In July, when Michigan opened a new bridge to Canada, the two countries were supposed to cut the ribbon together. Canada called that off and held its own ceremony on its side, citing the president’s tariff threats. 

Canada is Michigan’s biggest customer. The cars built here are still assembled on both sides of the Detroit River, where that new bridge stands. And right now the two countries are taxing each other’s goods.

At the top of the state, you can already see what that costs. Crossings at the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge fell nearly 24% in 2025 — roughly 270,000 fewer trips, a steeper drop than at any other Michigan crossing. The bridge authority estimates the area lost at least $82.9 million in spending, most of it on the Michigan side. 

The legal ground has shifted, too. In February, the Supreme Court ruled that the emergency powers law “does not grant the President the power to unilaterally impose tariffs of indefinite scope”, voiding many tariffs.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania quantified the refunds owed to affected companies at up to $175 billion. However, the tariffs squeezing Michigan survived: steel, aluminum and autos, plus a 50% duty on a long list of Canadian goods.

That begs the question: who in Michigan is paying for tariffs?

Jason Miller, the Eli Broad Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University, joined host Robyn Vincent to follow the money.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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A Detroit man was arrested Thursday for making threats against Mayor Sheffield.

Sterling Anthony Peters was charged after threatening Sheffield twice on Monday, Oct. 5. The first occurred when Peters entered the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center downtown, attempting to access Mayor Sheffield’s office.

When officers attempted to remove him, according to prosecutors, he threatened to “shoot up” the building.

Later, Peters entered the Detroit Police Headquarters, where he was promptly escorted out by officers. While they were doing so, he made another threat, this time to hurt Mayor Sheffield directly.

In court Thursday, Peters’ attorneys suggested he may be dealing with a mental health crisis, as he has recently faced a death in the family.

In a statement released Thursday, Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy asserted her zero-tolerance policy on threats of this nature. 

“We will absolutely not tolerate threats to elected officials including our judges. These threats are on the rise and are extremely concerning. We will prove the charge in this case in court beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Peters was arraigned Thursday on one count of making a false report or threat of terrorism. He received a $50,000 bond and is currently on house arrest.

Many couldn’t tell you what an attorney general does. But in Michigan, a lot of people know the name Dana Nessel.

She was the lead lawyer in the Michigan case that helped bring marriage equality to the nation. Then she became this state’s top attorney. For eight years she’s been unabashed about her politics and about who she is.

Dana Nessel’s office won convictions against nine clergymen for abuse going back decades. It won more than $1.5 billion from opioid manufacturers. It fought utility companies over the cost of electric bills. And it sued the federal government — many times over.

To some, Nessel’s become one of Michigan’s strongest defenders. To others, she’s gone too far.

A new Michigan law says whoever replaces Nessel in January cannot sue the federal government without permission from state lawmakers. Republican state House Speaker Matt Hall pushed for the law. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed it.

Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke with host Robyn Vincent about the battles she’s fought and why.

She said her office has contested every utility rate hike request since she took office — roughly $4.7 billion saved for ratepayers, by its own count — and that the system is broken anyway.

Vincent asked how she squares that fight with a governor of her own party who appoints the commissioners  approving those rates, and Nessel she would not have made Whitmer’s appointments to the Michigan Public Service Commission, and that the governor could have reappointed former Commissioner Alessandra Carreon, who Nessel said sometimes deferred to her office’s arguments.

Carreon’s successor, Commissioner Shaquila Myers, was “well known — I’ll just say it — to be in the pocket of DTE,” Nessel said. She added that during Myers’ time as chief of staff to then-House Speaker Joe Tate, bills the utilities opposed “would somehow end up” quashed.

The Metro sought comment from the Public Service Commission and from the governor’s office.

Governor Whitmer’s chief of staff, Zack Pohl, said in a statement: “Shaquila Myers is one of the sharpest policy minds in the state, and she has dedicated her entire career to public service. She is a person of high integrity who is respected on both sides of the aisle.”

The Public Service Commission said in a statement that over more than 20 years in public service, Myers has been chief of staff to the lieutenant governor, a senior adviser to the governor and chief of staff to the speaker of the House. “During her time in the latter role, Michigan enacted a sweeping package of legislation that puts Michigan on a path toward 100% clean energy by 2040,” the statement said. “As she has from the beginning of her time on the MPSC, Commissioner Myers asks to be judged by her work at the Commission, including contributing to Michigan’s best affordability ranking in a decade and to enacting some of the nation’s strongest protections to prevent customers from having to bear any costs associated with data centers. She aims to continue that work during the coming years on the Commission.”

Nessel disputes that last point. In the same interview, she said that under the commission’s approval of power contracts for a Google data center in Van Buren Township, “the ratepayers are absolutely not protected at all.”

After the interview, the commission offered to make Chair Dan Scripps and Commissioner Myers available to appear on WDET. The Metro has invited Myers. 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with statements from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office and the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts

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