Michigan businesses fear crippling staff shortages as omicron spreads
by Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Clay Verkaik came into work Monday morning knowing that 10 of his workers at Preferred Produce in Detroit would be out sick, just like they were at the end of last week. But as the hours ticked by, more called in ill. By the time he left work at 4 […]
Road salt threatens Michigan lakes and rivers. Can an alternative take hold?
By Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) Road salt is threatening the Great Lakes’ famous fresh waters and creating even bigger problems for the inland rivers, lakes and aquifers – not to mention your car’s undercarriage. But decades of experiments with other options, from beet- and corn-based deicers to sand and chemical mixes, have yet to yield […]
Michigan superintendent: With schools closing, let’s address teacher shortages
By Ron French (Bridge Michigan) A teacher shortage growing for years in Michigan has exploded in recent months, with some schools forced to temporarily close or switch to remote learning because of a lack of bodies to lead classrooms. Teachers who test positive or are exposed to COVID-19 are out of school for up to […]
Battle brewing among Michigan Democrats over new political maps
by Sergio Martínez-Beltrán (Bridge Michigan) LANSING—While some Michigan Democrats are celebrating new political maps that give them a real chance to flip both state legislative chambers, other members of the party — particularly Black members — have said those ‘rejoicing’ are putting politics over the interests of marginalized communities. “I don’t think that they see […]
Fearing more losses, Michigan restaurants hit pause as COVID strikes staff
By Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Exhaustion. Resources stretched thin, just like staffing. Uncertainty. Michigan’s restaurants fighting to get through the pandemic look back on nearly two years of disruption that, if they’ve survived, took them to the brink. Now they’re starting 2022 with not just more of the same: Thanks to record-high cases of coronavirus, their […]
Michigan nursing home staff shortage raises peril, adds to hospital woes
By Robin Erb, Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) MOUNT CLEMENS—The dining room at the Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility is empty these days. There is no one to staff it. A few doors down, veteran nurse Nora Kopek administers more than 400 COVID-19 tests a week to residents, staff, guests and vendors — no longer […]
School violence is rising. Michigan’s OK2SAY tipline can help
by Tracie Mauriello, Chalkbeat Detroit (Bridge Michigan) A Michigan student threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend at school. Another posted on social media that he planned to vandalize cars at the prom and would shoot any “snitches.” Police intervened in both cases before harm was done, thanks to the state’s confidential OK2SAY tipline, which logged 3,742 […]
$1B windfall fuels toxic cleanup of Great Lakes, but uphill battle looms
Kelly House, Michigan Environment Watch (Bridge Michigan) Bruce Yinger barely recognizes today’s Detroit River, its aquamarine depths teeming with perch, walleye and bass, as the lifeless waterway that carried the “dirty dishwater” of his youth. Back then, anglers like Yinger, a Wyandotte resident and member of the Downriver Bass Association, knew they should head to the […]
Michigan OKs electricity rate cut to attract automotive battery factories
By Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) Michigan’s two largest utility companies now can offer large-scale industrial customers lower rates, a move that proponents say will boost the state’s chances to attract billions of dollars in advanced manufacturing investments. Members of the Michigan Public Service Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve requests that DTE Energy and Consumers Energy made in […]
Michigan teacher: Kids are heroes but something is going to break
by Ron French (Bridge Michigan) It’s been a tough year for Ludington Area Schools’ fifth-grade teacher Ingrid Fournier. She sleeps more. She hikes more. She drinks more. Sometimes, she cries at the wheel of her Toyota RAV 4 as she drives to Foster Elementary in the morning, wondering how many children will be in class […]
