The city of Dearborn is launching RX Kids, a financial assistance program aimed at providing thousands of dollars for expectant mothers and their newborns. The program first begun in Flint and has expanded to Kalamazoo and several other counties in the Upper Peninsula. 

GUEST: 

Abdullah Hammoud is the mayor of the city of Dearborn. He announced the launch of the program in Dearborn during this year's State of the City address.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Since Michigan legalized marijuana more than five years ago, cannabis has become pretty visible in everyday life. 

Dispensaries are everywhere, you can get marijuana in the form of candy and baked goods, and the industry is generating billions of dollars every year. But there’s also growing concern about how that normalization is affecting kids.

 A record number of Michigan kids were hospitalized last year for cannabis, according to the state’s poison control center. In the last five years, they received about 1,500 reports of kids under the age of six being exposed to or ingesting CBD, THC, or other cannabis products. 

We’re talking with Michigan Public reporters Kate Wells and Adam Yahya Rayes. They’ve been digging into what the numbers tell us, talking to parents, doctors, and people in the cannabis industry about why this is happening.

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With vaccine hesitancy and measles infections rising among children in the state — some parents are concerned. Here's what you should know about the virus and how to protect against it.

GUEST: 

Dr. Rebecca Schein, a pediatrician specializing in infectious disease and a Michigan State University assistant professor, is paying close attention to the measles cases in the state.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Singer-songwriter May Erlewine’s new album offers a different side of an artist known for warm, intimate lyrics and bespoke acoustic arrangements. 

But the qualities that draw fans into May Erlewine’s music are still here, just with a less-compliant exterior. 

What It Takes is the second album she’s made with friend and producer Theo Katzman, of the post-funk band Vulfpeck. 

Erlewine has been thinking about the chaos of the moment and the moral choices she feels compelled to make. 

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Jaden Jefferson is 17-years-old and a senior in high school in Toledo. He's also a seasoned reporter, who has interviewed big name politicians like Elizabeth Warren and Tim Walz. Jefferson recently talked to Stateside about how he started his journey as a journalist at just 11-years-old, and what he has learned as the youngest reporter in the room.

GUEST: 

Jaden Jefferson, Toledo-based journalist and host of the Behind the Byline podcast from the Toledo Free Press. You can find him on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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A Michigan Supreme Court is considering who has the rights of a frozen embryo created using in-vitro fertilization after a couple gets divorced. The case involves Sarah and David Markiewicz who turned to egg donation and IVF to have children. Since 2019, the couple has been at odds on what would happen to their remaining embryo and after five years of legal battles the state's highest court is deciding on the matter. 

GUESTS:

• Bonsitu Kitaba, a deputy legal director at the American Liberties Union of Michigan, co-author of an amicus brief filed in support of David Markiewicz.
• Ben Carpenter, associate Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Carpenter’s scholarship on the effects of assisted reproductive technologies in estate planning and family law has been widely cited in Sarah Markiewicz' court filings. 

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Some public finance experts worry that the unpredictability of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy will dampen consumer spending, putting state revenue generated by sales tax at risk. With consumer sentiment on the decline, some wonder if Michigander will continue to support state and local budgets through spending. 

GUEST:

• Kevin Bain, senior strategist for climate and project finance at Public Sector Consultants; former director of strategy for the city of Detroit

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A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that rethinking how lithium ion batteries are manufactured could fix some of the key concerns keeping potential electric vehicle buyers on the sidelines.

GUEST:

• Neil Dasgupta, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering at the University of Michigan

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The Trump administation has revoked visas of hundreds of international students across the nation.  

An unspecified number of students at Michigan State University and Central Michigan University have had their visas revoked. 

Two students at Grand Valley State University, four at Wayne State, one at Eastern Michigan University, and twelve enrolled students and ten graduates of the University of Michigan have also been affected. 

The reasons are not clear. The Trump administration says it’s focused on students who are – in the words of Secretary Marco Rubio — “Hamas supporters." 

Today we’re going to talk about the crackdown on campus speech, and other ways the Trump administration has silenced voices of dissent opposing the war in Gaza.

GUEST:

• Huwaida Arraf is an attorney who has done legal work representing some of the students who protested Israel’s war in Gaza on the U-M campus.

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At 19, Michigan writer Lauren Roberts self-published her debut YA novel Powerless. Now, a few years later, Roberts is one of romantasy's biggest stars. We talked to Roberts about how she turned her passion for reading romantasy into a full-fledged literary career writing it.

GUEST:

Lauren Roberts, author of the Powerless series. The third and final installment in the series--titled Fearless--hit shelves April 8. 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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