| February 25, 2022 
 Normally soft-spoken, health coordinator for the Grand Rapids Pride Center Leslie Boker doesn’t hesitate to speak up about their pronouns as they stick a “they/them” pin on over their heart. As a transgender non-binary person, respect for Leslie’s pronouns is about more than accuracy, because they know the unfortunate reality that transgender people face of being discriminated against, excluded or even killed because of their identity. So much so that to hear that anti-trans violence in the U.S. reached a record high in 2021, it wasn’t surprising, Boker said. According to a report by LGTBQ advocacy organization the Human Rights Campaign, 2021 was the deadliest year for transgender and gender non-conforming people in the U.S. on record. READ MORE ►Transgender rights activist works to aid and empower LGBTQ youth  Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a three-pronged assault on Ukraine that started early Thursday. Explosions set off air raid sirens in the country’s capital of Kyiv and other cities, and Ukraine’s leadership has reported 40 people have been killed. “I feel sorrow for the loss of lives and enormous disruption to human existence that these events bring,” said UM doctoral student Vika Kalesnikava. READ MORE  What’s underneath Lake Erie? The answer isn’t a total mystery to Great Lakes mariners, but parts of lakebed off Ohio and Pennsylvania haven’t been surveyed since the 1940s and nautical charts that commercial ships rely on are long overdue for an update. Because of that, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is sending one of its four deep-water hydrographic survey ships, the Thomas Jefferson, into the Great Lakes for several months this year to sonar-map the lakebed under heavily trafficked areas. READ MORE ►$1 billion for Great Lakes cleanup will target 22 pollution hotspots  In a twisted way, might Juwan Howard’s suspension be a good thing for the Michigan men’s basketball team? At least one Wolverine said it could after Michigan’s 71-62 win over Rutgers on Wednesday in the first game without its head coach. Acting head coach Phil Martelli running practices and having the final say on in-game strategy does not improve Michigan’s chances at winning. Nobody is saying that. It’s more about the emotional lift the Wolverines might get after dealing with adversity and coming out the other side. READ MORE ►Michigan women's basketball takes down Michigan State on Senior Night  Months before Ethan Crumbley allegedly opened fire on his classmates in the hallways of Oxford High School, killing four of them, he told a friend he was in the grips of a mental breakdown and needed help. When he told his parents, they rebuffed him, told him to “suck it up” and laughed at him, Ethan told his friend. In his journal, near drawings of guns and people being shot, Ethan wrote he had “zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up a (expletive)ing school.” He hoped the massacre would be the biggest in Michigan’s history. READ MORE ►Accused Oxford High shooter's parents were warned teen was a threat, counselor says MLive All Digital Access
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