Feb 18, 2026 | Great Lakes Region
A last-minute referendum effort in Ohio is turning into a high-stakes economic fight, with thousands of hemp-related jobs potentially hanging in the balance. Backers of the repeal effort are racing to block a new state law that would ban intoxicating hemp...
Feb 18, 2026 | Great Lakes Region
The opening of the Okay Cannabis shop in Wheeling three years ago seemed like a good business bet. It was the first dispensary in the state to combine sales of marijuana and alcohol with the adjoining West Town Bakery. Weed, booze and baked goods? It appeared to be a...
Feb 18, 2026 | Feature, Great Lakes Region, Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to fill a “gap” in the next state budget banks on tax hikes, reserve funding, and to-be-determined spending cuts and other savings. Two of those measures — the tax increases and rainy day fund withdrawal — are already...
Feb 18, 2026 | Feature, Great Lakes Region, Michigan
Mexican drug cartels are shipping purer forms of meth into rural Michigan, replacing the drugs that were once made in home labs and full of impurities, police and lab testing data shows. Meanwhile, opioids have been cut with more impurities that can render overdose...
Feb 18, 2026 | Great Lakes Region
Proposed legislation ordering billboards advertising marijuana dispensaries still up in Indiana be taken down is gaining traction at the statehouse. A ban was imposed last year but many billboards promoting dispensaries remain because of billboard companies and...
Feb 18, 2026 | Feature, Great Lakes Region, Michigan
The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the City of Highland Park’s ordinance banning marijuana facilities, reinforcing the authority of municipalities to opt out under Michigan’s adult-use cannabis law. In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel affirmed summary...
