The manufacturing company Gelman Sciences will be required to take new steps to address its slowly expanding plume of groundwater contamination in and around Ann Arbor, under an agreement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

On Friday, the EPA announced an administrative settlement agreement with Gelman Sciences LLC. Under the agreement, the company will take steps to track and reduce the spread of the so-called “Gelman plume,” as well as evaluate plans for cleanup.

The Gelman plume is a body of groundwater contaminated by the chemical 1,4-dioxane. The plume stretches roughly 3 to 4 square miles underground, just west of the Huron River, and "has migrated into aquifers that supply drinking water," the EPA said.

1,4-dioxane is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” according to the EPA. Although little is known about the specific impacts to human health, studies on animals show the chemical can cause liver and kidney damage.

The plume was first discovered in 1986 on the site of Gelman’s medical filter manufacturing facility, nearly 20 years after Gelman began dumping contaminated wastewater on the site.

Since its discovery, the plume has continued to spread, raising concerns that it may eventually reach the Huron River and enter Barton Pond, the source of 85% of Ann Arbor’s drinking water.

In March, the EPA added the Gelman Plume to the Superfund National Priorities List, paving the way for additional EPA oversight, including the new settlement agreement.

Under the agreement, Gelman will be required to:

• Take steps to slow the plume's spread toward the Huron River by increasing groundwater extraction and treatment on the eastern edge of the plume
• Increase monitoring to better define the eastern edge of the plume 
• Excavate contaminated soil from an area of the former Gelman facility
• Conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the extent of contamination and potential remediation efforts.
• Fund the hiring of an independent expert to help explain technical information about the site conditions and potential actions to the community. 

The Gelman plume is also managed under a 1992 court-supervised consent judgement between Gelman and the state of Michigan. That judgement required the company to manage the spread of 1,4-dioxane on the site, without assuming liability for the contamination. Local advocates have said that agreement doesn’t do nearly enough.

Rebecca Esselman, executive director at the Huron River Watershed Council, said she was encouraged by the announcement of the federal settlement, although she had not yet been able to review all the details of the 100-page agreement.

But, Esselman said, “what we know about groundwater contaminations like this is there's no cleaning it up 100%. And that is a legacy that we'll have to live with in perpetuity in the Huron River.”

The Gelman plume will need “an aggressive cleanup,” Esselman said. “And residents and local governments have waited too long and the risks are too high for anything shy of that.”

Michigan Public's Tracy Samilton contributed reporting

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is releasing about 7,300 pheasants into the wild this fall and winter. But don’t expect the population to boom anytime soon.

The birds are for the fall pheasant-hunting season, which begins Wednesday in the Lower Peninsula and runs through November 14. It began in the Upper Peninsula on October 10 and runs through October 31.

The DNR charges $25 for a pheasant-hunting license and uses the money to purchase the farm-raised birds and release them in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula.

The program, now in its seventh year, emerged in response to “hunters that were missing the good old days when they had lots of pheasants,” said Adam Bump, upland game bird specialist for the Michigan DNR.

Pheasants are native to Asia. But for much of last century, they thrived here in Michigan. According to Bump, “they really loved the old school farming … smaller acreages broken up with little grassy fence rows.”

As small-scale farming declined in Michigan, pheasant populations — and pheasant hunters — declined, too.

The program is designed to recreate Michigan’s pheasant-hunting heyday, Bump said, and to give older hunters who remembered the end of that period a chance to introduce younger people to the sport.

Bump said the DNR issued around 12,000 licenses last year. More information on licensing and release locations can be found on the DNR’s website.

Hunting areas in the Lower Peninsula are open through November 14, with an additional window December 1 to January 1 in parts of the Lower Peninsula. Pheasant releases will occur weekly during those periods.

The farm-raised pheasants are unlikely to adapt to their new environment. Even if they make it through hunting season, Bump said, “most of them are not going to make it through the winter.”

Nearly a year after Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi won his race by just 11 votes, his victory may now be reversed and his seat handed to opponent Muhith Mahmood.

On Friday, after nearly a year of legal challenges, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers tabulated an additional 37 ballots in that race, which were discovered the day after the November 2025 Hamtramck mayoral election.

After counting the additional ballots, the totals flipped: the count now shows former councilmember Mahmood beating the sitting mayor by 12 votes.

When the board opened the floor for public comment after the tabulation, Mahmood took the opportunity to declare victory.

“I want to thank all those judges who did the proper judgement to bring these peoples’ rights to the table and get [their] vote counted,” Mahmood said. “It’s not about the winning and fighting about the win. It’s about the principle of the democracy of this country.”

But, at least for now, the Board of Canvassers will hold off on certifying Mahmood as the winner.

Alharbi has filed a legal case in Wayne County Circuit Court, alleging Mahmood does not meet the city’s residency requirement. Alhabi claims Mahmood lives in Troy, a claim Mahmood has denied.

Before the Board of Canvassers began ballot tabulation, Rebecca Camargo, an attorney for Wayne County, clarified that a judge had barred the board from certifying Mahmood as winner before a hearing is held in the residency case. The next hearing for that case is scheduled for October 22.

Another legal challenge may soon follow.

Alharbi, who also spoke during public comment, said he planned to challenge the legitimacy of the ballots. Alharbi alluded to previous criminal charges for election fraud in Hamtramck and said the way the ballots had been discovered opened concerns they had been tampered with.

“Election integrity in Hamtramck is not trusted,” he said. “Those ballots are not trusted.”

The 37 previously untabulated ballots were discovered by then-City Clerk Rana Faraj the day after the 2025 mayoral election.

According to court documents, a discrepancy between the number of absentee ballots returned and those that were counted led Faraj to review the absentee envelopes, which were stored in her office overnight.

Faraj discovered 37 envelopes that had been opened but whose ballots had not been tabulated.

At the time, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers declined to tabulate the ballots. According to Faraj, people who were not authorized election staff had entered her office while the opened envelopes were stored there, violating an elections integrity principle known as “chain of custody.”

Mahmood challenged the Board’s decision in late 2025, asking the Wayne County Circuit Court to order the ballots be counted. The circuit court denied his challenge, but Mahmood appealed and won, paving the way for a court ruling last month ordering the ballots be counted.

In its decision, the appeals court kept open the possibility that individual ballots, once counted, could still be contested under typical procedures for challenging improperly cast ballots.

Faraj was placed on leave soon after the 2025 election and was eventually removed as clerk. She has since sued for wrongful termination.

A recount completed in December 2025 certified Alharbi as the victor with 2,071 votes to Mahmood’s 2,060. This Friday’s count of the additional 37 ballots put Alharbi behind, with 2,077 votes to Mahmood’s new total of 2,089.

Google’s proposed data center in Wayne County is one step closer to starting construction.

After nearly an hour of public comment at a zoning board meeting on Wednesday evening, members of the Van Buren Township Planning Commission voted 5-1 to approve a final site plan for the project. The site is already zoned for industrial use and the board is required to approve projects that fit within industrial-use guidelines.

The project has been hailed by developers and local officials as a significant investment in the area, but local residents have voiced concern about noise pollution, utility use, and the impacts of construction.

The proposed data center, called Project Cannoli, is set to be located on a 282-acre site situated between I-94 and I-275, a few miles west of the Detroit Metro Airport. The land currently consists of fields, woods, and wetlands.

Google will be the final owner and operator of the site, but construction is being managed by industrial developer Panattoni.

Adam Kramer, data center executive for Panattoni, told commissioners that bringing Google’s operations to Van Buren Township “represents an incredible generational investment from one of the best companies in the world.”

Officials with Van Buren Township and Wayne County agreed to give Google a $125 million tax break for the project. County officials overrode the veto of Wayne County Executive Warren Evans at the start of October to approve the waiver. Google has agreed to provide $15 million each to both the county and the township.

Kramer said site construction would bring $2 billion in contracts to businesses in Wayne County and emphasized his company’s partnership with Detroit-based contractor Walbridge Construction. He said the completed facility will host between 50 to 200 on-site employees.

Sarah Gregory, with the economic development organization Detroit Regional Partnership, said bringing Google to the site would make the company “the township’s single largest taxpayer,” providing significant funding to public services.

“Communities don’t get opportunities like this every day,” Gregory said. “This is a chance to welcome one of the most sophisticated and well-capitalized technology companies on the planet earth, making a multi-billion dollar investment right here in Van Buren Township.”

Local residents, especially those living in an adjacent subdivision, have pushed back on the proposed data center. Van Buren Township Trustees have faced recall efforts over their backing for the project.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, concerns focused on noise levels from the facility and impacts of construction.

Maggie Brumar said she hears “the constant — it’s every half hour — dumping of the dump trucks” from her home in an adjacent subdivision and that she can't keep her windows open because of the dust being generated.

“I would invite everybody in the suits and ties today to a barbecue in my backyard,” she said, turning to face the Panattoni employees. “Warning, you will need masks because my backyard has no dust protection.”

Joe Jones, who also lives near the project site, said it was misguided to expect Google to bring benefits to the local community.

“Are you out of your mind? They’re one of the most ruthless … companies in the world,” Jones said. “They don’t give a crap about any of us here.”

Mickie Wordhouse, who operates a local food pantry, said she understands concerns about construction but expressed hope that the project could lead to better public services for Van Buren Township.

“I just want to try to be positive,” Wordhouse said. “I’m just hoping that Google comes through for all of us.”

Before calling for a final vote, commission member and township Trustee Jeff Jahr said he appreciated that local residents had the ability to voice their concerns. But, he said, “Our job as planning commissioners is to verify that the construction is in line with the law.”

Google's proposed data center, Jahr said, is a "permitted use in the zone, and they have a right to use it.”

Michigan State University filed a declaration in federal court Monday in support of a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration over what the university described as a sudden restriction on work-experience opportunities for international students.

The challenge was brought by four groups that represent higher-education organizations and their administrators. MSU is a member of two of them.

Their lawsuit argues that the Department of Homeland Security “abruptly changed a position that the federal government had held for more than thirty-five years ... while simultaneously threatening college and university officials with criminal prosecution.”

The result of the DHS policy, according to the director of MSU’s office for international students, would be fewer international enrollees.

“MSU has welcomed international students to campus for over 150 years and benefited greatly from their many contributions,” Krista McCallum Beatty wrote. “Fewer international students will be a loss felt by the entire MSU community.”

At issue are rules authorizing international students on F-1 visas — used for attending academic institutions in the U.S. — to participate in select internships and other experiential learning opportunities.

Those placements must be directly related to the student’s area of study and, under the rules, “an integral part of an established curriculum.”

According to the lawsuit, DHS has traditionally interpreted “integral” experiences to mean either elective opportunities for which the student earns academic credit or programs that are a mandatory requirement for the completion of the student’s degree.

In August, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees F-1 visas for DHS, issued two “broadcast messages” that the universities say significantly restrict access to those training programs.

The messages instructed schools to only authorize a work experience “if its absence would make the attainment of a degree an impossibility and if the work associated with [the experience] is required for all students pursuing that degree.”

The lawsuit claims the broadcasts amount to a sudden and unlawful regulatory change and that the new interpretation eliminates opportunities that aren’t mandatory but are still essential to learning, like “a psychology student shadowing a mental health provider” or “a law student interning in a judge’s chambers.”

“Ongoing harm to MSU,” university says: international students have lost opportunities

McCallum Beatty, the MSU international student office director, filed a declaration supporting the suit, alongside leaders and administrators of 11 other universities and colleges.

“Experiential learning opportunities, such as internships, practicums, and clinic or field placements, are a critical part of MSU's educational mission,” McCallum Beatty wrote.

McCallum Beatty wrote that in a typical year MSU approves those opportunities for about 500 students among the 4,000 who attend the university on F-1 visas. The experiences are reviewed for eligibility each semester.

According to the declaration, the eligibility requirements laid out in ICE’s August broadcast messages “are causing ongoing harm to MSU.”

McCallum Beatty wrote the directives came “at a critical time - the week before fall semester classes started.” As a result, McCallum Beatty wrote, her office was forced to deny 62 pending applications.

Among the MSU students who lost opportunities, she wrote, are:

• A doctoral student in chemistry forced to turn down “two prestigious fellowships that would have allowed them to lead research projects”
• An undergraduate computer science major unable “to complete a competitive internship with a Fortune 500 company”
• A doctoral student in Music scheduled “to teach a class at a nearby university,” who not only lost “a valuable learning experience, but … left the university without an instructor and having to cancel the course” 

Lawsuit challenges “DHS’s attempt to rewrite history”

The lawsuit MSU is supporting alleges that ICE’s broadcast messages “are unlawful several times over” because they change regulatory guidance “with no substantive explanation, opportunity for comment, or even acknowledgement of the change,” while “exposing institutions and officials to penalties for past conduct that fully complied with the government’s position at the time.”

A broadcast issued by ICE on August 12 was framed as a “reminder” of eligibility requirements. The agency said it had noticed an increase in authorizations “that do not meet regulatory requirements,” and was “increasing its scrutiny … to ensure compliance with federal regulations.”

The lawsuit describes the broadcast as a substantive policy change passed off “as mere ‘reminders’ of existing obligations, as if its new standards had been the rule all along.”

In the broadcast, DHS warned that failure to adhere to the guidelines could result in an institution losing the ability to host students on F-1 visas, and emphasized that school administrators who approve a training program do so “under penalty of perjury.”

The lawsuit argues that administrators “now face threats of criminal liability for authorizations that complied fully with the government’s own rules,” and that institutions “have had no choice but to comply immediately, given the government’s threat to strip their ability to enroll international students at all.”

The groups are asking a judge to strike down the eligibility requirements laid out in ICE’s broadcasts and to affirm that eligible opportunities can include elective experiences taken for credit.

A spokesperson for ICE told Michigan Public that the agency “does not comment on pending litigation.”

After hitting the picket line on Monday over an impasse in contract negotiations, members of the Charlotte Education Association met with school district administrators for a mediation session on Tuesday, October 7.

Teachers in the Eaton County community have been working under an expired contract since July. In September, administrators for Charlotte Public Schools requested to begin mediation proceedings in an attempt to resolve negotiations that have stretched since the beginning of this year.

Becky Carter, co-president of the Charlotte Education Association, said that the two sides have reached an agreement on salaries, insurance, and calendar. The sticking point, Carter said, is a disagreement over the process for grievance resolution.

The union wants the ability to resolve disputes over teacher evaluation and discipline through independent binding arbitration. Currently, Carter said, those disputes are limited to a non-binding mediation process, where administrators “have the final say.”

Arbitration is the final step in the district's grievance resolution process, occurring if the dispute remains unresolved after meetings with the principal, superintendent, and a mediator. Expenses for the arbitrator are split between the two sides, with each paying for their own legal representation and witnesses.

The district’s latest proposal would restrict arbitration over discipline to cases in which a teacher is facing a suspension of at least seven days without pay. The proposal would only allow for arbitration over an evaluation if a teacher receives two consecutive ratings of “needing support,” a situation in which state law requires arbitration to be available.

District administrators did not respond to a request for comment.

In an online statement, Charlotte Board of Education President Mark Byers wrote that “there should be reasonable limitations on the final step of arbitration due to the time and expense.”

Carter said that teachers shouldn't have to lose pay in order to seek arbitration and that the district should either allow for arbitration for any evaluation below “effective” or codify the evaluation process in the contract.

“It's not like we are going to go to arbitration for every single situation,” Carter said. “We just want there to be accountability on both sides … so that one side doesn't have an imbalance of power by always having the final say.”

The union’s push for new grievance procedures was made possible by a 2023 law signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, which gave teachers’ unions the power to negotiate procedures for discipline, evaluation, and placement. A previous law passed by Republicans in 2011 had made those categories off limits.

The two sides seem to have reached an agreement on most other contract issues. In the statement, Byers wrote that the “District has accepted the CEA’s most recent financial offer,” which he said would lead to increased benefits and the “largest pay raise in several years."

Carter said the agreement on salaries was “not even close to average market value in comparison to peer districts,” but that “we feel like we got as far as we were going to be able to get.”

Carter said the union’s membership supports the push for more access to independent arbitration.

“They feel like we've given and given and given over the years and they have asked me to continue fighting,” Carter said. “This is what is right and fair for teachers and it's going to have a lasting impact into the future."

Carter said Tuesday night’s mediation meeting led to “significant progress” and that the teams will meet again on Monday, October 12.

Frustration over inflation helped fuel President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. But in the two years since, prices have continued to rise.

Ahead of next month’s midterm elections, we traveled across Southeast Michigan to understand why – for many voters – cost of living is still top of mind.

Hear their voices by clicking “Listen” above.

This piece was produced by Michigan Public’s Etai Smotrich-Barr, with reporting contributed by NPR’s Razi Jafri.

According to enrollment numbers released by the University of Michigan, more than 1,000 fewer international students enrolled this fall compared to two years ago.

Most of that decline occurred among graduate students.

In a press release, U-M Dean of Graduate Studies Mike Solomon wrote that “changes in the federal funding landscape and uncertainty over U.S. immigration policy have likely contributed to declining trends in graduate enrollment over the past two years.”

Rachel Banks, a policy director at NAFSA: Association of International Educators, attributed a nationwide decline in international student enrollment to Trump Administration policies, including a travel ban and new visa delays, revocations, and restrictions.

“They really came out of the gate very quickly to put forward policy changes, executive orders that really sent a negative message to international students,” Banks said of the Trump Administration.

In particular, Banks cited a rule change that would require students to apply for a visa extension after four years, regardless of the length of their academic program. Previously, international students were granted an indeterminate length of stay, as long as they made consistent progress towards their degree.

Banks said the policy could make international students nervous to commit to coming to the U.S. to pursue longer degrees like PhDs, because “you’re not assured that you can finish your program.”

NAFSA is challenging the policy in court. It’s currently on hold pending litigation.

Miriam Feldblum runs the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a group of college and university leaders that is also challenging the policy.

Feldblum said that in addition to contributing to the academic and cultural diversity of campus, international students “have outsized financial contributions to the campus,” primarily by paying full tuition.

In the same period that the U-M lost 1,000 international graduate students, the university added 2,500 U.S.-based undergraduates. U-M says a record-breaking 54,000 students are enrolled across all of its degree programs.

The University of Michigan did not respond to a request for comment.

Editor's note: The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.

Two federal provisions limiting Medicaid coverage for non-citizens go into effect on Thursday, October 1. The changes are part of a Medicaid overhaul enacted by Republicans last year as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

One provision reduces federal reimbursements for emergency care provided to uninsured immigrants, while the other revokes Medicaid eligibility for certain lawfully present non-citizens.

Starting Oct. 1, non-citizen Medicaid eligibility will be limited to lawful permanent residents (“green card” holders), certain immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands, as well as some people who are pregnant or under 21.

Lawfully present non-citizens who will lose their Medicaid eligibility include refugees, people granted asylum, victims of trafficking and abuse, and people granted temporary admission under a pending application.

A spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) said just over 5,000 people in Michigan were expected to lose coverage under the change.

Dr. John Ayanian, director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan, said losing Medicaid coverage can lead to an increase in medical emergencies.

“What's concerning is that [people without insurance] may go without health care for chronic health conditions—like diabetes or high blood pressure or asthma—that could be treated effectively if they had Medicaid coverage,” Ayanian said. “And then their problems may progress and they'll end up in emergency departments and need care when they have complications.”

Ayanian said insurance not only improves health outcomes, but is also cost effective: access to primary care keeps people in the workforce and helps avoid expensive emergency procedures.

“If people start to lose their coverage, we will then see both negative health effects, but also negative economic effects,” Ayanian said.

Also beginning on Oct. 1, the federal government will reduce its contribution to the Emergency Medicaid program, which reimburses hospitals for emergency care provided to patients who cannot afford treatment but are ineligible for Medicaid due to their immigration status. Hospitals are required to provide life-saving care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

Both the state and federal government contribute to Emergency Medicaid reimbursements. Under the new provision, the federal government will reduce its contribution, requiring states to pay a larger share. In Michigan, the federal contribution will drop from 90% of the cost to 65.7%. According to MDHHS, that reduction is anticipated to cost Michigan $5.5 million next year.

Broader changes to Medicaid enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are still to come.

In January, a new work requirement goes into place, affecting hundreds of thousands of Michiganders. With some exceptions, the new requirement will apply to people aged 19-64 who are enrolled under the state’s Medicaid Expansion. Eligibility checks will also occur more frequently.

MDHHS estimates 200,000 Michiganders could lose Medicaid coverage under next year's changes. The state of Michigan has designated nearly $300 million to mitigate reductions in Medicaid eligibility and address new federal requirements.

A new study found that gun violence declined in areas of Detroit where the city is running a community violence intervention program.

The program, known as ShotStoppers, pays community organizations to address gun violence in zones of the city that have seen high levels of fatal and non-fatal shootings. The organizations identify and divert high-risk individuals, and operate community engagement programs.

ShotStoppers began in summer 2023 and just completed its third year of operation. It is not related to ShotSpotter, the city’s gunshot detection system.

In the second year of the ShotStoppers program, gun violence decreased more in areas where the community violence intervention (CVI) organizations operated than in the rest of the city, according to a study released Wednesday by the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions initiative.

The study found that CVI zones saw a 33% decrease in the number of homicide victims, compared to a 12% decrease in the rest of the city. CVI zones also saw a 38% decrease in victims of non-fatal shootings, compared to a 26% decrease outside the zones.

The U of M study highlighted results from August 2024 to August 2025, as compared to the prior 12-month period.

Sam Stragand, senior program manager at Poverty Solutions, co-authored the study. He said that although the results couldn’t be directly attributed to the program, the decline of shootings in CVI zones was encouraging, especially since the rest of the city saw a smaller decline.

Stragand also said the change was particularly notable because the CVI zones, which had been selected for their historically high level of gun violence, saw homicides decrease “into the single digits.”

There are six community organizations in Detroit's ShotStoppers program, with each responsible for a different three- to five-square mile zone. Their success — and their funding — is measured by a simple, tragic metric: how many people get shot.

CVI programs have become increasingly common in cities across the country. But many programs operate city-wide, Stragand said, which can make it harder to measure the impact of individual interventions.

According to Mike Peterson, director of Community Violence Intervention for the City of Detroit, ShotStoppers' unique structure is critical to ensuring the program’s success.

“We didn't want to get in the weeds of just paying for busy work, if you will — compensating groups just for being active,” Peterson said.

“If you're responsible for an entire city, then when crime goes down, everybody raises their hand and says, 'Hey, it's because of us.' When it goes up, it gets a little quiet,” Peterson said. “We wanted to make sure … we could actually hold [organizations] accountable for what's happening within very specific areas.”

Organizations are given broad autonomy to decide how to reduce violence in their zone. Most pursue a range of interventions, including identifying at-risk individuals to de-escalate active conflicts, providing mentorship and training, and organizing community groups and event-based programming.

Many of the organizations’ “violence interrupters” have themselves experienced gun violence. Some have prior criminal records and are using “their own experiences — unfortunately, their own traumas — to help people try to not make the same decisions in the future,” Stragand said.

Peterson said organizers with those experiences can reach people who wouldn’t be receptive to a similar message coming from “somebody sitting in the mayor's office.”

“They can show up and be in spaces that we can't. They know of things that are happening before we do,” Peterson said. “And, honestly, they can relate in a way that traditionally law enforcement and government can't.”

Through the program, police can also alert organizations if a shooting has occurred, with the hope that organizers are “able to get in and have conversations with certain individuals to ensure that there is no retaliation or minimize the chance that there then becomes a back and forth between maybe a certain group or gang,” Peterson said.

He described the collaboration as successful, but emphasized that information sharing from police to community organizations was “a one-way layer of information.”

The City of Detroit gives $700,000 per year to each of the six CVI teams, with the possibility of earning hundreds of thousands more in performance-based bonuses.

The program was launched as a two-year pilot using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. It is now a formal program within the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety.

All of the organizations were already in operation before the ShotStoppers program. But access to significant and consistent funding, Stragand said, allowed them to expand their hiring and programming, and to make long-term commitments.

Peterson said while he felt “very fortunate” to see the decline in shootings documented by the U of M study, he was “obsessed with” finding ways to improve the program.

The next step of the program, Peterson said, was learning from best practices and “trying to do the best we can to eventually make it be a part of the broader public safety ecosystem and response.”

“Just like you have police, just like you have EMS and fire, community violence intervention should be one of those pillars, one of those arms of public safety,” Peterson said. “And so it's going to take us continuing to standardize and perfect this as much as possible so we can have that.”

Michigan is among a group of states that won a federal court case against the Trump administration on Thursday, blocking implementation guidelines on food assistance eligibility for non-citizens.

The states sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), over guidelines issued in response to changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That law, signed by President Donald Trump last summer, revoked SNAP eligibility for many lawfully present non-citizens.

The states argued that guidance released by the USDA last fall inaccurately placed certain groups under even greater restrictions than enacted by Congress.

The states also challenged the USDA’s implementation of the required 120-day adjustment period. During that period, states can adapt to new eligibility requirements without facing potential financial penalties for erroneous payments. The USDA’s guidance, issued on October 31, 2025, retroactively set the adjustment period as beginning with the passage of the bill four months prior, and ending on November 1, just one day after the issuance of the guidance.

The states said that setting an adjustment period retroactively was out of line with longstanding policy and could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties per state.

The USDA declined a request for comment. In a court filing, the agency said the eligibility guidance was intended as a quick reference and shouldn’t be interpreted to conflict with the law. The agency also defended its implementation of the adjustment period, saying that states should not wait for their guidance before working to follow the law.

On Thursday, September 17, a federal judge sided with Michigan and 21 other states, striking down the USDA’s guidelines and ruling that the agency’s adjustment period cannot begin before the issuance of an implementing memorandum.

The judge, Mustafa Kasubhai of the U.S. District Court of Oregon, wrote that the USDA had placed states “in an impossible situation” and then created “potentially ruinous financial penalties” for the “inability to overcome that impossibility.”

In a statement, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote that she was “relieved the Court rejected the Trump administration’s transparent attempt to exclude certain residents from SNAP benefits in violation of eligibility criteria set by Congress.”

The ruling does not reverse eligibility restrictions implemented by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Those restrictions prohibit most non-permanent residents, including refugees and victims of trafficking, from accessing food assistance.

A bill passed in the Michigan House this month would give academic credits to students working in a skilled trade.

The bill would require school districts to grant credit to high school seniors who work at least 30 hours per week in manufacturing, construction, or other fields that provide verifiable job training. Individual school districts would determine how many credits the work could fulfill.

Representative Jason Woolford (R-Howell) said he introduced the bill to address a shortage of skilled-trade workers and to provide a job pathway for young people.

“We don't have people to fulfill the trades,” Woolford said. “If we don't have people to do these jobs, we won't have jobs. We won't have people because they'll move to a different state.”

Representative Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw Township) said the bill could provide opportunities for students who aren’t seeking a college degree, helping to “dispel the notion … that you have to have a four-year baccalaureate degree for the American dream.”

Woolford said he’s not concerned that students working the required 30 hours per week might struggle to keep up with other academic obligations.

“You have to remember when people were in school many years ago they worked on the farm, they worked full time, and yet they figured out a way to … invent the automobile and pipelines and railroads and all of those things,” Woolford said. “I think we've got to give our kids a little bit more credit and a little bit more responsibility.”

The bill passed the House with only two Democrats voting in support. It now heads to Democratic-controlled Senate.

The U.S. Department of Justice has given Ann Arbor Public Schools two weeks to change their policy on transgender and gender nonconforming students or face a lawsuit.

The policy prevents staff from disclosing “information that may reveal a student’s transgender status,” except when authorized by the student or when legally required. The DOJ alleges the policy violates parental rights.

In July, the U.S. Department of Education notified Ann Arbor Public Schools that their policy “likely violates FERPA,” a federal law that gives legal guardians broad access to their child’s school records. At the time, the Education Department said they were “putting districts on notice that we will use every tool available to hold them to account.”

On August 24, the Education Department demanded the district change their policy before school began the following week. On August 26, through an accelerated procedure, the school board approved an amendment emphasizing that the policy allows for disclosure in response to formal requests made under applicable law.

Now, the Department of Justice says that’s not enough. In a letter posted on X on Monday, September 14, the DOJ demanded further revisions, including the removal of a directive that staff “privately consult with the student regarding the name and pronouns the student requests.” The DOJ also wants the district to give parents "an opportunity for a hearing to challenge the contents of their children's educational records," and "an opportunity to correct or delete any inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate data.”

Steve Norton, a trustee on the Ann Arbor school board, said the DOJ’s new demands go beyond their power under federal law.

“They're trying to push the envelope to say that we must somehow notify parents, whether the student requests privacy or not,” Norton told Michigan Public. “That's just simply beyond what the law allows.”

Addressing the school board in late August, Richard Landau, who represents the district in matters of federal compliance, said that $15 million dollars of annual federal funding was at risk. He said that, to his knowledge, the federal action was not in response to a complaint, but rather "originated on the department’s own initiative.”

Landau said the Education Department alleged the district was “‘hiding records’ from any parent who requests them.”

“It’s been our consistent position that we do not [hide records],” Landau said. “When we receive a FERPA request, we provide those records.”

Before voting to amend the policy in August, school board trustees said the revisions clarified how existing practices complied with federal law, but did not alter operational procedures.

The DOJ’s letter quoted some of those comments, including Trustee Susan Schmidt, who said the revision “doesn’t mean we’re changing anything. We’re trying to be more clever than that.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted the DOJ’s letter on X, writing “Clever won't cut it!🤨”

Norton, the trustee, said “it was a little startling” to see a school board discussion quoted by a federal official.

“And then on the other hand, a little annoying, given all the various things that our federal government has said that they can't afford to do, but yet they can have someone watch our board meetings,” Norton said.

The Education Department has declared “the practice of hiding a child’s 'gender identity' from that child’s parents” to be a “priority concern.” The department has taken similar actions in Maryland, Maine, and California. In a policy directive last year, the department wrote that “the corrective application of FERPA will be to empower all parents to protect their children from the radical ideologies that have taken over many schools.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ann Arbor Public Schools wrote “[t]he District takes both its obligations under federal law and its responsibility to its students and families seriously, and is reviewing the correspondence carefully with legal counsel. The District remains committed to protecting the privacy, safety, and well-being of every student, while complying with federal law."

The school board convened a closed session on Wednesday, September 14, to discuss legal strategy. The board voted to authorize a response to the DOJ “consistent with the strategy and direction discussed in closed session,” and to retain an attorney in connection with the dispute.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined to comment. The DOJ's letter set a deadline of September 28 for the school board “to avoid litigation" by making the requested revisions.

Speaking ahead of the closed session, Norton said he was unsure how the district would respond. But, he said, “I don't think any of us is in a mood to give the Department of Justice more latitude than they can legally use on this matter.”

After two years of paying high schoolers for perfect attendance, the Detroit Public Schools Community District is expanding the program to middle school this year.

The school district has struggled with chronic absenteeism. Last year 57% of Detroit students missed 18 days of class or more, about twice the statewide rate.

The district has looked for creative approaches to increase attendance, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told Michigan Public, which he said is directly linked to student achievement.

“This conversation is about making sure students are coming to school so that they can learn at higher levels,” Vitti said.

The program runs for ten weeks from January through March, the time of year that attendance usually drops, according to the district. During that period, high schoolers can earn a $100 gift card for each week where they attend every class hour, every day. With the program expansion this year, middle schoolers will get the chance to earn $50 gift cards for doing the same.

Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins, President of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said the financial incentive felt strange at first, especially because she wants “students to come to school because they love it.”

But, “as much as I would like to argue against it, there have been many positive results,” Wilson-Lumpkins said. “I think it is working.”

According to the district, attendance rose over two percent during the period, compared to before the introduction of the program. About a third of students who earned an incentive were students the district considered chronically absent. A participation summary indicates the program paid out about $7.7 million dollars last year.

Vitti said that socioeconomic factors, including the need to balance school with work, create barriers to attendance. He said the incentives program is part of a broader attempt to be “thoughtful and strategic about attacking the concentration of poverty and the impact that it has on our families.”

Vitti acknowledged the program “has had a more positive impact on those students that are in exam and application schools, that tend to be coming from more higher socioeconomic background classes.” But, he added, “our neighborhood high schools also showed a strong improvement.”

In addition to the perfect attendance incentive, the district has hired staff who monitor student attendance and conduct home visits and other interventions. They're also increasing bus services and providing more wrap-around family services.

But “the incentives get a lot of attention,” Vitti said, “because it is innovative and controversial.”

Vitti said that much of the criticism he’s heard comes from outside the city, “mainly from right-wing Republicans.” Last month, the New York Post ran an opinion piece calling the program a “desperate, last-ditch attempt to fix a much deeper cultural crisis.”

“They hear [about] a program like this, and they apply it to their middle class values and their middle class understanding of what they did when they went to school,” Vitti said. “Typically it’s people that have not worked through the challenge of getting our students to school every day and the challenges connected to the concentration of poverty.”

“It might be controversial. People may disagree,” Vitti said. “But is it making a difference? Yes. Kids are coming to school more frequently and chronic absenteeism is dropping.”