May 2023

High school graduation will soon be here. With graduation, come open houses and other parties.

It’s becoming almost routine to see headlines filled with dire warnings that Michigan and the Midwest are becoming a “climate haven” – a place to which people can escape from allegedly inhospitable temperatures and disappearing shorelines. The stories describe a nation plagued by worsening storms, increased droughts, colder winters, blazing summer, both higher and lower snowpacks, and a host of other environmental calamities brought on by a changing climate. But the Great Lakes region, we are told, offers shelter for those who have been displaced by the growing threat of climate chaos.

The average price of regular unleaded gas is now $3.34 per gallon in Michigan, a drop of four cents from last year. This also means that prices are 37 cents lower from the same time last month and a significant reduction of $1.02 compared to last year’s prices. However, in Alger County, motorists are paying almost 30 cents more a gallon than the state average.

The Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) kicks off the search for the tree to grace the Capitol grounds for the 2023 holiday season. DTMB is tasked with the search and harvest of the state Christmas tree and once again asks for the public’s assistance in spotting the perfect tree.

As of Friday, May 12, there have been 118 confirmed or probable cases of blastomycosis among individuals who either work at or have visited the Escanaba Billerud Mill, according to the Public Health Delta and Menominee Counties (PHDM). Out of these cases, 14 individuals have been hospitalized. Additionally, there has been one reported death associated with this outbreak.

Brian Rahilly, 11th Circuit Court judge, has reversed his decision to find Marquette-based attorney George Hyde in contempt. On April 18, Hyde teleconferenced into a hearing for a man facing one charge of operating while intoxicated – third offense and another of operating on a suspended license.