🌱 Forest Hills Public Schools Mask Mandate + Civil Rights Film

Hello, neighbors! Like many of you, the Patch team is taking some time off to celebrate the New Year, so there will not be a newsletter in your inbox tomorrow. We appreciate your understanding of this slight pause in our schedule, and we will be back on Monday with the next edition of the Grand Rapids Daily! Now, here's everything happening around town today.

First, today's weather:

Cloudy. High: 43 Low: 32.

Here are the top stories in Grand Rapids today:

1. Forest Hills Public Schools will continue requiring students, staff and visitors to wear face coverings in all K-6 buildings when school resumes in the New Year. Superintendent Dan Behm announced Thursday that the district will continue to enforce the K-6 mask mandate ordered by the Kent County Health Department even after it expires on Sunday, Jan. 2 and masks should be worn when school resumes on Monday, Jan. 3. (MLive.com)
2. Adjusting for population, Michigan had the eighth-lowest property crime rate among states and lower than the national rate of 1,958 per 100,000 people. Larceny is by far the most commonly-reported nonviolent property crime, followed by burglary and motor vehicle theft. (24/7 Wall St. - Grand Rapids)
3. Grand Stand Pictures in western Michigan is producing a documentary that will focus on the struggle for civil rights in Grand Rapids. The documentary is based on the book “A City Within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan” and is in the final stages of production with its premiere slated for August 2022. (WLNS)

Today's Grand Rapids Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Verizon. They're building the fastest 5G network in the country. To learn how 5G is going to change life for you and your community — and to get access to this amazing technology — click here. And thank you Verizon for sponsoring this community resource in Grand Rapids!

Today in Grand Rapids:

• Blue Cross Resolution Run - East Grand Rapids Community Center (3:30 PM)
• New Years Extravaganza with Tony Lucca (7:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• EatGR Grand Rapids FoodBlog announced that DANZON is back after a two week hiatus. It offers a unique Quesabirra Pizza is an off-the-menu item that they make every day by request. (Instagram)
• Officers of the Grand Rapids Police Department visited the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which gives food to adults with low incomes or who are otherwise in need of food assistance to package and organize the boxes for distribution. (Facebook)
• Kalamazoo College asks community members to consider making a gift to the Kalamazoo College Fund by December 31 to provide life-changing opportunities for K students like Nate Zona ’23, who is one of the 98 percent of students who depend on financial aid to access a Kalamazoo College education. (Facebook)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Friday off right. Have a very happy new year!

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a freelance copywriter for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and as an assistant producer for a live-lit storytelling show in Chicago. She holds a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Rhode Island. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.