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The Catholic Church of Michigan is facing declining numbers, and there does not seem to be a turnaround in sight. Overall, membership numbers are down for most religions in the U.S. In fact, the fastest growing category of religious identity is "none." However, while Catholic retention rates - Americans who grew up Catholic and have remained so as adults - are in line with other religions, the Catholic Church is gaining a decided lack of converts. MORE
►Catholic Charities of West Michigan suing state over adoption policy
►Sentencing of 'Father Bob' follows years of scandal for Catholic Church, Saginaw Diocese

Regional polls now open for Iconic Restaurant search

We kicked off our Michigan's Best search for the most Iconic Restaurant with a call for nominations last week. We received more than 200. (Thank you! Now we've got regional polls up on the site. These votes help us determine which tried and true establishments we visit. Check 'em out and vote as often as you'd like. We'll keep the polls open until noon Friday. MORE
►See all the more than 200 nominations submitted

We've got rounds of rain in the way, and here's why

MLive chief meteorologist Mark Torregrossa was off last week. Maybe he would have helped us not freak out about the late April snowstorm that was supposed to hit over the weekend. Thankfully, he's back to spell out just where all the rain in this week's forecast is coming from. (If you just said out loud, "Duh, the sky," be sure to look in the mail for your official "I'm snarky, too" sticker.) MORE
►Snow totals were 'feast or famine' across Michigan
►Start your day with Mark T's forecast in the morning

The 20-game winners from Michigan

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The NFL Draft is over! (Though, of course there's so much to parse over with what the Detroit Lions did.) Let's turn our attention to the diamond. The Detroit Tigers are proving to be a scrappy bunch this year. U-M's softball and baseball teams are streaking right now. But here's an historical look back at all the major league 20-game winners from Michigan. That Smoltz guy woulda looked great in a Tigers uniform. MORE
►Greatest home run seasons by Michigan natives

Pure Michigan album features the sounds of our state parks

Unfortunately, we can't spend all of our time at Michigan's beautiful state parks. For those times when you have to return to work or home, you can soon bring the sounds of those wonderful parks with you. That's thanks to a new album from Pure Michigan that features sounds recorded at 10 state parks. You can take a listen to two of the tracks right now before the album is released in full on May 22. MORE
►Michigan's 25 most popular state park campgrounds
►Meet all 5 (yes, 5) of Michigan's National Parks