On Easter weekend, Detroit churches mourn the COVID-19 dead from afar
by Martina Guzmán (Bridge) DETROIT — The Rev. Charles C. Adams is almost at a loss. The leader of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church begins each day making phone calls, trying to tend to a congregation ravaged by death. In the past month, nine church members have died from the coronavirus. And while doctors and nurses […]
Half of Michigan school children will get coronavirus food cash
by Ron French (Bridge) Half of Michigan families with children in K-12 schools will receive extra cash for food through June, as part of the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The program, announced Thursday, will send EBT cards (used like debit cards) to families with students who are eligible for free or reduced price […]
Ascension doctor becomes 7th Michigan health care worker to die of coronavirus
by Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press (Bridge) Seven health care workers in southeast Michigan have now died from complications of the coronavirus, including a doctor at Ascension Macomb Hospital who graduated from Wayne State University. Research by the Free Press and Bridge Magazine finds that workers in hospitals, a nursing home and a foster care […]
GOP, merchants upset Michigan’s stay-home order is tougher than other states
by Mike Wilkinson, Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s expansion and extension of her “stay-home” order is prompting anger over its economic impact and calls by some municipal leaders to reject parts of it. Whitmer’s Thursday order is more sweeping than those in other states, barring the sale of paint or plants at stores, lawn services, […]
Trump’s coronavirus ‘miracle drug’ has believers. Here’s what you should know.
by Brie Zeltner (Bridge) On the day that Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, was tested for the novel coronavirus, she was so sick she thought she might die. Whitsett had been ill for weeks, but up until that day, March 31, she’d been coping at home with a headache, cold-like symptoms and frequent sweats. […]
When Michigan unemployment, stimulus checks, and $600 CARES money will arrive
by Paula Gardner (Bridge) As Michigan logs its third straight week of record jobless claims, the surge coincides with new state and federal safety nets, offering hope for some replacement of evaporating paychecks. More than 800,000 Michigan residents had filed initial unemployment claims since March 21, just days before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered non-essential businesses to close. […]
Michigan’s coronavirus dilemma: how to protect prisoners and public
by Ted Roelofs (Bridge) With 38,000 inmates jammed into 29 Michigan prisons and coronavirus spreading like wildfire in some of the facilities, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer floated an idea Monday: Why not release some vulnerable and non-violent prisoners to ease the crowding conditions that spread COVID-19? Advocates for prison reform argue that thousands of inmates could […]
Inside Michigan hospitals, a ‘crushingly hard’ week in coronavirus fight
by Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press; Robin Erb (Bridge) In the worst week yet in the coronavirus pandemic for southeastern Michigan, when the death toll climbed to 540 statewide and 14,225 were sickened by the virus, health care workers shared their stories of courage, fear and despair. They talked about the anguish of going […]
Michigan’s COVID-19 death toll is undercounted. So some want to test the dead.
by Robin Erb (Bridge) As the coronavirus death toll climbs in Michigan — 540 as of Saturday — another grim number will never be known: The dead who go uncounted as casualties of the worst pandemic in a century. “I don’t know if our fatalities would be twice as many or 10 times as high, […]
Coronavirus Q&A: Advice from employment lawyer Deborah Gordon
by Bridge Staff WORK ANSWERS Q: I work for an essential business staying open during this pandemic, but I am in a high-risk population for COVID-19. Am I allowed to leave my job and collect unemployment? Answered by Deborah Gordon, civil rights and employment attorney, Deborah Gordon Law: You may qualify under the expanded unemployment […]
