Excitement is building as more and more Mackinac Island landmarks set their opening dates for the upcoming season. Resorts, restaurants and island attractions are all preparing to welcome another influx of tourists - some places as soon as this month. While the island has around 500 year-round residents, it starts becoming one of the state’s biggest warm-weather tourist destinations when the ice melts along the shoreline at the two ferry companies that service the island put their fast boats back in the water. Star Line and Shepler’s will kick off ferry service on April 21. See opening dates for some of the island’s biggest landmarks, according to the tourism staff: READ MORE
In at least one U.S. city, drivers can’t be pulled over for a cracked taillight. It’s one of several police reforms some communities have taken in hopes of addressing the reported racial bias in traffic stops in their city or county. The modifications in four communities focused on when police officers could make a traffic stop or how the information gathered from certain traffic stops would be prosecuted. All stemmed from officials attempting to address the racial disparities in traffic stops found in their communities. Following the death of Patrick Lyoya after a traffic stop, MLive/Grand Rapids Press found four U.S. communities where officials have passed local ordinances or instituted new policies to deter racial bias in policing. READ MORE
Many want to complain about the snow. But is it really out of the ordinary for Michigan? Let’s take a look at how often this kind of snow happens in April and May in Michigan. We’ve had accumulating snow way into late May at Detroit, Flint and Saginaw. In late May 1883, Detroit had almost 3 inches of snow. Stats show one in three years still has accumulating snow after mid-April. In fact, model data for past history of late April snows say we shouldn’t rule out another snow. READ MORE
The Michigan baseball team’s bats got hot at a pivotal point in its season. The Wolverines scored 32 runs and smacked eight home runs in a three-game sweep over host Michigan State. They are not in Baseball America’s latest NCAA Tournament field projection but padded their resume against the Spartans, improving to 20-15 and 6-3 in the Big Ten. The final two games of the series moved back to MSU’s home field in East Lansing, but Michigan’s offense didn’t miss a beat. It won 8-2 Saturday and 6-3 Sunday to improve to 15-2 against the Spartans (13-9, 2-7) in their last 17 meetings.
A pair of Michigan woman led the way for the state in the 126th Boston Marathon. Monicah Ngige, a Kenyan who lives in Lansing, took fifth in the women’s race, finishing in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 13 seconds. Charlevoix’s Desiree Linden finished 13th in the women’s division in 2:28:47. Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, a 28-year-old runner from Kenya, claimed the women’s title in 2:21:01, while Kenya’s Evans Chebet took first overall and in the men’s race in 2:06:51. READ MORE
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