Michigan news roundup

Michigan pursues Chinese investment to reinvigorate manufacturing: While the presidential campaign stirred fears of job loss and outsourcing to China, efforts to bring Chinese investment to Michigan are reinvigorating manufacturing plants that have been vacant for years. Since 2011, 23 Chinese companies moved to the state, creating 3,541 jobs and investing $649.5 million in 11 cities.

More pregnant mothers smoking, rates particularly high in rural counties: The number of births to women who smoke while pregnant skyrocketed 18 percent from 2008 to 2014, according to a recent report by the Michigan League for Public Policy. Rates are particularly high in rural counties and also associated with lower education levels, health experts say.

Feast or famine for food banks at Thanksgiving: Food banks face a feast or famine when providing Thanksgiving service this year. While some urban areas can throw open the doors of their warehouse directly to the public or partner with NBA legends, others in rural areas can’t even afford turkeys.

Fish advisories should include multiple contaminants, study says: Great Lakes fish consumption advisories could be inadequate and exposing consumers to higher levels of toxic chemicals than anticipated. A new study says that the current approach to creating advisories doesn't take into account what happens when more than one chemical is present in a fish. This means they are "probably deficient in protecting the health of human consumers," the study says.

Clearing trees to save forests: Foresters in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes region are destroying mighty oaks and other trees to regrow hardwood forests. That may seem counterproductive, but forestry officials say oaks need special attention to maintain a diverse and healthy forest system. The Michigan DNR recently launched a multi-year effort to reforest between 2,000 and 2,500 acres in Kalkaska County.