Schools tried a bit of everything to keep students safe last year. Some of those efforts are being pared back now as schools and health officials learn more about what appears to help reduce COVID, and what doesn’t.

Supply shortages and fewer workers are stretching some of the largest companies in the state. But overall, most have returned — or burned past — 2019 sales totals for the second three months of the year.

“People are at their wits’ end” when they learn how the pandemic has impacted what refrigerators, washers or other products are available, and how soon the store can get them. Customer flexibility can speed the process.

The latest counties to mandate masks in schools are Wayne, Benzie, Leelanau, Emmet, Charlevoix, Otsego and Antrim.

Michigan’s largest insurers had waived patient cost-sharing for COVID testing and treatment as COVID tore through the state beginning last year. Now, with readily available vaccines, that financial help is about to stop.

As the delta variant continues to drive infection rates up, the vaccinated are seeing cases rise too. But health officials say the vast majority of those being hospitalized with serious illness have not been vaccinated.

Liza Estlund Olson, the acting director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency, has agreed to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee next month.

Sidney Powell and other attorneys who tried to overturn Michigan’s 2020 presidential election must pay legal fees, undergo training and will be referred to local jurisdictions for possible suspension or debarment investigations.

Parents against mask mandates in schools have grabbed most of the attention in school board meetings and protests. Now, parents who favor mask mandates to protect against COVID’s spread are organizing.

Federal unemployment benefits are expiring Sept. 4 in the state, ending payments worth about a combined $283 million to workers not eligible for Michigan’s regular unemployment program.

Ty Garbin of Hartland will spend up to 75 months in prison for his role in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Attorneys say the 25-year-old airplane mechanic is giving prosecutors an “inside account” of the plot and is expected to testify at trials for other militia members accused in the plot.

The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on Wednesday requested copies of communications between the White House and state Republican leaders.