One year after George Floyd murder, lawmakers propose Michigan police reforms
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) Michigan would set standards for the use of deadly force by police, create a uniform system for independent investigations of officer-involved shootings and limit no-knock warrants under a reform proposal introduced Tuesday in the state Senate. Michigan has not enacted any legislative reforms in the year since a Minneapolis police […]
An end in sight? Michigan experts say COVID finally ‘winding down’
Maybe — probably, but not definitely — the COVID-19 pandemic is finally coming to a close, according to those on the front lines of Michigan’s greatest public health battle in more than a century. In Ingham County health officer Linda Vail’s view, the virus linked to 18,815 deaths in Michigan and more than 3.4 million […]
Questions, answers about Michigan’s changing COVID restrictions
by Mike Wilkinson, Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans to end restrictions on masks, curfews and businesses Thursday, more than 14 months after the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined Michigan and the nation. Her announcement — made as she spoke, maskless, from a minor league ballpark in Midland — calls for almost immediate changes: […]
University of Michigan: We’ll spend billions to be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2040
by Arjun Thakkar (Bridge Michigan) The University of Michigan is set to announce a multi-billion dollar commitment to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2040 at a Board of Regents meeting today. In doing so, U-M is joining several Michigan-based companies and the state itself in working to lessen dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas […]
Gov. Whitmer pitches financial incentives to recruit more Michigan teachers
by Ron French (Bridge Michigan) Facing a statewide teacher shortage that threatens to hobble schools during a crucial post-pandemic year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing financial incentives to recruit and retain educators, and alternative routes to lead classrooms. The Democratic governor and an executive branch-appointed, 29-person committee of educators and health officials released a 40-page […]
Whitmer, Michigan GOP make peace, will negotiate billions in federal stimulus
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) Hours after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans to end COVID-19 restrictions by July 1, she and Republican lawmakers on Thursday agreed to end a stalemate and begin negotiating billions of dollars in federal aid. As part of the deal, Whitmer will withdraw proposed rules from April that would have […]
More than 20,000 Michiganders have applied for federal rent aid since March
by Nushrat Rahman (Bridge Michigan) More than 20,000 Michiganders have applied for help to pay their rent through a federally-funded rent aid program that launched two months ago, reflecting an ongoing need for housing assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rent remains one of the top pandemic-related reasons people call the United Way’s 211 service, right […]
GOP targets no-ID ballots to cut fraud. Only 0.2% voted that way in Michigan.
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) Roughly 11,400 Michiganders voted in person without photo identification in 2020 after signing an affidavit to confirm their identity, a convenient but rarely used option that would end under a controversial Senate Republican election reform plan. Roughly 1 in 4 of those affidavits were signed in Detroit, but the practice […]
From TikTok to school clinics, Michigan ramps up young teen vaccinations
by Arjun Thakkar (Bridge Michigan) Brandess Wallace didn’t hesitate to make an appointment to vaccinate her two children at East Lansing High School last Thursday, the first day 12-to-15-year-olds were eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine. Wallace, whose children attend school in Okemos, drove her 12-year-old son Miles and 13-year-old daughter Olivia to the high […]
Detroit’s decade of growth has been separate and unequal, new study finds
by Louis Aguilar (Bridge Michigan) The average value of homes owned by white Detroiters is $46,000 more than Black-owned homes and $39,000 higher than those owned by Latinos, a new study by Detroit Future City finds. That’s just one of the stark gaps that have emerged between white people and Black and Latino residents in Detroit, according to […]
