The Johnson and Johnson vaccine helped health workers reach rural and island residents, the homeless, agricultural workers and freighter crews — people more likely to need a single-dose vaccine. The vaccine’s halt Tuesday complicates the state’s path to herd immunity.
Rural Michigan
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan tops U.S. in new COVID cases. Is it variants or just our turn?
Coronavirus cases in Michigan are increasing faster than in any other state, leaving many to wonder what’s driving the surge.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Small towns like Ishpeming put off water upgrades. The bill is now due.
Rural Michigan is trying to balance the urgent need for updated sewer and water infrastructure with the financial constraints faced by towns with aging and shrinking populations.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
One plane, one island and 50 vaccines, a year after COVID struck Michigan
The residents of Bois Blanc, in the Straits of Mackinac, were ready when a small, single-engine plane landed Tuesday with an island’s worth of doses.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Should Michigan hunt wolves, cranes, moose? Republican lawmakers think so.
State and federal parks and species managers said they don’t plan to act on a flurry of legislative resolutions calling for new hunting seasons targeting gray wolves, sandhill cranes and Isle Royale moose.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Recreational pot is nestling comfortably into small-town Michigan
Town managers say the businesses are poised to boost strained budgets. And school and law enforcement officials contend there is little evidence to date the marijuana economy is bringing more crime or drug abuse to main street.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Hugging stations: How some Michigan nursing homes fight despair amid COVID
Senior care facilities across much of Michigan can now resume indoor visits, yet few appear to be doing so. We highlight places applying DIY creativity to bring lonely residents face to face with those they love.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Affordable housing crisis hits rural Michigan. Newaygo project offers hope.
Jobs are booming in tiny Newaygo in west Michigan, but housing hasn’t followed. So builders and city leaders got creative to put less expensive homes on the market — and other cities may follow.
Posted inTalent & Education
‘It’s been hell.’ 1 house, 5 kids, and a pandemic struggle to learn at home
Up to half of all Michigan K-12 students were taking all of their classes from home, with more added after the recent state coronavirus health order. Rural areas are particularly struggling.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Upper Peninsula man nearly killed by COVID. He still doubts the data.
After nine days in the hospital, Dwaine Taylor — COVID case #290 in Delta County — said he no longer believes the coronavirus is a hoax. But he remains skeptical of the cases elsewhere, underscoring an awkward truth: COVID is complex, and so are people and politics.