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Democratic leaders detail tax plans they say will lift Michiganders out of poverty
Hundreds of thousands of Michigan families could soon see thousands of more dollars in their pockets if the state legislature backs Democrats’ plan to repeal the state retirement tax and expand Michigan’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other Democratic leaders said during a press conference on Thursday. “Rolling back the retirement […]
‘We deserve to be here’: Advocates urge lawmakers to protect transgender rights
When Rachel Crandall-Crocker came out as transgender in 1997, she did so to live. “I came out because I had to,” said Crandall-Crocker, the executive director and co-founder of Transgender Michigan, a group that works to empower transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals and communities throughout the state. “My therapist told me if I didn’t come out, […]
COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and cases decline in Michigan
COVID-19 cases declined over the past week in Michigan with 10,927 new cases recorded in a weekly report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday. Cases decreased compared to the last report released on Dec. 20, which documented 14,323 new cases for the week. The department reports a total of 2,988,654 Michiganders […]
‘I’m still subject to death threats,’ Upton says as he prepares to leave Congress
Sitting at a borrowed desk in the Washington, D.C., office of his longtime friend and colleague U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor), U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) had two words to describe 169 Republican House members voting against a bill protecting marriage rights for same-sex and interracial couples: “dark ages.” “This is about people’s […]
‘Everyone’s just a dollar sign to them’: Gannett journalists reel from new cutbacks
Every Thursday and Sunday morning, David Veselenak would head outside. Without fail, the Livonia Observer would be waiting for him — one of the papers the 34-year-old journalist and Livonia resident writes for — and he would dive into its pages. He loved that feeling — the one he’d had since he was a child […]
Borgess nurses ratify contract that boosts wages at Kalamazoo hospital
Nurses at Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo ratified a new contract that increases wages and boosts benefits in an attempt to attract and retain workers, the union representing them announced Wednesday night. The three-year agreement covers more than 300 registered nurses who have been working without a contract since Nov. 11, the Michigan Nurses Association […]
Borgess nurses reach tentative contract deal with Kalamazoo hospital
The union representing hundreds of nurses at Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo announced late Friday that the group has reached a tentative agreement with the hospital’s administration that would avert a potential strike, boost wages and offer additional benefits. Michigan Nurse Association members at the hospital are slated to vote on the proposed contract this […]
This year’s flu season is ‘especially severe,’ but Michigan lags in vaccinations
Michigan’s chief medical executive has good news: Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, cases are down after soaring in the state last month, leaving pediatric hospitals overwhelmed by an illness that sickened children across the country. Then, however, comes the bad news. “As the RSV cases decline and we’ve heard from hospitals that they’re getting a […]
‘We don’t feel like we are being treated like heroes’
Lori Batzloff, a registered nurse at Kalamazoo’s Ascension Borgess Hospital, vividly remembers the worst days of the pandemic: the deaths and the trauma and how she would lift iPads to her dying patients’ faces so their family members could say goodbye. She remembers the days to come, the protests from those who didn’t believe COVID-19 […]
Conspiracy theorists flood the election process, set sights on monitoring ballot drop boxes
In the 2020 presidential election, there were upwards of 150 poll workers in Detroit. Then came the onslaught of right-wing conspiracy theories and lies that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump – and the baseless claim that heavily Democratic Detroit had played a starring role. In the wake of these lies, […]
Before Roe v. Wade, U of M activists worked with clergy to connect students with abortion care
“So! You’ve just found out your [sic] pregnant,” Andrea Way, an abortion counselor, wrote in the September 1972 edition of Her-Self, a feminist newspaper published in Ann Arbor from 1972 through 1977. “Suppose that you’re one of the happy minority – one of those who can easily support and love a much-wanted child,” Way continued […]
Why experts say the fall of abortion rights is a key sign of a troubled democracy
The floodgates opened in 2011. That year, increasingly right-wing Republicans – who had weaponized gerrymandering and racism (think: birtherism) during President Barack Obama’s tenure to sweep the 2010 midterm elections and flip state legislatures across the nation – passed 92 anti-abortion bills throughout the country, a record number for a single year since the United […]