Emma Winowiecki

Michigan Radio may not be a music station, but our staff really loves a good jam. Luckily for us, NPR Music is a constant source of musical gems, from podcasts and album reviews to the beloved Tiny Desk Concert.

Below are some of our favorite Tiny Desks, from our ears to yours.

Central Michigan University students could win a full-year scholarship for being fully vaccinated.

The university announced Monday that it will name winners Aug. 2 and 23, Sept. 13, and Oct. 4. Each drawing will have 100 students who will get a $75 gift card and one student who will win a full-year scholarship for the 2021-2022 school year.

While tropical storms are threatening the southern United States and extreme heat seriously impacted the Pacific Northwest, Michigan is getting its own wave of wild weather.

High winds and thunderstorms left hundreds of thousands of residents without power in southeast Michigan this week, just days after storms flooded Metro Detroit, and more storms are already in the forecast.

Metro Detroit saw nearly seven inches of rain this weekend, causing massive flooding and power outages throughout the region. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a state of emergency for Wayne County Saturday to help address threats to public health and safety related to the storm.

As of Monday morning, many highways and roads remain closed. Due to the amount of water, many pumping stations and sewer overflow facilities failed, causing flooding of many residential streets and basements. 

State Rep. Andrew Beeler (R-Port Huron) and ten other House Republicans introduced a bill Wednesday to ban critical race theory from being taught in Michigan's K-12 classrooms.

Critical race theory (or CRT) is suddenly being discussed by political leaders nationwide, despite being more than 40 years old. Michigan is now one of many states where conservatives have pushed bills to ban CRT from being taught in schools.

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Michigan will lift all indoor capacity restrictions and mask requirements next week, 10 days sooner than planned amid vaccinations and plummeting COVID-19 infections.

Starting Saturday, fully vaccinated Michiganders are no longer required to wear a face mask inside or outdoors.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced a plan to tie the lifting of coronavirus restrictions to Michigan's vaccination rate, setting four specific benchmarks that must be reached to return to normal. As more people get shots, she says, the state will allow in-person work for all business sectors, relax indoor capacity limits and ultimately lift them.

The University of Michigan will require COVID-19 vaccinations for students who live on its Ann Arbor campus this fall.

President Mark Schlissel said Friday that shots won't be mandated for faculty, staff and others students "at this time," but he strongly encouraged everyone to be vaccinated.

Michigan paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine today after federal health officials recommended doing so Tuesday morning.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says it has identified the first case of the P.1 COVID-19 variant in a Bay County resident.

The P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil, is the second new variant of the virus found in Michigan. The B.1.1.7 variant, known as the U.K. variant, has been spreading through the state since it was first identified in February.

It’s been one year since Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the first cases of COVID-19 in Michigan.

That spring, Michigan became a COVID hotspot. The first wave of the pandemic hit southeast Michigan especially hard. By April 10, 2020, Detroit alone accounted for 23% of the state's total cases, and 32% of deaths.

Late in the evening on March 10, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the first cases of coronavirus in Michigan. In the days that followed, the state was on alert as the disease COVID-19 took hold.

A two-week shutdown became a month, then three months, then six months. Now, one year later, all of our lives look very different. Masks are commonplace, many of us still work from home, and students continue to learn remotely. Weddings and trips were postponed or cancelled. Lives were put on hold, and worse. More than 16,000 Michiganders have died of COVID-19. Over 650,000 have tested positive.

The state of Michigan is expanding vaccine eligibility this month. On March 8, anyone over 50 with a medical condition or disability, plus anyone who acts as a caregiver for children with special needs, can sign up for an appointment. And later in the month, on March 22, all Michiganders aged 50 or older will be eligible.

The news comes one day after President Joe Biden announced a major boost in vaccine production nationwide. Biden says he expects enough vaccines to be produced for all American adults by the end of May. The Food and Drug Administration approved the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine last week.

This is a developing story. Check for updates below.

The Associated Press has learned that former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they're being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that it will release millions of doses of the COVID vaccine to states.

The move comes after a letter was sent to the department last week, in which Governor Gretchen Whitmer and eight other governors requested that the federal government distribute vaccines being held back by the Trump Administration. 

Starting January 11, some frontline essential workers and anyone over the age of 65 will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Wednesday. That’s a pivot from the CDC’s guidance, which recommends only allowing those over the age of 75 to be part of the next phase of vaccinations, along with frontline workers.

2020 has been a roller coaster like no other. For Stateside, the year kicked off on a high note when the incomparable April Baer officially started as host. Everything was running smoothly until March, when the team suddenly had to figure out how to produce an hour-long daily show remotely.

Despite the challenges, Stateside has been there for you everyday with timely, in-depth conversations. The team covered the early days of the pandemic, an election like no other, the racial justice movement, environmental news, state politics, national news, and so much more. Oh, and on top of that, they launched a podcast. Casual.

This year has changed everyone’s lives in so many ways. But for those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, battled the disease themselves, or worked on the front lines, 2020 has been a tragedy.

Michigan Radio has been telling the stories of those we lost, those who fought, and those who survived this year. Here are some of those stories:

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that she will extend the “pause” on indoor restaurant dining and in-person high school and college classes for another 12 days.

Whitmer's initial three-week order was implemented through a Department of Health and Human Services epidemic order, and was set to expire Wednesday. The extension will last through December 20.

Two Michigan Republicans who initially blocked certification of Wayne County's election results despite no evidence of fraud before approving them now say they want to rescind their certification.

Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, the two Republican canvassers in Wayne County, said in a statement late Wednesday that they only voted to certify the results after "hours of sustained pressure."

Election Day is in one week, and it’s becoming more apparent that this one will probably be a bit different than previous presidential elections. This is mainly to do with the fact that the country is in the midst of a global pandemic (which is growing increasingly worse), and millions of Americans will be voting by mail.

There is a lot of speculation about what this election will look like. But after worries over election security, warnings from election officials about delays, and demands from the president that the country "must have final total" on November 3, voters will probably be on alert for anything to go wrong.

Undergraduate students at the University of Michigan will be required to stay in place for two weeks effective immediately, the Washtenaw County Health Department ordered Tuesday.