Education
Rep. John Fizgerald, D-Wyoming

Legislation would require state-funded defibrillators at high school athletic events

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DEFIBRILLATORS: Pending legislation would require all public and charter schools to have cardiac emergency plans and all coaching staff to be trained to use computerized defibrillators called automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. A Detroit high school basketball player died of cardiac arrest. Sponsors include lawmakers from Detroit and Wyoming. Supporters include the Michigan High School Athletic Association, Detroit Lions, state Education Department and Michigan State Medical Society. For news and sports sections. By Sophia Ceru. FOR DETROIT, GREENVILLE, WKTV AND ALL POINTS.

Environment
Algal blooms highlight the natural beauty of Lake St. Clair and its canals

An underappreciated lake that’s great

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MICHIGAN’S VENICE: Lake St. Clair is an unappreciated level and a great lake in its own right, according to a new book on its history and culture. It’s a major game fishing destination and a site where environmental remediation continues. We talk to the author of the federally-designated Area of Concern covering the Clinton River. For News and features sections. By Anna Barnes. FOR DETROIT, PLANET DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy
University of Michigan Assistant Professor Derek Van Berke researches how cities can plan for a possible influx of climate change migrants.

Are Great Lakes cities ready for climate migrants?

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CLIMATE MIGRANTS: Michigan and other Great Lakes states may become destinations for climate migrants from other parts of the country beset with rising sea levels, drought, extreme weather and other adverse consequences of climate change. A U-M expert, whose team expects to work with Grand Rapids, Duluth and Buffalo to implement urban planning strategies,. By Kayla Nelsen. FOR MARQUETTE, IRON MOUNTAIN, GREENVILLE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS AND ALL POINTS.

Diversity Issues

State ramps up dental exams for kindergarteners 

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DENTAL: For the 2024-25 school year, the Department of Health and Human Services plans to expand statewide a pilot program that gives free dental examinations to children entering kindergarten. The Whitmer administration proposes to spend $4 million next year, but advocates say that’s not enough. The Michigan Oral Health Coalition, Michigan Association for Local Public Health and Michigan Dental Association explain. Includes references to Petoskey, Detroit and Grand Traverse, Chippewa, Oakland, Ottawa, Marquette, Leelanau, Mason, Emmet and Cheboygan counties. By Theo Scheer. FOR PETOSKEY, DETROIT, LEELANAU, TRAVERSE CITY, CHEBOYGAN, SAULT STE. MARIE, LUDINGTON, HARBOR SPRINGS AND ALL POINTS.

Agriculture
A DJI T40 spray drone.

High tech, AI, boost farm productivity, earnings

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FARM TECHNOLOGY: New precision farming technologies, including AI, are making agriculture more efficient. We hear about it from a Farm Bureau board of directors member from Portland, two MSU researchers and the director of the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. By Anish Topowala. FOR GREENVILLE, IONIA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! FARM NEWS, HOLLAND, OCEANA COUNTY AND ALL POINTS.

Elections & Politics
Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City

Michigan House staffers are unionizing: What could it look like? 

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HOUSE UNION: Some staff in the state House are organizing a unionization drive which, if successful, would add Michigan to the small roster of states with unionized employees. It would be up to the House leadership, now Democratic, to recognize such a union. We talk to an MSU labor expert and to lawmakers from Clare, Garden City and Northfield Township. By Liz Nass. FOR DETROIT, CLARE, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy

Schools adapt to free meals for all students

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SCHOOL MEALS: School districts are adapting to the mandate to offer free breakfasts and lunches to all students, regardless of income. The state is paying for the initiative. They say hungry students don’t learn well, and that students who can’t afford to pay for meals feel stigmatized. We talk to school lunch experts in Marquette, Oakland County and Traverse City. By Alex Walters. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, DETROIT, MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.

Agriculture
Rep. Kara Hope, D-Holt, is sponsoring legislation to tighten state oversight of labor contractors.

Advocates call for more protection of migrant farmworkers

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FARMWORKERS: Advocates are calling for more protection for foreign temporary farmworkers with H-2A visas, who are essential to agriculture in the state. The Farm Bureau reports a jump in their numbers in Michigan. An Ottawa County blueberry farm is involved in a lawsuit accusing it of migrant labor law violations. We talk to the Farm Bureau, a Holt legislator and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, which has offices in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Detroit and Ann Arbor. By Owen McCarthy. FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, HOLLAND, GREENVILLE, OCEANA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, DETROIT, AND ALL POINTS.

Arts & Entertainment
In 2022, the SEA LIFE Aquarium in Auburn Hills featured artist Hannah Tizedes’ plastic mural of the Great Lakes. She collected all of the pieces from Great Lakes coastlines for over a year.

Great Lakes inspire murals, doodles and poems

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MURALS DOODLES POEMS: The Great Lakes inspire Michigan artists and poets. We talk to an artist-activist who organizes community cleanups around Lake Erie through her nonprofit, a Lake Michigan surfer-artist and an MSU professor-poet. By Kayla Nelsen. FOR MONROE, ADRIAN, BLISSFIELD, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, PETOSKEY, TRAVERSE CITY, CHEBOYGAN, LEELANAU, ST. IGNACE, ALPENA, ALCONA, HARBOR SPRINGS, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, PLANET DETROIT, IRON MOUNTAIN, OCEANA COUNTY,, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy
This Clean-Seas facility in Newaygo is the proposed site of a new chemical recycling operation.

Scrutiny builds as Michigan awaits first ‘chemical recycling’ facility

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PLASTICS: Western Michigan would get the state’s first chemical recycling facility, in Newaygo, that would convert unrecyclable plastic into other products, such as fuel and more plastic. Critics, including lawmakers from Detroit and West Bloomfield, say the process would create other major environmental problems. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce supports the project. By Theo Scheer. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! DETROIT, GREENVILLE, OCEANA COUNTY, BIG RAPIDS, LUDINGTON AND ALL POINTS, AND ALL POINTS.