Stateside

This Friday marks the 172nd anniversary of a uniquely Michigan milestone. On May 18, 1846, Michigan became the first English-speaking government in the world to vote and pass a measure to abolish the death penalty.

Mark Harvey, State Archivist with the Michigan History Center, joined Stateside to talk about Michigan’s progressive past. Judge Avern Cohn, the Senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, also joined the conversation.

Michigan born-and-raised actors may wind up working in New York or Hollywood, but they make sure the world knows they’re from the mitten.

Toni Trucks has been in a host of movies and TV shows, including her current roles as Lisa Davis in “SEAL Team” on CBS. Trucks began her performing career here in Manistee, and now she’s giving back to her hometown by loaning it her voice.

The U.S. Senate is taking up net neutrality today. A bill that would protect net neutrality rules from repeal by the Federal Communications Commission passed a procedural hurdle earlier this afternoon.

These Obama-era rules prevented internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast, for example, from speeding up or slowing down traffic from certain apps and websites. Barring changes made by Congress and signed by the President, the FCC's repeal of these rules is set to go into effect on June 11.

Howell High School's Jason Schrock is Michigan's Principal of the Year for 2018.

In 2000, Schrock joined Howell High School as a math teacher. After seven years, he became assistant principal, and for the last six years has been full on principal.

Leading by example and wanting to create a positive school climate he says, "The more I’ve read and learned and watched other leaders from across the state, in and out of education, I know that the direction and the culture of the organization -- the tone is set by the leader." 

The holy month of Ramadan begins this evening. For the next month, Muslims around the world will fast from sunrise to sunset and devote more time to reading the Holy Koran.

Samar Baydoun Bazzi of Dearborn wanted to make the holy month a little festive for her family. After years of seeing Christmas trees and other holiday decorations, she came up with a Ramadan tree. She joined Stateside to talk about how she came up with the idea and its reception by her family and local community.

President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs continue to worry Michigan companies, particularly companies whose supply chains stretch to China.

One such company is Auburn Hills-based auto supplier, Lucerne International.

We often ask listeners to reach out with stories we could share on Stateside. Here's an example of when someone did just that, writing to tell us about a Detroit-based nonprofit that can save lives.

It's called Team fEMR, a free and open source electronic medical records system for short-term medical service trips. It allows medical volunteers to record and pass along patient records to the next group of volunteers.

It’s time for another edition of Theater Talk. David Kiley, editor-in-chief of Encore Michigan, joined Stateside to preview and review plays, with a special focus on West Michigan.

If certain health providers and legislators get their way, Michigan's mental health system could soon be privatized.

Pretty much everyone agrees that closer coordination of mental and physical health care would be a good thing for patients.

After all, the mind is connected to the body, but just how to get there has been up for fierce debate going on two years now.