Michigan’s two health care giants have partnered, and that could mean big savings for the new system. The question is whether savings will be passed to the consumer. Recent studies give reason to be skeptical.

A law already allows bus drivers to serve as substitute teachers. Now, lawmakers are considering allowing uncertified education majors to teach for a full year. ‘We need to do something,’ sponsor says.

Bobcats nearly vanished after the logging boom of the 1880s. Now that populations are rebounding, the state is proposing to allow hunting and trapping in the southern Lower Peninsula.

Whitmer exploited a loophole in state law that allowed donors to exceed individual limits when a governor faced a recall. After the attorney general suggested she give up the money, Whitmer gave it to her state party.

Popularity of outdoor activities hasn’t abated since the pandemic. State officials say sites such as Grand Haven, Ludington and Young state parks generally sell out.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office said the agency is assisting state and local police following allegations that the former Michigan House speaker sexually assaulted a then-underage student at the Christian school where he taught.

State lawmakers have proposed spending close to $1 billion in federal COVID stimulus funds to help state and local parks upgrade deteriorated facilities. With record crowds during the pandemic, park officials want Lansing to step up plans to put that money to work.

The proposal would undo most of the proposals under a Republican-led ballot initiative that also could go before voters.

Cooperatives aren’t common, but they are a way to increase business ownership. In southwest Detroit, six of them are growing and advocates hope dozens follow them.

The pandemic turbocharged a problem years in the making: Michigan is aging faster than the nation as a whole and newcomers aren’t replacing old-timers. That’s not a recipe for a winning economy.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative Republicans seem to be fully on board with repealing the unpopular, Snyder-era take on retirement income. But the GOP is also pushing across-the-board cuts, which critics call short-sighted.

Bridge readers told us they want more Lansing coverage. So we’ve added a third Capitol reporter and new education and general news reporters.