Meanwhile, lawsuits against public officials and entities in Michigan are starting to pile up over lead-tainted water.

Lead and copper contamination has sparked disease and devastation in the city of Flint

Traverse City, Michigan, is home to one of the state's largest food pantries. Here's how it's handling demand for its services.

Residents say they get less opportunity to negotiate when water shut-off looms.

A new wine region is developing in less-than-Mediterranean Midwestern states.

When rural families leave to search for better jobs, schools scramble to make cuts — and may even shut down.

In his travels for The Atlantic and Marketplace's American Futures project, Jim Fallows says the American economy in small cities and towns is doing all right.

One Michigan mother describes the year she went "from broke to badass" on her northern Michigan farm.

A factory in Michigan actually pays the state government to bring a public caseworker to the company to help its low-income workers.

A small business owner shares his take on the bankruptcy and his hopes for Detroit's future.