Will COVID vaccines protect Michigan from the omicron variant?
by Robin Erb, Ted Roelofs (Bridge Michigan) As Michiganders tucked into turkey or cheered football last week, a new coronavirus variant sent shudders through the science and health communities around the globe. The World Health Organization Friday classified the omicron variant as a “variant of concern,” because of several mutations that may make it more transmissible than earlier […]
U.S. military medical teams to aid Michigan as COVID swamps hospitals
By Robin Erb, Jonathan Oosting, and Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) The Biden administration will send military help to two Michigan hospital systems, after the state asked for assistance amid surging COVID cases, overwhelmed emergency rooms and chronic staff shortages. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration said Wednesday the U.S. Department of Defense will deploy two medical teams […]
Holiday sales could set records. Michigan’s ‘makers’ want a piece of it.
By Paula Gardner (Bridge Michigan) After twisting a piece of metal in the heat of a blue flame, James Race grabs a hammer and shapes it into what he fully believes will represent his future. Holiday sales of his custom ironworks will tell him if he’s right. Race, a self-taught blacksmith, learned his craft over […]
Big-spending Rinke joins 11 other Republicans in bid for Michigan governor
by Jonathan Oosting (Bridge Michigan) LANSING — Bloomfield Hills businessman Kevin Rinke is running for governor, he confirmed November 22, joining a crowded field of Republicans seeking to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022. Rinke is the 12th candidate to declare ahead of next year’s August primary, and while he is not the most […]
Nessel: Michigan redistricting panel must release memos; panel doubles down, won’t budge on secret memos
by Sergio Martínez-Beltrán (Bridge Michigan) LANSING— Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Monday that the state’s redistricting panel “must” disclose two voting rights memos used to draw districts in Detroit. In a 14-page legal opinion, Nessel also wrote that a closed-door meeting among redistricting commissioners on Oct. 27 about the memos “should have been held […]
Michigan wildlife official cries wolf. Gray wolf advocates want him gone.
by Kelly House (Bridge Michigan) If a dog disappears from a U.P. porch and nobody finds a body, is it fair to claim wolves killed it? That’s the question at the center of the latest volley in Michigan’s wolf wars, after a member of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission this month resurfaced a decade-old case […]
COVID school outbreaks skyrocket; more Michigan schools close
by Ron French (Bridge Michigan) Nearly three dozen Michigan school districts have shuttered classrooms early in what was already a short holiday week, in hopes that a longer Thanksgiving break will tamp down COVID outbreaks and relieve staff shortages. The closures come as COVID-19 outbreaks and infections in Michigan schools rise sharply. There were 140 […]
5 million Michiganders are vaccinated and COVID is surging. Here’s why
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) A year ago, Michigan was averaging nearly 7,000 new COVID-19 cases a day and more than 3,700 people were hospitalized with the disease. “We are in the worst moment of this pandemic to date,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Nov. 15, 2020, before ordering sweeping restrictions in an attempt to stem […]
Child care as economic development? You bet. $1.4B in aid coming to Michigan
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge Michigan) CHARLOTTE — Public policy advocates have argued for years that Michigan should do more to help provide child care to allow more people to work. That equation is clear in Eaton County, where workers have found fewer choices as they scramble to find safe, affordable child care that would allow […]
COVID testing is critical in Michigan. But how soon is too soon?
By Robin Erb (Bridge Michigan) With holidays approaching and Michigan’s COVID infection rate soaring, there are plenty of reasons for all kinds of folks to get tested for the virus. So it’s important to do it right. But too often, doctors and health workers say, people are doing COVID testing wrong. They’re testing too early […]
