Michigan Senate passes training bill aimed at reducing police brutality
by Riley Beggin (Bridge) The Michigan Senate unanimously passed legislation that would mandate anti-bias training, de-escalation training and ongoing mental health services for police officers Thursday, as nationwide protests against police brutality continue nationwide. “This is only one step towards the greater justice and freedom that our residents are calling for,” said bill sponsor Sen. Jeff Irwin, […]
Michigan freezes 340k unemployment accounts amid fraud probe and pandemic
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — The state of Michigan has frozen 340,000 unemployment accounts, blocking cash assistance for jobless residents while it investigates suspected fraud by imposters seeking to take advantage of enhanced benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Friday. The state has already identified a “significant amount of fraud” in new applications, […]
What Whitmer’s new coronavirus order means for summer plans
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) Sign up the kids for day camp, stretch out your spandex for an outdoor fitness class, invite 99 of your closest friends to a cookout and feel the freedom of leaving home without fear of violating government orders. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday lifted her stay-at-home order and announced plans […]
How weak regulations failed to prevent catastrophe at notorious Midland dam
by Kelly House, Riley Beggin (Bridge) Over nearly three decades and several owners, government regulators warned the Edenville Dam near Midland was at risk of failing in a flood, with dire consequences for downstream communities. But the 96-year-old dam’s structural deficiencies were never corrected before it and the downstream Sanford Dam failed last week following heavy […]
Pain, strength and agitation underlie Detroit protests against police brutality
by Louis Aguilar (Bridge) The death of George Floyd, the beating of Sha’Teina Grady El in Washtenaw County, mass incarceration, and rampant coronavirus infection in prisons brought thousands to Detroit on Friday evening to underscore the value of black life and protest police brutality. Throughout the night and early Saturday morning, the heart of Detroit […]
Michigan continues to stumble in tracking coronavirus in nursing homes
by Robin Erb, Jonathan Oosting, Ted Roelofs (Bridge) A confusing and incomplete picture of COVID-19 deaths in Michigan nursing homes emerged Friday after the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services listed — for the first time — the total number of nursing home coronavirus cases by county and nursing home. According to numbers posted to the […]
Michigan stores can reopen. It’s unclear how many shoppers will follow.
by Paula Gardner (Bridge) Hours after Von Maur reopened to customers on Tuesday, several shoppers had already made their way to the Grand Rapids department store. Spring/summer merchandise was fully stocked, and additional cleaning had been done. A leaner staff, about eight employees, was there to help anyone who came in on the new appointment […]
Wanted: Michigan blood samples — lots of them — in fight against COVID-19
by Robin Erb (Bridge) ANN ARBOR — The secrets of COVID-19 — why it kills some and goes unnoticed in others, how it spreads, and even how to stop it once and for all — may lie deep in liquid nitrogen in this basement laboratory of the University of Michigan’s Central Repository. Already stocked with more […]
Michigan stores are reopening. Masks are required. Who’ll enforce it?
by Paula Gardner (Bridge) When Twelve Oaks Mall opens Thursday for the first time since late March, differences will be visible at the Novi shopping center. There won’t be seating in the food court. Maybe one-third of the stores will be ready for customers. And shoppers will be told to wear face masks. “We will […]
Michigan should have protected public from unsafe Edenville Dam, experts say
by Riley Beggin (Bridge) When the Edenville Dam failed this month, sending a torrent of water into Midland, Michigan officials were waiting for an overdue report to prove a dam deemed dangerous for decades didn’t meet state standards. Michigan officials say they had no choice because they started at “ground zero” after inheriting oversight of […]
