Some of Michigan’s most remote regions have so far been spared, at least in what’s been officially recorded. With a vast geography, few tests and even fewer hospital beds, they wait and hope for the best.
Rural Michigan
In rural Michigan, teacher mourns coronavirus loss not counted in hospitals
The learning deficit that a Mayville third-grade teacher fears from her “kiddos” being out of classrooms for nearly six months is playing out across the state.
Opinion | In pandemic, a small Michigan hospital staff counts on each other
How a rural west Michigan hospital community leans on each other to weather the pandemic — and finds itself lifted by the community.
Aging and isolated, rural northern Michigan braces for coronavirus
Alcona County has high rates of diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses and hardly a doctor in sight. Residents here are particularly susceptible to COVID-19, when it hits.
Rural Michigan hospitals say coronavirus crisis may soon force some to close
Many small or rural hospitals were already struggling before COVID-19 forced them to halt the elective procedures that help pay the bills. They are looking largely toward the government to help them recover lost revenue.
Coronavirus shutdown could leave 1 in 4 jobless in northern Michigan
Already gearing for a recession, Michigan faces billions of dollars in lost wages and tens of thousands of job cuts. Using maps and charts, Bridge explains how the impact of the coronavirus shutdown will vary widely by industry and maps.
A Michigan school bus turns food truck during coronavirus school shutdown
In one sparsely populated, vast Northern Michigan school district, school buses are delivering meals to students who otherwise might go hungry amid a three-week shutdown of the state’s schools.
Why Michigan cherry industry lost trade fight with Turkey, and its Plan B
The U.S. International Trade Commission flatly rejected claims that Turkish imports hurt domestic dried tart cherry processors. But Michigan’s cherry industry has a new line of attack against imports.
Rural Michigan to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: What about us?
Beset with common but daunting problems, leaders in rural Michigan implore Michigan’s Democratic governor to create a Cabinet-level post to address their concerns.
Along Michigan-Ohio border, small-town Morenci is transformed by marijuana
Once a frontier town dominated by agriculture, Morenci now finds itself on a new frontier, with the scent of pot wafting through its streets. Despite reluctance from “conservative farm folks,” most support the financial boost the industry has brought.