(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Zack Conley and Mike Sannan live on opposite sides of Rawsonville Road, a noisy strip of pavement separating Wayne and Washtenaw counties. Both men have access to some of the best hospitals in the state. Yet Sannan is almost twice as likely to be in poor or fair health. As a Wayne […]
Quality of Life
Michigan is a great place to live. Bridge will report that fact often — and on potential threats to the assets that make it so.
Posted inQuality of Life
Let the river run: Dam removal accelerates in Michigan
THE GOAL: An artist’s rendering shows a section of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids after a nearly $28 million river improvement project is finished. (courtesy image) Michigan may be the Great Lakes State, but its 36,000 miles of rivers are becoming popular commodities for cities looking to revitalize downtowns, attract visitors and lure […]
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In Ottawa County, parks leader shepherds quarter-century of green growth
The Lake Michigan coast near Grand Haven features two spectacular natural areas, each of which gives rise to towering sand dunes that are cloaked by lush forests. John Smoltz, as head of Ottawa County’s Parks Commission, has spearheaded a massive increase in parks acreage in the county just west of Grand Rapids. He’s shown on […]
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Kalamazoo mom, daughter profit from Michigan’s home visit programs
Shauntiana Branson found herself unexpectedly pregnant — and unprepared for motherhood two years ago. Having just reached adulthood and fearing backlash from her family, Branson did what she could to find her own help. A visit to a local Women, Infants, and Children clinic led her to the Nurse-Family Partnership. Soon she was receiving regular […]
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Legislators favor bear petting, despite zookeepers’ warnings
Despite resistance from the state’s traditional zookeepers, a bill written to keep visitors to an Upper Peninsula tourist attraction petting its bears appears bound for the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 48, written specifically for Oswald’s Bear Ranch near Newberry, passed the House last week on a 56-52 vote. It heads back to the Senate, where […]
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Nonprofits battle shortage of time, talent
DETROIT — At 31, four years after completing the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Detroit program, Mark Ostach sits on the board of the Neighborhood Service Organization, a sizable nonprofit that offers a wide variety of programs ranging from suicide prevention to early-childhood education to homeless relief. Daniel Robin, also 31, serves on the […]
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Olympic training center in Marquette fighting to keep doors open
HARD STRUGGLE: Freshman Greco-Roman wrestler Arthur Carmona (right, in white) practices against freshman Ramon Moreno at the Olympic Education Center in Marquette. The center’s wrestling training program was struck a huge blow this month when the executive board of the International Olympic Committee voted to drop wrestling as a sport in the 2020 games. (Bridge […]
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Job-based health coverage plummets
Linda and Ken Brauer went years without health insurance after Ken lost his job as a salesman in 2007. Ken became eligible for Medicare in January. But Linda, a 63-year-old unemployed social worker with a master’s degree, has been unable to find work and still lacks health insurance. “People are just so vulnerable,” said Linda […]
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Road out of Fat City started with a stroll
About a decade ago, a flight of stairs was enemy territory to Kimiko Adolph. She was all too fond of fast food. Her favorite refuge: Sleep and the living room couch. At 268 pounds, this single mother of three realized she could change – or die. “I was having breathing problems,” Adolph recalled. “I had […]
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Census alert: Michigan needs babies!
Remember the lousy movie “Mars Needs Women,” the 1967 cult classic in which Tommy Kirk leads his fellow Martians to Earth on an interplanetary quest for females? Well, Michigan has the women (though maybe not so many in their child-bearing years). The state really needs babies – and the women who want to have them. […]
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