Michigan businesses with hourly workers fret over continued pay hikes
By Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Teenagers not yet old enough to drive now earn $14 per hour in many of the nine mid-Michigan McDonald’s restaurants owned by Shawn Saputo. That 40% pay jump from roughly $10 per hour three years ago is a sign of inflation and a dearth of available workers in the quick-service […]
Deaths prompt transparency push for Michigan’s Children’s Protective Services
by Jenelle D. James (Bridge Michigan) The deaths of three children within days of each other have increased calls to expand access to Children’s Protective Services records in Michigan, but the effort faces plenty of hurdles. Sen. Jim Runestad R-White Lake, this week introduced a bill that would allow the media and legislators access to the records, […]
Robust jobs market in January suggests economy not ‘cooling’ as predicted
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) News that a half million new jobs were added to the U.S. economy in January jolted economists on Friday, leading experts to wonder what is next for the nation’s monetary policy as inflation remains high. The robust number of new jobs — 517,000, or nearly three times what had been predicted — […]
College enrollments stay down in Michigan. Blame paychecks and the pandemic?
by Mike Wilkinson & Isabel Lohman(Bridge Michigan) College enrollment by last year’s high school graduates is still well below pre-pandemic levels, as 52.8% of the class of 2022 went to college within the six months of graduation, data released Thursday shows. That’s down from an average of 62.9% in the three years preceding the COVID-19 […]
Road salt, a stealthy pollutant, is damaging Michigan waters
by Brett Walton, Circle of Blue (Bridge Michigan) In a dim hangar outside of Traverse City, towering piles of white crystals cast a glow in the twilight. Salts like those stored at the Grand Traverse County Road Commission maintenance facility keep Michigan roads, parking lots, and sidewalks clear of ice in the winter, a prudent […]
Minimum wage increase set for February blocked by Michigan court
by Paula Gardner & Lauren Gibbons (Bridge Michigan) A panel of Michigan judges on Thursday overturned a lower court’s ruling that would have raised Michigan’s minimum wage rise to $13.03 an hour and increased the tipped minimum wage to $11.73 an hour next month. The Michigan Court of Appeals decision, which took effect immediately, determined […]
Michigan parks need more summer workers to help with spike in visitors
by Jenelle D. James (Bridge Michigan) Registration for state parks is steadily increasing and Michiganders are encouraged to make reservations early to secure their spot, experts told Bridge In 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Michigan’s state parks had about 28 million visitors, according to Ron Olson, chief of parks and recreation for […]
Gretchen Whitmer on guns: ‘The time for only thoughts and prayers is over.’
by Yue Stella Yu (Bridge Michigan) Michigan lawmakers should prioritize “common sense” gun reform measures to curb gun violence in the state, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday night. During her first in-person State of the State address since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Michigan in 2020, Whitmer urged lawmakers Wednesday to tighten gun regulations — […]
Michigan tries to lure tech workers after layoffs at Google, other giants
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Waves of recent layoffs at some of the nation’s largest tech employers are leaving tens of thousands of highly skilled workers without jobs, but also raises the question: Can Michigan attract them to fill openings here? Business leaders in the state who for years watched the state lose college graduates […]
Report aims to prepare Great Lakes states for effects of climate change
Lester Graham, Michigan Radio (for Bridge Michigan) Climate change contributed to the rapid rise in Great Lakes water levels a few years ago. Combined with more frequent and intense storms — also caused by climate change — they caused record flooding in 2017 and 2019 in some parts of the Great Lakes region. Homes and […]
