Wildlife experts concerned about the spread of chronic wasting disease face off against more than a half-million deer hunters in Michigan. Money, as well as trophies, hang in the balance.
Michigan, like most states, will have to spend billions on aging water infrastructure. But cities like Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor and even tiny Manistee are already dipping their toes into innovative projects to keep surging stormwater at bay.
Severe storms have been a recurring disaster in basements across Detroit. The city’s drive to install rain gardens and other innovative infrastructure not only reduces flooding, but is far less expensive than adding more underground pipes
Whether it’s lead paint in older homes, airborne pollutants from factories, or the everyday stress of life on the margins, poor and minority communities in Michigan too often bear the brunt of environmental peril.
In the aftermath of two grisly deaths, some cities defend laws restricting pit bulls, even as a bill in Lansing would strip local governments from being able to ban specific breeds.
A national study finds rising death rates for midlife whites without a college education, even as mortality rates for other groups fall. So it is in Michigan, with stress and poor health leading to drug and alcohol overdoses and suicide.
Flint has seen roughly 30 percent of its blighted homes demolished since 2014, exceeding the city’s goals when it received federal funds to fight blight.
Medicaid expansion and innovative programs are giving more low-income Michigan children a shot at healthy dental care. But access still lags in some rural and urban areas, and impoverished adults continue to suffer from lack of preventative care after years of uncertain funding.
Concern over fluoride’s effect on the human body – and some anti-government sentiment – is forcing dentists and scientists to defend the longstanding practice of putting fluoride in water systems to improve dental health.
The state is on the front lines of detecting head injuries. Yet Bridge found that Michigan allows high school football teams anywhere from four to six times as much full-contact hitting at practices as states like Ohio, Alabama and Texas.
With new legislation on the horizon, advocates for expanded practice rights for highly trained nurses say the move would lower costs and improve access to health care, particularly in rural Michigan.
