Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Up North Michigan, schools struggle between pull of home and promise of college
March 24, 2026
Mobility rates — doing better than your parents — is as low in some rural areas as urban ones.
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Michigan is consolidating election precincts. Will voters face longer lines?
July 30, 2025
The bigger concern is the movement of polling places, which can often house multiple precincts.
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As Michigan scrambles to improve literacy, school librarians are losing their jobs
July 09, 2025
Only 9% of the state’s public schools currently have a full-time librarian.
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Life goes on, even at uninhabited Lake Huron island, sometimes surprisingly
July 07, 2025
Scientists discovered seven species not previously documented there, including the eastern chipmunk, American bullfrog and gray treefrog, which the study described as “genuinely new arrivals.”
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Trump gets his ‘big, beautiful bill.’ What it means for Michigan
July 03, 2025
The plan includes a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals. Industry experts say that represents less than half of the expected total losses rural health care is expected to face over the next decade.
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Iconic whitefish on edge of collapse as Great Lakes biodiversity crisis deepens
June 22, 2025
More than a blow to the region’s culture, economy and dinner plates, the collapse threatens to tear a hole in the food web, with unpredictable consequences for other species.
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Mackinac Island fears ‘economic strangulation’ by ferry. Will Lansing step in?
June 12, 2025
Fears are growing that increased costs will hurt tourism, the region’s top industry.
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Watchdogs: Michigan nursing homes may be hiding profits as residents suffer
June 05, 2025
The four Michigan chains in the report own 98 homes in Michigan, or more than 1 in 5 of the state’s skilled nursing facilities.
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Tiny UP island becomes even more remote as ferry access shrinks
June 03, 2025
Locals say the economic future of Neebish Island hangs in the balance.
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Michigan Medicaid has ballooned. Cuts are likely. Here’s what to know
May 01, 2025
In just over three decades, Medicaid has more than doubled its coverage in Michigan — now paying for more than 2 in 5 newborns and 2 in 3 nursing home residents.
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‘It’s devastating’: Michigan loses about $15M in federal AmeriCorps cuts
April 29, 2025
Programs impacted include tutoring for students grades three through eight, Special Olympics funding and homeless supports.
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Slammed by northern Michigan ice storm, foresters wonder what’s next
April 15, 2025
In the aftermath, people across the region are still figuring out what the wreckage means for the forest itself and for those who rely on it.
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Planned Parenthood’s Michigan closures leave UP without an abortion clinic
April 03, 2025
The decision, announced by Planned Parenthood on Thursday, means there will be no in-person providers of abortion services in the Upper Peninsula — covering 15 counties and over 300,000 people.
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