Graying populations in regions across Michigan can benefit from grassroots membership networks that help with rides, nursing visits, and other challenges for older residents who want to remain independent.

Once a dominant fuel in Michigan, coal-fired power is fading fast, with major implications for air quality and the communities that rely on them for jobs. A squabble over a proposed $1 billion natural gas plant in St. Clair County illustrates a broader debate about what comes next.

This year, Bridge honors school districts where students grow the most from third to eighth grade. The new measure comes from groundbreaking research that tips conventional wisdom on its head.

Use this database to search growth from third to eighth grades, and compare districts compare with their neighbors and ones with similar socioeconomics statewide in Michigan.

Use this slideshow to see where students in school districts with more than 4,000 students grew the most from third to eighth grade

Use this slideshow to see where students in school districts with 1,300 to 4,000 students grew the most from third to eighth grade

Use this slideshow to see where students in school districts with less than 1,300 students grew the most from third to eighth grade.

Just because the Detroit City Council isn’t a laughingstock doesn’t mean its members are a rubber stamp for the mayor, Brenda Jones insists.

Powerful Sen. Tom Casperson wants to give industry the power to override decisions from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which he says pushes a “radical left-wing agenda.”

Michigan has hundreds of thousands of lead water lines. The term-limited governor is proposing new fees to fix them.

John Engler called rape and harassment claims by women prisoners “baseless” and “without merit” when he was Michigan goveronor. He was wrong. The state eventually paid $100 million to more than 500 women assaulted by male prison guards. Engler was named interim president of Michigan State in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal.

If K-12 achievement in Michigan were a trendline, it is clearly pointing the wrong direction. By just about any measuring stick, the state is losing the race to educational excellence.