Ron French | Bridge Michigan

Many of Michigan’s nearly 1,500 townships and villages are run by part-time retirees in their 80s who are begging for help. The system is frayed and, without reform, communities could falter. Lansing isn’t coming to rescue.

Records show that federal officials failed for years to force repairs at a hydro plant connected to the Cheboygan Dam. ‘This was not handled properly,’ a county commissioner says. The county sheriff blames private ownership: ‘There’s only so much we can do.’