Washington stepped in again this week to extend a ban on evictions during COVID. But the latest extension is confined to areas with “high or substantial” infection, a status that is likely to shift week to week, from one geographic area to another.

Decisions on whether masks will be required in classrooms this fall will be left up to local districts, despite CDC and state pleas for them to mask up.

Shelters emptied last year. Now one mid-Michigan shelter is near capacity. Officials say owners are having to give up their pets because they can’t afford them.

Michigan schools want the option of offering hybrid in-person and online learning for students who want it, but accounting rules may not allow it.

Job seekers can make almost as much at McDonald’s as they can working as a special education paraprofessional, making the vital but sometimes stressful jobs a tough sell for Michigan school districts.

Tuesday is the last day to register for sweepstakes. Michigan’s vaccination rate has moved 2 percent in two months since it was announced. Is that success? That depends on who is asking.

Yes, they can ask. They can even require shots. You can refuse. But don’t be surprised if you’re fired.

Wildfires consuming the west coast and Canada are troublesome and destructive, but they are also producing stunning panoramas through the hazy skies.

Colleges and universities had expected a normal return to campus this fall but the Delta variant of COVID-19 is scrambling their plans. Businesses like auto manufacturers also are adding mask mandates.

A federal study finds herds in Michigan and other states have virus antibodies in their blood. That’s more of an indication of its spread than cause for concern. The deer are doing just fine.

Natural populations of oil-degrading bacteria could help to clean up freshwater rivers and lakes after spills from pipelines and trains, but it’s not clear whether using bacteria could pose problems for the surrounding environment.

Not long ago, claims of cougar sightings were met with ridicule in Michigan. Now, some researchers believe the upper Great Lakes could be an important area for “cougar range expansion.”