EAST LANSING – Lisa King has a job, a husband, two kids, a suburban home with a camper parked beside the garage, a living room full of toys and a cat named Whiskers. One thing she doesn’t have: friends or family who she knows are Trump supporters. “I have a couple cousins who are conservative, […]
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 inQuality of Life
Revisiting Tom Herbon
SANILAC COUNTY – Tom Herbon owns an 1880s farmhouse in Sanilac County in Michigan’s thumb. The 57-year-old lives in Troy, but this is where he and his family spend most of their summer weekends. A 1962 Allis-Chalmers tractor is parked in a corn crib. From the side of the crib hung a large American flag. […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Amid protests over Trump, Muslims and guns, two enemies in Kalkaska bond near a giant trout
The village president’s inflammatory Facebook posts leads to an evening standoff along the normally placid main street of Kalkaska.
Posted inQuality of Life
The American Dream is fading everywhere, but almost nowhere faster than Michigan
For three generations, the odds of outearning your parents has dropped. Today, a young person’s odds of climbing higher than their parents are no better than a coin flip.
Posted inQuality of Life
SLIDESHOW: Feel like you’re not earning as much as your parents? You’re probably right.
Your chances of living the American Dream – climbing higher up the economic ladder than your parents – used to be a sure thing. Times have changed, and not for the better.
Posted inQuality of Life
In Bay City, Trump supporters march for jobs they are sure will come
How much of the political divide is an economic opportunity gap? In Bay City, which went twice for Obama, the focus is, as President Trump likes to say, jobs, jobs, jobs.
Posted inQuality of Life
Bridge asked readers to swap news sources for a week. The world answered. (slideshow)
It wasn’t always comfortable. But more than 200 brave souls from around the country (and six nations) switched to news feeds with a different political viewpoint. A few have yet to switch back.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Can a charitable foundation save a school district? We’re about to find out
In Battle Creek, where school choice policies are blamed for helping to segregate schools and gut district programs, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation steps in to try to turn things around.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
As deadline nears: How to choose the college that’s right for you
May 1 is the traditional deadline for saying yes or no to college admission offers. Don’t flip a coin. Read these tips.
Posted inQuality of Life
Cancer diagnosis brings clarity to one Trump voter
In Harbor Springs, Cynthia Shafer battles illness and political assumptions
