Morning Briefing

FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2023

In today's newsletter, protections for LGBTQ Michiganders are cemented into state law, a look at why vasectomies increase in March, and a mystical ‘Willy Wonka’-looking chocolate village opens in Michigan

Luck of the Irish

I try to end each week on a positive, uplifting note to set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Luckily, I ran across this story about graduates of the "lost class of 2020" who are determined to have prom nearly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the rite-of-passage for many students.

Lauren “Lolo” Reed, was a Heritage High School senior, basketball player and homecoming queen looking forward to prom when We also have your guide to the 2023 Bay City St. Patrick’s Day weekend, ‘Where Irish Tradition Lives’, that features a parade, races and more. Over in Washentaw County, here's where you can find green beer, live music and great food at these St. Paddy's Day celebrations.

Need more reasons to get out of the house this weekend? After almost two years of bumps in the road, Jackson’s social district is ready to launch. The downtown social district of bars and restaurants will begin on March 17.

Curated by Cara Hackett

Post-it notes with positive messages are stuck to a wall at Michigan State University

Brockway Mountain Drive in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. | Photo courtesy Visit Keweenaw

Protections for LGBTQ Michiganders are cemented into state law with Whitmer’s pen

The decades-long struggle for LGBTQ equality in Michigan achieved a landmark victory Thursday. Michigan’s anti-discrimination law will now explicitly protect Michiganders on the basis of sex and gender identity, after legislation amending the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act was signed into law.

Since last July, LGBTQ residents have been fully covered under the preexisting law, which barred discrimination on the basis of sex alone. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that term encompassed sexuality in a 5-2 decision, after a lower court had previously ruled it also included gender identity.

Making progress: Safe storage measures, universal background checks on firearms and extreme risk protection orders are one step closer toward implementation in Michigan after the Senate voted predominantly along party lines to advance its legislation.

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Michigan has no minimum marriage age. New bills would make it 18.

Banning child marriages: After years of working unsuccessfully to ban child marriage in Michigan, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reintroducing legislation that would raise the state’s minimum marriage age to 18. Michigan currently has no minimum age to get married.

More in politics: PACs representing labor union members donated at least $5.6 million to state Democrats in the 2022 election. Legislators have introduced bills that would enable them to give even more.

Over in higher education: A pair of Michigan universities are ranked nationally for their return on investment, according to Princeton Review. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor ranked No. 9 on the public university ranking. Michigan Technological University ranked No. 32.

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Most of you will really like the brand new April, May and June weather forecast

A warm up is on the way: The newest forecast for April through June was issued Thursday by the long-range forecasting experts at the National Weather Service. The temperature forecast leans toward warmer than normal temperatures for our next three months after this cooler than normal March ends.

The sun is back: Remember when the National Weather Service shared that southeast Grand Rapids only had five minutes of sunshine in the first five days of January? Well, those dreary skies brightened up quite a bit. Grand Rapids just had the sunniest February on record in nearly 20 years.

Bundle up in the meantime: Michigan’s weekend will be snowy, windy and cold thanks to a storm system that crosses over the state on Friday. Heavy snowfall is coming to the U.P. and rain showers will occur over Lower Michigan. By Friday night, all of Lower Michigan will be in the cold, wintry wind. Here’s the surface weather forecast from Friday night to Sunday night.

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Vasectomies, basketball, and the madness of March in Michigan

What's going on?: The first round of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament tipped off Thursday, meaning a full slate of games on tap for the next few days. That also means a busier than normal vasectomy schedule for Dr. Amarnath Rambhatla, a urologist at Henry Ford Health in Southeast Michigan. For the past five years, excluding 2020 because of COVID, March and December have been the peak times for vasectomies in Michigan.

Time to recover: “The running joke is you can come get your vasectomy and go home and watch basketball the rest of the weekend,” Rambhatla said. “This way, if you’re a little apprehensive about the procedure, it’s one way to get them over the hump and the reward is undisturbed basketball for a few days.”

Let's switch to the NBA: Jaden Ivey, who missed the last three games due to Health and Safety protocols, returned to the Pistons lineup on Thursday, finishing with 14 points and six assists. Rodney McGruder led the Pistons in scoring with 20 points. In the end, the Nuggets dunked the Pistons and closed out the game with a 119-100 victory.

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Mystical ‘Willy Wonka’-looking chocolate village opens in Michigan

Golden ticket: It kind of feels like you’re in a “Willy Wonka” movie minus the Oompa Loompas. Choco Town is a sweet new spot that officially opened at the Oakland Mall in Troy. Metro Detroit is the second place in the U.S. to experience Choco Town with Boston being the first in 2022.

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: If you're on the hunt for corned beef or green beer in celebration of St. Patrick's Day, here's a round-up of seven restaurants in Kalamazoo to get a taste of Irish goodness.

All-aboard: Escanaba, located on Little Bay de Noc in Delta County, has been added as an “exclusive” port of call of American Queen Voyages, making it the first U.P. town to welcome cruise ships.

Read more

We've made it to the end of another week.

You can breathe now, Friday is officially here. Whether it's checking out the St. Paddy's Day festivities or visiting one of Michigan's other hot spots, I hope you have a safe and fun-filled weekend.

Like always, stay up to date with the latest Michigan news at MLive.com. If you value the work of our journalists, consider becoming a MLive subscriber.

That's all for now. See you back here on Monday!

— Cara Hackett

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