LANSING - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s final State of the State address was framed around literacy, housing and health care. On its surface, it sounded like social policy. For Michigan’s business community, it was something else entirely: an economic competitiveness blueprint. Whitmer did not roll out sweeping business tax cuts or headline-grabbing megaprojects. Instead, she zeroed
COLUMBUS - Ohio’s cannabis market is facing another political test. A coalition of hemp shop owners, cannabis retailers and advocates is attempting to block changes contained in Ohio Senate Bill 56, arguing the law rewrites what voters approved when they legalized adult-use marijuana. At the center of the fight is Bellaire shop owner and village
LANSING - Michigan lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would outlaw kratom statewide — a move that would place the state alongside a small but growing list of states banning the controversial herbal product. The legislation, introduced in Lansing this week, would prohibit the sale and cultivation of kratom in Michigan and impose penalties on
Updated: February 2026 LANSING - Michigan cannabis prices in 2026 remain among the lowest in the Midwest, but new structural pressures are beginning to test the sustainability of that model. For three consecutive years, expanding cultivation capacity and dense retail competition drove steady price compression across the state. Consumers benefited from aggressive discounting and high-volume
LANSING - The fate of Michigan’s long-running battle over the Line 5 oil pipeline moved to the nation’s highest court Tuesday, as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a procedural dispute that could determine where the legal fight over the controversial pipeline will unfold. At issue before the justices is not whether Line 5
ANN ARBOR - The Midwest cannabis market is entering a new competitive phase — and pricing may decide the winner. In Ohio, regulators recently announced cumulative marijuana sales have surpassed $3.5 billion since medical sales began, fueled by the continued rollout of adult-use retail and nearly 200 dual-use dispensaries. Meanwhile in neighboring Michigan, January cannabis
SALINE - A Washtenaw County judge has rejected an effort by a Saline Township resident to intervene in the legal settlement that cleared the way for a massive, OpenAI-backed Saline data center in Saline Township, Michigan. The ruling preserves a consent judgment between the township and developer Related Digital, keeping one of Michigan’s largest proposed
Testing rule changes could reduce costly product failures while reshaping Midwest cannabis safety standards COLUMBUS, - Ohio cannabis regulators have raised allowable mold and yeast limits in marijuana products — a move that could significantly reduce costly batch failures for growers while sharpening comparisons with neighboring Michigan’s testing standards. The rule change, approved by the
WASHINGTON DC - The U.S. economy lost momentum at the end of 2025, expanding at a slower pace than economists expected and raising fresh questions about growth in 2026 — particularly for manufacturing-heavy states like Michigan. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a landmark 6–3 decision Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff program was unconstitutional, concluding that the law he relied on — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — does not actually give the president authority to impose broad import taxes without clear congressional approval.
