Ron French

Millions of dollars are coming to help the Upper Peninsula combat opioid addiction, but finding consensus among county governments to pool resources is difficult.

While still inadequate in many communities, addiction services are on the rise, thanks in part to an influx of millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds.

Michigan’s book wars escalate after a library wouldn’t move a handful of books to the adult section. The move leaves officials in ‘shock’ and comes before a tax vote to keep library doors open.

The governor announces a new state office to find ways to address decades of stagnation. The move comes after a commission she appointed unceremoniously ended.

Several members of the Michigan Opioid Advisory Commission said addiction shouldn’t be partisan, but that politics are shutting them out of spending discussions.

The state will pump close to $50 million into addiction services next year from opioid settlement funds. It’s a big increase over current spending.

There’s a ‘huge need’ for addiction services in the Upper Peninsula, as the Sault Tribe opens a medically assisted treatment center.

As a crisis mounts that kills 3,000 per year, Michigan’s counties have been slow to distribute tens of millions of dollars in funds meant to fight the opioid crisis.

While Michigan’s tribes have suffered injury from the opioid epidemic, they haven’t benefited from a landmark lawsuit settlement. Some states give tribes millions; Michigan working on a fix.

It's money intended for drug treatment, prevention and recovery. But Flint's mayor defends buying ambulances because some emergency calls 'involve overdoses.'

A Bridge Michigan reader asks how voters can educate themselves about office seekers in the absence of newspapers. It takes a bit of work, but there are several ways to be informed before you fill in your ballot

Cheboygan has a newspaper, but no news reporters. A renaissance supply shop is now occupying its newsroom. So if there’s news in Cheboygan, it’s news to residents.

At the height of the water crisis, Flint children had lower lead levels than many others in Michigan. But low expectations, trauma and constant anxiety did more harm than lead. ‘Instead of scaring families, we should be reassuring them.’

Ten years after the beginning of the Flint water crisis, the city’s youth are scarred as much by low expectations as by the lead-tainted water. ‘People had already decided who we were. They had ideas about IQ and behavior.’

In a major public-health success story, lead exposure in Michigan children has plummeted in recent decades, including in Flint.

Ten years later, a growing body of research suggests fears of permanent brain damage are a ‘myth.’ That’s good news for children, but some say trauma from the crisis is now worse than lead.

Less than a quarter of the money Michigan’s state government has received to fight the opioid crisis has been spent, more than a year after the funds began flowing into state coffers.

Michigan is receiving $1.5 billion from an opioid settlement. Up North, experts worry that housing and worker shortages will make it hard to put the money to good use and help users.

Clinics that treat drug addiction say they’re confused about how to access money flowing into the state from a lawsuit settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors.

New data confirms law enforcement suspicions about a surge in meth and cocaine. Michigan has spent millions to treat opioids, but treatments don’t work the same for meth.