News junkies now have a new venue to get their fix on West Michigan news. Reporter Dustin Dwyer of Michigan Radio introduced last month a new podcast called "West Side Stories" that focuses on local news. The program can be heard every Tuesday at WVGR 104.1 FM.
"I just wanted a way to offer local stories. I kind of figured they'd go for it," Dwyer says, referring to his editors in Ann Arbor where Michigan Radio is based.
The 28-year-old Dwyer is not sure what kind of stories he'll cover other than saying it'll be "lifestyle" news. "I'm kind of hoping people will help me with that," says the reporter who has been with NPR since 2003. "What's cool? What's interesting? I'm still looking for input from people as to how it should be."
The podcast's "first official episode" on Nov. 11 features two recent college grads from Grand Rapids who are trying to establish a new business called Six Stone Jars. The couple, Kelsey Duda and Patrick VanderKolk, want to place their Six Stone Jars label on selected Michigan wines, sell the wine, and donate 86 percent of the profits to a charity which supplies clean water to developing nations. Why 86 percent? Wine is 86 percent water, the couple tells Dwyer.
Dwyer, who moved here in May with his wife, Metta, has lived in several communities, so he should bring a fresh perspective to the program. The 2003 graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa was born in Colorado, but has since lived in California, Oregon, Florida and Washington, D.C. He and Metta moved after she received an offer from Warner Norcross & Judd upon graduation from law school at the University of Michigan.
"My wife and I could have moved wherever we wanted," Dwyer says about their decision to move to Grand Rapids. "But we wanted to be here. We lived here last summer when she was an intern (at WNJ).
"I love it," Dwyer says. "The seasons are great. It's a beautiful state with beautiful beaches and a great city. California is too crowded; Florida is hot, too new and crowded."
He, his wife and their black cat, Buzz, have settled into a house they purchased in Fulton Heights.
To subscribe for West Side Stories podcasts, go to this site.
Source: Dustin Dwyer, Michigan Radio; Michigan Radio station WVGR 104.1 FM
Sharon Hanks is the innovation and jobs news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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