ANN ARBOR - Michigan workers are entering 2026 with a clear and sobering priority: hold on. Across factories, hospitals, offices, and government buildings, employees are increasingly reluctant to change jobs — even when workloads are rising or pay is stagnating. A new national workforce survey shows that fear of layoffs, economic uncertainty, and burnout are
LANSING - On January 1, 2026, Michigan drivers began the new year at the pump with a noticeably different tax structure on gasoline and diesel as part of a sweeping overhaul of how the state funds transportation. Under the new system, the longstanding 6 percent sales tax on fuel has been eliminated and replaced by
ANN ARBOR — The U.S. dollar’s steep decline in 2025—its worst annual performance in nearly a decade—is quietly reshaping the outlook for Michigan businesses as they head into 2026. While the softer dollar is improving global competitiveness for some industries, it is also raising costs and complicating planning for others in a state deeply tied
LANSING — Michigan business owners are entering 2026 facing a new and largely unavoidable cost increase: sharply higher health insurance premiums tied to the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. The federal premium tax credits — expanded during the pandemic and extended through 2025 — lowered monthly insurance costs for hundreds of thousands of
LANSING — Michigan’s cannabis industry is heading into 2026 facing a new cost layer that operators say will further squeeze margins in an already oversupplied market. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, the state will implement a wholesale cannabis tax on transfers between growers and retailers — a structural shift that moves part of Michigan’s cannabis tax
ANN ARBOR - As 2025 winds down, the U.S. auto market carries over a mix of record pricing, shifting incentives, and inventory dynamics that will shape car buying in 2026. Here’s what buyers and local Michigan tech commuters need to know: 1. New-Car Pricing Is Staying High — But Might Stabilize • Average new-vehicle prices
ANN ARBOR - President Donald Trump’s decision to move marijuana out of the most restrictive federal drug category marks real progress in U.S. cannabis policy — progress that’s been a long time coming. By directing federal agencies to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, the administration is finally acknowledging what science, voters, and
LANSING — A federal judge has halted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s long-running effort to force the shutdown of the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline, ruling that federal law, not state authority, controls interstate pipeline safety. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker ruled Dec. 17 that the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992 bars Michigan from imposing
ANN ARBOR — C3 Industries has filed a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, announcing plans to close its 35,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility in Webberville on Feb. 14, eliminating 62 jobs as Michigan’s legal marijuana industry faces mounting financial pressure. The Ann Arbor–based company said the closure is driven by the state’s new
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to move forward with the rescheduling of marijuana under federal law, a step that could ease financial pressure on the legal cannabis industry while stopping short of nationwide legalization. The order instructs the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration to advance
