A brouhaha over brook trout has bubbled up in Michigan, pitting older anglers against downstate ones and prompting questions about whether science or special interests sets policy.
Rural Michigan
Posted inChildren & Families
Where have all the babies gone? Michigan births lowest since 1944
In some counties, there are three funerals for every birth. That’s not a trend that bodes well for the state.
Posted inChildren & Families
Suicides, often linked to opioids, spike in rural Michigan and among young
A new study finds links between two grim causes of death, but also poses some proven ways to reduce rates
Posted inTalent & Education
A $18B debt is coming due, and it’s haunting small town Michigan
See how your town compares as a new state law tracking public pension and health care debt lays bare the financial woes of rural Michigan.
Posted inChildren & Families
Pregnant in rural Michigan? Fill up your gas tank for delivery day.
As rural hospitals close their obstetrics units, many mothers and their babies will pay a price in far longer journeys for hospital care
Posted inChildren & Families
For some rural mothers, there’s no place like home (births)
Michigan midwives deliver hundreds of babies a year at home, an option that may be more attractive to rural expectant mothers with no hospitals nearby
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
A slow-moving ‘disaster’ is threatening Lake Superior and way of life
The Buffalo Reef in the Keweenaw Peninsula teems with lake trout and whitefish. But a mountain of waste from a closed mine is slowly seeping into the water, prompting a desperate search for a solution.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Mining waste and growing wetlands mean more mercury in fish in Upper Peninsula
A Michigan Tech researcher says studies show humans are at risk because of high levels of the toxic metal in inland Great Lakes fish.
Posted inTalent & Education
Yes, you can pay rural Michigan college grads to come home
Tired of seeing their best and brightest head to college never to return, three Michigan counties offer to pay up to $15,000 of student debt for grads who come back for jobs. Counties in other states are taking notice.
Posted inTalent & Education
Rural Michigan begs for workers. A few companies are getting creative.
With more than 100,000 unfilled jobs statewide, rural manufacturers often lose out in the scramble for skilled trade workers. Can added lures like company daycare, health clinics or cash bonuses turn the tide?