| February 11, 2022 
 Nearly two years after the first COVID-19 case was reported in Michigan, 173 traditional public school districts within Michigan are currently requiring students and staff to wear masks in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In September of 2021, 791,299 total students attended a district that required masks, or 63% of all public school students. Now, 628,356 students, or 54% of all students, are required to wear a mask. Of all districts that maintain the mask mandates, the majority of them are either in Southeast Michigan, where the omicron variant hit particularly hard in January, and the Northwest corner of the Lower Peninsula, home to some of the highest vaccination rates in the state. READ MORE ►Mask mandate prompts Oakland County parents to sue 3 schools districts, health department  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled her proposed budget for the next fiscal year with a flurry of slideshows, charts and enough numbers to make your calculator sizzle. Most folks probably aren’t eager to dive into state spreadsheets or hundreds of pages of detailed fiscal policy. Budgets are important, and set the state’s priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, but probably won’t have you on the edge of your seat. That’s OK. We put together a quick, handy guide to some of the key details in Whitmer’s budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year. Here are the must-know items: READ MORE  Activists and experts are accusing U.S. defense officials of lying about whether veterans and their families drank toxic PFAS chemicals in the water at Wurtsmith Air Force Base before the installation closed in the early 1990s. In a public outreach document, the U.S. Department of Defense claims to be ignorant of data showing Wurtsmith veterans were highly exposed to the toxic chemicals — a claim one former Michigan regulator who studied the base extensively characterized as a blatant falsehood: READ MORE  Sure, I bet they would rather he was playing for a Super Bowl win with their team, but the Detroit Lions don't have any bitter feelings for Matthew Stafford. In fact, they say they'll be rooting Stafford on, as the quarterback gets home-field advantage in Los Angeles with the Rams on Sunday. After many tough years in Detroit, will the veteran player get his ring? Many Michiganders will be watching, and it seems nearly all of them will be hoping No. 9 pulls it off. Heck, even Jared Goff, the man Stafford replaced in Los Angeles, said he was happy for the longtime former Lions quarterback. Good luck, old friend. READ MORE ►Super Bowl halftime show details  This weekend has two weather situations. There will be an area of snowy roads and a full state worth of bitter, Arctic cold. All we need to know about this weekend’s temperatures is it will be cold everywhere - all the time. 2 to 5-inches of snow from the Traverse City area south through the entire area to Grand Rapids and far southwest Lower Michigan. Eastern Lower Michigan will only have an inch or two of snow sometime Friday, and shouldn't have any major winter driving snow issues: READ MORE ►Michigan’s next stormy period developing; could be a snowy, icy, wet mess Get your local news 24/7 Connect with MLive
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