SW Michigan

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Contracts totaling $9.9 million to demolish Washington Writers' Academy and build a replacement school on the same site were approved Thursday by the Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education. The board also approved $1.8 million in renovations for Woodward Schools for Technology and Research, $1.2 million for new K-5 English language-arts curriculum and almost $70,000 for new computers for Milwood Magnet School.

Lansing - Michigan motorists will see a modest increase in their auto insurance premiums starting in July to pay for rising costs associated with the state's catastrophic accident fund. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association's board Wednesday hiked its annual assessment $11 to $186 for each insured vehicle in the state to cover major medical claims and chip away at an estimated $2 billion deficit in the fund.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Some 188 organizations have applied for the first-ever Kalamazoo College Global Prize for Collaborative Social Justice. Applicants representing 23 countries, as well as 25 states and the District of Columbia, are competing for the $25,000 prize, Kalamazoo College said in a press release.