Tiana Starks

Every family has had a conversation around the kitchen table about money. It's where budgets are made, bills are sorted into piles, and difficult decisions take shape. Can we afford groceries this week? Should we postpone that doctor's appointment? Which bill can wait until next payday? These conversations are deeply personal, yet they reflect a reality shared by millions of households across the country. Increasingly, another question has made its way into those discussions: Can we afford...

As we pack backpacks and prepare classrooms for back to school, fill water bottles and add snacks to lunchboxes, the idea of turning on the tap might be taken for granted. But along with school supplies, curriculum planning, and scheduling, water can be a source of anxiety for hundreds of thousands of Michigan families, teachers, and students. For students, proper hydration is linked to focus, behavior, and academic performance. When children are dehydrated, they struggle to concentrate....

Every Earth Day, we look to the horizon, celebrating electric vehicle mandates, solar power breakthroughs, and ambitious net-zero pledges. But this year, as we gaze at the sky, millions of Americans are being forced to think about something far closer to home: the simple act of turning on a faucet. Accessible and affordable water issues are Earth Day issues, too. This quiet crisis is getting louder in Michigan. Surrounded by 20% of the world's fresh surface water, the Great Lakes State is a...