Brunch with Bridge

If you grew up in Michigan, you might have a place like Teal Lake. Lucky you.

The poor and people of color are disproportionately affected when temperatures rise and industrial waste exacts its toll.

Even with the work a summer cottage brings, Michigan’s relaxation zone is a place unlike any other.

Condemning a crude bigot like Donald Sterling is too easy, especially while people of color face real issues that too often are ignored.

Here’s a revolutionary concept for education: It isn’t, and shouldn’t, be just about “college and career readiness.” Maybe it should just be about itself.

Will ‘makerspaces’ breathe new life into Michigan manufacturing? It’s certainly an idea worth messing around with. Got a screwdriver?

Obviously, law enforcement in Michigan’s newest state park is important. But longtime visitors have their own good reasons for fearing the long arm of the law.

If everyone who ever wore the uniform of the United States’ armed forces is a hero, the word no longer has any meaning.

Forcing ex-cons to lead with their records on job applications is as effective as a facial tattoo – at keeping them unemployed.

Ellen Airgood is one recent Upper Peninsula novelist whose work has traveled beyond the state. But she still hasn’t quit her day job.

Summer camp isn’t just two weeks away from the city. It’s a time for children to learn new things, and learn about themselves.

Time has put the former Detroit mayor’s reputation in perspective, 20 years after he left office, and sooner, if you were ever stopped by a STRESS unit.

This local isn’t popping popcorn for a movie set in west Michigan, given how other towns have fared at the hands of Hollywood.

Soldiers so often suffer far after their deployments end. Congress and the president are in rare agreement that more money is needed for veterans' mental health services.

The Kresge and Stillman foundations are investing in neighborhoods and education, in a city that badly needs help with both.

We try to support our local communities however we can, but does that extend to sending children to sub-par schools? Even if they’re the ones who would improve it?

A little respect, please -- creative entrepreneurs are an important part of the state’s economy. Couldn’t they use a little cultivation?

This land is your land, this land is my land, but if you think you’re holding your bonfire in front of my cottage? We might have a problem.

You’re probably already failed at whatever you resolved on New Year’s Eve. So why not give yourself a break and try again on Earth Day?

Does the Upper Peninsula have abysmal health statistics because of geography, behavior, poverty or something else? Likely all of the above.