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Several farms in Missaukee County have clusters of COVID-19 cases among workers, according to District Health Department #10. 

In a press release Thursday the department said it's investigating the situation and contacting people that could have been exposed to the virus.

TRAVERSE CITY — The Michigan Public Service Commission is seeking comment on whether Enbridge Energy needs its approval to re-site a segment of its Line 5 oil pipeline into a bedrock tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.

State House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Triston Cole (R-Mancelona) is running for Antrim County Sheriff.

Cole has represented northern Michigan’s 105th district - which includes parts of Antrim, Otsego, Charlevoix, Montmorency and Oscoda counties - in the state house since 2014. 

More Democrats are running for office in Grand Traverse County than ever before, says the local Democratic chair.

Democrats will run for seats in county government, including board of commissioners and township trustee, according to a press release.

“There is a lot of energy … for change, transparency and a different form of government than what everybody seems to be used to,” says Grand Traverse County Democrat Party Chair Chris Cracchiolo.

This story was updated April 22 at 11:55 a.m. with more information from District Health Department #10.

Health officials confirmed coronavirus cases in what the state calls “congregate care facilities” in Otsego and Crawford counties this week. The Health Department of Northwest Michigan says a cluster of nearly 20 positive cases were found at an undisclosed care facility in Otsego County over the weekend.

Nine inmates at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin tested positive for COVID-19, according to the state.

Last week, GEO Group — the company that owns the prison — said five prison employees also have the disease.

Two Michigan residents say their constitutional rights are being violated because they can’t visit their second home in northern Michigan. 

The Benzie and Leelanau County Democratic parties say sheriffs up north made a mistake by undermining Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ‘stay at home’ order.

This story is a Traverse City Record-Eagle data reporting project.

Political tension surrounding Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Stay Home Stay Safe order boiled over during protests in Michigan’s capitol this week.

But a Record-Eagle analysis of anonymized cellphone tracking data indicates politics may have influenced Michiganders’ travel habits for weeks.

Michigan Technological University opened a COVID-19 testing lab on its Houghton campus this week.

Researchers at the school worked for over a month to get it up and running.

The lab can’t take samples from patients, but can help healthcare providers deal with their sample backlogs.

Hospitals in the region were notified Thursday morning that the lab could start accepting samples.

Updated 4/16/20 with additional North Lake worker who tested positive.

Five employees at a North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin tested positive for COVID-19.

Inmates who interacted with infected employees are in medical quarantine, says GEO Group, the prison operator.

North Lake Correctional Facility is a federal prison that holds up to 1,700 immigrants who’ve been convicted of felonies.

More and more people have been visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as the weather warms up. 

Now, the park located in Empire is closed to all visitors. 

The Traverse City Area Public Schools Board of Education will interview five candidates for the superintendent vacancy. The first round of virtual interviews starts April 25, according to a press release.