Housing for immigrant workers on dairy farms is often tucked away and largely exempt from inspections. Advocates say that can lead to poor conditions. ‘You have no one to protect you,’ one worker says.
Rural Michigan
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Legislators can help Michigan farmers with a simple fix
Right now in the state legislature there’s a bill to ensure that farmers don’t have to waste an entire crop just because they couldn’t repair their equipment.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan company agrees to buy nuclear power from shuttered Palisades plant
A rural Michigan power cooperative has agreed to buy up to two-thirds of the plant’s power for roughly another 28 years. Other hurdles to a restart have yet to be cleared, including an application for a federal loan.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan has more job openings than workers. Are retirees the answer?
In Roscommon County, fewer than 4 in 10 adults are in the workforce. The northern Michigan vacation haven is symptomatic of a statewide worker shortage crisis that has some looking for creative solutions.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Pentagon to address PFAS at Wurtsmith base near Oscoda
Military officials announced they will install groundwater treatment systems around the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base to clean up chemical compounds linked to serious health issues.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan ambulance workers still in short supply despite state grants
It’s a high-stress job with middling pay. With other jobs aplenty, ambulance services are struggling to find, train and hire paramedics and EMTs, with the gap expected to grow this decade.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Michigan’s free college tuition isn’t serving all our residents
Only 33 of 83 counties are served by a community college. This makes it more difficult and expensive for students from generally poorer and more rural counties to take advantage of the Michigan Reconnect program.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | The case for adding 51K acres of wilderness in Upper Peninsula
The Michigan Sierra Club is urging U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow to add the proposal to the farm bill. The designation would keep motorized vehicles from a small portion of Ottawa National Park but won’t restrict hunting, fishing or camping.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Consumers’ decision on 13 dams could alter Michigan rivers, towns
Consumers Energy is weighing what to do with old, hydropower dams that cost more to operate and maintain than the value of the energy they provide. But removing the dams has consequences for major rivers and local economies.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Control for frog-bit and water soldiers
Almost a century later, frog-bit has become a formidable nuisance, especially along parts of Lake Huron and in southeast Michigan.