LANSING, Mich. — Michigan officials recently celebrated the erasure of more than $144 million in medical debt for residents, but a portion of that debt appears to belong to people who are no longer living.

A letter sent to one Michigan address this month shows a debt cancellation notice for a patient who died in early 2021. The letter, from the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, confirms that $3,469.91 in medical bills from Henry Ford Macomb Hospital had been abolished.

 

The document is co-signed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Undue Medical Debt President Allison Sesso, and says the forgiveness was made possible “by the State of Michigan and Undue Medical Debt.”

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The inclusion of deceased individuals in the debt relief effort isn’t intentional, according to Daniel Lempert, Vice President of Communications and Marketing for Undue Medical Debt.

“Our Information Systems team does a scrub to remove accounts belonging to anyone who is deceased or has gone through bankruptcy,” Lempert said. “We source this information from FinThrive. That said, information on deceased individuals is not always available in a timely fashion or there’s a lag time in it being available in the public record. State laws can also muddy the waters.”

He added, “The nonprofit does its due diligence in scrubbing out these medical debts, but there’s a margin of error.”

According to estate law experts in Michigan, hospitals and collection agencies generally file claims against a decedent’s estate if one exists. If there are no assets or if the estate is insolvent, the debt is usually written off as uncollectible. Collection notices are not typically sent to surviving spouses or executors, unless they personally guaranteed the debt.

“A patient might die in the hospital, but if the billing system doesn’t catch it, statements can still go out in their name,” one probate attorney said. “It’s an error, not malicious.”

Michigan’s recent announcement of the $144 million debt relief initiative involves funding from the state and from counties like Oakland, Wayne, and Kalamazoo, which are using federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. Undue Medical Debt says only a fraction of the $4.5 million in funding has been spent so far — $764,000 was used to eliminate more than $125 million of that debt.

Despite questions about accuracy, the recipients of the debt forgiveness aren’t being asked to repay anything — and the forgiveness carries no tax consequences.

"You no longer have any obligation to pay these specific accounts," the letter states. "You can show this letter as proof if needed."

Still, the inclusion of accounts tied to deceased individuals raises concerns about oversight and transparency in how debt portfolios are screened before being purchased with taxpayer funds.

For more on Undue Medical Debt’s Michigan program: https://unduemedicaldebt.org/faq/announcement

 

 

Michigan faces $890M bill looming for food stamp program

President Donald Trump signed a spending bill into law on July 4 that will shift responsibility for about $890 million of food stamps to Michigan. The state can’t pay the bill, according to Michigan’s top executive.

A change Congress could make to the program that feeds about 1.5 million Michiganders would be “unacceptable,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a June 4 post.

"In Michigan, we will fight to make sure our kids and families are fed, but we need Republicans in our congressional delegation to step up for their own constituents who need SNAP and Medicaid to survive," Whitmer said in a statement made public June 4. “If these cuts are signed into law, more Michiganders will go to bed with a pit in their stomach. That’s unacceptable.”

The federal government funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which the state administers.

The cuts could harm Michiganders, Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said in a June 12 hearing in the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services about the proposed changes to SNAP as well as the Women, Infants, and Children food program. Click here to read more.

 

Pennsylvania 10-year-old raises money for wildlife center

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in Washington Borough, Lancaster County, has over 50 baby skunks, seven bald eagles, a hundred other animals and one special 10-year-old girl.

“Before I got into Raven Ridge, I got into birds,” said Olivia Polaski. “Every morning, I’d sit outside and listen to the birds while I eat breakfast, and then I started to realize how complicated and cool birds are. So, I started doing more research into them, and then we found Raven Ridge programs.” Click here to read more.

 

ATF’s Pistol Brace Rule Vacated After Trump’s DOJ Agreed to Dismiss Case

The pistol brace rule instituted by the ATF was vacated on July 17, 2025, after President Trump’s DOJ agreed to dismiss the lawsuit launched under the Biden administration.

The Firearms Policy Coalition celebrated the victory on the day the dismissal was announced: “This afternoon, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and the federal government agreed to a joint dismissal of the government’s appeal in our Mock v. Bondi lawsuit, a case that successfully challenged the Biden ATF’s “pistol brace” ban and secured injunctive relief for gun owners while the case was being litigated to final judgment, which completely vacated the rule.”

Renowned AR-15 maker Daniel Defense lauded the dismissal too:

Breitbart News noted that the pistol brace rule was published in the federal registry January 31, 2023, and lawsuits against it immediately began to be filed. Click here to read more.

 

Shooting at McDonald’s stemmed from teen employee’s refusal to take out trash, police say

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOV/Gray News) - Police in Illinois say a shooting at McDonald’s that injured two people started with a teenage employee refusing to take out the trash.

The shooting happened around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at the McDonald’s location in the 100 block of S Belt E. in Belleville.

Investigators say 44-year-old Kathy M. Bledsoe, the manager on duty, asked a teenage employee to take the trash out to the dumpster. When the teenager refused, Bledsoe told her to clock out and go home.

The employee then contacted her mother, 35-year-old Tynika R. McKinzie. She brought another daughter, a juvenile, to the McDonald’s with her.

A verbal disturbance happened in the fast food restaurant’s lobby, and police say McKinzie and her daughter eventually went behind the counter and to the office area. McKinzie then allegedly hit Bledsoe in the face and head. Click here to read more.

 

One in Four Gen Z Workers Regret Going to College

As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace and student debt balloons, a significant portion of Generation Z now expresses regret over their college education.

According to a new survey by Resume Genius, 23 percent of full-time Gen Z workers regret attending college, and 19 percent say their degree didn't contribute to their career.

The data reveals a generation at a crossroads, questioning not only whether college was the right choice, but also what careers will remain stable in a rapidly evolving economy.

Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, is entering one of the toughest job markets in history. A different report from Kickresume showed that 58 percent of recent grads were still looking for a job, compared to just 25 percent of the older generations (millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers).

The top reasons for Gen Z's regret likely stem from overwhelming student loan debt, a lack of job opportunities in their chosen fields, and the perception of a poor return on investment for certain degrees. Only 32 percent said they're content with their education path and wouldn't change it, according to Resume Genius. Click here to read more.

 

 

Michigan faces $890M bill looming for food stamp program

President Donald Trump signed a spending bill into law on July 4 that will shift responsibility for about $890 million of food stamps to Michigan. The state can’t pay the bill, according to Michigan’s top executive.

A change Congress could make to the program that feeds about 1.5 million Michiganders would be “unacceptable,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a June 4 post.

"In Michigan, we will fight to make sure our kids and families are fed, but we need Republicans in our congressional delegation to step up for their own constituents who need SNAP and Medicaid to survive," Whitmer said in a statement made public June 4. “If these cuts are signed into law, more Michiganders will go to bed with a pit in their stomach. That’s unacceptable.”

The federal government funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which the state administers.

The cuts could harm Michiganders, Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said in a June 12 hearing in the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services about the proposed changes to SNAP as well as the Women, Infants, and Children food program. Click here to read more.

 

Pennsylvania 10-year-old raises money for wildlife center

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in Washington Borough, Lancaster County, has over 50 baby skunks, seven bald eagles, a hundred other animals and one special 10-year-old girl.

“Before I got into Raven Ridge, I got into birds,” said Olivia Polaski. “Every morning, I’d sit outside and listen to the birds while I eat breakfast, and then I started to realize how complicated and cool birds are. So, I started doing more research into them, and then we found Raven Ridge programs.” Click here to read more.

 

ATF’s Pistol Brace Rule Vacated After Trump’s DOJ Agreed to Dismiss Case

The pistol brace rule instituted by the ATF was vacated on July 17, 2025, after President Trump’s DOJ agreed to dismiss the lawsuit launched under the Biden administration.

The Firearms Policy Coalition celebrated the victory on the day the dismissal was announced: “This afternoon, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and the federal government agreed to a joint dismissal of the government’s appeal in our Mock v. Bondi lawsuit, a case that successfully challenged the Biden ATF’s “pistol brace” ban and secured injunctive relief for gun owners while the case was being litigated to final judgment, which completely vacated the rule.”

Renowned AR-15 maker Daniel Defense lauded the dismissal too:

Breitbart News noted that the pistol brace rule was published in the federal registry January 31, 2023, and lawsuits against it immediately began to be filed. Click here to read more.

 

Shooting at McDonald’s stemmed from teen employee’s refusal to take out trash, police say

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOV/Gray News) - Police in Illinois say a shooting at McDonald’s that injured two people started with a teenage employee refusing to take out the trash.

The shooting happened around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at the McDonald’s location in the 100 block of S Belt E. in Belleville.

Investigators say 44-year-old Kathy M. Bledsoe, the manager on duty, asked a teenage employee to take the trash out to the dumpster. When the teenager refused, Bledsoe told her to clock out and go home.

The employee then contacted her mother, 35-year-old Tynika R. McKinzie. She brought another daughter, a juvenile, to the McDonald’s with her.

A verbal disturbance happened in the fast food restaurant’s lobby, and police say McKinzie and her daughter eventually went behind the counter and to the office area. McKinzie then allegedly hit Bledsoe in the face and head. Click here to read more.

 

One in Four Gen Z Workers Regret Going to College

As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace and student debt balloons, a significant portion of Generation Z now expresses regret over their college education.

According to a new survey by Resume Genius, 23 percent of full-time Gen Z workers regret attending college, and 19 percent say their degree didn't contribute to their career.

The data reveals a generation at a crossroads, questioning not only whether college was the right choice, but also what careers will remain stable in a rapidly evolving economy.

Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, is entering one of the toughest job markets in history. A different report from Kickresume showed that 58 percent of recent grads were still looking for a job, compared to just 25 percent of the older generations (millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers).

The top reasons for Gen Z's regret likely stem from overwhelming student loan debt, a lack of job opportunities in their chosen fields, and the perception of a poor return on investment for certain degrees. Only 32 percent said they're content with their education path and wouldn't change it, according to Resume Genius. Click here to read more.