Top U.S. health officials announced a plan Wednesday to begin offering COVID-19 booster shots to Americans starting Sept. 20, with the scheduling of the additional shot to be based on when a person was fully vaccinated. The new round of jabs will be extended to those who received the two-dose vaccine from either Pfizer or Moderna, and can be taken eight months after an individual’s second dose.
State of Michigan
Doug and Alek are joined by Michigan Advance Editor-in-Chief Susan J. Demas to discuss her recent column about the current state of affairs as it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic, journalistic niceties, the shift in the way journalists operate amid an ultra polarized political climate, access journalism, and the highs and lows of mountain climbing (see what we did there?)
In just over 17 months COVID-19 has infected 922,687 Michiganders in total. The state hit the grim milestone of 20,000 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, with the state reporting Monday that 20,030 total residents have now died.
The dark and complex legacy of Native American boarding schools is not unique to Canada. The United States’ implementation of the residential school system closely mirrors its northern neighbor. But the American government has done far less to acknowledge that history or even mention it in history books. That is, until recently.
Michigan’s population increased slowly over the past decade and became increasingly more diverse, but the population of Detroit decreased for the seventh decade in a row, according to 2020 U.S. Census data released Thursday.
The COVID-19 patients filling Michigan’s hospitals are mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. They hail from throughout the state, from the tip of the Upper Peninsula to the Ohio and Indiana borders; they live in city apartments and old farm houses on land dotted by cornstalks. They are younger than many of the COVID-19 patients in the past — parents with small children, recent graduates, people heading into their first-ever jobs. And, overwhelmingly, they are unvaccinated.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported Wednesday that a total of 916,006 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 and 19,982 have died from the virus — an additional 2,786 cases and 24 deaths since Monday.
Michigan Advance’s Susan J. Demas holds nothing back in this scathing op-ed about the current state of affairs in America as it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that more than $2 million in grants have been awarded as part of the MI Clean Water plan for 15 Michigan cities, villages, and townships across the state, including the City of Three Rivers.
Fair and Equal Michigan, the group aiming to amend the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to expand anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ residents, filed an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court Wednesday after the Board of State Canvassers last week rejected the group’s petition.
The Michigan AFL-CIO drew up its own set of state legislative maps for the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) to consider before the panel begins crafting new U.S. House and state House and Senate district lines for the next 10 years.
David Hecker writes, “Under (the School Aid budget bill), foundation allowance funding for public schools across the state will be equal, meaning nearly every district will receive the same dollar amount per student. This is a positive change that will benefit students and educators — but, as (Gov. Gretchen) Whitmer herself acknowledges, it’s not enough.”
The COVID-19 transmission rates in 32 Michigan counties — 21 more than last week — are considered “high” or “substantial,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). St. Joseph County is among the areas with “substantial” transmission rates.
The nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency (SFA) has calculated that, given the state’s current trajectory, it will take until mid-November for Michigan to reach the desired 70% vaccinated threshold to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
LGBTQ+ representation in elected offices has taken big strides in the last year nationwide, especially on the local level in Michigan, according to a recent study.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans in Detroit on Tuesday to make a significant investment in affordable housing that addresses the health, safety and well-being of Michigan residents. The proposal would assist 6,000 Michiganders, produce 2,000 rental housing units, and leverage an additional $380 million in private funding, while creating 1,600 jobs.
The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers unanimously voted Monday to reject the Fair and Equal Michigan petition to amend the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to expand anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ residents due to a lack of valid signatures. The group was aiming to get the issue before voters in 2022.
As college campuses across Michigan are less than a month away from opening up to students for the fall semester, the state reports only 39.8% of residents 20 to 29 years old have been inoculated with at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Those aged 16 to 19 have a slightly higher rate of 40.3%.