Seeking a cure: The quest to save the Midwest’s rural hospitals
by Jennifer Hemmingsen for IowaWatch, (via Bridge) Small rural Midwest community hospitals, squeezed by financial and regulatory pressures, are scaling back on services, merging with larger hospital systems and searching for other creative ways to survive in the short term, an Institute for Nonprofit News investigation by 12 news organizations in seven states revealed. Rural […]
Preparing Michigan cities, health systems for more ransomware attacks
by Ted Roelofs (Bridge) About an hour before dawn in April 2016, a Lansing utility worker opened an email and clicked on a link. In an instant, that set loose a computer virus that locked out the Lansing Board of Water & Light accounting and e-mail networks and closed customer helpline phones for two weeks. […]
Michigan counselors fighting ban on right to diagnose, give psychotherapy
by Ted Roelofs (Bridge) In a dozen years of counseling in suburban Detroit, Anahid Derbabian has helped clients navigate everything from depression to suicidal thoughts, grief over the loss of a spouse or a job, and a range of marital issues. “My work is extremely important to me – life and death important,” Derbabian said […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 5 big asks for new Michigan budget talks
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has plans for roughly one-third of the $947 million she vetoed from Republican budgets this week and is proposing additional spending on parolee monitoring tethers, literacy coaches, and a skilled-trades job retraining program for adults. The first-term Democrat is looking to restart bipartisan negotiations after an unprecedented […]
Michigan’s ban on flavored vaping products with nicotine now in full force
by Robin Erb (Bridge) A judge has refused to place Michigan’s ban on flavored vaping products on hold, leaving in place rules that make it a misdemeanor to sell such products starting at 12:01 a.m. last Wednesday. Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens of Michigan’s Court of Claims instead continued a hearing into the request by a […]
Besieged Michigan farmers back new trade pact with Canada and Mexico
by Jim Malewitz (Bridge) LANSING — Michigan farmers are calling on Congress to swiftly pass a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, saying it could provide partial relief from low prices, a trade war with China and heavy rains that kept crops out of the ground this spring. “It’s huge to our futures in […]
Talk about Pure Michigan: Outdoor pursuits generate $10B, report says
by Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) Outdoor recreation contributes $10 billion annually to Michigan’s economy, according to new data that confirm the importance of the industry that is spurring growing jobs, talent and spending from Monroe to Marquette. The data, released last week from the federal government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, shows that Michigan’s boating industry is the […]
Michigan government won’t shut down, state tells workers
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — Michigan government will not shut down next week, the budget office and department directors said late Friday in a memo to state employees telling them to plan to report to work as usual Tuesday morning. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has until the end of Monday to decide the fate of […]
Michigan law limiting ballot drives unconstitutional, court rules
by Riley Beggin (Bridge) Multiple provisions of a lame-duck law that makes it harder for groups to get a citizen initiative on the ballot are unconstitutional, a Court of Claims judge ruled Friday. The law places a 15 percent cap on the number of signatures ballot petitioners can gather in any one of the state’s […]
Judge slams Dana Nessel in gay adoption case for ‘targeted attack’ on religion
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily suspended Michigan’s new gay-friendly adoption policy and accused Attorney General Dana Nessel of “a targeted attack on a sincerely held religious belief.” U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jonker also denied most elements of the state’s motion to dismiss the highly-charged case, allowing the […]
