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WAPO on what to expect on election night

In 2020, the United States did not have election night so much as election week. Factors including a slow count of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania delayed declaring Joe Biden the winner until the Saturday after Election Day, giving President Donald Trump time to allege fraud — allegations that resulted in the Jan. 6, 2021, effort to overturn the results. This year, some — but only some — of the thousands of people responsible for administering U.S. elections have learned the lessons of four years ago. Americans should prepare themselves for another difficult post-election period ...

Older workers crucial to US economic success

The U.S. is undergoing a demographic shift that is changing older Americans’ relation to the workplace. The average and median age of the U.S. population is rising, and the composition of the workforce with it. Individual workers are tending to remain in the workforce longer and retire later. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that between 2021 and 2031 the number of workers ages 55 years and older will increase by about 10.2% to almost 41.5 million workers nationwide. With an estimated 10,000 adults turning 65 every day, retaining and recruiting older workers will ...

Pedestrian Safety Month marked in October

At some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian. October is Pedestrian Safety Month — a great opportunity to include and increase pedestrian safety messaging across all platforms. Pedestrians walking down a sidewalk next to a busy road. The Michigan Department of Transportation reminds everyone of the critical importance of pedestrian safety. MDOT takes a comprehensive Safe System Approach to road safety. This holistic approach is a shift from conventional thinking because it accounts for inevitable human mistakes and vulnerabilities. It’s about building in redundancies to ...

Debating phone ban for schools

That collective scream you may have heard last week came from all those students out there who are joined at the hip with their cell phones. A state lawmaker had the audacity to introduce legislation to regulate those handy-dandy, can’t-live-without-them devices in schools, which produced the “outrage.” OMG. Turns out, the students are not the only ones up in arms. Some of the parents are, too. “Parental response is certainly one of the concerns, maybe even the first concern you get from school administrators and principals,” state Rep. Mark Tisdale, R-Rochester Hills, ...

OK2SAY tipline can help keep our schools safe

OK2SAY — Michigan’s student safety program that allows students to confidentially report tips on potential harm or criminal activities directed at students, school employees and schools — is marking its 10th anniversary. To encourage use of the program, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proclaimed OK2SAY Student Safety Program Week in Michigan. Since its launch in September 2014, OK2SAY has received over 56,000 tips identifying students in crisis and helping to prevent school violence. The 2023 OK2SAY Annual Report shows the program received the most incident reports last year since ...

MSP offers tips to protect against scammers

The Michigan State Police Iron Mountain Post has put out a reminder to residents that scams can take many different forms but if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Most scams involve obtaining a victim’s personal information under false pretenses, the MSP advised in a news release. The scammer usually portrays a sense of urgency, pretending to be an official of a legitimate organization to fool a victim into providing personal information. In a new twist, postcards are being sent to residents advising of a free meal at a local pizzeria while learning about the ...