Enbridge sues Michigan over Line 5 shutdown order
by Kelly House (Bridge) Enbridge Energy is suing the State of Michigan in federal court in hopes of thwarting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s quest to shut down the Line 5 petroleum pipeline. The Canadian company’s filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan seeks an injunction against Whitmer’s shutdown orders. The […]
He had dementia and COVID. She wanted to hold him when he died.
by Robin Erb (Bridge) KALAMAZOO—Jerry Zeiger tested positive for COVID on a Tuesday. The next day, the hulking former engineer with late-stage Alzheimer’s is tucked under a soft brown blanket at Sue’s Loving Care, an adult foster home in Kalamazoo. He is 73. Outside his screened window, the woman he shared truckstop coffee with on […]
Trump’s hopes come to end in Michigan
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — After three weeks of sound and fury in all-caps tweets, Republican President Donald Trump’s flailing bid to overturn his Michigan election loss came to a quiet close on Wednesday afternoon. The Trump campaign failed to request either a full or partial ballot recount by Michigan’s 4:34 p.m. deadline, according to […]
Desperation growing at Michigan restaurants after new COVID limits
by Paula Gardner (Bridge) Dan Kolander and his staff normally get ready for a surge of business on the night before Thanksgiving as regulars jam Dan’s Downtown Tavern. The bar and restaurant is an anchor among the handful of nightspots in downtown Saline, just south of Ann Arbor, and Kolander says he can count on […]
Michigan officials say no to big Thanksgiving gatherings. Who will listen?
By Robin Erb (Bridge) Hospital leaders have pleaded. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has warned. Health officials have mandated, inspected and threatened fines. And a statistical model developed by Harvard researchers predicts nearly 1,000 COVID deaths a day in Michigan by year’s end if we can’t change the arc of the virus. But even as hospitalizations and deaths […]
Michigan hospital workers weary as public support fades, COVID cases rise
by Dustin Dwyer, Michigan Radio, Kate Wells, Michigan Radio (Bridge) Eric Kumor’s been a nurse for 10 years. But the last few weeks he finds himself having to gear up emotionally just to walk in the door to work. “And within 30 minutes, like two of our nurses are already just in tears,” he says. Sparrow […]
Michigan GOP leaders meet Trump, promise ‘we will follow law’ on election
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — Top Republicans in the Michigan Legislature met with President Donald Trump for nearly an hour Friday, but walked away from the White House meeting reaffirming their pledge to award the state’s electors to the winner of the popular vote. Trump is contesting Michigan results that show him losing to […]
Michigan upholds Nestlé permit to withdraw 576K gallons of groundwater daily
by Kelly House (Bridge) Michigan environmental regulators will not reconsider their decision to let Nestlé Waters North America increase groundwater withdrawals to support the company’s Ice Mountain bottling operation in Stanwood, state officials announced Friday. Instead, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has dismissed a complaint challenging the 2018 permit that […]
Judge won’t allow Michigan restaurants to immediately reopen dining rooms
by Paula Gardner, Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) Michigan’s restaurant industry has lost its bid made “out of desperation” to prevent a three-week closure of dining rooms due to COVID-19. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids sought a temporary restraining order against the statewide restrictions, which started at 12:01 am Wednesday, but an […]
With COVID everywhere, Michigan contact tracers losing control of spread
by Kelly House (Bridge) Michigan’s public health system is becoming overwhelmed as COVID-19 case rates continue to surge, outpacing efforts to contain the pandemic by finding and sequestering sick people before they spread the virus. In much of the state, that means health authorities are less likely to be able to call you if the […]
