It’s mice, shrews and voles for the eastern massasauga rattlesnake. But you’ll never guess how GVSU researchers learned it. Double spoiler: They looked at poop.
Rural Michigan
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Tart cherry production drops in Michigan, plagued by bad weather, imports
Traverse City is the cherry capital of the U.S., helping Michigan produce 70 percent of the nation’s tart cherries. This year’s harvest was challenging because of bad weather.
Posted inChildren & Families
In rural Michigan, need is great, but summer food programs are scarce
Limited transportation and resources mean that hungry kids can be many miles away from food assistance, experts and state data show.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
New psychiatric unit in northern Michigan to address severe care gap
The 18-bed psychiatric unit in Cheboygan is scheduled to serve 22 northern Michigan counties this summer, where there is an acute shortage of mental health professionals.
Posted inMichigan Government
Feds: Michigan man painted swastikas on synagogue in white supremacist plot
Federal authorities say a Houghton man spray-painted swastikas on a synagogue as part of a multi-state attack coordinated by members of a national white supremacist group.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Western Upper Peninsula towns empty out, look to Wisconsin for lessons
Along the U.P. border, Michigan counties are losing people while their neighbors in Wisconsin are gaining. Local leaders say the Badger State’s investments in small businesses and infrastructure are paying off.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan to receive $1.5B to extend internet to 210,000 in rural areas
More than 93 percent in Michigan have access to high-speed internet. But access is lacking in rural areas, especially in the Upper Peninsula.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Watch out! Creepy kudzu coming to Michigan?
Kudzo is on the list of plants and animals that pose an immediate or potential threat to Michigan’s economy, environment or human health.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Moose herds threatened by ticks, brain worms, the result of climate change
Moose are dying slow, agonizing deaths from Minnesota to Maine as warmer winters allow parasites to thrive, decimating herds. Numbers in the Upper Peninsula remain steady for now, but experts fear a downturn.
Posted inMichigan Government
Whitmer asks Biden for disaster declaration in western U.P. because of floods
Spring floods in the Upper Peninsula were ‘of such severity and magnitude’ that the state needs federal help to recover, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wrote to President Joe Biden and emergency management officials