2006 in Michigan

The top Michigan news stories of 2006 included:

• Jennifer Granholm's reelection as governor, defeating Republican millionaire Dick DeVos by a margin of 56% to 42%;
• Michigan voters approved Porposal 2, a ballot proposal limiting university and government affirmative action programs;
• 50 troops from Michigan died in the Iraq War in 2006;
• The death of Gerald Ford;
• The trial and conviction of Mark Unger of Huntington Woods for murdering his wife Florence Unger;
• Seven-year old Maddie Trudel's battle with bone cancer ending with her death on November 26;
• The murder of a New Baltimore couple and a Flint man by parolee Patrick Selepak and his girlfriend Samantha Bachynski;
• The murder of Ricky Holland by foster-adoptive parents Tim and Lisa Holland of Jackson;
• The growth of deaths from fentanyl;
• The two-week search in May for Jimmy Hoffa's body at the Hidden Dreams Farm in Milford Township;
• Criminal charges for willful neglect against two Detroit 911 operators for smissing a young boy's calls as pranks after his mother collapsed and died;
• Detroit teachers strike lasting 16 days in August and September;
• The accidental swap of identification of two woman in an April 26 van wreck, one dead (Laura VanRyn), the other (Whitney Cerak) in hospital, with the VanRyn parents spending weeks praying bedside and reading to the woman they thought was their daughter, only to learn that their daughter was dead.

The top sports stories of 2006, as ranked by the Detroit Free Press, were:
1. The Detroit Tigers compiled a 95–67 record, won the American League penant, and lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 World Series.
2. The death of Bo Schembechler on November 17, the eve of the Ohio State game.
3. The Michigan Wolverines compiled an 11–21 record in the regular season, losing to Ohio State with the teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2, and lost to USC in the 2007 Rose Bowl.
4. The July 3 retirement of Steve Yzerman after 22 seasons and three Stanley Cups.
5. Super Bowl XL was played at Ford Field in Detroit on February 5.
6. The Pistons and Red Wings both posted the best records in their leagues, but neither made it to the finals. The Pistons lost the in the Eastern Conference finals to the Miami Heat, and the Red Wings lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers.
7. Ben Wallace declared free agency and signed a $60 million contract with the Chicago Bulls.
8. The Detroit Lions finished with the worst record in the NFL at 3–13.
9. The Detroit Shock won the WNBA title.
10. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who trained in Canton, won the silver medal in ice dancing, the first ice dancing medal for an American pair in 30 years.
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Notable Michigan-related deaths in 2006 included Gerald Ford, Bo Schembechler, and Wilson Pickett.

• April 26 - Jude Wellings, soccer player, in Birmingham
• September 6 - Trey McKenney, basketball player, in Flint
• November 16 - Darius Acuff, basketball player, in Detroit

• January 10 - Dave Brown, cornerback at UM (1972–1974), NFL (1975–1999), College Football Hall of Fame, at age 52
• January 11 - Eric Namesnik, swimmer, at age 35
• January 18 - Thomas Murphy, General Motors CEO, at age 90
• January 19 - Wilson Pickett, singer and songwriter, influential in development of soul music ("In the Midnight Hour", "Mustang Sally"), inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at age 64
• February 7 - Jack Montrose, jazz tenor saxophonist, at age 77
• February 10 - Norman Shumway, pioneer of heart surgery, at age 83
• February 15 - J Dilla, rapper, record producer, composer, at age 32
• March 3 - Richard Vander Veen, US Congress (1974–1977), at age 83
• March 27 - Ron Schipper, football coach at Central (IA) (1961–1996), College Football Hall of Fame, born and died in Michigan, at age 77
• April 11 - Proof, rapper, at age 32 from gunshot wound
• April 17 - Al Cederberg, US Congress (1953–1978), at age 88
• April 28 - Steve Howe, MLB pitcher (1980–1996), at age 48
• May 30 - Chuck Kocsis, NCAA golfing champion (1936), Michigan Open champion (1931, 1945–1946), at 93
• June 13 - Freddie Gorman, Motown singer and songwriter ("Please Mr. Postman"), member of The Originals, at age 67
• July 27 - Maryann Mahaffey, Detroit City Council (1973–2005), at age 81
• August 4 - Elden Auker, Detroit Tigers pitcher (1933–38), at age 95
• August 7 - Bob Miller, Detroit Lions tackle (1952–1958), at age 76
• September 20 - Muddy Waters, football coach at Hillsdale (1954–1973), Saginaw Valley State (1974–1979), and Michigan State (1980–1982), at age 83
• October 2 - Paul Halmos, mathematician and probablist at UM (1961–1967), at age 90
• October 4 - Vic Heyliger, hockey player at UM (1934–37) and NHL (1937–44), UM hockey coach (1944–57), at age 94
• October 21 - Bob Mann, end for UM (1944, 1946–47) and Detroit Lions (1948–39), at age 82
• November 12 - Tom Slade, UM quarterback (1971–1973), at age 54
• November 17 - Bo Schembechler, Michigan head football coach (1969–1989), at age 77
• November 22 - Pat Dobson, Detroit Tigers pitcher (1967–1969), at age 64
• December 24 - Frank Stanton, president of CBS (1946–1971), native of Muskegon, at age 98
• December 26 - Gerald Ford, 38th President, at age 93
• 2006 - Sarah Elizabeth Ray, civil rights activist in Detroit, plaintiff in case against Bob-Lo that went to US Supreme Court, at age circa 85

• 2006 in the United States