Good morning, Grand Rapids. I’m LeQwane and this is Calder News.

While I love all our newsletters, Mondays are the best.

Every Sunday night, I get to catch up on all the fun things that happened around town. And no matter how many things I knew about, I always find something new to recap.

I wish you a great week ahead. Thanks for taking the time to check out Calder News today.

~LeQwane L.

A briefing of local news that matters

Business

Tech giant Microsoft has filed plans to build a data center on a ~356-acre plot of land just outside of Kentwood. The company bought the land near 76th St. and Patterson from Steelcase for around $45M last year, and ~40 more acres nearby the previous fall. The site’s full plans have not been submitted yet. | Read more

Courts

Last week, a judge denied the request to close the former Sligh Furniture building. Allowing 3 antique store tenants to stay in the building for now. And potentially the longer, given the building’s owner plans to share a proposal outlining how they would pay overdue taxes and fund repairs. | Read more

Education

On Friday, the GR teacher’s unioned approved its agreement with GRPS. The deal brings higher teacher pay, improved bereavement leave, and an increased retirement payout. The last step requires approval from the Board of Education. | Read more

Community

The Salvation Army is trying to raise ~$1.45M through this year’s Red Kettle campaign before Christmas. The good old red kettle campaign is the non-profit’s biggest fundraiser of the year and supports a big portion of its annual operations. | Read more

Traffic

The state released a crash report covering 2023 - 2024, and 28th St and Burlingame Ave was ranked 12th out of the top 20 most dangerous intersections in Michigan. The intersection saw 41 crashes reported during the time period. Crazy… | View the report

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On the agenda for Tuesday’s Grand Rapids Commission meeting:

⚾ Parks, fields, and community funding approvals
🌊 Grand River revitalization and watershed agreements
🏞 Park leases for youth sports and community groups
🚒 Police, fire, and street infrastructure upgrades
🔊 Noise rules, nuisance enforcement, and water and sewer rate changes
🎨 ArtPrize 2.0 governance update

Location: 300 Monroe Ave NW
Time: 7 PM (open to the community)

View full agenda

On Saturday, the Grand Rapids Fire and Grand Rapids Police faced off at Van Andel Arena in their annual charity hockey game.

Although I don’t know anything about hockey, here’s what happened.

The fire department snapped a three-game skid with a 4-3 win. GRPD led 3-2 in the second period, but GRFD scored twice and held on in the third.

Ticket and merch proceeds support the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and last year’s game brought in nearly $8,000 from ticket sales alone.

The numbers for this year’s match were not released quite yet, but organizers are hopeful to match or best last year’s raise.

Photo of the event

💂‍♀️ The Nutcracker Opens

Over the weekend, holiday favorite and even tradition for some, The Nutcracker by Grand Rapids Ballet premiered. The show will play through the 21st of this month. Seats at upcoming shows are available.

🐍 Snakes At The Double Tree

On Sunday, the Original GR Reptile Expo took over The Double Tree on 28th Street. The expo features over a dozen vendors and hundreds of reptile enthusiasts. The next event is set for January 11th - location pending.

Local Eats

🍳 The Breakfast House → A new breakfast-focused restaurant is replacing the Rio Mexican restaurant on 28th Street.

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*Shows are subject to change, but that’s show biz.

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