What Jennifer Granholm’s appointment as energy secretary means for Michigan
By Kelly House (Bridge) University of Michigan professor Barry Rabe opens his environmental politics and policy class each semester by displaying a photo featuring former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. In it, Granholm stands with then-President Barack Obama, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, then-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and then-Vice President Joe Biden. They are commemorating Obama’s agreement […]
Whitmer extends Michigan indoor dining ban, allows other businesses to reopen
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced relaxed coronavirus restrictions on Friday that will allow high schools to resume face-to-face classes and movie theaters, bowling alleys, and casinos to reopen Monday with limitations. Pointing to the continued drop in coronavirus cases, test positivity and COVID-19 hospital admissions, Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department […]
Michigan may have missed COVID Thanksgiving surge sweeping nation
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) Michigan appears to have passed its first big holiday coronavirus test. Travel fell substantially over Thanksgiving, following warnings to avoid large gatherings, and state health officials say a slow but steady decline in new coronavirus cases may indicate Michigan has missed a feared surge. “We’re holding our breath, biting our fingernails right […]
With Line 5 closure, a ‘game of chicken’ over how to heat Upper Peninsula
By Kelly House (Bridge) If the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline shuts down next spring, Michigan has a matter of months to find a new way to deliver propane to Upper Peninsula residents who collectively use tens of millions of gallons from the pipeline annually to heat their homes. But one month after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced […]
Lots of unknowns as Michigan hospitals await first COVID-19 vaccine shipments
Editors note: Pfizer was granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for its vaccine on Friday. by Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press (Bridge) The massive coronavirus vaccination effort to immunize Michigan’s roughly 600,000 health care workers — and eventually the entire population — is in high gear as Pfizer’s vaccine candidate undergoes a federal hearing Thursday […]
Michigan moves to limit ‘mandatory minimum’ sentences and license suspensions
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — Michigan lawmakers are nearing completion on a series of reforms to keep people out of jail by eliminating “mandatory minimum” sentences for some low-level crimes and limiting automatic driver’s license suspensions. House legislation approved by the Senate on Thursday would give judges discretion to shorten or suspend jail sentences […]
For COVID long-haulers, trouble lingers long after ‘recovery’
by Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press (Bridge) Gloria Vettese of Warren is haunted by the terror she felt in late March and early April, when she lay awake night after night, waiting and wondering whether COVID-19 would kill her and make her only child an orphan. She managed to survive the virus, and is […]
As COVID deaths rise again in Michigan, its victims are changing
by Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) As Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends a state “pause” on many school and business activities for 12 days, Michigan is moving through the deadliest phase of the coronavirus pandemic since April. The state has reported over 800 deaths in December alone, and more than 2,600 since Nov. 1, following five months of […]
At least 12 Michigan lawmakers and 37 staffers have had COVID-19
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — At least 12 state lawmakers and 37 staffers have contracted COVID-19 since March, according to Republican leaders in the Michigan Legislature, who have resisted Democratic calls to mandate mask use and allow remote voting at the Capitol. House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, released the numbers for the first time […]
‘It’s been hell.’ 1 house, 5 kids, and a pandemic struggle to learn at home
by Ron French (Bridge) In a log home on a dirt road in Montcalm County, school is supposed to be in session. Ten-year-olds Reese and cousin Lukas sit at desks in a hallway trying to sign in to the same Tri County Area Schools fourth-grade classroom on their laptops. Lukas’ connection works, while the connection […]
