Today on Stateside, nearly half of Detroit households can't afford to pay for pricey Internet access. But the city's director of digital inclusion plans to change that. Plus, Michigan's Republicans appear ready to take a Right To Life ballot proposal and pass it into law—completely bypassing Governor Whitmer and her promised veto.
Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below.
Michigan Republicans poised to pass ban on abortion procedure
- Michigan's Republicans appear poised to submit a Right To Life ballot proposal and pass it into law— completely bypassing Governor Whitmer and her promised veto. It would ban the most common second trimester abortion procedure known as "dilation and evacuation" and threaten doctors who perform the procedure with prison time. Jonathan Oosting of Bridge Magazine talked about what's in the ballot proposal and why Republicans want to turn it into law before it reaches the ballot.
'We could get by' — U.P. considers alternatives to Line 5 propane
- Michigan’s governor, tribal nations, and environmental groups are all calling for a shutdown of Line 5, the twin pipelines that carry oil underneath the Straits of Mackinac. They say the pipeline, which is over 60 years old, poses too great a risk of leaking. But the pipeline doesn’t just carry oil - the liquid mix includes propane that is delivered to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Interlochen Public Radio’s Kaye LaFond traveled across the Mackinac Bridge to talk to residents there about how they use propane and what would change if Line 5 were shut down.
Tracing your family roots is harder if you’re African-American. These women want to help.
- When you decide to dig into your family's roots, the typical approach is to track down your ancestors' birth and death certificates. Maybe you head to the county office or a church to dig up old marriage records. But that's not always an option for African-Americans, whose roots date back to American slavery. Co-founders of the Washtenaw County African American Genealogy Society, Cheryl Garnett and Omer Jean Winborn talked to us about their efforts to help other African-Americans trace their family roots in unconventional ways.
Recapping 3 years of intriguing and unusual Michigan stories
- The Michigan History Center has found unlikely and incredibly unique Michigan connections to world history and sharing them with Stateside for three years now. To mark Cynthia Canty’s last week in the Stateside host's chair, Rachel Clark and Mark Harvey of the Michigan History Center talked about a few of the best stories they’ve shared on the show over the years.
- This segment is produced in partnership with the Michigan History Center.
How Detroit is trying to bridge the digital divide and get residents online
- Forty-percent of Detroit households lack Internet access. In a world where more and more of daily life happens online, that’s a massive problem. Joshua Edmonds, Detroit’s Director of Digital Inclusion, is working to bridge that digital divide. He broke down some of the major ways that not having internet access is holding Detroiters back, and how he plans to bring them into the “digital fold.”
- This segment was originally aired on June 17, 2019
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