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Facing ‘staffing crisis,’ Michigan Medicine nurses call for change
After two years of working in a pandemic that has left health care workers across the state and country burnt out and leaving the profession, thousands of unionized Michigan Medicine nurses are calling on their employer, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, to address what they called a “staffing crisis” and provide fairer wages […]
‘Get with the program, or we vote you out’
Wiping sweat from foreheads under a relentless June sun, the speakers at Mothering Justice’s 10th annual “Mama’s March” — mothers and lawmakers and reproductive health leaders and activists — took to the podium Wednesday outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing. There, they turned towards the Capitol, a towering mountain of brick and sandstone, and issued […]
In an effort to make Pride safer, Grand Rapids Pride Center announces no police will be at festival
Two years ago, as calls for racial justice were ignited across the country in the wake of a white Minneapolis police officer murdering George Floyd, a group of activists called on the Grand Rapids Pride Center to take a hard look at itself. “The group of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] activists called […]
Kelley’s arrest is emblematic of growing far-right extremism and violence, experts say
After Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley was arrested Thursday by the FBI on charges related to his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, during which supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to overthrow the United States government, his campaign posted two words on social media: “Political Prisoner.” This sentiment — […]
U.S. at risk of becoming authoritarian state after Jan. 6 insurrection, experts say
Former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, including many in Michigan, are leading a years-long attack on American democracy that could result in the country being run by an authoritarian government not elected by the people, political experts said during a Wednesday press conference regarding the upcoming Congressional hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, […]
Senate Republicans advance anti-CRT bill that educators say will censor teachers
Republican members of the Michigan Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee voted on Tuesday to advance legislation that education officials said is dividing parents and teachers and would silence teachers attempting to discuss race and racism. “We have kids being literally slaughtered in their classrooms across the country, and yet these right-wing extremists are focused […]
‘It’s a disaster for kids’
The children in Benton Harbor are changing. They are “more moody, more short-tempered, they’re not doing as well in school,” said Corey Stern, an attorney with the New York City-based law firm Levy Konigsberg, who at the end of May filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 400 Benton Harbor children who the suit alleges […]
First-ever Pride Festival coming to Muskegon in June
When Jeffrey Pienela, the president of the Muskegon Pride Center, thinks of the first-ever Pride Festival coming to Muskegon on June 4, he thinks of celebration — of the drag queens, the poetry performances and the music. But, perhaps more than anything, he thinks of people finding a family and a home, a place where […]
‘They don’t care if you live or die, but they want you to make them coffee’
KC Laskey can count the number of students who usually wear masks in her son’s kindergarten classroom in West Michigan on one hand — and the number of COVID-19 cases in his classroom last week on two. “He is one of two wearing masks at school; since omicron quieted down, there have been two wearing […]
Michigan reports 27,705 new COVID-19 cases, 76 deaths over the last week
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported Wednesday that a total of 2,472,596 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 and 36,140 have died from the virus — an additional 27,705 cases and 76 deaths since last week. The new numbers combine all confirmed and probable cases and deaths since last Wednesday, as […]
‘COVID hasn’t gone anywhere’: After brief respite, cases and hospitalizations climb
After months of near silence, Nicole Kessler once again hears the ambulance sirens blaring outside her Beverly Hills bedroom window as they rush to the hospital. “I live close to Beaumont, and I can hear the ambulances — so every time [COVID-19] cases increase, I can hear the frequency of ambulances going to the hospital […]
In wake of Lyoya’s death, a reckoning with Grand Rapids’ history of police brutality
The day before Grand Rapids officials released the video of Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr shooting and killing Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old unarmed Black man, police began erecting concrete barricades around the department’s headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids. The barriers, a police spokeswoman said at the time, were a “precaution” as police prepared […]