News

Two local Aspirus hospitals have received national certification in diabetes education. Asprius Keweenaw and Aspirus Ontonagon were recently awarded the prestigious American Diabetes Association Education Recognition Certificate for quality diabetes self-management education programs. Achieving recognition status signifies that staff are knowledgeable health professionals who provide patients with comprehensive information about …

The Michigan Senate has given final approval to a package of bills that change how local governments will be fully reimbursed for revenue lost from the phase out of the state’s personal property tax on business. The legislation is needed for local governments, especially those heavily dependent on revenue from …

Michigan residents who have chosen plans on the health insurance marketplace have qualified for an estimated $328 million in premium tax credits. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 87% of Michiganders who selected plans as of March 1, were eligible for financial assistance through the Affordable Care Act. That …

Bills aimed at speeding up the adoption process in Michigan have cleared the state Senate. The upper-chamber approved House passed legislation yesterday that shorten the time for finalizing an adoption of a child less than a year old to three months, down from six months. Another bill would allow parents …

Michigan retailers experienced a “small thaw” with slightly higher sales and an improving short-term outlook in February, but still have a lot of frozen ground to make up after the extreme winter, according to a new survey from the Michigan Retailers Association. MRA president and CEO, Jim Hallan, says while …

Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly is holding a raffle to raise money to replace the truck volunteers use to plow snow and deliver heating wood to elderly friends in the Copper Country. The truck will cost $40,000, once it’s equipped with a plow and a dumping system. A $10,000 donation …

A budget subcommittee in the Michigan House has approved a higher education budget in Michigan for next year that increases spending by about 77 million dollars over the current fiscal year. However, it’s five million dollars smaller than what the governor recommended. A proposed amendment to bring the funding up …

A Hawaiian judge who created a probation program so successful in reducing crime, drug use and jail time that it has become the model of reforms across the nation was in Lansing Wednesday touting the benefits Michigan could realize if the state’s similar program were expanded statewide. Judge Steven Alm, …

Michigan’s unemployment rate dropped for the sixth consecutive month in February edging down by one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.7 percent. According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, total employment rose by 26,000 in February and the number of unemployed declined slightly by 4,000. The state’s …

Lt. Governor Brian Calley will sign legislation tomorrow to remove all instances of the words “retardation” and “retarded” from state laws. The state Legislature unanimously passed the respective bills, earlier this month, that would replace the words with “developmental disability” or “intellectually disabled.” While the terms retarded, retardation, and mental …