Edit to note that photo comments are not allowed on this subreddit, only videos. However, you should be able to include a link to a shared photo album or folder in your comment, if you're OK making one. Or you can create a new post with photos!
If you went to the parade, post here for those who couldn’t make it!
The Miller Woods Nature Preserve, on Powell Road between Beck and Ridge Roads, is marking the nation's 250th birthday by inviting everyone to come see a sugar maple tree that's even older than the nation!
It was dated at more than 300 years old through a core sample by a U-M team several years ago. If you want to see it, park alongside the road and go straight when you enter the woods (no dogs, bikes or strollers please). The tree is just past the second bench. Please stay on the trail and help preserve the tree and all the woods for generations to come!
It's cooler and shady in the woods, though you may want to put some bug spray on before you go.
Follow Miller Woods Plymouth MI on Facebook or MillerWoodsMI on Instagram. You can join the email list, donate to support invasive species removal and trail upkeep, or become a member of the nonprofit Friends of Miller Woods at https://www.millerwoods.com
Readings like this are happening in public places across the country at 6 pm on the 8th, just like they were when the Declaration was first signed 250 years ago! Here’s a local chance to listen.
The MDOT press office sent this out on the 16th but I hadn’t seen it posted here yet so sharing for general awareness:
M14/96 Project Update
The rebuilding of WB M-14 under the Sheldon Rd interchange requires closing the Sheldon ramp
7am Monday, 6/22 – late Fall:
Sheldon Rd on ramp to WB M-14 CLOSED
(ramp to EB M-14/96 OPEN)
Detour: Use Beck Rd to access WB M-14
Project update -
Mid-August the following is expected to reopen:
All EB/WB M-14/I-96 lanes reopen I-275 to Newburgh
Newburgh on-ramp to WB M-14/I-96 reopens
WB M-14/I-96 ramp to NB I-275 reopens to normal configuration
WB M-14/I-96 ramp to SB I-275 reopens
SB I-275 ramp to EB M-14/I-96 reopens to 2 lanes
Late Fall the entire project to be completed:
EB/WB M-14/96, west of I-275, and Sheldon ramp expected to reopen
The June issue of the volunteer-written monthly paper covering all of Plymouth is now available at the Plymouth library entrance and online at https://open.substack.com/pub/plymouthlibrary
Teens are taking over the July and August issues but if you’re interested in joining the Journalism Club and proposing or writing a story or feature for the fall, get in touch with the Express team soon!
All Wayne County voters will soon be able to vote on a public transit proposal.
This includes voters in 16 western and downriver suburbs that currently have no general bus service because they "opt out" of the regional SMART transit system, as well as voters in Detroit who have DDOT service paid for through the city budget.
I wrote an explainer about the proposal for the Plymouth Express, a print and online newspaper published by the Plymouth District library and written by volunteers for residents of the city and township of Plymouh. I spoke to people with multiple perspectives on the issue.
It's at https://open.substack.com/pub/plymouthlibrary/p/voters-to-decide-if-public-transportation and I hope it's useful to folks in other "opt out" communities too.
After I turned in the story, the folks at SMART launched a site with an interactive map showing the potential new and expanded bus routes that could be created if the proposal passes on a county-wide level. It's at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/dac5b62b449b4399aacf423c18df7d47
I have posted a brief video showing what the routes look like for northwest Wayne County: https://youtube.com/shorts/W6xqU6IUxyY?feature=share
I posted a few days ago about the public transit proposal that's on the ballot for all Wayne County residents this summer, and my story in the Plymouth Express that went online recently. (You can read it at https://substack.com/home/post/p-200649050)
After I turned in my story, the folks at SMART (the regional transit agency for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties) unveiled a new site with an interactive map that lets you see the proposed bus routes that they've mapped out for the expansion that would take place if the proposal passes on a county-wide vote.
I made this short video to give a view of the interactive map, zoomed in to the Plymouth/Canton/Northville area. See the full map and more info at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/.../dac5b62b449b4399aacf423c...
The map also shows the proposed areas that would get FLEX (Uber-style) service instead of bus routes because they are more rural. A little of one of them is visible in the lower left corner of the video.
What the interactive map doesn't show:
Voting begins via absentee ballot this coming week and continues through August 4; there will be several days of early in-person voting as well as the traditional primary day voting on August 4, and even if you're not on the permanent absentee ballot list and don't get a ballot mailed to you, you can go to your clerk's office to request one and vote it right there, or take it home and mail it in later.
Voting begins next week and ends August 4 on a ballot proposal that seeks to expand the regional SMART transit system for Detroit's suburbs into 16 communities that have "opted out" of the system since the 1990s and currently have no access to regional transit service.
I wrote this story explaining the vote for a hyper-local newspaper published by the public library in one of the "opt out" communities: https://plymouthlibrary.substack.com/p/voters-to-decide-if-public-transportation
It includes links to several websites with further information, and multiple perspectives on the issue.
If passed on a county-wide level, the proposal would also continue transit funding for the rest of Michigan's most populous county (Wayne), and connect the SMART system more fully with the city of Detroit's DDOT transit system.
The proposal is based on a property tax millage at a rate similar to what's now paid by residents of SMART's current service area, which includes the communities shown in red (much of Wayne County, and all of Oakland and Macomb Counties). SMART service expanded to Oakland's former "opt out" communities in recent years after a similar proposal there passed.
As the story notes, a recent lawsuit seeking to keep the item off the ballot was dismissed by a judge.
Detroit is within Wayne County, which has a total population of 1.77 million. Taken together, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties have just under 4 million people, out of Michigan's total population of 10.1 million.
A new University of Michigan report shows the impact of 10 years of Medicaid expansion in Michigan under the Healthy Michigan Plan, including long-term benefits for individuals and also for primary care clinics and hospitals.
The report comes just as Michigan and other Medicaid expansion states are preparing for changes if federal Medicaid policy, including "work requirements" for which the final rules were published last week, and copays for some enrollees.
A University of Michigan team has just published findings from a 10-year effort to evaluate the impact of Medicaid expansion in the state under the Healthy Michigan Plan.
It shows long-term benefits of this expansion – not just for individuals but for primary care clinics and hospitals that serve all Michiganders.
Read about the findings: https://michmed.org/4NVXe
A University of Michigan team has just published findings from a 10-year effort to evaluate the impact of Medicaid expansion in the state under the Healthy Michigan Plan.
It shows long-term benefits of this expansion – not just for individuals but for primary care clinics and hospitals that serve all Michiganders.
Read about the findings: https://michmed.org/4NVXe
The report comes as Michigan and other states are preparing for federal changes in Medicaid policy. Just last week, the federal government announced specific rules for "work requirements" that all states with Medicaid expansion programs must implement by January, requiring enrollees to show they are working or doing other forms of community engagement if they are able, or show that they are unable to work, in order to keep coverage. (More about upcoming changes to Michigan's Medicaid program including work requirements: https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/assistance-programs/medicaid/medicaid-changes )
