Quality of Life

An interest in locally grown food is raising the profile of women farmers in Michigan, particularly on small-scale farms.

Supporters see a potential $1 billion industry for Michigan, while conservation and sport fishing groups cite the risks of pollution and disease.

With 23 million gallons of oil and gas passing beneath the Straits of Mackinac each day, Bridge weighs the evidence on the safety of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline.

Enbridge Energy has historically kept inspection data about the Straits of Mackinac pipeline to itself.

This year’s bloom promises to be bigger, slimier and more trouble for marine life than past years. While experts are calling for tougher regulation of industrial farming, the state says Michigan’s current conservation efforts are working.

Fifteen years after landowners along the Mississippi River were asked to help reduce conditions for blooms, there has been no reduction in a marine dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. One expert suggests tougher regulation.

The state’s Master Angler program rewards those who catch the biggest everything, from bass to pike, crappie to walleye. But its database also rewards novice anglers.

Use Bridge’s database of data from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to find where Michigan’s biggest fish are hooked. Plus, see a slideshow of monster fish submitted by readers.

Living far from a major hospital may not always be a hindrance to high-quality health care. Telemedicine can deliver healthcare to rural corners of Michigan, where a specialist may be hundreds of miles away.