Blue-collar suicides focus of state prevention effort
by Jack Timothy Harrison, Capital News Service (Bridge Michigan) LANSING– Mental health problems, especially suicides, are significantly higher among blue-collar workers compared with other occupations, according to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Sean Egan, the department’s deputy director for labor, said at least eight of the 10 occupations where the suicide rate is […]
Michigan loses 14K people a year to other states. It could be worse (and has)
by Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) Michigan has lost the equivalent of a standing-room only crowd at the Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park, 43,200 people, to other states since 2020, recent Census data shows. Believe it or not, that’s relatively good news. The rate of migration to other states appears to be slowing, down to about 14,000 […]
Michigan Democrats seek to codify LGBTQ civil-rights protections
by Yue Stella Yu (Bridge Michigan) LANSING — Katie Kilpatrick says she remembers perking up her ears when she was getting ready for her daughter’s fifth-grade camp. “I am transgender,” Kilpatrick’s daughter had just told a male classmate. “I feel like a girl on the inside, but I have parts like a boy on the […]
Michigan plastics company forced to probe PFAS contamination, cover costs
by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) Michigan has reached a settlement with a multinational plastics manufacturer over PFAS contamination at a Brighton factory, marking the first of Attorney General Dana Nessel’s PFAS lawsuits to reach a conclusion. Nessel announced the settlement Monday with plastics manufacturer Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. over contamination at its former […]
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 […]
