Government programs should create an equitable playing field for business owners and entrepreneurs, Felix Kabo said of racial disparities his research team found in Paycheck Protection Program loans amid COVID.

Michigan is unique among states in giving broad powers to one-judge grand juries that operate behind closed and can keep evidence from defendants. Snyder is due back in court Tuesday and still doesn’t know the evidence against him.

Workers in this small town said they followed safety protocols, only to see their beloved city manager succumb to the virus. The four infections underscore the risks faced by election officials as they worked through a pandemic.

Emergency pandemic funding for small businesses expands this week, as PPP options broaden and state grant programs launch.

The pandemic likely will increase achievement gaps. Michigan education advocates say schools need to start planning now for how to help struggling students, including more money for tutoring and summer school, priorities that align with the incoming Biden administration.

Washtenaw County prosecutor Eli Savit said the policy was not fair to low-income criminal suspects forced to sit in jails while awaiting trial while more affluent defendants were set free. Jurisdictions that jettisoned cash bail in other states report promising results, though not everyone is on board.

Halfway into the school year, Michigan students are failing classes at higher rates, concerning educators who say it’s more evidence of the coronavirus’s disruption of learning.

Michigan is still down 435,000 jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but personal income is up and online sales have exploded largely following two rounds of federal stimulus checks.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has activated National Guard assistance and state police are mobilizing troopers in an effort to avoid a repeat of the U.S. Capitol siege.

Under a Snyder-era reform following the Flint water crisis, Michigan utilities must begin switching out lead service lines this month, part of a 20-year project. But some already are seeking extensions and some cash-strapped cities are reluctant to have vulnerable ratepayers shoulder the burden.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who helped uncover the Flint water crisis, said Michigan’s lead service line replacement program is a major stride toward reducing lead exposure. But Michigan residents need not wait to start protecting themselves from lead-tainted water.

The federal appropriations bill for the 2021 fiscal year, signed into law this week, included $26.5 million to test for lead in schools and child care centers, a nod to the legacy of the Flint water crisis, which lifted the issue of lead in drinking water into the national spotlight.