Double Up Food Bucks program resumes $20 daily match for produce
by Nushrat Rahman (Bridge Michigan) Families who use Michigan’s Double Up Food Bucks program — which matches produce purchases for low-income shoppers — can now earn as much as $20 a day for fruits and vegetables at participating stores and markets, up from what was available for most of the year, because of additional state, […]
Tuition-free Michigan Reconnect program expands to 21 year olds. What to know
by Janelle D. James (Bridge Michigan) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week announced an expansion to the Michigan Reconnect program that pays for community college, lowering the minimum age from 25 to 21 years old. Applicants must lack a college degree, have lived in Michigan for at least one year and have a high-school or equivalency […]
In Michigan mental health crisis, a tug-of-war over too few social workers
by Robin Erb & Isabel Lohman (Bridge Michigan) MARQUETTE — Nearly two full years — 728 days, to be precise. That’s how long ago Pathways Community Mental Health, headquartered here in this Upper Peninsula city, posted its “help wanted” for a social worker in its Escanaba branch. Chad Hale shook his head last week, sitting at […]
56,000 Michigan kids could lose child care as federal COVID funding ends
by Isabel Lohman (Bridge Michigan) Thousands of Michigan families are expected to face a child care crisis beginning this weekend as federal funds for child care during the pandemic end on Saturday. More than 1,200 child care providers in the state are expected to close and 56,000 children could be left without child care services, […]
Lack of school counselors hobbles Michigan college enrollment efforts
by Ron French (bridge Michigan) Susy Talentino’s retirement isn’t going as she’d planned. The veteran high school counselor left Sault Ste Marie Public Schools in 2022, but is already back advising students. The district that presented her with a teal-bordered cake with the words “Enjoy retirement Susy” just a year ago asked her to come […]
Climate change is harming Michigan hunting and fishing, groups warn lawmakers
by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) LANSING—Climate change is threatening the future of Michigan’s forests, fish and wildlife, and Michigan must act now to bolster nature against a warming world. That was the message delivered to legislators Tuesday by a recently-formed coalition of hunting, fishing and conservation groups organized around their concern for how warming temperatures […]
Democrats seek to reverse Michigan’s ban-on-bans of plastic bags
by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) Michigan Democrats took a step forward Thursday in their quest to abolish a controversial “ban on bans” of plastic bags. A House committee heard testimony on a bill that aims to reverse a 2016 state law — passed when Republicans controlled the Legislature — that prevents local municipalities from restricting the […]
Michigan is ‘improving outcomes’ for early childhood health and education, report says
by Hannah Dellinger/Chalkbeat Detroit (Bridge Michigan) Michigan is improving its outcomes for early childhood education, well-being, and health, according to a national report released Wednesday. The annual report, by the nonpartisan research organization Zero to Three, details areas where Michigan performed better than national averages, such as the percentage of parents who read to their babies daily […]
Lawmakers revisit auto insurance law, seek higher payouts for crash victims
by Lauren Gibbons (Bridge Michigan) Michigan lawmakers this week introduced bills designed to expand medical care for victims of catastrophic car crashes who say their care was compromised by the state’s auto insurance overhaul four years ago. Crash survivors and their health providers have complained that 2019 changes to the state’s no fault insurance system […]
Michigan dairy farm housing: ‘Invisible’ workers suffer, state looks other way
by Yue Stella Yu (Bridge Michigan) For six years, Louise Esqueda corralled, fed and cared for cows and calves six days a week at a dairy farm in southern Michigan. When her workday ended, Esqueda returned to living quarters provided by her employer — a mobile home stacked atop a basement. When she arrived in summer 2016, […]
