State News

 Marsha Chartrand

Prosecutor: Oxford suspect shouldn’t have been allowed back in class

by Ron French, Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) Hours before he allegedly opened fire on his Oxford High School classmates on Tuesday, Ethan Crumbley was summoned to a school meeting along with his parents. According to authorities, a teacher had spotted a school assignment that morning on the 15-year-old’s desk that included a drawing of a […]

 Sara Swanson

15-year-old suspect in Oxford school shooting recorded threat to kill classmates

by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) A 15-year-old accused of murdering four classmates at Oxford High School Tuesday recorded a video the night before the shooting “wherein he talked about killing students the next day,” an investigator said Wednesday. Ethan Crumbley, the suspected shooter, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to various terrorism and murder charges but […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Michigan’s water systems in line for $3.3 billion. Much more is needed.

by Sergio Martínez Beltrán (Bridge Michigan) LANSING— The Michigan Senate this week unanimously passed a $3.3 billion supplemental spending bill that lawmakers say would help address the state’s crumbling water infrastructure. The spending bill allocates $1 billion for the replacement of lead services lines in Michigan. It also provides $400 million to upgrade drinking water. […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Michigan redistricting panel opts for secrecy, won’t release voting memos

by Sergio Martínez Beltrán (Bridge Michigan) LANSING — Michigan’s redistricting panel voted Thursday to keep secret two memos that helped members justify the reduction of majority-minority legislative districts. Members of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission kept the records secret over numerous objections, including those from residents in Flint who are upset they are losing […]

 Sara Swanson

Will COVID vaccines protect Michigan from the omicron variant?

by Robin Erb, Ted Roelofs (Bridge Michigan) As Michiganders tucked into turkey or cheered football last week, a new coronavirus variant sent shudders through the science and health communities around the globe. The World Health Organization Friday classified the omicron variant as a “variant of concern,” because of several mutations that may make it more transmissible than earlier […]

 Marsha Chartrand

U.S. military medical teams to aid Michigan as COVID swamps hospitals

By Robin Erb, Jonathan Oosting, and Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) The Biden administration will send military help to two Michigan hospital systems, after the state asked for assistance amid surging COVID cases, overwhelmed emergency rooms and chronic staff shortages. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration said Wednesday the U.S. Department of Defense will deploy two medical teams […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Holiday sales could set records. Michigan’s ‘makers’ want a piece of it.

By Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) After twisting a piece of metal in the heat of a blue flame, James Race grabs a hammer and shapes it into what he fully believes will represent his future. Holiday sales of his custom ironworks will tell him if he’s right. Race, a self-taught blacksmith, learned his craft over […]

 Marsha Chartrand

Big-spending Rinke joins 11 other Republicans in bid for Michigan governor

by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) LANSING — Bloomfield Hills businessman Kevin Rinke is running for governor, he confirmed November 22, joining a crowded field of Republicans seeking to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022. Rinke is the 12th candidate to declare ahead of next year’s August primary, and while he is not the most […]

 Sara Swanson

Nessel: Michigan redistricting panel must release memos; panel doubles down, won’t budge on secret memos

by Sergio Martínez-Beltrán (Bridge Michigan) LANSING— Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Monday that the state’s redistricting panel “must” disclose two voting rights memos used to draw districts in Detroit. In a 14-page legal opinion, Nessel also wrote that a closed-door meeting among redistricting commissioners on Oct. 27 about the memos “should have been held […]

 Sara Swanson

Michigan wildlife official cries wolf. Gray wolf advocates want him gone.

by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) If a dog disappears from a U.P. porch and nobody finds a body, is it fair to claim wolves killed it? That’s the question at the center of the latest volley in Michigan’s wolf wars, after a member of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission this month resurfaced a decade-old case […]