By Maria Salette Ontiveros, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — A new version of the common flu is spreading globally, and health officials are monitoring this evolving strain of influenza A(H3N3) Subclade K, which has been increasingly detected worldwide.

Seasonal influenza activity has increased globally in recent months, with influenza A viruses accounting for the majority of detections, according to the World Health Organization.

Health officials are closely monitoring a growing subgroup of influenza A(H3N2) viruses known as J.2.4.1, also referred to as Subclade K.

The WHO says detections of this subclade have risen rapidly since August 2025 based on genetic sequence data shared through the global GISAID database.

Current epidemiological data do not indicate increased disease severity associated with subclade K, the WHO says, though its spread reflects the continued evolution of seasonal influenza viruses.

What is subclade K?

Subclade K is a genetically distinct subgroup of influenza A(H3N2) viruses, according to the WHO.

These viruses have drifted genetically from related J.2.4 viruses and carry several amino acid changes in the haemagglutinin protein, which plays a key role in the virus’s attachment to human cells.

Influenza viruses commonly undergo such changes over time. Global surveillance tracks these shifts to assess potential impacts on transmission, severity, and vaccine effectiveness.

Where is subclade K circulating?

The WHO reports that subclade K viruses were first detected at increased levels beginning in August 2025, particularly in Australia and New Zealand.

Since then, the viruses have been identified in more than 34 countries over the past six months, including the U.S.

Detections are increasing in many regions of the world, except so far in South America, according to the WHO.

What is happening in America?

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that influenza activity in North America remains relatively low but is increasing, driven mainly by detections of influenza A viruses.

During the 2025 southern hemisphere influenza season in the Americas, transmission exceeded the seasonal threshold in mid-March and mainly remained at low to moderate levels, the CDC says.

The CDC reports a predominance of influenza A(H3N2) in both the United States and Canada, with growing detections of the A(H3N2) subclade K.

Are symptoms different?

The WHO says there is no evidence that infections caused by subclade K produce symptoms that differ from or are more severe than those caused by other seasonal influenza A(H3N2) viruses.

Seasonal influenza symptoms typically include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headache and fatigue. Severity can vary based on age, underlying health conditions and immune status.

Do vaccines still protect?

Early estimates cited by the WHO suggest that seasonal influenza vaccines continue to protect against severe illness and hospitalization in both children and adults.

While effectiveness against symptomatic infection may vary from season to season, health officials say vaccination remains one of the most effective public health measures, particularly for people at higher risk of influenza complications and their caregivers.

Even when circulating viruses differ genetically from vaccine strains, vaccines may still reduce the risk of severe outcomes, the WHO says.

What happens next?

The WHO says it continues to monitor global influenza activity and viral evolution, while supporting countries in surveillance efforts and updating guidance as new data emerge.

Health officials note that changes in circulating influenza viruses are expected each season and are routinely assessed through international monitoring systems.

©2025 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post Detroit Evening Report: Dearborn receives firearm safety grant appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

The post Public meeting to discuss permits for Saline data center, impact on wetlands appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

The post AARP: Here’s why loneliness increased in adults 45-59 years old appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL

Nebraska will become the first state to implement new work requirements for some people with Medicaid health insurance under a law President Donald Trump signed last year.

Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, announced Wednesday that the requirement would take effect in the state May 1 and could impact about 30,000 people who have slightly higher incomes than traditional Medicaid beneficiaries.

“We’re not here to take everybody to the curb,” he said. Instead, he said, the aim is “making sure we get every able-bodied Nebraskan to be part of our community.”

The sweeping tax and policy law Trump signed in July requires states to make sure many recipients are working by 2027 but gave them the option to do it sooner.

Beneficiaries will have more reporting duties

The law mandates that people ages 19 to 64 who have Medicaid coverage work or perform community service at least 80 hours a month or be enrolled in school at least half-time to receive and keep coverage.

It applies only to people who receive Medicaid coverage through an expansion that covers a population with a slightly higher income limit. Forty states and the District of Columbia have opted to expand the coverage income guidelines under former President Barrack Obama’s 2010 health insurance overhaul.

Of 346,000 Nebraska residents enrolled in Medicaid as of May, about 72,000 were in the higher income expansion group.

Some people will be exempted, including disabled veterans, pregnant women, parents and guardians of dependent children under 14 or disabled individuals, people who were recently released from incarceration, those who are homeless and people getting addiction treatment. States can also offer short-term hardships for others if they choose.

All Medicaid beneficiaries who are eligible because of the expansion will be required to submit paperwork at least every six months showing they meet the mandate.

Those who don’t would lose their coverage.

The reporting requirement is twice as frequent as it is for most people covered by Medicaid now. That change means more work for the state agencies — and for some of them, extensive and likely expensive computer program updates.

Pillen said he does not expect the state government to increase staffing to make the changes.

When and how to implement the change is likely to be on the agenda for governors and state lawmakers across the country as legislative sessions start — most of them in January.

The policy is expected to lead to lost coverage

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the requirement will reduce Medicaid costs by $326 billion over a decade — and that it will result in 4.5 million people becoming uninsured each year starting in 2027. Currently, about 77 million Americans are covered by Medicaid.

Because most people covered by Medicaid who are able to work already do, it’s not expected to increase employment rates.

Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, joined Pillen’s announcement via a video feed and said the administration believes there are jobs available across the country, and the challenge is connecting people with them.

“Most people who are able-bodied on Medicaid actually want to get a job,” Oz said.

Georgia implemented similar requirements in 2023. Far fewer people are covered than projected, in part because of the work and reporting requirements.

Arkansas tried another variation of Medicaid work requirements — later blocked by a judge — that saw 18,000 people kicked off coverage in the first seven months after it took effect in 2018.

A child has been diagnosed with measles in Oakland County. DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township has been identified as the likely site of exposure.

People who were in the Emergency Department of the hospital on Dec.  7, 2025  between 7:20 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. may have been exposed.

Kate Guzman, Oakland County Health Officer, told The Metro the child was not vaccinated for measles and had recently traveled domestically.

Vaccine recommendations changing at CDC, FDA

This follows a series of major changes to federal vaccine recommendations and guidelines, made under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic and his views are becoming policy at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both of which are under his supervision.

These changes include loosening recommendations for infants and toddlers regarding hepatitis B, chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR).

More: New flu variant, vaccine guidance worry MDHHS’s top doctor

At the FDA, Vinay Prasad, the chief medical officer and head of evaluation and testing, issued a statement forecasting a more time and cost-intensive process for new vaccine approvals. Members of the medical community including former FDA officials, have shared concerns for public health, saying the proposed changes would make thoroughly tested and safe annual vaccines like the flu shot too expensive and time consuming to adapt to new versions of the virus.

Guests:

• Dr. Teena Chopra is a professor of infectious diseases and Assistant Dean of professional development in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University .
• Kate Guzman  is Oakland County’s health officer.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

More stories from The Metro

The Metro: Why domestic violence increases in winter, and what you can do to help

Tia Graham

Read More »

The Metro: DETROIT SALON brings Michigan artists to international audiences

Tia Graham

Read More »

The Metro: Double Up Food Bonus Bucks vouchers ending Dec. 31

Tia Graham

Read More »

The post The Metro: Measles case confirmed in Oakland County appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

This year’s harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie was among the mildest this century.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitors the development of algae in the lake each year.

On a scale of 1 to 10, NOAA rated this year’s bloom between 2 and 3, which is mild. Compare that with 2011’s very severe bloom, which peaked between 9 and 10.

NOAA researcher Rick Stumpf says each bloom is different. He and his colleagues use several factors to rate each one.

“The mildness is a reflection of how much bloom there is,” he says. “The amount of biomass, the quantity, and how severe it is over the peak 30 days.”

Weather is a big factor

The amount of rainfall in the spring also affects the bloom’s development. Algae feed on phosphorus, a common chemical in farm fertilizer. When farmers apply it to their fields, rain will wash some of it into streams and creeks. That water then flows into the lake through the Maumee River in Ohio.

Stumpf says lower-than-average rainfall in 2025 meant less phosphorus for algae to consume, and thus a milder bloom. He also says this year’s growth started later than usual.

“The last few years, the bloom’s been pretty well-developed in July,” Stumpf says. “This year, it wasn’t until well into August when you had the greatest quantity of bloom.”

Stumpf says one way farmers can limit the amount of phosphorus in the lake is to test their fields for it early.

“If you’ve got enough phosphorus in the field, you may not have to fertilize for a couple of years, and that can make a big difference.”

Navigating the shutdown

Stumpf says the federal government shutdown in October did affect some of NOAA’s observations. But he says by then, researchers had enough data to rate the bloom accurately.

“We do a lot with satellite data, and that data has continued throughout this year’s bloom,” he says.

That data will also help NOAA figure out what other factors affect harmful algal blooms and how they’ve changed over the last 25 years.

More: Muck runs amok in Lake St. Clair

Size doesn’t always matter

The size of each bloom doesn’t necessarily reflect how toxic it is. For example, the 2014 bloom was rated moderate to severe (5 out of 10). But it produced enough toxin to contaminate Toledo’s municipal water system that year.

In general, Stumpf says algal blooms can harm people and animals who are exposed to them. He says the best way to prevent that is to avoid areas of green scum on the surface of the lake.

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

The post Lake Erie’s summer algal bloom was relatively mild appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

By DEEPA BHARATH

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With eyes closed and a small mallet in hand, the Rev. Kyohei Mikawa gently struck the bronze Himalayan singing bowl resting in his palm and bathed the Buddhist sanctuary in a resonant hum.

Mikawa spent the next 45 minutes skimming bowls, playing a tongue drum and chanting to create an immersive experience called a sound bath as he sat facing a dozen people relaxing or meditating on yoga mats.

Sometimes known as sound healing or sound meditation, sound baths have surged in popularity over the past decade, driven by growing public interest in mental health and wellness. But sound baths are no longer confined to yoga centers, crystal healing studios or other new age spaces. They have crossed over to mainstream worship spaces, including churches, temples and synagogues.

Faith leaders like Mikawa, who oversees Rissho Kosei Kai Buddhist Center in Los Angeles’ largely Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights, are increasingly embracing sound baths. They see it as a way to reach out to their neighbors who may not be affiliated with a religion, but still want to be in community with others seeking spiritual experiences. They have also found ways to make this practice mesh with their respective faith traditions.

Adding religious practice to sound baths

The sounds that punctuated Mikawa’s session emanated from centuries of Buddhist tradition and practice, energizing and calming the mind at once, he said. A chant at the end of the sound bath, he said, means: “Seek refuge in the true spirit of who you are.”

“The goal is not to become a Buddhist, but a Buddha — the best version of who we are,” he said.

Rabbi Jonathan Aaron, who leads Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, a Reform synagogue, performs a sound bath the first Saturday of each month at the end of the Shabbat service, during a ceremony called the Havdalah. As part of this ritual, blessings are offered over wine, sweet spices and a multi-wicked candle while participants reflect on the difference between the sacred and the ordinary.

Aaron says a rejuvenating sound bath fits perfectly with the sensory nature of the Havdalah, preparing attendees for the week ahead. The rabbi works with a practitioner who uses crystal bowls, gongs, rain sticks and an ocean drum, which mimics the sound of waves, to create a relaxing, meditative atmosphere.

He believes that while a sound bath might not be inherently Jewish, it lends itself well to Jewish heritage, thought and prayer. Aaron points out that the first chapter of Genesis describes God creating the world through sound by speaking the words: “Let there be light.” Hearing, listening, and sacred sounds, including the call of the shofar that heralds the Jewish new year, are all important aspects of the faith, he said.

“I’m not trying to make the sound bath Jewish,” he said. “But I’m trying to bring Jewish energy and an experience by creating this environment that has a sound bath as part of it.”

Anna Reyner, a member who attended the sound bath, said the synagogue is a perfect space for it because it builds community — often a main purpose of a house of worship.

“When you are in this intricate sound wave experience with others, you feel a sense of community and a connection to the source of holiness,” she said.

Connecting with neighbors through sound baths

The Rev. Paul Capetz, pastor of Christ Church by the Sea, a United Methodist congregation in Newport Beach, California, said their monthly sound bath sessions, performed by a local practitioner, are drawing people “who would never otherwise darken the door of a church.”

“I find the sound bath brings you to another level of existence,” Capetz said. “It’s almost hypnotic, but it’s not a drug. You’re experiencing it in real time that leaves you with a feeling of such serenity.”

The goal of having practices like sound bath and meditation in the church is not to convert, but to relate to others in the community who may be spiritual but not religious, the pastor said.

Churches are naturally conducive to sound baths because of their sense of history, sanctity, reverence and, often, pristine acoustics, said Lynda Arnold, a longtime sound healer who has performed at Episcopal churches in Los Angeles.

“We talk about wanting to bring people into a state of deep listening, contemplation, prayer and intention,” she said. “In this church environment, there is an endless amount of creativity that can happen with sound and music.”

While sound baths are a more recent phenomenon, the power of sound has been harnessed for healing and spirituality for millennia. Alexandre Tannous, a New York-based sound researcher and sound therapist who has done these sessions around the U.S. and abroad, said many religions and cultures believe in the primordial nature of sound.

In Eastern religions, “aum” is believed to be the primordial sound or vibration from which the entire universe was created and is sustained. In Egyptian mythology and the Hermetic tradition, the universe is believed to have been created through the power of the spoken word, also known as Logos. The concept of the universe being “sung” into existence or created by sound is a common motif found in several ancient and Indigenous traditions and mythologies.

“In Western science, how do we believe the universe started?” Tannous said. “With a Big Bang, right?”

The instruments used in a sound bath — such as gongs, singing bowls, bells, chimes, didgeridoos — all provide vibrations and grounding harmony that help a person quiet the mind and become focused, he said.

“Those notes between the notes have the power to quiet the multitasking monkey mind,” said Tannous, referring to the unadulterated harmonics produced by these instruments.

The science of sound

Ramesh Balasubramaniam, professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Merced, has looked into how the brain resonates with and responds to sounds — particularly in some frequencies that could induce a deep, meditative state. A sound bath, he says, is one of the routes to get there.

“When you hear a sound wave that oscillates four times a second, you’re going to facilitate brain waves in the same frequency range by a process known as entrainment,” Balasubramaniam said. “We have 100 billion neurons and they all sing in concert in the same frequency, producing this collective effect like a crowd chanting in a football game.”

Jazmin Morales, who lives near the Rissho Kosei Kai Buddhist Center, has been attending Mikawa’s weekly sound baths for several weeks. She doesn’t know the science behind it. She just knows it works for her.

“I’ve always had trouble focusing when I meditate,” she said. “But a sound bath helps me focus. It’s helped me sleep when I was unable to sleep. It’s helped me let go of emotion. It’s even sparked my creativity.”

For Ridge Gonzalez, who practices yoga and meditation, it was her first time in a sound bath.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I could visualize the sound as if it were being sprinkled. I could see and feel it. When you’re meditating, you feel a sense of clarity. The sound bath feels like just another way of extending that practice.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By Stephanie Armour, Amanda Seitz, KFF Health News

Maddy Olcott plans to start a career once she graduates from college. But the junior at the State University of New York-Purchase College is so far not planning to start a family — even with the Trump administration dangling inducements like thousand-dollar “baby bonuses” or cheaper infertility drugs.

“Our country wants us to be birthing machines, but they’re cutting what resources there already are,” said Olcott, 20. “And a $1,000 baby bonus? It’s low-key like, what, bro? That wouldn’t even cover my month’s rent.”

The Trump administration wants Americans to have more babies, and the federal government is debuting policy initiatives to reverse the falling U.S. fertility rate. In mid-October, the White House unveiled a plan to increase access to in vitro fertilization treatment. President Donald Trump has heralded such initiatives, calling himself “the fertilization president.”

But reproductive rights groups and other advocacy organizations say these efforts to buttress the birth rate don’t make up for broader administration priorities aimed at cutting federal programs such as Medicaid, its related Children’s Health Insurance Program, and other initiatives that support women and children. The pro-family focus, they say, isn’t just about boosting procreation. Instead, they say, it’s being weaponized to push a conservative agenda that threatens women’s health, reproductive rights, and labor force participation.

Some predict these efforts could deter parenthood and lead to increases in maternal mortality.

“The religious right wants more white Christian babies and is trying to curtail women’s reproductive freedom in order to achieve that aim,” said Marian Starkey, a spokesperson for Population Connection, a nonprofit that promotes population stabilization through increased access to birth control and abortion. “The real danger is the constant whittling down of reproductive rights.”

The White House did not respond to repeated interview requests.

A slate of federal programs that have long helped women and children are also being targeted by Trump and Cabinet members who say they champion pronatalist policies.

Medicaid work requirements, for instance, put in place by the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a budget law enacted in July, will lead to extra paperwork and other requirements that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cause millions of eligible enrollees to lose coverage. Medicaid covers more than 4 in 10 births in the U.S.

The measure also cuts federal funding for a national program that provides monthly food benefits. Almost 40% of recipients in fiscal 2023 were children.

GOP spending cuts and staffing freezes have hampered Head Start, a federal education program that provides day care and preschool for young, low-income children, even as U.S. adults implore the government to curtail ballooning child care costs.

And the GOP halted Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood of America for one year because it provides abortion services, forcing roughly 50 clinics around the country to close since the beginning of 2025. Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of women’s health services, from wellness exams to breast cancer screenings and initial prenatal care.

Groups that advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights say the actions by the administration and congressional Republicans to attack these programs are making it harder for families to get the support and medical care they need.

“There is a lot of rhetoric about who is worthy of public assistance, and to many policymakers, it’s not the single mother,” said Allyson Crays, a public health law and policy analyst at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.

The pronatalist perspective generally supports government intervention to encourage procreation and is rooted in a belief that modern culture has failed to celebrate the nuclear family. The movement’s supporters also say policies to encourage childbearing are an economic necessity.

A Declining Birth Rate

The national birth rate has largely been on a downward trajectory since 2007, with the number of births declining by an average 2% per year from 2015 through 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although the rate has fluctuated since.

The concepts that shape the movement can be found in Project 2025, a political initiative led by the conservative Heritage Foundation that has seen many of its proposals adopted by Trump. The document asserts that children fare best in a “heterosexual, intact marriage.”

“Married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them,” it says.

Project 2025 also includes many proposals that critics say aren’t friendly toward women’s health. For instance, it calls for eliminating access to mifepristone, a drug commonly used in abortions as well as in the management of miscarriages, and encourages states to block Planned Parenthood facilities from receiving Medicaid funding.

The “more babies” mantra is being embraced at the highest levels of the federal government.

“I can’t remember any other administration being so tied to the pronatalist movement,” said Brian Dixon, Population Connection’s senior vice president for government and political affairs.

Just days after he was sworn in, Vice President JD Vance declared, “I want more babies in the United States of America.” He has also criticized the decision-making of women and men who opt not to start families.

The White House in October did announce a discount on certain drugs used in IVF treatments through TrumpRx, a yet-to-debut government website that aims to connect consumers with lower-priced drugs. Mehmet Oz, who heads Medicare and Medicaid, heralded a possible future of “Trump babies,” resulting from the lower-priced infertility drugs.

The administration also announced it would encourage employers to move to a new model for offering fertility benefits as a stand-alone option in which employees can enroll. But that is far from Trump’s earlier pledge to make infertility treatments free and may not be enough to overcome other long-term financial worries that often guide decisions about whether to have children.

Angel Albring, a mother of six, says her dream of having a big family always hinged on her ability to work and avoid child care costs. Her career as a freelance writer enabled her to do so while still contributing to the family’s income, working during nap times and at night, while the rest of her household slept.

“The whole thing of ‘sleep when the baby sleeps’ never applied to me,” Albring said.

Some of her friends, though, aren’t so fortunate. They fear they cannot afford children because of climbing costs for day care, groceries, and housing, she said.

Delivering on ‘Baby Bonuses’?

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has advanced another policy aimed at giving children a future financial boost.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act establishes a tax-advantaged “Trump account” seeded with $1,000 in federal funds — often called a “baby bonus” — on behalf of every eligible American child. The initial deposits are scheduled to start in 2026 with the federal government automatically opening an account for children born after Dec. 31, 2024, and before Jan. 1, 2029.

Parents could contribute up to $5,000 a year initially to the account, with employers able to annually contribute up to $2,500 of that amount. The accounts reportedly would be vehicles for long-term savings. Details are still being ironed out, but funds could not be withdrawn before the child turns 18. After that, the accounts would likely become traditional IRAs.

On Tuesday, billionaires Michael and Susan Dell of Dell computer fame said they would give $250 to 25 million children age 10 and under in the U.S. The donations will be aimed at encouraging participation in the Trump accounts.

Pronatalism extends to other parts of the federal government, too.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has nine children, instructed his department to prioritize federal funds for communities with high marriage and birth rates, though it has not yet announced any projects directly related to the initiative. For a time, the administration considered bestowing national medals on mothers with six or more children.

Except there’s one hitch: Data suggests the policies and programs the Trump administration has proposed won’t necessarily work.

Other countries have offered more robust programs to encourage childbearing and ease parenting but haven’t seen their birth rates go up, noted Michael Geruso, an economist for the University of Texas-Austin who hopes to see the global population increase. Israel, for example, has offered free IVF treatment for roughly three decades, yet its birth rates have stayed statistically stagnant, at just under three children for every woman, he said.

France and Sweden have extensive social safety-net programs to support families, including paid time off and paid paternity and maternity leave, and subsidized child care and health care, but their fertility rates are also falling, said Peggy O’Donnell Heffington, a University of Chicago assistant senior instructional professor in the history department who wrote a book on non-motherhood.

“Nobody yet knows how to avoid depopulation,” Geruso said.

Some point to a different solution to reverse the United States’ declining population: boost immigration to ensure a younger labor force and stronger tax base. The Trump administration, however, is doing the opposite — revoking visas and creating an environment in which immigrants who are in the U.S. legally feel increasingly uncomfortable because of heavy-handed policies, analysts say.

The country’s immigrant population this year fell for the first time since the 1960s, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

Meanwhile, to critics of the administration, the focus on encouraging childbirth allows the Trump administration and Republicans to sound as if they support families.

“You’re not seeing policies that support families with children,” said Amy Matsui, vice president of income security and child care at the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit focused on gender rights. “It’s a white, heterosexual, fundamentalist Christian, two-parent marriage that’s being held up.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post U.S. Representative Haley Stevens files articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

What should teachers focus on when exploring sexual health with students? How should they broach sensitive subjects? What does it mean to have healthy relationships with others, and to monitor our own emotional wellbeing?

These are some of the questions that the Michigan State Board of Education tackled last month. That’s because the board changed its standards guidelines for the first time since 2007. Those changes include explaining and exploring things like gender identity, gender expression, healthy romantic relationships, and understanding one’s own emotions in the classroom. 

Co-Vice President for the State Board of Education Tiffany Tilley joined The Metro to discuss what the changes might mean for schools and students across the state.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support local journalism.

WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Give now »

More stories from The Metro

The Metro: How a crime fighting cyborg inspired a generation

Cary Junior II

Read More »

The Metro: Measles case confirmed in Oakland County

David Leins

Read More »

The Metro: Congressman Tom Barrett works with White House to release Michigander in ICE custody

Sam Corey

Read More »

The post The Metro: A new focus on sex, gender and emotions in Michigan classrooms appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is urging people who can get this season’s flu shot to do so.

So far, the agency says about 20% of those eligible to receive the vaccine have been immunized.

New strain appears in the UK

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian is the state’s chief medical executive. She says a new variant of H3N2 influenza is causing severe cases of flu in England.

“What’s happening in Europe and England is sometimes a harbinger of what’s to come in places like Michigan,” she says. “And what we’ve been seeing [there] is an early flu season and a more severe flu season.”

Early studies have shown that this season’s flu vaccine offers some protection against the new variant.

“In England, they’ve seen that in folks under 18, the vaccine is about 75% protective in terms of keeping them out of the emergency department and the hospital,” Bagdasarian says. “It’s about 40% effective in those over 18.”

While the vaccine does not prevent all cases, Bagdasarian says it does reduce one’s chances of getting really sick.

“What we’re trying to do here is not stop all cases of the flu, but we want to keep people out of the hospital, the ICU, and stop them from dying,” she says.

Vaccinations have been declining since COVID

As for the low vaccination rate this season, Bagdasarian says it’s a trend. Fewer people have been getting annual flu shots since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She worries that an outbreak of severe flu might overwhelm Michigan’s hospitals.

“When our health systems are full of people with influenza, that means there’s less care to go around,” she says. “None of us want to see a health system that’s overwhelmed with flu cases.”

Bagdasarian says fewer children are receiving routine vaccinations for other diseases such as measles and polio. She fears that recent developments at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could make that worse.

Skeptics turn health policy on its head

For example, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently recommended that children should only receive the hepatitis B vaccine if their mothers have tested positive or their status is unknown. Decades of research have shown that immunizing newborns against the virus is safe and has drastically reduced childhood cases of hepatitis B and other liver disease.

Bagdasarian attended the ACIP meeting virtually. She questions the qualifications of many who spoke.

More: The Hepatitis B Foundation warns new guidance could undo decades of progress

“There were not enough scientists,” she says. “There were not enough health professionals, pediatricians, physicians.”

Instead, Bagdasarian notes that some of the presenters had non-medical backgrounds and don’t understand health care. She says that jeopardizes America’s health policies.

“The recommendations they voted on are liable to cause increased confusion and hesitancy and maybe put obstacles in people’s place when they’re trying to get vaccines,” she says.

Bagdasarian’s specialty is infectious disease. She says she’s treated patients with end stage liver disease, measles, and other preventable illnesses. She does not want the U.S. to go back to the time when these things were common.

“Many of these vaccines are things that we took when we were kids,” she says. “To deprive our own children of these life-saving benefits is sad.”

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

The post New flu variant, vaccine guidance worry MDHHS’s top doctor appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

By Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News

The United States is poised to lose its measles-free status next year. If that happens, the country will enter an era in which outbreaks are common again.

More children would be hospitalized because of this preventable disease. Some would lose their hearing. Some would die. Measles is also expensive. A new study— not yet published in a scientific journal — estimates that the public health response to outbreaks with only a couple of cases costs about $244,000. When a patient requires hospital care, costs average $58,600 per case. The study’s estimates suggest that an outbreak the size of the one in West Texas earlier this year, with 762 cases and 99 hospitalizations, costs about $12.6 million.

America’s status hinges on whether the country’s main outbreaks this year stemmed from the big one in West Texas that officially began Jan. 20. If these outbreaks are linked, and go on through Jan. 20 of next year, the U.S. will no longer be among nations that have banished the disease.

“A lot of people worked very hard for a very long time to achieve elimination — years of figuring out how to make vaccines available, get good vaccine coverage, and have a rapid response to outbreaks to limit their spread,” said Paul Rota, a microbiologist who recently retired from a nearly 40-year career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Instead of acting fast to prevent a measles comeback, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer who founded an anti-vaccine organization before taking the helm at the Department of Health and Human Services, has undermined the ability of public health officials to prevent and contain outbreaks by eroding trust in vaccines. The measles vaccine is safe and effective: Only 4% of more than 1,800 confirmed U.S. cases of measles this year have been in people who had received two doses.

Kennedy has fired experts on the vaccine advisory committee to the CDC and has said, without evidence, that vaccines may cause autism, brain swelling, and death. On Nov. 19, scientific information on a CDC webpage about vaccines and autism was replaced with false claims. Kennedy told The New York Times that he ordered the change.

“Do we want to go back into a prevaccine era where 500 kids die of measles each year?” asked Demetre Daskalakis, a former director of the CDC’s national immunization center, who resigned in protest of Kennedy’s actions in August. He and other scientists said the Trump administration appears to be occupied more with downplaying the resurgence of measles than with curbing the disease.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement that vaccination remains the most effective tool for preventing measles and that the “CDC and state and local health agencies continue to work together to assess transmission patterns and ensure an effective public health response.”

Looking for Links

CDC scientists are indeed tracking measles, alongside researchers at health departments and universities. To learn whether outbreaks are linked, they’re looking at the genomes of measles viruses, which contain all their genetic information. Genomic analyses could help reveal the origin of outbreaks and their true size, and alert officials to undetected spread.

Scientists have conducted genomic analyses of HIV, the flu, and COVID for years, but it’s new for measles because the virus hasn’t been much of a problem in the U.S. for decades, said Samuel Scarpino, a public health specialist at Northeastern University in Boston. “It’s important to get a surveillance network into place so that we could scale up rapidly if and when we need it,” he said.

“We are working with the CDC and other states to determine whether what we’re seeing is one large outbreak with continued spread from state to state,” said Kelly Oakeson, a genomics researcher at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

At first glance, the ongoing outbreak in Utah and Arizona, with 258 cases as of Dec. 1, seems linked to the one in Texas because they’re caused by the same strain of measles, D8-9171. But this strain is also spreading throughout Canada and Mexico, which means the outbreaks could have been sparked separately from people infected abroad. If that happened, this technicality could spare the U.S. from losing its status, Rota said. Being measles-free means the virus isn’t circulating in a country continuously year-round.

Canada lost its measles-elimination status in November because authorities couldn’t prove that various outbreaks from the D8-9171 strain were unrelated, said Daniel Salas, executive manager of the comprehensive immunization program at the Pan American Health Organization. The group, which works with the World Health Organization, includes health officials from countries in North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean. It makes a call on measles elimination based on reports from scientists in the countries it represents.

Early next year, PAHO will hear from U.S. scientists. If their analyses suggest that measles has spread continuously for a year within the U.S., the organization’s director may revoke the country’s status as measles-free.

“We expect countries to be transparent about the information they have,” Salas said. “We will ask questions, like, ‘How did you determine your findings, and did you consider other angles?’”

In anticipation of PAHO’s assessment, Oakeson and other researchers are studying how closely the D8-9171 strains in Utah match others. Instead of looking at only a short snippet of genes that mark the strain, they’re analyzing the entire genome of the measles virus, about 16,000 genetic letters long. Genetic mutations occur naturally over time, and the accumulation of small changes can act like a clock, revealing how much time has ticked by between outbreaks. “This tells us the evolutionary history of samples,” Oakeson said.

For example, if one child directly infects another, the kids will have matching measles viruses. But measles viruses infecting people at the start of a large outbreak would be slightly different than those infecting people months later.

Although the Texas and Utah outbreaks are caused by the same strain, Oakeson said, “more fine-grained details are leading us to believe they aren’t super closely related.” To learn just how different they are from each other, scientists are comparing them with measles virus genomes from other states and countries.

Ideally scientists could pair genetic studies with shoe-leather investigations into how each outbreak started. However, many investigations have come up dry because the first people infected haven’t sought care or contacted health departments. As in West Texas, the outbreak in Utah and Arizona is concentrated in close-knit, undervaccinated communities that are leery of government authorities and mainstream medicine.

Researchers are also trying to learn how many measles cases have gone undetected. “Confirmed cases require testing, and in some communities, there’s a cost to going to the hospital to get tested: a tank of gas, finding a babysitter, missing work,” Andrew Pavia, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Utah, said. “If your kid has a measles rash but isn’t very sick, why would you bother?”

Subtle Surveillance

Pavia is part of a nationwide outbreak surveillance network led by the CDC. A straightforward way to figure out how large an outbreak is would be through surveys, but that’s complicated when communities don’t trust public health workers.

“In a collaborative setting, we could administer questionnaires asking if anyone in a household had a rash and other measles symptoms,” Pavia said, “but the same issues that make it difficult to get people to quarantine and vaccinate make this hard.”

Instead, Pavia and other researchers are analyzing genomes. A lot of variation suggests an outbreak spread for weeks or months before it was detected, infecting many more people than known.

A less intrusive mode of surveillance is through wastewater. This year, the CDC and state health departments have launched efforts to test sewage from households and buildings for measles viruses that infected people shed. A study in Texas found that this could function as an early warning system, alerting public health authorities to an outbreak before people show up in hospitals.

The quiet research of CDC scientists stands in stark contrast to its dearth of public-facing actions. The CDC hasn’t held a single press briefing on measles since President Donald Trump took office, and its last publication on measles in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report was in April.

Rather than act fast to limit the size of the Texas outbreak, the Trump administration impeded the CDC’s ability to communicate quickly with Texas officials and slowed the release of federal emergency funds, according to investigations by KFF Health News. Meanwhile Kennedy broadcast mixed messages on vaccines and touted unproven treatments.

Daskalakis said that as the outbreak in Texas worsened, his CDC team was met by silence when they asked to brief Kennedy and other HHS officials.

“Objectively they weren’t helping with the Texas outbreak, so if we lose elimination, maybe they’ll say, ‘Who cares,’” Daskalakis said.

Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, said Kennedy responded strongly to the Texas outbreak by directing the CDC to help provide measles vaccines and medications to communities, expediting measles testing, and advising doctors and health officials. The U.S. retains its elimination status because there’s no evidence of continuous transmission for 12 months, he added.

“Preliminary genomic analysis suggests the Utah and Arizona cases are not directly linked to Texas,” the CDC’s acting director, Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill, wrote on the social platform X.

Given Kennedy’s distortions of data on vitamin A, Tylenol, and autism, Daskalakis said the Trump administration may insist that outbreaks aren’t linked or that PAHO is wrong.

“It will be quite a stain on the Kennedy regime if he is the health secretary in the year we lose elimination status,” he said. “I think they will do everything they can to cast doubt on the scientific findings, even if it means throwing scientists under the bus.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Seeking mental health care is complicated for many American Muslims due to cultural expectations and stigma. Oftentimes, Muslims believe troubling issues should be resolved within the family or through an imam.

Mosques around the U.S. are working toward destigmatizing therapy in Muslim communities to make it more accessible.

Danish Hasan, health director at the MY Mental Wellness Clinic in Detroit, says part of that work requires overcoming barriers to access.

“We have a little bit more stigma than some of the other communities,” he says.

When praying isn’t enough

Sabrina Ali is a stay-at-home mother and former teacher who grew up in a South Asian home in Canton, a multicultural suburb of Detroit.

She learned from a young age that she couldn’t talk about all her problems with her immigrant parents.

“It was like they just came from a totally different world… and for them it was like, ‘Well, what do you have to be depressed about? Like, you’re 13, you have a good home, you have a good family, like you have food on the table,’” she says.

Ali says her parents meant well, and suggested she pray more to resolve her internal struggles, “to be more religious, essentially, quote, unquote, whatever, whatever that meant to them,” she shares.

Ali says over the years when she felt distressed, she would pray. But one day, she realized she needed to go to therapy after having recurring nightmares.

So she started going to a free counseling program at the University of Michigan, Dearborn – the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), which offers free counseling services for full-time students. Ali says she learned about the program through her work with student groups on campus.

She says that although Muslims may feel “God is testing them” with a struggle, challenge, or test, it’s also important to take action.

“Maybe God is testing is me, but even my decision, the path towards making the decision to seek professional help, I think, in a way, was also a test, you know, because what is the saying, ‘trust in God, but tie your camel’, right?”

For many young Muslims, accessing CAPS is a private entryway to seek counseling services without having to tell your parents.

Destigmatizing therapy

Many American Muslims have grown up learning going to therapy is shameful and problems should be kept private. When there is conflict, they usually go to an imam first for advice.

Imam Mohamed Maged, resident scholar of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, also known as the ADAMS Center, says he realized 25 years ago some people needed more support.

“Sometimes they ask for us to pray for them, and we do provide that spiritual support, but I realized that some of them really might be suffering from mental health issues and they need somebody to help them,” he says.

To bridge this gap, ADAMS Center opened a Mental Health Program about 13 years ago. The program offers some mental health services inside the mosque, but also contracts to 17 providers through subsided services for 12 sessions.

They also serve the community at large.

Magid says showing people that imams and therapists are working together goes a long way.

“When you tell them this is a partnership between me and a mental health provider, both of us who can help you, they feel relief,” he says.

In partnership with existing community

In California, there are similar services provided at the Maristan clinic. It’s a holistic mental health clinic that is a part of The Muslim Community Center- East Bay, a faith based organization and mosque.

Founder Rania Awaad, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, School of Medicine, says mosques are community gathering spaces.

“To have the mental health services is a major pro. It’s built in. It’s within the same institution that they’re already attending and that they trust,” she says.

Awaad says her research shows that many American Muslims want mosques to have mental health centers, while others want counseling services in a stand alone space for more privacy.1

Along with therapy provided by a Muslim therapist, in some cases people can request Islamic psychology, or the integration of faith into therapy.

Religion can provide structure for mental well being

For example, a patient who has obsessive-compulsive disorder exploring an Islamic psychology session might include learning about Islamic regulations for wudu or ablutions as a way to cope with religious compulsions.

“How much time, and how many limits of how much to wash, how many times to pray or redo your prayers,” Awaad explains.

Providers can point to a hadith, or a teaching of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, to draw the point home.

“Bringing in, well here’s the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu Salam, that says no more than three washings in wudu,” she says.

This concept of having therapists placed inside the mosque is gaining traction.

MY Mental Wellness Clinic

Last year, the Islamic Center of Detroit began offering mental health services through the new program called the MY Mental Wellness Clinic, a youth-led initiative that began in 2016 through psychoeducation workshops.

Last year Hasan welcomed a crowd of state dignitaries and community members during the opening ceremony.

“We’re gathered here today to celebrate a vital initiative that has the power to transform lives in our community, the launch of our new mental health clinic,” he says.

Hasan says the clinic hopes to remove barriers and normalize taking care of ones’ wellbeing. He says the clinic began through youth initiatives to tackle mental health. Now, about half of the patients are the youth.

“The idea with this project is to be visible, to be present, to be accessible in an affordable for those that we serve,” he shares.

The clinic offers free mental health services to area residents, mosque attendees and has branched out to work with local institutions.

Similar clinics can be found around the U.S.

As more people seek therapy, Muslim providers are finding new ways to meet people where they’re at.

Support local journalism.

WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Give now »

The post Muslim mental health care centers emerge in mosques to better serve communities facing barriers appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

By Craig Mauger, cmauger@detroitnews.com

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall said Friday he’s considering pursuing a new state commission or fee schedules to limit what hospitals can charge for their services, as part of a bid to lower health care costs.

The Kalamazoo County Republican made the comments during an appearance on WKAR’s “Off The Record” overtime segment while discussing his caucus’s priorities for the upcoming year. The speaker referenced the Michigan Public Service Commission, which currently gets to approve or alter rate increases proposed by gas and electric utilities that have monopolies within their service territories.

“I am looking at potentially proposing a new … public service commission, but for the hospitals, to regulate their price increases,” Hall said.

He added later, “We might need fee schedules.”

Hall’s comments came amid reports of rising health care costs nationwide and a push by some political candidates to focus on lowering medical bills and insurance premiums paid by their constituents. However, a new government panel to intervene in hospitals’ financial decision-making would represent a significant change for an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents.

Annual health spending in the U.S. increased by 62% from about $3 trillion in 2014 to about $4.9 trillion in 2023, according to data tracked by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, said Friday that his group “is always willing to engage in discussions that can improve affordability and reduce government intervention.”

“Hospitals remain committed to addressing rising healthcare costs,” Peters said. ”Insurance premiums are ultimately determined by insurance companies, not hospitals, while independent analyses show that prescription drug costs and administrative expenses are driving insurance premium inflation.”

The website of McLaren Health Care, which has 12 hospitals, describes billing, costs and charges as “very complex.”

“The price a patient sees on their hospital bill reflects not just the specific care team who treated them, but also overall operational costs that keep the hospital running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” the McLaren website says.

The Detroit News reported in October that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was hiking its small group insurance premiums an average of 12.4% next year for its Blue Care Network HMO plans. In the individual market, state regulators allowed Blue Cross to hike its premiums by 24%, as three insurers stopped selling so-called “Obamacare” plans in Michigan.

In an interview in October, Tricia Keith, Blue Cross’s CEO, referenced a study by the RAND Corp. that concluded hospital mergers gave the health systems more negotiating power with insurers, increased patient volume for services, reduced competition and contributed to increased health care spending.

“We are concerned with (hospital) consolidation because there are a number of studies that have come out and shown — the RAND study, for instance — that hospital consolidation does drive up prices,” Keith said.

More: Q&A: Blue Cross CEO Tricia Keith on what’s driving double-digit health insurance increases

During his public television interview on Friday, Hall said something has to be done to lower health care costs.

“We see these big Taj Mahals they’re building,” Hall said of new facilities built by Michigan hospital systems. “I’m just saying it’s out of control.”

Some hospital executives, including Henry Ford Health CEO Bob Riney, have defended new medical facilities. Henry Ford Health is currently erecting a new $2.2 billion hospital across West Grand Boulevard from its flagship Detroit hospital, where the tower dates back to 1915.

“I would ask people to think about the inefficiencies in the design of a building that was designed to be a hospital over 100 years ago,” Riney said. “… If anyone has shown a great use of a building for a hundred-plus years, it’s us.”

More: Q&A: Henry Ford Health executives defend rising costs of care, new Detroit hospital

Democrats in the Michigan Senate have approved bills to create a new state board with the power to study prescription drug costs and set maximum caps on prices if they’re determined to be too expensive for patients.

The Senate voted in favor of those bills in April, but the Republican-controlled House has not acted on them.

Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said the ideas Hall floated Friday seemed somewhat similar to the Senate’s plan for the Prescription Drug Affordability Board.

“We have a great plan that’s sitting in the House chamber and that’s been sitting there for many months,” Camilleri said.

Camilleri added that Hall has continued to attack Michigan’s hospitals. In September, Hall called for the ouster of Brian Peters, the leader of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, after the group criticized the House GOP’s budget plan.

Health isn’t just influenced by the choices we make. It’s also determined by public policy.

That’s the message of a new report that examines how health in Michigan is limping behind others around the country. On average, resident lifespans are shorter, infant mortality rates are higher, and Michiganders are more likely to suffer from cancer and other diseases. 

Why is this the case? And, what is the state’s role in getting us to move our bodies more, and to expand our minds so we can live longer, healthier lives?

Karley Abramson is a health policy research associate for the Citizens Research Council, which published the report. She spoke with host Robyn Vincent.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

More stories from The Metro

The Metro: Detroit kids have paid the cost. Could this proposal pay it back?

Robyn Vincent

Read More »

The Metro: Documentary highlights Detroit’s contributions to American Jazz

Tia Graham

Read More »

The Metro: Eisenhower Dance Detroit brings in world renowned choreographer

Tia Graham

Read More »

The post The Metro: Why the health of Michiganders lags behind others around the nation — and how we can catch up appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

In this episode of CuriosiD, we begin to answer the question:

What happens to the Campus Martius tree after the holidays? 

… By first looking into where our Christmas trees come from.  

At Hillside Christmas Tree Farm in southern Michigan, the work of growing holiday trees begins long before December.

Tony Stefani runs the multi-generation family operation, and also serves as president of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association. He first became involved with the organization more than a decade ago, after his father brought him to a growers’ meeting.

“I had no idea how large this industry truly is,” he says. “There’s a farm in Michigan that sells a million trees annually. It’s quite astonishing when you consider the scale of this business.”

What customers want to know

Customers at Hillside Christmas Tree Farm often ask how long their trees will last. Stefani says a fresh-cut tree should hold up through the holidays. “I’ve received photos in mid-February showing trees still standing and even beginning to sprout new growth,” he says.

Another category of questions has to do with ornaments. “I’m very detail-oriented,” Stefani says. “If you have heavy decorations, I recommend certain species based on their characteristics.”

Tree height is also a growing topic, especially as more homes are built with vaulted ceilings. He says, “There is a strong market for tall trees…but taller trees are generally older [and take] more time in the ground, more effort, and higher costs.”

Better for the environment?

Questions about sustainability are becoming increasingly common, and Stefani believes the benefits of real Christmas trees are clear.

“We offer a product that spends seven to ten years growing in nature, supporting various microecosystems, ” Stefani says. “One acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people.”

He contrasts that with artificial trees, which are “manufactured on assembly lines from petroleum-based materials,” arguing that there’s no environmental case in their favor.

Real trees are also biodegradable. He says that after the holiday season, a tree can be recycled and mulched. “On our farm, we recycle the waste and return it to the land, something that can’t be done with artificial trees,” Stefani says.

A Michigan tree heads to the White House

This year, Michigan earned national attention in the industry. “For the first time in 38 or 40 years, Michigan won the national competition,” Stefani says. Corson’s Tree Farm  will send a roughly 15-foot concolor fir to the White House.

“If you win the state competition, you can compete nationally,” he explains. “And if you win nationally, your tree is presented to the president and the first lady.”

Beyond the holidays

Hillside has become a hub for other members of the community. Beekeepers place hives on the property during the summer. Search-and-rescue teams train their dogs on the acreage. Falconers and professional photographers also make use of the farm.

“We’ve hosted hives for supporting pollination,” Stefani said. “Search and rescue training, falconry activities, and collaborations with photographers seeking scenic backgrounds are also part of what we do.”

It takes time to grow 

Stefani says one of the biggest misconceptions about the industry is how much time it takes for a Christmas tree to grow to commercial height. “I wish people understood how long these trees are actually in the ground,” he said. “The trees we harvested this year were planted back in 2016.”

As president of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association, Stefani says many growers worry about how difficult it is to enter the business, mainly because trees take years to mature before they can be sold.

“Our biggest competitor is the artificial tree,” he says. “Entering this business can be quite difficult for new growers. You’re typically looking at a 7 to 10-year period before you start recouping your investment.”

As the holiday season approaches, he says one of the things he wants those searching for the perfect Christmas tree to understand is the time, energy, and effort it takes to bring this holiday centerpiece to your home.

 

Stay tuned for the next CuriosiD, where we answer what happens to our Christmas trees after the holidays.

WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

We want to hear from you! 

Have a question about southeast Michigan’s history or culture? Send it our way at wdet.org/curiosid, or fill out the form below. You ask, we answer.
Want more stories like this? Sign up for WDET’s weekly newsletter and never miss a curiosity uncovered.

Support the podcasts you love.

One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.

Give now »

More CuriosiD

CuriosiD: From seed to star, a Christmas tradition takes root

Amanda LeClaire

A WDET listener wanted to know what happened to the big tree in Campus Martius after the holiday season… but first, we take a look at Michigan’s Christmas tree industry to provide more context.

Read More »

CuriosiD: The untold history of Detroit’s Fortune Records

Jenny Sherman

On this episode of CuriosiD, we answer a question from WDET listener David Perry about one of Detroit’s most diverse and eccentric record labels.

Read More »

CuriosiD: What happened to the Cobo Hall Christmas Carnival?

Amanda LeClaire

In this episode of “CuriosiD,” we answer a question about a beloved Detroit holiday tradition that ran for nearly 40 years before quietly ending in 2002.

Read More »

Load More

The post CuriosiD: From seed to star, a Christmas tradition takes root appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

In America, we have a lot of very big problems, including climate change, income and wealth inequality and hyper partisanship.

How should we tackle these problems? 

Paul Fleming is an associate professor of public health at the University of Michigan. He believes we need to focus more on preventing problems from occurring in the first place.

It’s that mindset, detailed in his book, “Imagine Doing Better,” that he hopes will help us get to the root of the problems we seek to resolve before they turn into crises.

WDET’s Sam Corey spoke with Professor Fleming. They began by talking about why policy is important to focus on at all.

 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

More stories from The Metro

The Metro: Documentary highlights Detroit’s contributions to American Jazz

Tia Graham

Read More »

The Metro: The city of Trenton lights up with first Noel Nights

Tia Graham

Read More »

The Metro: Detroit kids have paid the cost. Could this proposal pay it back?

Robyn Vincent

Read More »

The post The Metro: The power of preventing problems instead of responding to them appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

Birthing is a fragile process. That’s why, with new life coming into the world, it’s the responsibility of a lot of people — doctors and nurses and caregivers and family members — to ensure that such life is properly cared for. 

But in order to do that well, we have to care for pregnant women. In this state, we’re being told that we’re not doing a great job of that task, specifically for Black mothers. 

A new report shows that about 1 in 6 babies born in Detroit were born prematurely. And this issue is directly related to that of infant mortality and maternal health. Two years ago in our country, over 20,000 babies died before their first birthday, with the highest rates occurring in the South and Midwest regions. 

Why is maternal healthcare, particularly for Black mothers, so bad in the U.S. and worse in the Midwest? And what can we do about it?

Tamika Jackson is a reproductive justice and maternal health organizer for Mothering Justice. She spoke with Robyn Vincent.

 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.

WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.

Donate today »

More stories from The Metro

The Metro: ‘Venus Undone’ reimagines what it means to be a goddess

Tia Graham

Read More »

The Metro: What started in Detroit is now a statewide fight to treat water as a human right

Robyn Vincent

Read More »

The Metro: Why the health of Michiganders lags behind others around the nation — and how we can catch up

Sam Corey

Read More »

The post The Metro: How to improve the care we provide Black pregnant mothers appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.