Michigan’s morel mushroom season: Where to find them and how to identify them
by Janelle D. James (Bridge Michigan) People in Michigan should soon be able to collect prized morel mushrooms as foraging season begins. Morels, known for their distinctive pitted, honeycomb-like caps, begin to appear in late spring through the beginning of summer. Morel mushroom foraging season lasts long, beginning in mid-April and continuing through mid-June. Hunters in southern […]
EPA sets first limits on PFAS in drinking water, drawing praise in Michigan
by Janelle D. James (Bridge Michigan) The Environmental Protection Agency set the first-ever national standards limiting PFAS contaminants in drinking water on Wednesday. The move drew immediate praise from officials in Michigan, which was one of the first states to regulate the compounds. The federal agency proposed standards over a year ago that would require […]
Michigan schools hired 874 mental health staffers — under program set to end
by Isabel Lohman (Bridge Michigan) Distance learning. Disrupted routines. Death of loved ones. Such were the realities for students in 2021 when Michigan lawmakers approved a $240 million program to help schools hire more counselors, social workers, psychologists and nurses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. New data obtained by Bridge Michigan shows schools across the state […]
New study: Great Lakes beaches are littered with plastic trash
by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) In news unlikely to surprise Great Lakes beachgoers, plastic litter is a large and growing problem in the lakes. A new report from the Alliance for the Great Lakes adds a new data point to the growing body of evidence that America’s plastic addiction and waste-disposal habits are polluting our land […]
Whitmer under fire for ‘intentional attack’ on Michigan government watchdog
by Jordyn Hermani (Bridge Michigan) LANSING — A government watchdog responsible for auditing state departments and programs is staring down a potential $8.3 million cut, and the head of that agency has one question: Why? Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office is not saying why her budget proposes to slash funding to Auditor General Doug Ringler’s office, […]
Lakeside isn’t dead. It’s awaiting a $1B rebirth. Can Michigan malls follow?
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Signs of life still exist at Lakeside Mall, but visitors to one of Michigan’s metro Detroit’s largest indoor malls have to walk past dozens of closed and gated stores to find them. The signature center-court glass elevator is out of service. Shelves are half-stocked in Macy’s home department. Cinnabon, which is […]
Dead wolf mystery in south Michigan deepens, prompts criminal probe
by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) Michigan officials have opened a criminal probe after an endangered wolf wound up dead in southern Michigan, 300 miles from its known habitat, killed by a hunter who says he thought it was a coyote. Lt. Andrew Turner, a district supervisor for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement […]
Bird flu found in hens at Michigan’s top egg producer
by Janelle D. James (Bridge Michigan) The highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, was detected in poultry at Michigan’s top egg producer, Herbruck’s. The infected flock was found at the company’s Green Meadow Organics facility in Ionia County. This is the fourth case of avian influenza in a commercial facility since the disease was first detected in […]
In traveling RV, Michigan nurse tries to undo opioid damage she helped cause
by Robin Erb (Bridge Michigan) WIXOM — Jordana Latozas could offer an excuse for her part in Michigan’s deadly drug crisis. She will not. She doesn’t even flinch. “Did I contribute? Absolutely,” said Latozas, a nurse practitioner who prescribed countless pain pills more than a decade ago — a time when patients walked away with […]
Wolf killed in southern Michigan is first sighting in more than 100 years
by Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) Wildlife officials confirmed Wednesday the killing of a gray wolf in southern Michigan, hundreds of miles from the state’s only known wolf population in the Upper Peninsula. A hunter killed the wolf in January in Calhoun County, believing it to be a coyote, according to the Michigan Department of Natural […]
