Higher mortgage costs cool home sales as Fed sends interest rate higher
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) The Federal Reserve on Wednesday met widespread expectations by accelerating its inflation-fighting tool: Raising interest rates on the money banks loan each other. The benchmark federal funds rate will increase by 0.75 percentage points, with increases totaling 3 percentage points this year, taking it to its highest level since 2008. The increase followed a […]
Michigan’s rural school districts plead for more bus and broadband funding
by Tracie Mauriello & Koby Levin, Chalkbeat (Bridge Michigan) Tom McKee was an 11th grader in rural Michigan when a “grow your own” teacher training program sold him on a career in education. Even so, McKee might have not imagined that he would one day go on to work as a superintendent, athletic director, and bus driver […]
Culture wars divide Michigan schools. How many rights should parents have?
by Yue Stella Yu and Isabel Lohman, (Bridge Michigan) TAYLOR — The Moms for Liberty Wayne County chapter meeting at the American Legion hall began with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance before moving on to the main order of business: Learning how to search public school library databases for books with sexual content. […]
Report: COVID forced 500k workers from workforce; thousands from Michigan
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Until September, understanding who left the U.S. workforce during the pandemic was gleaned from federal labor data and other analyses, including talking to workers and employers. But a new national study examining what happened to workers who had to take at least a week off of work due to the virus quantifies […]
Michigan bill intended to shorten ER waits for youth in mental health crisis
by Robin Erb (Bridge Michigan) Michigan’s threadbare mental health system faces problems that are daunting and complicated, but a new bill in the state House is intended to speed up the decision on whether a patient in crisis should be hospitalized, its sponsor said. The measure follows years in which, particularly during the COVID pandemic, […]
Amazon hits brakes on 5 Michigan facilities as U.S. online shopping slows
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Amazon opened a $150 million regional fulfillment center southeast of Grand Rapids in March 2020, as the start of the COVID pandemic propelled staggering growth for retail delivery across the United State. The 850,000-square-foot building in Gaines Township, about four miles from the Gerald Ford International Airport, generated enough activity to employ 1,000 […]
Michigan farmers using too much fertilizer, hurting water quality efforts
by Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue (for Bridge Michigan) Third of a six-part series. Read the first story here. ADRIAN, Mich. – Tom Van Wagner has a vision for what’s possible in Lenawee County for choking off phosphorus discharges from farm fields. A career specialist in soils and forestry health, most of it with the Natural […]
Eastern Michigan University, faculty union reach deal to end strike
by Isabel Lohman (Bridge Michigan) Eastern Michigan University and the school’s faculty union have reached a tentative agreement that means faculty were back in the classroom Monday teaching courses. The EMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors’ contract with the university expired at the end of August and members had voted to strike […]
Abortion ballot measure: What Proposal 3 would do in Michigan
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) LANSING — Michigan voters will decide the future of legal access to abortion in the state when they decide Proposal 3 on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. A “yes” vote would write a broad new right to “reproductive freedom” into the Michigan Constitution, invaliding a 1931 abortion ban and potentially other existing regulations. […]
Michigan spent $2.5M to be a rocket hub. Critics say it’s produced only hype
by Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) Political and business leaders were over the moon when the idea of bringing rockets to Michigan gained state support in 2019. They were dazzled by the prospect of thousands of new, high-tech, well-paying jobs at potential launch sites supporting what could become a trillion-dollar commercial space industry. “This is a […]
