| January 19, 2022 
 A handful of Michigan cities, townships and villages don’t want the American Rescue Plan Act dollars promised to them and are formally rejecting the funds. There are 33 communities that haven’t indicated they’ll accept the money, which adds up to a combined $3.1 million potentially left on the table. Of the 33, 12 haven’t filled out an application, nine just started an application but haven’t said if they’ll accept and 12 others filled out an application and noted they’ll reject the funds, per the Michigan Treasury. Ensley Township in Newaygo County is forfeiting the most money of the bunch, declining nearly $285,000. It has mostly been smaller townships and villages that were hesitant to accept the funds, according to the Michigan Municipal League. READ MORE ►Infrastructure law sends Michigan $563M to fix bridges in the next five years  COVID-19 cases continue to remain high on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. Preliminary data from the week ending Jan. 8 shows 1,559 cases, according to UM coronavirus data. Prior to this winter’s surge, the previous high for cases in a week at UM was 410 in October 2020. Faculty and community members have pointed to the extremely high spread to pause in-person learning and move to remote classes for a few weeks. And the University of Michigan isn't alone. Other Michigan universities are seeing the same spike. READ MORE  In its centennial year of being incorporated as a city, Hamtramck is now in the national and international spotlight for becoming the first known U.S. city to be run by an all-Muslim government. The city of roughly 28,400 residents located in Wayne County inaugurated Mayor Amer Ghalib on Jan. 2. The Yemen-born immigrant was joined by three new incoming Muslim city council members after nearly 100 years of Polish leadership. “It is historic and I’m very proud to be the first immigrant, Muslim mayor,” Ghalib said. READ MORE ►Michigan AG says Republicans who faked election certificates 'absolutely' committed crimes  When the Michigan hockey team’s season began in October, participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympics was the last thing on the minds of sophomore forwards Matty Beniers and Brendan Brisson. The NHL was expected to return to the Olympics like it had the previous nine before not participating in the 2018 games. But with the NHL deciding to opt out of the Beijing Olympics because of a surge in COVID-19, the door opened for college players. The United States announced last week its 25-man roster, which features 15 NCAA players, including Brisson and Beniers. “It’s the Olympics. Kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Beniers said. READ MORE ►Michigan's Jace Howard makes his case to his dad for more playing time  Ice, ice baby -- it's starting to spread on our lovely Great Lakes, thanks to some cold temperatures that have visited our region. While December averaged around six degrees warmer than normal, January is now averaging about four degrees colder than normal. So, it's helping the lakes catch up with their typical ice coverage. A few of the Great Lakes even have ice cover that is right at a long-term average. Currently about 14% of the entire Great Lakes surface is covered with ice.READ MORE ►Icy finish: 3 boats go through together as Soo Locks closes for winter maintenance Get your local news 24/7 Connect with MLive
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