In some counties, there are three funerals for every birth. That’s not a trend that bodes well for the state.
Upper Peninsula
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 inMichigan Environment Watch
Here's how your ideas could help save Lake Superior's Buffalo Reef
Michigan officials are mulling how to thwart millions of tons of mining waste threatening to smother Buffalo Reef, a vital spawning ground for lake trout and whitefish. Here’s your chance to offer feedback.
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 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
Slideshow: In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, mining waste threatens Buffalo Reef
View photos from the past and present showing how waste from a closed mine is smothering key fish spawning grounds in Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay.
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 inMichigan Environment Watch
With few friends on Great Lakes, chorus grows for cormorant kills
As fish numbers drop in Michigan’s northern waters, efforts to limit the birds have ranged from raccoon squads to slicking their eggs with oil. Now the big guns are getting involved. (with slideshow)
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Floods test mettle in Michigan’s UP. Waiting for relief tests patience.
Yoopers are doing it themselves, digging out after the worst flooding in more than a generation. But money is running out, and folks are getting tired of waiting for emergency relief assistance.