School mask mandates are declining across Michigan even as COVID cases rise to crazy levels. And with a surge in teachers and other staffers out sick, the state is taking a harder line on quarantines.

The redrawn redistricting maps give Democrats the first chance in a generation to flip the Michigan Legislature. But Black leaders say it could happen at the expense of electing Black candidates.

Some businesses are operating with as many as one-fifth fewer workers as the state battles a wave of the omicron variant, due to staff illness or quarantine after exposure.

Things were looking up, but the fast-spreading variant is filling hospitals again, especially in hard-hit southeast Michigan. The good news is omicron is mild for most.

The commission contended Blacks will get more political power by being spread out in multiple districts. Lawmakers disagree.

State officials say they’ve seen success using liquified salt on roadways, and could expand the practice to highways across Michigan. That would be good news for waterways plagued by salt pollution.

How two troubled young men tried to start a separatist compound — and what it says about the white-power movement in Michigan.

As we glide toward the end of 2021, Bridge Michigan reporters look back on the stories that best encapsulated a frenetic news year.

The year began with new vaccines and hopes for an end. It is ending with grim new threats and big questions about the future.

A nonprofit is raising foundations of shanties along the Leelanau Peninsula because of increased flooding and water levels from climate change.

Redistricting panel completes process that began in 2018 with constitutional amendment. But lawsuits over minority representation are likely.

Michigan’s two majority-Black congressional districts are eliminated. Eight of 14 incumbents would have to face off against each other or run in different districts.