It’s the third week of the Michigan Legislature’s frenzied lame duck session. One controversial bill could fly out of the state Senate this week: legislation that targets public employee unions. It would require members to vote every two years to re-certify or disband their union.

Senator Jim Ananich is the Democratic leader in the Senate. He says Republicans are trying once again to weaken unions in Michigan.

“There’s no need for it. All it would do is cost the state and both the workers and the unions a lot more money,” he says.

Nearly half of people covered under Michigan’s Medicaid expansion said their health improved immediately after enrolling. For those whose health improved, they were four times as likely to say that they were doing a better job at work. That’s according to a study by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. 

The future for some drug detecting police canines is uncertain in Michigan, now that recreational marijuana is legal.

Demonstrators gathered in Petoskey on Saturday, opposing the state's plan to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, which would house twin oil pipelines owned by Canadian company Enbridge Energy.

Republican lawmakers in Lansing have been criticized lately, because they adopted two ballot proposals in September on minimum wage and paid sick time – and then passed bills to significantly change those measures.

It’s left some to wonder how fair our ballot initiative process is. One lawmaker has introduced a bill that he says will increase transparency and accountability in the ballot petition process.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Michigan and 19 other states have complied with a 2008 rule to reduce their pollution that was drifting into other states. But air quality experts say there's much more to be done.  

Ozone is a harmful gas created when sunshine, heat and pollutants like nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds interact. Those pollutants, which come from power plants, manufacturing, and vehicles, can drift from one state to another. 

Janice Nolen is with the American Lung Association. 

Rent has increased more in Detroit as a percentage of household income than in any other large U.S. city in the last few years, according to a report by the financial tech company SmartAsset.

The report looked at fair market rent across the U.S. between 2014 and 2017.