CHELSEA, Mich. -- Nancy Paul doesn't need a Census Bureau report to know poverty is rising in Michigan. She sees it in the moms and children who show up at her small nonprofit agency seeking free back-to-school clothes. She hears it in their plaintive requests for cereal or soap or assistance with utility bills. And she feels it in the strain of keeping the food pantry stocked. And she sees more of it. According to the Census Bureau, Michigan was the only state that experienced an increase in its poverty rate last year. It was also the only state where the median ... (more)