Michigan has invested $335 million in school security since the 2021 Oxford High School shootings. Concern over shootings has yielded a gold-rush of security vendors offering schools everything from robotic dogs to bulletproof whiteboards.
Ron French
Ron French is the senior enterprise reporter at Bridge Michigan, covering a wide range of topics including rural communities, federal policy impacts, education and public health. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter, and previously reported for newspapers across Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University.
Rooted in Okemos, Ron has become a true Michigander — complete with a family cabin Up North.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan’s police officer shortage becoming dire: ‘Where did everyone go?’
Retirements are outpacing recruitment, with roughly 4,500 fewer Michigan officers today than in 2001 despite efforts to pay recruits more. That makes the job more stressful and, leaders say, the streets more dangerous.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Despite national slump, Michigan vacation rentals are going gangbusters
Vacationers are hedging away from Airbnb and VRBO rentals in hotspots like Austin, San Francisco and Cape Cod, but the Michigan market is still growing rapidly in vacation areas near Lake Michigan.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan is set to better track Native American student achievement
In a win for Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, schools will now track the individual tribal affiliation of students, a move experts say is likely to triple the count of Native students and provide better feedback on their progress.
Posted inMichigan Government
Panel to keep young people in Michigan includes one person under 40 so far
The Gov. Whitmer-appointed Growing Michigan Together Council has a tough job figuring out how to keep young adults from moving away, while getting more people to move to Michigan.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Western Upper Peninsula towns empty out, look to Wisconsin for lessons
Along the U.P. border, Michigan counties are losing people while their neighbors in Wisconsin are gaining. Local leaders say the Badger State’s investments in small businesses and infrastructure are paying off.
Posted inMichigan Government
College grads: We left Michigan for jobs. Moved here for family, nature
Getting more young adults to stay in Michigan or move here starts with asking the people who have actually done it. Selling the state’s natural beauty, they say, can help transform Michigan’s image as a cold place up north.
Posted inTalent & Education
How a tiny U.P. school became a national model for Native American education
In tiny Watersmeet near the Wisconsin border, school and tribal leaders are incorporating Native language and culture into classrooms, hoping to rebuild an identity robbed from past generations.
Posted inTalent & Education
Charlevoix is booming but it can’t find homes for teachers, or families
Downstate Michiganders looking for a piece of paradise are pricing out year-round residents in Up North tourist towns like Charlevoix and Boyne City, making it difficult for businesses and school districts to attract employees.
Posted inTalent & Education
Lapeer library keeps LGBTQ-themed books, but more battles loom
In a conservative Michigan county, residents debate the availability of books some residents considered pornography, but which drew strong support from the library board and its attorney on First Amendment grounds.