Stateside: Rep. Tlaib visits border; preparing for the “silver tsunami”; buying insulin in Canada

Today on Stateside, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib recounts the tour of migrant detention facilities in Texas. Plus, Michiganders crossing the border with Canada to buy affordable insulin.

Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below. 

Tlaib on her trip to the border: “I don’t know how to tell people how unbelievable it is”

• It was a tense and emotional visit for Democratic lawmakers at Border Patrol facilities in Texas where migrant families are being detained. Twenty-one members of Congress, including Michigan's Rashida Tlaib visited the facilities yesterday. Tlaib describes the living conditions and discusses the counter-protestests, the secret Facebook group for Border Patrol officers, and what can be done about the humanitarian crisis.

Mixtape: New EP’s from Grand Rapids musicians Molly Bouwsma Shultz, "Winnow" and "August"

• Michigan is known for large summer festivals like Electric Forest, MoPop, and Common Ground, but western Michigan has a flourishing local music scene. Winnow successfully reinvented themselves from the popular Grand Rapids folk-rock band, Watching for Foxes. Molly Bouwsma Schultz, known for fronting the award-winning soul/rock band Vox Vidorra, has launched a solo career. And another female-fronted band, August, recently released its first full-length album. Editor and publisher of LocalSpins.com, John Sinkevics, tells us about these west Michigan artists.

How prepared is Michigan for the coming “silver tsunami”?

• By 2025, people over 65 will outnumber those under 17 and communities need to be ready for these aging Baby Boomers. Auburn Hills is one of only seven communities in Michigan that has been designated by the AARP as "age friendly." Karen Adcock is director of senior services at the Auburn Hills Department of Senior Services and is using the city's experience to help the entire state of Michigan meet AARP standards. Adcock describes how Auburn Hills has started to train their police force, city council, and city departments to work with the aging population in mind.  

At one point in Michigan history, nearly every county had a poor farm or poor house

• In the 1830s, Michigan began building poor houses and farms to tend to the poverty- stricken, outcasts, and elderly populations. Adam Oster, the community engagement librarian for the Library of Michigan, began researching poor houses and poor farms in 2012 and found them to be quite a unique facet of Michigan history. “In 1830 there was an act to authorize the establishment of poor houses. The first one to come into existence was in Wayne County, in 1832, just outside of Detroit,” said Oster. Many poor houses were dismantled in the 1930s, but Oster recounts various anecdotes that keep their stories alive today.

Caravan to Canada seeks affordable insulin for diabetic Michiganders

• Caravans of Americans are crossing the border into Canada. These caravans are filled with type-1 diabetics heading to Canadian pharmacies to buy more affordable insulin. It's yet another example of the high cost of drugs in the U.S. and the measures people are going to in order to get the medication they need to stay alive. One caravan recently traveled from Michigan to London, Ontario, and one of the participants, Jillian Rippolone  who's a Michigan leader of the advocacy group #insulin4all, tells us about the trip and the situation in which her and many others find themselves.

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