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Bay City Western High School remains in the national spotlight as a group of students continues its Confederate flag protest. The school was forced to cancel classes Thursday due to a possible threat related to the kerfuffle, a day after protests and counter protests coincided across the street. Since the school was closed, the pro Confederate flag protesters moved their trucks to a city park and had a barbecue. In Jackson, stray bullets struck Jackson High School. The shots were thought to have originated from an apartment across the street. Officials closed Jackson Public Schools today due to the incident. On a lighter note, prom season has begun. We've got all your prom coverage needs here. MORE
► Classes cancelled at Jackson Public Schools in wake of shooting
► Muskegon school board faces tough questions, angry community
► Prom season kicks off across state

Southern half of Michigan gets majority of state-funded jobs

Michigan is desperately trying to increase its skilled labor workforce. One way to do so is by offering incentive programs to businesses. However, most of the job growth due to these programs is occurring in metro areas. In effect, state funds are disproportionately benefiting the southern half of the state - Metro Detroit in particular. The Michigan Beyond 2018 series takes a look at the skilled job market and what the state needs to do to address growing needs within this sector. MORE
► Michigan Beyond 2018

Lions 2018 schedule a mix of good, bad news

The NFL released the 2018 season schedule Thursday night. The Detroit Lions landed some marquee dates, starting with a season opener at home on Monday Night Football against the New York Jets. Other nationally televised games include a Sunday night affair at Ford Field against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, and a Thanksgiving showdown with the division rival Chicago Bears. However, there are some downright ugly aspects to the Lions schedule, as Kyle Meinke explains in his 8 quick takeaways post. MORE

Schwandt family welcomes boy No. 14

A Kent County couple welcomed a new member to their family this week. With the arrival of a healthy baby boy, Jay and Kateri Schwandt's brood of boys now numbers a baker's dozen plus one. We couldn't be happier for the family, even if a girl would have been a nice change of pace. Impressively, the Schwandts are only nine shy of matching Mrs. McCave and her 23 sons, which, as we all know, she named all Dave. None of the Schwandts are named Dave. MORE

Bookworms unite at Detroit bookstore with a million books

We here at MLive are in the reading game, so we can appreciate when we happen upon a used bookstore touting an inventory of a million books. MLive videographer Jeremy Marble adds to our "Michigan is..." video series with a fun exploration of the Detroit landmark, John K. King Used and Rare Books. MORE
► Video: John K. King books