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Rural Michiganders face housing, broadband and workforce challenges, report says ⋆ Michigan Advance

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Rural Michiganders face housing, broadband and workforce challenges, report says ⋆ Michigan Advance


The Michigan Office of Rural Prosperity (ORP) has released the Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity, a 71-page report that details challenges that rural communities across Michigan face and strategies to help address them.

The ORP, under the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), was founded in 2022 as the Office of Rural Development. It was later renamed the Office of Rural Prosperity in 2023.

The office was created as a response to the unique needs that rural communities have and the challenges they face around issues like housing, broadband, infrastructure, economic development and health care access, ORP Director Sarah Lucas said. 

Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity map

“The Office of Rural Prosperity is one of just a handful of state offices that are focused on rural prosperity. There’s about six of us in the country and not many states have a comprehensive strategy like this, targeted specifically at rural communities,” Lucas said. “It is very unique and I think it’s a really important opportunity for the state to kind of come together around the needs that rural communities are experiencing.”

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According to the Roadmap of Rural Prosperity released last month, rural Michigan is home to 20% of the state’s population and makes up nearly 94% of the state’s land area. 

Rural Michigan encompasses Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, more than 1,400 local governments, and 70 counties considered rural or mostly rural,” the report reads. “With over two-thirds of school districts and 21 colleges and universities located in rural areas of the state, rural Michigan is instrumental in preparing the future workforce.”

The roadmap aims to provide an understanding of rural needs and priorities and help guide local, regional and state leaders in “advancing collaborative and collective action to achieve prosperity across rural Michigan,” according to a press release from the LEO. The ORP defines rural prosperity as “resilient, connected rural residents, communities, and natural environments.”

Lucas said the idea for the roadmap started after hearing consistent concerns among rural community members. She said the ORP thought it would be beneficial if there was an understanding of how policy, programs and resources might impact some of the issues that were being discussed.

Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity map

“I would say that the listening process began in April of 2022 and we’ve never really stopped that,” Lucas said. “That’s really a major function of our office is to be closely engaged with rural communities so that we understand what they’re experiencing and then making sure that our partners within state government and outside of state government have a shared understanding of what those experiences are.”

The ORP received input from rural residents and community leaders through several different engagement efforts, including a listening tour that reached 58 counties, a 2023 statewide survey that got 2,489 responses, rural leadership summits, local and regional discussions and topic-based roundtables.

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According to the roadmap, those who responded to the 2023 Rural Priorities and Perspectives Survey said the biggest challenges facing the rural community over the next 10 years are: increasing housing opportunities, attracting a larger working-age population, changes to the cost of living, managing population growth and development and retaining workforce. 

Housing is the most cited critical issue facing rural communities statewide, followed by workforce challenges, the roadmap states. 

The seven strategies the roadmap presents to help address these issues are:

  • Growing and diversifying the workforce across sectors.
  • Improving individual health and economic well-being.
  • Supporting local and regional capacity to deliver services.
  • Expanding quality and attainable housing opportunities.
  • Building and maintaining resilient infrastructure.
  • Enhancing regionally driven and place-based economic development efforts.
  • Protecting and conserving natural assets.

Now that the roadmap is published, the ORP will be using it as a way to “frame conversations,” Lucas said. She said this is an opportunity to share resources and “best practices” so that communities trying to implement the ideas outlined in the report have the support and connections to be successful. 

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“We’ll be actually talking to a lot of groups over the next several months about the roadmap and how it might look in terms of local and regional initiatives, in terms of statewide initiatives,” she said. “It’s really going to be, in some senses, a conversation starter and a vehicle through which we can collaborate with other agencies and with other kinds of partners, both within and outside the state of Michigan.” 

So far, people have said the roadmap reflects the experiences they’ve had living and working in rural Michigan, Lucas said. 

“Even in the last couple weeks, since it’s been released, there’s already just been a lot of really great opportunities that have come out of it to integrate it into local, regional and statewide action,” she said. 

Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity_Report FINAL



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Michigan

Michigan's Newest Lakeside Inn Is Giving Gilmore Girls Traditional, But in the Midwest

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Michigan's Newest Lakeside Inn Is Giving Gilmore Girls Traditional, But in the Midwest


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From dreamy decor to top-notch amenities, Domino’s “Wish You Were Here” series is your first-class ticket to the most design-driven getaways around the world. Whether you’re looking to steal away for a few days or just steal a few ideas for back home (we encourage both, for the record), check out where we’re checking in.

I was born and raised in the Midwest (specifically outside of Chicago), which means I spent summers exploring Lake Michigan’s shores for family vacations. So when I pulled up to the newly renovated Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck, Michigan, why did I feel like I was suddenly starring as an extra in an episode of Gilmore Girls?

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Courtesy of Wickwood Inn

That magic is partly due to the charming town but also thanks to Martin Horner and Shea Soucie of Soucie Horner, their Chicago-based design firm, who bought the 1937 home two years ago and turned it into a modern inn befitting of Stars Hollow.

Vintage desk with four bird prints above

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn

Before the pair could make any cosmetic changes, they first had to consider the building’s history: Since the ’90s, the colonial structure was already a beloved inn run by adored cook Julee Rosso, author of The Silver Palate Cookbook. “When we bought the inn, we were very conscious of [Rosso’s popularity and returning guests], but we also had to make it our own,” Horner says. So instead of taking down walls and turning the 11-room property into a sleek Scandi hotel, they paid homage to the legendary former owner by working in details that were already there, like the art and furniture, which they reupholstered or repurposed. (The bathrooms however? Those were gutted and replaced with new tile and marble.) 

View into bathroom with blue vanity

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn
Wood paneled guest room with clawfoot tub in room

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn

The rest of the inn’s “jewelry,” as Horner calls it—like the bamboo bed frame in the room I stayed in—came from epic vintage shopping trips, Facebook Marketplace hauls, and even Horner and Soucie’s own homes. In fact, no two guest rooms are exactly the same other than the lighting, bedding, and Waterworks faucets. To further keep consistency, they went with a soothing, neutral Benjamin Moore paint palette. (Fan favorite White Dove was their go-to in most areas.) New Vispring mattresses appear in each guest room, too. 

Bamboo bed frame with white bedding and green pillow

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn

In the lobby and dining room, a fireplace and wood-paneled walls adorned with one of Rosso’s original tapestries, create cozy spaces in which to convene before a day spent exploring the area’s wineries and art galleries (prioritize Ox-Bow, trust me). Plus the backyard and screened-in gazebo are the perfect places to sip cocktails or indulge in the lobby’s complimentary chocolate chip cookies. 

Traditional-style room with lamp and chair

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn
Open shelving with bowls and fresh fruit and vegetables on counter

Courtesy of Wickwood Inn

The result almost feels delightfully non-Midwest, and certainly not beachy, even though the inn is just steps from the Kalamazoo River, where you can rent a candy-colored retro boat for an afternoon (highly recommend). Instead, the quiet luxury vibe paired with former Oprah Winfrey chef Rose Duong’s refined menu and the warm welcome from general manager Susan Michele make the whole experience decidedly Midwest. The only thing missing is Luke’s Diner.

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Ferndale man receives first beating-heart transplant in Michigan

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Ferndale man receives first beating-heart transplant in Michigan


Michigan’s first two beating-heart transplants took place at Henry Ford Health in Detroit recently.

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On his 58th birthday, Ken Miller of Ferndale was given the news that he would be undergoing the first-ever beating-heart transplant in the state.

Now, he is in the process of recovering. 

“I didn’t expect to be feeling this well,” Miller said. “I’m feeling great and blessed.”

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Miller had been in heart failure for more than a decade. He spent 25 days in a hospital bed, on a machine, prior to receiving his new heart –and a kidney– on May 31.

“I’m really excited about this outcome and excited about how well this heart worked,” said cardiac transplant surgeon at Henry Ford Health, Dr. Kyle Miletic.

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Ken Miller of Ferndale underwent Michigan’s first ever beating-heart transplant on May 31, 2024. (Provided by Henry Ford Health)

Heart transplantation has come a long way.

Generally, a donor heart is good for about four hours, which limits how far away a donor heart can come from. However, the “heart in a box” technology has been a breakthrough – which is a mini heart lung machine that keeps the heart beating.

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But still, the heart has to be stopped, twice, before being transplanted.

“We are always very concerned every time we have to stop the heart. Now, it’s inevitable. It’s going to have to be stopped once at the donor hospital to put it on this box, but the problem is we have to stop it a second time,” Miletic said.

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That can be problematic. But with the beating heart transplant technique, the donor heart does not have to be stopped a second time; it keeps beating.

“We hooked the donor heart up to his own blood stream. Once it came from the box, his blood was providing that blood and the nutrients to his new heart, and we sewed it in again as it was beating,” Miletic said.

Henry Ford surgeons performed a second beating-heart transplant just last week. That heart came from about 2,000 miles away.

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“Despite being the furthest distance we’ve ever traveled – really woke up right away with no issues, and that patient is doing extremely well and has excellent cardiac function,” the doctor said.

The new technique is not only revolutionary for heart transplant patients, but liver and lung patients as well.

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As for Miller, he’s ready to get back on his feet and back to his family.

“I look forward to just being able to move, walk, go upstairs,” he said. “All the things we take for granted.”



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Storms close Michigan’s Adventure for the day

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Storms close Michigan’s Adventure for the day


FRUITLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Storms Tuesday morning forced Michigan’s Adventure to close for the day.

The park closed “due to a power outage and inclement weather,” it announced on its Facebook page. It said most tickets for Tuesday will be honored through Labor Day.

“Thank you for understanding,” it wrote.

A line of strong storms swept through West Michigan Tuesday morning, leaving tens of thousands without power. Damage from the storms included downed trees and broken windows at a Grand Rapids post office.

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Consumers Energy crews will be working throughout the day to restore power. Some may not have power back until Wednesday, a Consumers Energy spokesperson told News 8.

Michigan’s Adventure isn’t the only West Michigan closure. Some local schools and churches, including many in Kent County, have canceled summer activities for the day.



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