Stateside

Feeling anxious or unsettled? You're not alone. An online poll from the American Psychiatric Association finds 39 percent of American adults reported themselves as more anxious today than they were in 2017.

Plenty of us will be enjoying the water and exploring the outdoors in Michigan this summer.

But writer, broadcaster, and attorney Steve Lehto is taking these sorts of adventures to a new level.

This July, Lehto will be taking a 1,200-mile motorized canoe trip from Duluth to Detroit via Sault Ste. Marie. He is retracing the path of famous Michigan explorer Douglass Houghton in the 1830s and 1840s.

Nine girls have made scouting history in Dearborn, becoming the first in Michigan to be recognized as official members of Cub Scout Pack 1112.

This comes after the Boy Scouts of America’s historic decision to allow girls to join the organization and advance through the ranks to Eagle Scout. 

Eight-year-old Carolyn Kuentz is one of those girls. Carolyn and her father Michael Kuentz, who is an assistant Cub Master for Pack 1112 talked with Stateside’s Cynthia Canty about the joys of scouting, and what this change means for the future of the Scouts.

The Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border has generated criticism and condemnation.

The so-called "zero tolerance" policy resulted in the separation of 1,995 children from their families during the six-week period between April 16 and May 31. That number is now estimated to be well over 2,000 children. 

This weekend, current first lady Melania Trump as well as all living former first ladies — both Republican and Democrat — spoke out against the policy. 

Christian leaders across denominations have also publicly condemned the measure. 

Thirty years ago this week, on January 5, 1988, the last train left Michigan Central Station. That moment marked the end of nearly 75 years of Michiganders catching trains at the once-proud station.

Dan Austin, who has written three books about Detroit history and founded HistoricDetroit.org, and Mark Harvey, state archivist from the Michigan History Center, joined Stateside to discuss the station's legacy.

There are more than 3 million Americans living with glaucoma. As Baby Boomers march into their senior years, that number is inevitably going to go up.

Now, researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a medical implant that measures just 1 millimeter, and it's changing the way we treat glaucoma.

The opioid epidemic has been devastating to families and communities across America. For those struggling with addiction, getting clean can be a grueling process, even when they are able to get into a rehab facility. 

Tyler Trowbridge knows that struggle well, which is why he helped design Dirt City Sanctuary. Trowbridge, along with his co-founders Stacy Peck and Wendy Botts, joined Stateside to talk about their efforts to build a new kind of community for recovering addicts. 

The Trump administration's zero-tolerance border policy has meant some 2,000 migrant children have been taken away from their families.

From 2005-2007, Patricia Clark was the poet laureate of Grand Rapids. Now, she's a poet-in-residence and professor in the Department of Writing at Grand Valley State University.

Clark is also the author of five volumes of poetry, including her most recent work titled The Canopy.

Listen above to hear writer John Freeman's review of the collection.  

There is a lot of concern over what to do with the plastic water bottles we use. 

Flint is one community that is grappling with this question in a big way.

In the wake of the water crisis, the city has had to rely heavily on water bottles for safe drinking water.

Ali Rose Van Overbeke, a metro Detroit native, founded Genusee to turn that waste into eyeglasses, manufactured by Flint residents. 

Members of Michigan State University’s governing board are calling for interim president John Engler to resign.

That’s after the Chronicle of Higher Education published an email between Engler and aides in which he said Nassar survivor Rachel Denhollander was likely receiving a “kickback” from lawyers.

Trustees Brian Mosallam and Dianne Byrum released statements saying Engler needs to go.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Yet, in January, Congress and the President extended warrantless surveillance of phone calls, emails, personal Facebook pages and messages, permitting the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on U.S. citizens for six more years.

The Michigan Legislature approved a budget this week right before leaving for the summer recess. 

It would be impossible to go over everything in the budget, so Stateside sat down with two commentators to discuss some notable parts. 

Vicki Barnett is a former Mayor of Farmington Hills and Democratic legislator, and Ken Sikkema is a Senior Policy Fellow with Public Sector Consultants and the former Republican majority leader in the state Senate. 

More than a thousand people filled the grand hall of Burton Manor in Livonia to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan. The event was organized by the Muslim Community of the Western Suburbs of Detroit whose director and Imam, Sheikh Ali Suleiman Ali, delivered the prayer.

The end of the holy month also marks the end of daylight fasting. To celebrate the occasion, the faithful hopped in their cars and drove up the street to IHOP, or should we say IHOb?

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision that could strengthen the fishing rights of Native American tribes across the nation. It could even give tribes in the Great Lakes region a legal framework to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 pipelines.

The opioid epidemic is causing death and havoc for families all across the United States.

Hundreds of state and local governments have filed lawsuits against the manufacturers of the prescription opioids. Among those suing are 50 cities in Michigan.

There is a big hurdle for those Michigan cities to clear, though. A 1995 state law, sponsored by then-state senator Bill Schuette, gave pharmaceutical companies protection from lawsuits filed by consumers.

We Michiganders love our craft beer. In recent years, small breweries have been popping up everywhere, from big cities to small towns.

But it turns out when you’re drinking that pint of local Great Lakes beer, a delicious malt beverage isn’t all you’re getting. A new study finds there’s a good chance you’re ingesting microplastic fibers.

Charlie LeDuff has been busy. Over the last few years, he’s hung out at the Mexican border waiting for undocumented immigrants to be ferried across the Rio Grande on a jet ski. He's chatted up conspiracy theorists at the Cliven Bundy standoff with the federal government, and he's tried not to get hit by rubber bullets or worse in Ferguson, Missouri.  

There has been a lot of coverage of PFAS in the news. That's shorthand for per- and polyfluorinated substances, and it’s a class of chemicals commonly found in stain proof, water-resistant, and nonstick products.

A lot of the news coverage mentions that the chemicals can be harmful to humans. But what exactly does that mean? 

Courtney Carignan, an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University, joined Stateside to help us answer that question. 

Detroit has one of the largest populations of African-Americans among major US cities. But you might not know it based on what you see in the media, which often highlights the growth and development of white-owned businesses as signs of the city's comeback. 

There's a new journalism outlet looking to challenge that narrative. 

Tostada Magazine is a digital publication celebrating the range individuals who contribute to Detroit's food world. It aims to use food as a tool to discuss the issues facing communities of color and immigrants in the metro area. 

The world is still reeling from the recent deaths of designer Kate Spade and chef and writer Anthony Bourdain. These tragedies have drawn the country's attention as rates of suicide continue to climb.

The Michigan Legislature has approved a new budget that cuts funding to Planned Parenthood. The new provision would stop money for family planning and reproductive services from going to any group that also performs abortions. 

This budget now heads to Governor Snyder’s desk for final approval. 

Lori Carpentier is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan. She spoke with Stateside about implications of these potential cuts. 

Globally, climate change is going to cause serious upheaval. But the kinds of changes will vary from place to place. That means there are likely to be both winners and losers in a changing climate.  

As science refines its predictions about the impact of climate change, it's getting easier to see who will end up in each column. 

Bruno Basso is a Michigan State University Foundation Professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department. He spoke with Stateside about his new study on climate change and crop growth in the Midwest.

Gay rights, Roe v. Wade, climate change and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). These are just a few of the references that state Senator Patrick Colbeck and a group of conservative leaders hope to eliminate from K-12 public school social studies curriculum.

In the 1840s, a black family fleeing slavery found refuge in Marshall, Michigan. Only a few years later, after settling into their new home, relatives of their former owners arrived to capture and return them to Kentucky. 

But the town of Marshall, including the sheriff and prominent white and black citizens, stepped in to protect the family. 

This week marks 160 years since Giltner v. Gorham, the case between the Kentucky slave owner Francis Giltner and the citizens of Marshall he sued for their successful efforts to shield the escaped family. 

The city of Toledo, Ohio and its suburbs are arguing about how to properly charge for water. The disagreement stems from the 2014 toxic cyanobacteria bloom in Lake Erie that shut down of the city's water system.

Sarah Elms, a reporter with The Toledo Blade, joined Stateside to explain what's happening. 

It’s time for another edition of Theater Talk. David Kiley, editor-in-chief of Encore Michigan, joined Stateside to preview and review what's on stage around Michigan.

There is plenty of coverage about Detroit’s “comeback.” Stores and restaurants are opening, and downtown is more vibrant than its been in decades.

But the story of the city’s rise from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history often leaves out residents in the city's neighborhoods, who often aren't getting a chance to share in the prosperity.   

In preparation for the November elections, Stateside has been sitting down with the candidates for Michigan governor. 

Michigan's Lt. Governor Brian Calley is one of those candidates.