 S. Division. This building is typical of the turn-of-the-...

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Review: Jack the Ripper

Submitted 11-10-2009 under OPINION

For weeks I drove past this arresting image: a man in a black cape and top hat, locked in deathly pas de deux with a hollow-eyed ballerina. Bloody light pools around them. Her muscles are taut and her neck is bent at a macabre angle, a knife at her...

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The Rapid and Me

Submitted 11-10-2009 under OPINION

I've lived in West Michigan all of my life. I was born at Blodgett and raised in South East Grand Rapids until I was seven when my family moved to Hudsonville. I lived in Hudsonville until I graduated high school then moved to Allendale to attend...

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Local Economy = Living Wage

Submitted 11-05-2009 under OPINION

Grand Rapids is doing relatively well riding the storm of the economic downturn that has crippled much of our state. Among the many reasons for this there is a primary one, being a vibrant local economy supported by businesses, residents, and non-...

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A tribute: On the death of Mayor Lyman Parks

Submitted 11-04-2009 under OPINION

A Tribute by Mayor George Heartwell Grand Rapids lost a giant yesterday. Former Mayor Lyman Parks died of complications accompanying a stroke. The community is poorer with his passing. Lyman Parks held office during an extraordinary period of...

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Community Called to Action: Rally Around Artist's Creative Solution for Loitering.

Submitted 11-03-2009 under OPINION

Historic Preservation Committee has asked Kevin Haviland (building owner) and Erwin Erkfitz (neighbor and artist) to remove an Artprize mural from the front of 217 S. Division. Residents and neighbors suspect that once the mural is removed, exposing...

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New Entrepreneurs: The Key to our Future

Submitted 11-03-2009 under OPINION

Everybody I know is tightening their belt right now. Many have lost jobs ,and others worry about the possibility. I see less impulse spending and more talk of home cooking and low-cost entertainment.   But while there is plenty of uncertainty...

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Book Review: The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver

Submitted 10-27-2009 under OPINION

 Once, over a decade ago, I picked up Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver and promptly put it down after the first chapter. There was a plainness about it that I found uninteresting. Earlier this year I found the same book at a used bookstore...

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On Drew Storey: The toughest thing I've done this year

Submitted 10-22-2009 under OPINION

The first time I met Drew Storey I never would have thought that I’d soon be in a van with him, driving into the middle of someone else’s cornfield to drink whiskey, smashing a Batman piñata, watching him paint his abstract vision of A Brave New...

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Drew Storey: An appropriate name

Submitted 10-20-2009 under OPINION

I found out early Monday morning: Drew Storey, The Rapidian's content facilitator, had passed away. After the first hour, I decided I wanted to make a plan. That's how I react. Make a plan, figure out how to fix things so you can be back in control...

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