Two Michigan educators work to keep new teachers in classrooms after COVID
By Isabel Lohman (Bridge Michigan) Michigan teachers Anthony Barnes and Brittney Tylenda want young teachers to stay and grow in their profession. Barnes, who is in his seventh year, teaches special education at Hillside Middle School in Kalamazoo. Tylenda, in her sixth year, teaches third grade in Manor Elementary at Monroe Public Schools. Along with […]
Firm: Michigan AG hopeful Matt DePerno fired over ‘padded,’ false billings
By Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) A Republican running to be Michigan’s top law enforcement official was fired from a law firm in 2005 after colleagues alleged he “padded” client billings for personal and professional benefit, according to court records reviewed by Bridge Michigan. Matt DePerno, an attorney general candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump, sued the […]
Michigan advances bills to ease return of retired teachers to classrooms
By Tracie Mauriello (Bridge Michigan) While culture wars fuel sharp partisan divisions on everything from how racism is discussed in schools to whether curricula should be posted online, Michigan lawmakers can agree on one thing: There is a critical shortage of substitute teachers that needs to be addressed immediately. The House and Senate education committees are trying. […]
Michigan redistricting commissioners reverse their own pay raise
By Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) Bowing to public and political backlash, Michigan redistricting commissioners on Thursday voted to rescind a pay raise they gave themselves in February after they had completed new congressional and legislative maps. The 13-member panel voted to restore their own pay to $55,755 per year, reversing an earlier 7 percent raise. Their salaries […]
Star witness: Whitmer kidnap plotters wanted ‘boogaloo’ war to stop Biden
By Jonathan Oosting Militia activists who plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hoped to start a second civil war before the 2020 presidential election and keep Joe Biden out of office, a former colleague testified Wednesday in federal court. Ty Garbin of Hartland — currently serving a 75-month sentence after pleading guilty to a kidnapping […]
West Michigan will be home to state’s 2nd massive EV battery factory
By Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) The state’s race to attract billions in new electric vehicle battery production leapt ahead last Tuesday as officials approved a round of incentives that will help fund a massive expansion of a West Michigan factory. LG Energy Solution plans to spend up to $1.7 billion on the project, adding 1.4 […]
Home-visit programs save money, free ERs. Many insurers don’t cover them.
By Ted Roelofs (Bridge Michigan) Paramedic Shannon Williams has become something like family to 80-year-old Grand Haven resident Leslie Toth. Over the past few years, Williams and a team of paramedics and nurses have steered Toth through a bout with COVID-19, urinary tract infections, fever and falling blood pressure, kidney stones and a case of […]
Advocates press Michigan for $25M to open 100 school health centers
By Isabel Lohman (Bridge Michigan) A group of school leaders and advocates is calling on Michigan to expand its school-based health clinics. Amid increasing concerns about mental health because of the pandemic, the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan wants $25 million in the upcoming fiscal year to establish 100 more school-based health centers. This request is larger […]
Dairy cows want to make Daylight Savings Time permanent. Does Michigan?
by Zahra Ahmad (Bridge Michigan) LANSING— Measures to make Daylight Savings Time year-round are getting bipartisan support from state and national legislators. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday last week unanimously approved a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. The bill came days after the nation turned its clocks forward one hour this week, and […]
Omicron sub-variant BA.2 cases creep up in Michigan; some fear another wave
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) A growing share of COVID-19 infections in Michigan now comes from the omicron sub-variant blamed for another wave of cases in western Europe, state officials told Bridge Michigan on Thursday. So far, there have been 99 cases of the omicron BA.2 sub-variant discovered in Detroit and 21 counties, state health […]
