Former Grand Rapids Public Schools Board President Wendy Falb formally launched her 2nd Ward city commission campaign Friday amid another controversial week for police-community relations.

It is hard to imagine a more perfect show for southwest Michigan at the beginning of March to stave off the dreary doldrums of winter than “Once On This Island.” Visually warm and lovely, with music and performances this delightful, it’s impossible to not be transported to the French Antilles for a little over an hour in The Kalamazoo Civic’s excellent production of this mystical, marvelous tale.

Prohibition — “the noble experiment” — was a complete, counterintuitive failure. The hooch got dirtier, the crime messier, the consumption higher. Even Congress, the arbiters of such bogus legislation, had their own bootlegger, “The Man in the Green Hat”, who snuck whiskey, moonshine, scotch and more to members of office. Surprise, it didn’t stick.

An artist, educator and organizer, Sofía Ramírez Hernández shares her story through her work so that others won’t have to struggle the way she did. Hers is a story of immigration, identity definition and institutionalized discrimination.