6 in Michigan make ’2021 Best Places to Live’ list
Do you reside in one of Michigan’s best places to live?
U.S. World & News released their annual rankings of the Best Places to Live in the U.S., now for 2021-2022. The rankings are made up of metropolitan areas -- not cities -- and are ranked by cost of living, job market, quality of life and other factors.
Six metro areas in Michigan made the list, out of 150.
🚨 1 dead, 5 hurt in shooting outside Detroit banquet hall
I-75 in Troy remains closed through Tuesday morning after massive tanker truck fire
Sections of I-75 outside Detroit were closed Monday night after a fuel tanker caught fire earlier in the day following an accident.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) closed both the northbound and southbound lanes of the interstate after the tanker struck a concrete median and burst into flames. Authorities said they didn’t know when the lanes would reopen.
🔥 Video shows moments leading up to tanker truck fire on I-75 in Troy
Businesses rethinking recruiting amid hiring struggle
We’ve been hearing about the issue for weeks: Businesses are struggling to recruit new employees.
As states and workplaces all across the country reopen amid the pandemic, many employers are finding it difficult to fill open positions. With “help wanted” signs no longer doing the trick, some businesses are rethinking the recruiting process entirely.
Searchers recover personal possessions from Florida collapse rubble
When the body of 4-year-old Emma Guara was pulled from the rubble of last month’s Florida condominium collapse, she was wearing the silver necklace her mother recently gave her, the pendant shaped like half a heart and inscribed “Little Sis.”
When firefighters found her 11-year-old sister, Lucia Guara, she was not wearing her near-matching necklace, the pendant shaped like the other half of the heart and inscribed “Big Sis.” Lucia had developed an allergic reaction and had temporarily stopped wearing hers, said their aunt, Digna Rodriguez.
“We would like to get that necklace back,” Rodriguez said. “They loved those necklaces.”
The girls’ parents, Anaely Rodriguez and Marcus Guara, also died in the June 24 collapse of the Champlain Towers South that killed at least 94 people and left 22 missing. They were among the first recovered from the rubble. The girls were buried in the same coffin last week, Emma wearing her necklace.
👩🏽🎓 Rhonda’s Brag Book: Nominate a student today
Mars helicopter overachieves, completes 9th test flight
The small helicopter flying on Mars hasn’t just been successful -- it’s been overachieving.
NASA’s 4-pound chopper Ingenuity completed its first successful flight on April 19 -- the first ever powered flight by an aircraft on another planet -- after landing on Mars with rover Perseverance earlier this year. Officials only expected to attempt maybe five or six flights with the chopper, but now the scientists are using Ingenuity for data.
Weather: Stormy forecast with severe chances ☔
COVID in Michigan 💉
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 896,067 as of Friday, including 19,801 deaths, state officials report.
Friday’s update includes a total of 672 new cases and 26 additional deaths over a three-day period -- an average of 224 cases per day.
Michigan officials will only report COVID-19 data on Tuesdays and Fridays going forward. The next update is expected this afternoon.
Testing has dropped to around 10,000 diagnostic tests reported per day on average, with the 7-day positive rate below 2% as of Friday, near the lowest on record but still a slight increase over the last week. Hospitalizations have declined over the last several weeks, now at the lowest point since the start of the pandemic.
The state’s 7-day moving average for daily cases was 159 on Friday -- the lowest since June 2020. The 7-day death average was 6 on Friday, the lowest since March. The state’s fatality rate is 2.2%. The state also reports “active cases,” which were listed at 8,400 on Friday.
Michigan has reported more than 9.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered as of Monday, with 62.4% of 16+ residents having received at least one dose while 54.8% of 16+ residents are considered fully vaccinated.
Here’s a look at more of the data: