Is Michigan’s Trump-fighting attorney general politicizing the office or saving Michiganders?
by Lauren Gibbons (Bridge Michigan) Six years into her tenure as Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel has found herself back where she started — at the center of a flurry of lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s executive actions and policy priorities. Nessel ran and won in 2018 on a progressive policy slate and quickly developed […]
Six ways Michigan’s Dana Nessel is challenging Donald Trump’s agenda
by Lauren Gibbons (Bridge Michigan) In the two months since Republican President Donald Trump started his second term, Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed or joined six multistate lawsuits against his administration. The challenges take aim at Trump’s stated goal to reduce government costs and several have resulted in court-ordered pauses or reversals […]
Amid China fears, GOP seeks to bar some nonresidents from buying Michigan land
by Simon D. Schuster (Bridge Michigan) Some Michigan Republicans want to block residents of “countries of concern” from buying property in broad swaths of the state to prevent “foreign adversaries” from infiltrating the United States. The package of bills would target people and entities from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela. Any […]
Michigan sheriffs: We’re too overwhelmed to help ICE round up immigrants
by Victor Wooddell, Capital News Service (Bridge Michigan) LANSING – For many sheriff’s departments in Michigan, enforcing federal civil immigration laws is beyond their legal authority, though they remain willing to assist federal agencies in many cases, officials say. According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website, while arrests nationally were down in 2024, […]
Groups fight to preserve future of Michigan’s indigenous wild rice
by Jena Brooker (Bridge Michigan) An origin story, a teacher of life, a relative, and a source of crucial nutrition, manoomin now has a new protector. Once covering much of Michigan’s inland lakes and streams, the wild rice (also known as mnoomin or mnomen) is indigenous to the Great Lakes region but has largely disappeared […]
What the end of the Department of Education means for Michigan
by Isabel Lohman & Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at further dismantling the US Department of Education, continuing a campaign promise to return education governance to the states. In the order, Trump directs the Secretary of Education to take steps toward closing the department, which has a $268 billion […]
‘Fear, anxiety’ for Michigan Ukrainian refugees as Trump considers deportation
by Lauren Gibbons (Bridge Michigan) Thousands of Ukrainians who relocated to Michigan after fleeing from war and violence in their home country are now bracing for the possibility of removal from the United States. Last week, Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration would revoke the legal status of 240,000 Ukrainians currently living in the country under […]
Green Book in Michigan: Inside the mission to preserve Black travel sites
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) WOODLAND PARK, Newaygo County — Locals call it the “four corners.” Travelers driving through the quiet spot near Woodland Lake 40 miles north of Grand Rapids may see few signs that, a century ago, the rural crossroads was the hub of one of Michigan’s most popular Black resorts. But the […]
Great Lakes formed a lot earlier than previously thought, study concludes
by Lisa John Rogers (Great Lakes Now, for Bridge Michigan) It is widely known by lovers of the Great Lakes that their unique shape was caused by glaciers melting and receding northward. That was approximately 20,000 years ago. However, new research published in Geophysical Research Letters suggests these treasured lakes started forming hundreds of millions of years ago, long before, by […]
Whitmer vape tax plan would ban most flavors as ‘contraband’
by Jordyn Hermani (Bridge Michigan) The majority of vaping products in Michigan could be seized as contraband if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s effort to tax vaping products similar to cigarettes takes effect as currently proposed. The plan is meant to “curb usage and protect public health” by extending Michigan’s 32% wholesale tax on tobacco products to […]
