Patrick Center

  Florida Republican Congressman Daniel Webster says he's glad the House has elected a new speaker, but admits he’d hoped to have been the choice. U.S. Representative Justin Amash of Cascade Township was also a supporter of Webster. WGVU talks with the West Michigan Republican about Webster and the expectations for the newly elected Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.

Start Garden and Emerge West Michigan discuss a merger further developing the West Michigan entrepreneurial ecosystem. Also, what Michigan Chamber CEO, Rich Studley, thinks about the legislature's delay reaching a road funding plan.

West Michigan economy continues to grow but there are signs that the growth is beginning to slow. That’s what the data from September’s Supply Management Research survey suggests.

The Seidman College of Business Supply Management Research index is a survey of 70 purchasing managers from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. What are they telling us? The economy may be slowing.

“We continue to have good employment in our area but this is the first month that we’ve shown a negative index in almost six years now.”

2009, the year the Great Recession officially came to an end.

The Michigan Department of Treasury has approved a plan to develop a Promise scholarship program in Muskegon.

The Muskegon Area Promise scholarship program has received the go-ahead from the state’s Department of Treasury. The Muskegon Area Promise Zone can move forward seeding scholarships with nearly $108,000 in private investments. The plan is to offer two-year college scholarships to high school graduates in three Muskegon school districts. After the initial two year period, the program would be expanded countywide.

MiBiz senior writer, Mark Sanchez, talks about the demand for skilled workers and how it's spurring the debate over the merits of drug testing. Also, West Michigan M&A activity is heating up and the state's tourism industry experienced an outstanding year.

From the book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, Daniel Okrent, and director, Ken Burns, created the PBS documentary series, Prohibition. It served as the launch pad for the national touring exhibition American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition created by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The lead-up to the Prohibition Era begins with the Temperance Movement in the late 1820’s, a century before the 18th Amendment makes it law.

  During his 2015 Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference speech, Governor Rick Snyder pushed for reforming the state’s prison system. A follow-up conference was held in Lansing this week discussing ways to curb Corrections more than $2 billion a year budget. We’ll talk about cost including ideas for reducing population rates through sentencing reform and rehabilitation on “West Michigan Week.”

Grand Valley State University is joining a growing number of college campuses offering students a campus safety app.

Todd Miller is Vice President of Safety with Rave Mobile Safety. It’s created an app called Rave Guardian that students can download on their mobile device complete with panic button.

Over the next five years, Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine will receive a near $5.7 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. It’s focus is on what are the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease? Michigan State University researchers are focusing on Latino and Hispanic populations, both with a higher rate of the disease than other groups, looking for clues in individuals in their 50’s and 60’s. Hector M. González is the principal investigator behind the Study of Latinos – Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging.