northern michigan

Besides lakes and summer tourism, northwest Michigan's towns have become known for something else: a lack of affordable housing. Stateside spoke with two members of the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council about a potential solution — turning a vacant school into residences for workers.

Rufus Snoddy's "construction paintings" almost always stretch beyond the confines of a canvas. Stateside visited Snoddy at his studio in Traverse City to get a glimpse into his mind-bending art and the concepts that inspire him.

Lester Graham joined us to chat about spring birdwatching. Plus, it's morel season. Could a northern Michigan man's new technique make them growable year-round? Then, music journalist Gary Graff discussed his new book about Detroit-born rock legend Alice Cooper.

Stateside took a trip up north to visit the clones of ancient, old growth trees.

On today's show, what an impending rail strike could mean for Michigan's chemical and agricultural industries. Then, we spoke with Wayne Kramer — co-founder of the Detroit rock band MC5. Plus, we revisited a conversation about plans for a passenger rail line to connect southeast Michigan to the north side of the state.

Earlier this week, a rare sight was caught on a privately-owned trail cam in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: a black bear with white fur. Have you ever heard of such a thing? We talked with two guests to learn more.

On today's show, we discussed the recent confusion surrounding Michigan State President Samuel Stanley, and a feature from IPR talked all about Michigan's last caribou standing. Plus, two guests joined to give more information on the white-coated black bear.

Until recently, Traverse City and the surrounding area have seemed like a secret jewel of natural beauty. Now, the secret's out.

During the pandemic, local public health officials have had the hard job of writing the road rules for their communities. Add to that harassment from the public and lack of support from health boards. Today, we hear from a NW Michigan health director who recently decided enough is enough.

The system has reached peak hospitalizations, with 99 COVID in-patients spread across six of its northwest lower Michigan hospitals. The test positivity rate for the healthcare region is also a hair higher than the April surge—at 17.9%.