Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP), Head Start, adult education and young adult special education classroom teachers are now eligible to receive up to $500 grants under a new expansion of the MI Classroom Heroes COVID-19 grant program.
State of Michigan
In Michigan, the seven Democrats in the U.S. House voted for and all seven Republicans voted against President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package early Saturday, in a rush to both boost COVID-19 vaccine funding and get legislation to the president’s desk before unemployment benefits expire in mid-March. The package, dubbed the American Rescue Plan, passed 219-212.
Naomi Ludman, Chair of the Cass County Democratic Party, writes why Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey should resign.
For decades, scientists have studied the effects that livestock farms with large animal concentrations in Iowa and other states have on regional water quality, as increasing amounts of waste flow into rivers and groundwater. Now activists and some lawmakers say emergency measures are needed to stop toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie, dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and Chesapeake Bay, and threats to drinking water in rural communities. In some states, lawmakers worry about the future of smaller family farms.
White House officials said Monday that thawing temperatures and a weekend of around-the-clock work has begun to clear a backlog of 6 million COVID-19 vaccines that were delayed due to last week’s devastating winter storms.
President Joe Biden and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Friday afternoon for a tour of the pharmaceutical company’s Portage facility — home to the first COVID-19 vaccine doses that were shipped in December.
Julianne Pastula, general counsel for Michigan’s new Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC), said during a meeting Thursday that the current timeline for drawing new district lines is “an untenable situation.”
To better support the millions of Michiganders struggling to make ends meet, the state should expand apprenticeship opportunities for inmates while they are incarcerated, end asset tests for food assistance, and increase affordable housing for low-income families and people without housing, among a series of other initiatives, according to a newly released report from the Michigan Poverty Task Force.
A coalition of organizations is calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to increase its COVID-19 vaccination efforts for the 33,000 people incarcerated in state prisons.
The 2020 census had a challenging year with the COVID-19 pandemic. Now a delay in census data from the U.S. Census Bureau will likely throw a wrench in the plans of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC), which needs the data to draw new legislative and congressional districts.
Unconscious bias in medical care and a history of experimentation and exploitation of Blacks for medical knowledge has left many in the Black community questioning everything about the vaccines — from the racial demographics of who has been inoculated already, to whether people of color were studied in the safety and efficacy trials and whether the vaccines even work. State officials hope to ease those concerns and erase racial disparities in COVID vaccination rates.
States will see another increase in the COVID-19 vaccine doses they receive, with the Biden administration announcing Tuesday that the federal government will distribute 11 million doses next week.
If you’re like a lot of other businesses across the country (and the world), the COVID-19 pandemic has forced you to shut your doors. Now, you’re getting things in place to reopen. While reopening your business is certainly something to get excited about, you must make sure you handle it the best way possible so that your company can rise above the challenges and flourish for years to come.
The NODE (Niles Outdoor Dining Experience) has been voted “Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining” by MLive and its readers. Over the weekend, Watershed Voice caught up with Niles Mayor Nick Shelton via email to learn more about The NODE, and the impact it has had on Niles’ restaurants.
Transparency and accountability have been buzzwords on both sides of the aisle in Michigan. Michigan scored an F in the Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 State Integrity Investigation and ranked worst in the country for state government accountability and transparency. Since then, dozens of measures have been introduced, but many haven’t been signed into law.
During their first month in office, members of the 101st Michigan Legislature have introduced 275 bills, and several more resolutions, addressing topics ranging from gun control to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new trend of favorable COVID-19 metrics in Michigan has led the state to allow youth contact sports to resume, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday.
“Never in a million years could you have told me that there would be a day when I’d be walking through an angry mob with nooses, Confederate flags and folks dancing around in blackface,” Rep. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) said of the armed protest at the State Capitol on April 30, 2020.