Good morning, Portage.

On May 18, residents at Kalamazoo Community Church got free hot dogs, water, and cleanup kits from Consumers Energy and the Red Cross after a storm left many without power.

Although outages dropped nearly 90%, many residents still waited for service to be restored—crews worked to complete repairs by Monday.

On Monday, May 19, about 14,000 Consumers Energy customers lost power after severe thunderstorms with nine tornadoes hit Michigan last week, and officials said crews worked to restore service by the end of the day—Kalamazoo County having the highest outages with 3,798.

Strong storms hit Michigan on May 15 and May 16, 2025, and nine tornadoes were confirmed — six in West Michigan — with the state’s count rising to 25, nearly double the usual number for a full year.

Tornadoes touched down in counties from Allegan to Ingham with wind speeds ranging from 80 to 100 mph.

Today, the Kalamazoo County board will be asked to form a search committee for a new $40 million youth indoor sports complex that will choose the site—one proposed location is next to the Air Zoo in Portage.

The committee’s nominees include representatives from local hotel, sports, and tourism sectors in Portage, Kalamazoo and Texas Township who will later help set up the authority board to manage the facility.

Attorney General Dana Nessel warned Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson after she used a state building on January 22 to announce her run for governor, which violated Michigan’s campaign finance law — she did not face fines because state law limits the AG’s authority to impose sanctions.

Western Michigan football has signed top transfer edge rusher Nadame Tucker—6 ft 3 and 250 pounds—who has one season left and will strengthen the defensive line; he played in 13 games for Houston last season and joins the team under new defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary.