There are 22 counties — mostly in northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula — where under 60% of homes have broadband access.
Rural Michigan
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Suicides plague Michigan farms. Michigan just ended money to help
Generational pride and everyday despair coexist on Michigan’s 44,000 farms, fueling a suicide rate five times the state average. In this year’s budget, Michigan ended funding for counseling some credit with saving lives.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Suicide rate highest in northern Michigan: services are scarce, guns plentiful
More people die by suicide than in car crashes or homicides. Deaths are rising, and rural areas have higher rates because of isolation and access to care and firearms.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan farm values growing faster than nation amid data center boom
Michigan led the US in farmland price increases last year, rising 7.8% compared to 4.3% nationally. Demand is rising along with development.
Posted inOutdoors Life
Michigan’s wild turkey capital lacks just one thing: turkeys.
Fairview, a small community in the northeast Lower Peninsula, had more turkeys than anywhere else in Michigan when it became the state’s wild turkey capital in 1987. That’s not the case any longer, but the area still holds the title.
Posted inOutdoors Life
Hungry pigs, feral brothers and the Michigan hunting trip that ended in murders
Two friends went on a hunting trip Up North in 1985. Their killers went to prison after escaping justice for 18 years, but the men’s bodies, gear and truck was never found. The case is still seeped in mystery.
Posted inQuality of Life
In world of AI, Michigan State University Extension bets on human expertise
For 118 years, Michigan State University Extension has existed to serve the public with programs ranging from canning classes to soil testing and financial literacy workshops. Now, it aims to bill itself as an antidote to online misinformation.
Posted inOutdoors Life
Michigan may soon ban sales of this stinky tree and 5 other plants
The state’s agricultural department wants to add to the list of plants that are not allowed to be sold or imported in Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Can Michigan ‘make rural America healthy again?’ Hospitals doubt it
The Trump administration set aside $50 billion for rural health. Michigan hospital leaders think the state’s bid for funding has ‘failed’ providers as they brace for federal health care cuts.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Data centers eyed in at least 10 Michigan towns. How they might change state
A host of Michigan communities are weighing proposals for the hulking computing facilities? How many of those will come to fruition? And why is Michigan suddenly seeing a data center surge?