| July 23, 2021 
 As shoppers dust the pandemic cobwebs off their wallets, they’re noticing prices aren’t the same as they were in 2020. The inflated prices are hitting some products more than others. The federal government tracks monthly price changes for more than 300 consumer products, ranging from cars and college textbooks to bananas and pet food. “Inflation is one of those things people know just enough about to be afraid of,” said Matthew Roling, adjunct finance professor at Wayne State University. “So it’s really easy for people to use it as a wedge to drive agendas that might be unrelated to the core issue.” There’s a litany of reasons for why prices are higher for various products, but it all comes down to supply and demand, Roling said. Here's a look at the 10 things that have seen the biggest price jumps: READ MORE  Michigan would receive an $800 million chunk of a $26 billion, 15-state opioid lawsuit settlement being proposed to the largest pharmaceutical distributors in the country over the next 18 years, state Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office says. According to the AG’s Office, the settlement agreement is still pending. The companies doling out the money, Cardinal Health, McKesson, Johnson & Johnson and AmerisourceBergen, reported annual revenues of nearly $500 billion in 2020. The entire settlement that will take nearly two decades to fulfill represents about 5% of a single year’s revenue, cumulatively, for the quartet of pharma giants. READ MORE  Meeka Sova and Amy Satterthwaite were careful not to crowd their boys too much, but stood close enough to take in Luke Combs’ headlining performance with them at the Faster Horses Festival last Friday. It’s a precious last memory that Sova, the mother of Kole Sova, and Satterthwaite, the mother of Richie Mays Jr., hold onto tightly. The next morning, they learned their sons, along with their friend Dawson Brown, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a camper at a campground, where they were staying for the festival. On Thursday, Combs cemented a place in the hearts of the families when they learned he had paid for each of their sons’ funeral services. READ MORE
 Penn State and Rutgers -- that’s the entire list. Of the 14 Big Ten football teams, those were the only two that played all nine scheduled games last season. COVID-19 resulted in 13 conference games being canceled but, as previously determined, they were all ruled no-contest and didn’t count in the records. Whether that will be the case again this fall remains unclear. Speaking at the start of Big Ten media days on Thursday in Indianapolis, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren didn’t provide a definitive answer on the issue but said one is coming before the start of the season, which is a little more than a month away. READ  Unlike the Rose family on the TV series “Schitt’s Creek,” you don’t have to be a down-and-out former millionaire to get cozy in a roadside motel. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is home to many of these mom-and-pop enterprises, offering one-of-a-kind, friendly, locally-owned lodging that’s a great option for travelers. “It seems that COVID, more than anything, has inspired individuals to embrace that road-tripping mentality, and nothing speaks to that more than traditional roadside motels,” says Brad Barnett, executive director of the Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau. CHECK IT OUT Get your local news 24/7 Connect with MLive
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