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.
Rural Michigan
Posted inBusiness Watch
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.
Posted inMichigan Government
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.
Posted inMichigan Government
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.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan county threatens to bulldoze Amish homes in poop dispute
An Amish community, with help from the ACLU, argues that Lenawee County is violating its religious freedom by demanding it stop using outhouses and spreading human waste in fields. Local residents are backing the Amish.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan Republican pushes to deregulate health care. Some hospitals call foul.
A GOP legislative package would remove barriers to small rural hospitals expanding or offering some of the same services as larger hospitals in the region. Both sides say their vision would lower costs.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Old motels, campsites and shelters fill housing void in northwest Michigan
Even middle-income workers are now priced out of safe, affordable homes in Michigan’s resort region. Housing stock has declined for all but the affluent, leaving high school students to fill the construction breach.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
This flu season looks deadly. Yet much of Michigan won’t get its shot.
In much of rural Michigan, and in Detroit, fewer than 20 percent of residents get flu shots, even though the vaccine makes it far less likely that people will die or get seriously ill from the virus.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Caro’s psychiatric hospital is saved. Michigan’s mental health crisis persists.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spared a psychiatric hospital whose closure would have devastated the Thumb. But long waiting lists persist statewide, and the hospital’s problems remain.
Posted inTalent & Education
Tiny school districts to Lansing: Stop acting like ‘middle-schoolers’
Superintendents in some of Michigan’s most isolated districts blame Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Repubican leaders for a budget fight that they say threatens their future and treats students like political pawns.