This time on the BC CIty Connection, Battle Creek Police Sgt. Corey Champlin discusses Protected Places, a voluntary program that helps dispatch and officers get better information during emergencies. Sgt. Champlin shares how optional live camera access, up-to-date...
Housing discrimination isn’t always a slammed door. Sometimes it’s a quieter pattern: one person gets the full tour, another gets brushed off; one gets the helpful phone number, another gets “check the website.” Those small moments can shape who gets access to safe,...
On this episode of BC City Connection, Community Oversight Board (COB) Chair Carey Whitfield and Vice Chair Clare Tanner to explain how Battle Creek’s police complaint review and appeal process works. The Community Oversight Board is a community-based advisory board...
This time on the BC CIty Connection Housing Podcast, REALTOR Talia Champlin joins the city's Darcy Schmitt to discuss what “equitable pathways to homeownership” really means and why the hardest part is often stepping onto the path in the first place. Episode...
In their first interviews since Battle Creek Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing announced his retirement, he and successor Marcie Gilette talk through the priorities, partnerships, and resident input that will guide what comes next. Ted also reflects on his tenure in...
This time, the BC CIty Connection Housing podcast visits with Executive Director Mike King from Habitat for Humanity in Calhoun County to break down how the program turns renters into homeowners through affordable payments, volunteer labor, and strong local...
This time on the BC CIty Connection housing focus, Darcy Schmitt and Krista Trout-Edwards share how the city and the Calhoun County Land Bank align land, zoning, and neighborhood input to turn vacant parcels into infill homes. The discussion maps the shift in...
The 2018 Battle Creek Housing Master Plan gathered a lot of data to direct policy and decision making in the city. Now, eight years later, it's time to revisit the topic and see how things have changed. Darcy Schmitt from the City of Battle Creek talks to...
On this episode of BC City Connection: Exploring how Neighborhood Planning Councils (NPCs) give Battle Creek residents a structured voice on policing, code, planning, and development, and why diverse, new members are vital. CommissionerJessica Lacosse and Helen...
Over the course of 2026, the BC CIty Connection will include some conversations specifically focused on housing in the city. In the first of those episodes, Planning Supervisor Darcy Schmitt lays out how Battle Creek tackles the housing shortage with mixed-use zoning,...