Marsha Chartrand

National Walk To School Day a small-town success

They say it takes a village. And it did. Well, then you can throw in some local clergy, fire department volunteers, school board and village council members, police, school staff and administration, parents, and even retired teachers, and you get a pretty good idea of what it took to pull off a successful Walk to […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Sandbox fun (photo)

 Marsha Chartrand

Seeking a cure: The quest to save the Midwest’s rural hospitals

by Jennifer Hemmingsen for IowaWatch, (via Bridge) Small rural Midwest community hospitals, squeezed by financial and regulatory pressures, are scaling back on services, merging with larger hospital systems and searching for other creative ways to survive in the short term, an Institute for Nonprofit News investigation by 12 news organizations in seven states revealed. Rural […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Preparing Michigan cities, health systems for more ransomware attacks

by Ted Roelofs (Bridge) About an hour before dawn in April 2016, a Lansing utility worker opened an email and clicked on a link. In an instant, that set loose a computer virus that locked out the Lansing Board of Water & Light accounting and e-mail networks and closed customer helpline phones for two weeks. […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Michigan counselors fighting ban on right to diagnose, give psychotherapy

by Ted Roelofs (Bridge) In a dozen years of counseling in suburban Detroit, Anahid Derbabian has helped clients navigate everything from depression to suicidal thoughts, grief over the loss of a spouse or a job, and a range of marital issues. “My work is extremely important to me – life and death important,” Derbabian said […]

 Marsha Chartrand

It’s National Walk to School Day on Wednesday

The walk to school group is gaining new walkers (and bike riders) each day. With a five-day per week program, there is a variety of opportunities for kids–and adults–to get healthier by adding more activity to your week! This Wednesday, is a very special milestone day as it is National Walk to School Day. This […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Besieged Michigan farmers back new trade pact with Canada and Mexico

by Jim Malewitz (Bridge) LANSING — Michigan farmers are calling on Congress to swiftly pass a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, saying it could provide partial relief from low prices, a trade war with China and heavy rains that kept crops out of the ground this spring. “It’s huge to our futures in […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Michigan government won’t shut down, state tells workers

by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — Michigan government will not shut down next week, the budget office and department directors said late Friday in a memo to state employees telling them to plan to report to work as usual Tuesday morning. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has until the end of Monday to decide the fate of […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Michigan law limiting ballot drives unconstitutional, court rules

by Riley Beggin (Bridge) Multiple provisions of a lame-duck law that makes it harder for groups to get a citizen initiative on the ballot are unconstitutional, a Court of Claims judge ruled Friday. The law places a 15 percent cap on the number of signatures ballot petitioners can gather in any one of the state’s […]

 Marsha Chartrand

It’s official–park and trails are complete and open!

With a little pomp and circumstance among all the fun of a Manchester Third Thursday night, the Village of Manchester officially dedicated the River Raisin Park in a brief ceremony that acknowledged the many contributions that organizations and individuals gave to making this long-time local dream a reality. As the last days of summer wound […]