Many people know what the mayor or city council does, but what about the other governing bodies in city government? Several groups play an important role in how the City of Detroit functions, like the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board or the Board of Police Commissioners. But what’s the difference between a board and a committee?
One of the best ways to learn what really happens in these meetings is to attend and take good notes. That’s exactly what the Detroit Documenters do every week. The Metro’s Jack Filbrandt spoke with Lynelle Herndon and AJ Johnson from the Detroit Documenters to break down the difference between boards and committees in Detroit.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
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It’s no secret Detroit is at a turning point. Mayor Mike Duggan is on his way out. And soon, a new group of city leaders will enter the fray.
But will these leaders and their appointees truly represent the needs of everyday Detroiters?
That’s exactly what the Detroit City Appointments Project is working on. It’s trying to recruit and vet residents who want to serve under Detroit’s next mayor.
The project, led by longtime organizer Maurice Weeks, is focused on finding qualified people. It’s also about finding leaders committed to fairness, equity and accountability to Detroit’s neighborhoods.
Weeks joined The Metro on Monday to talk about the project, what’s at stake for Detroiters, and how roles in local government can be transformational for the city.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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The collaboration has launched a website with videos from candidates to help voters prepare to elect the city’s next mayor, clerk, city council members and board of police commissioners.
CitizenDetroit will also host a Detroit Primary Election Candidate Forum from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, at the IBEW Local Union 58, 1358 Abbott St., Detroit/
Two of Detroit’s iconic summer festivals will be taking over Midtown this weekend. The Concert of Colors, taking place July 16-20, is one of the longest-running free global music festivals, attracting tens of thousands of attendees. Also, the Charles H. Wright Museum’s 60th annual African World Festival celebrating the African Diaspora returns to Hart Plaza this weekend, featuring music and dance performances, food and arts vendors, a Children’s Village and more.
The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is screening the documentary short “I am Potawatomi,” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, along with a language workshop. The film covers the near death and current revitalization of the Potawatomi language.
The Clark Park Coalition is reaching out to its community for support as it plans another year of youth programs. Summer youth activities include its soccer program and street hockey. The Park has also maintained a hockey program for years — making the sport accessible to Latino and Black youth in the city. It has taken special pride in its girls programs. The coalition says it’s not only looking for donations. Anyone interested in volunteering can also visit clarkparkdetroit.org.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The Detroit Documenters play a vital role in improving our access to information. That’s because they attend a range of public meetings and document what leaders and community members are saying.
Detroit is in the middle of local election season. The primary is coming up on Aug. 5, followed by the general election in November.
Several boards and public bodies in Detroit have open seats, and it will take separate processes to make these boards whole. Some seats will be selected by voters and others will be appointed by local leaders.
There are currently vacant seats on Detroit’s Public Schools Community District Board, Board of Police Commissioners, Wayne County Commission and the Tenants Rights Commission.
Detroit Documenters Coordinators Lynelle Herndon and Noah Kincade joined The Metro to help break it all down.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Detroit’s primary election is less than a month away. Nine candidates are on the city’s ballot for mayor. WDET has been bringing you interviews with those candidates.
Detroit businessman and mayoral candidate John Barlow sat down with WDET’s Jerome Vaughn to talk about his vision for the city.
Listen: Detroit mayoral candidate John Barlow shares priorities for the city
Barlow says back in the fall of 2023, he started to study possible candidates as they considered joining the city’s mayoral race.
“No one was able to convince me of a plan or a team that was organized or mobilized enough to be able to perform these duties once elected, or even to campaign properly to get elected,” he said.
Barlow says he did his full assessment of the field — and as a lifelong Detroiter — he felt the need to step into the mayoral race as a candidate who would represent both his generation and future generations.
“I could not sit by and not put my name in the hat to give Detroit a real choice, from my perspective,” he said.
Barlow says the city is on the cusp of a new era. He says the city was in a similar position in the late 1960s, when officials put in a bid to host the 1968 Olympics. If elected, he says he’d have the city put together a bid for the 2036 Olympics.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
An audience of nearly 200 people at a town hall meeting in Troy was asked if someone they knew would be affected by Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Nearly all raised their hands.
Four state legislators who represent parts of Oakland County hosted the meeting at the Troy Community Center on Monday, July 7. They and their audience expressed uncertainty and outrage about the bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate by narrow margins last week. Trump signed it on July 4.
State senators Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, and Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, and state representatives Sharon MacDonell, D-Troy, and Natalie Price, D-Berkley, hosted the meeting.
Irma Hoops of Oxford came to the meeting out of concern for a 65-year-old friend on Medicaid who is “near suicidal” over the changes, she said.
“I just can’t help but fear there are going to be more people affected,” she said. “This is going to impact all of us.”
She is particularly concerned for veterans. “We owe them the respect to try to stand up to this,” she said.
Supporters of the sweeping tax and spending legislation say the changes to Medicaid, food aid and other programs will encourage personal responsibility and stop those who are scamming the system.
Critics say it will put the lives of those who are already vulnerable at risk.
The bill slashes more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, according to a release from MacDonell.
It also creates an estimated $2 billion hole in Michigan’s budget; the state administers Medicaid and the food stamp program. The cuts threaten the food and health security of over 2 million Michiganders and would force the state to either slash services or raise taxes to make up the difference, the release said.
Chang said the state will not be able to “backfill” the cuts, and legislators are doing the best they can to minimize the impact on Michiganders.
McMorrow encouraged those with concerns to contact their state legislators – especially if they are Republicans, who support the One Big Beautiful Bill.
U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-7th District, which includes part of western Oakland County, said in a release that he supported the bill because it “delivers on promises made to hardworking families and businesses in Michigan.”
He said it prevents a 22% tax hike on the average taxpayer by making 2017 tax cuts permanent, saving middle-class Americans who earn between $30,000 and $80,000 as much as 15%.
Additionally, it provides the largest border security investment in American history, including funding to build 701 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, equip border agents with new surveillance technology and hire more agents.
Barrett said the legislation “preserves Medicaid for the people the program is designed to serve: expectant mothers, children, people with disabilities and the elderly.”
He said it requires healthy, able-bodied adults on Medicaid to return to the workforce or do volunteer work. The bill also denies coverage for undocumented immigrants, duplicative or deceased enrollees and other ineligible people, he said.
Detroit faces a turning point this year. Long-time Mayor Mike Duggan is leaving the office to make an independent bid for governor.
What do Detroiters want to see from the city’s next mayor?
WDET is examining that question by launching the Citizen Vox Project. These are one-on-one conversations with Detroit residents about the issues that matter to them.
WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter spoke with 69-year-old Midtown Detroiter Andrew Crawford. He says he’s not sure yet which mayoral candidate he’ll vote for. But Crawford says he does have a question for whoever takes the top job in Detroit’s city government.
Listen: Detroit voter says city needs to steer more funding towards public transit
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Andrew Crawford: We strive so hard to be a big city. But how can you be a big city when your transportation is very poor? You got two rail systems and none of them really go anywhere. The QLINE just runs up and down from West Grand Boulevard to downtown. Then you got the People Mover. All it does is go in a circle. So, it’s money wasted.
Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: What about the bus systems?
Midtown Detroit resident Andrew Crawford.
AC: I don’t understand why the suburban SMART and Detroit Department of Transportation lines can’t be merged. Why would you have two systems? It’s still wasted money. I ride them all the time, both bus systems. And I’m telling you, people are moving back to Detroit, the city is growing, and once you get the public transportation system going better, the population is gonna explode. People can move around and depend on it. There used to be a lot of rail systems here at one time, before people started buying so many cars.
QK: What other issues stick out to you?
AC: Definitely crime. I wish the community would get more involved in helping police that. I’m hoping to see more of that. I’m hoping whoever becomes mayor invests in the whole city. Downtown, it’s going to take care of itself. It’s already on its way. Now it’s time to reach further than the boulevard.
QK: What would you want to see past the boulevard? What do you want to see out in the neighborhoods?
AC: I would like to see more houses, more businesses, communities coming together. Like that food co-op past Euclid on Woodward Ave. It’s a Black-owned food co-op. I’d like to see more of that. And also see the city commit to helping more people that have homes to maintain those homes.
QK: This will be the first time in a dozen years that Mike Duggan will not be mayor of Detroit. What have you thought of the job he’s done so far?
AC: I think he did a great job. I think he’d make a good governor.
QK: Would you like to see whoever becomes the next mayor just continue with the same kind of stuff Duggan’s done? Or, other than transit or crime, is there another area you’d want to see them try to improve on or go beyond what’s being done already?
AC: Take where he left off and make it go even further. Like the north end, I see businesses and restaurants popping up all over there. But I would like to even see them go deeper into the east side and Gratiot Ave. This is where public transportation comes in, because if you got those kinds of systems running throughout the city, it’s going to bring people to those communities.
I don’t care what you do to the city or how much you improve, if your public transportation system is not together, it’s going to fall apart. And the people need to come out and vote, especially in the Black community, even in these local elections. Because if we don’t, what’s going on now is going to continue. You got to show that you care. And that you care about voting. If you don’t care, this is what happens, the turmoil we in now.
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Running on a platform of expanding skilled trades, making it easier to start a business, offering legal aid to senior citizens facing foreclosure and more, he says he would bring something new and different to the city.
“I’m running for mayor because I feel the city…all too often we vote for people that have name recognition or people that are career politicians,” Boyd said. “It’s time for the city to vote for people that come from their own.”
Boyd joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more details about his vision for Detroit and how he plans to achieve it.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
More than 6,000 signatures have been collected by a group seeking to change Dearborn’s city council format from an at-large body to holding district-based council elections.
Dearborn Wants Wards filed the petition with the Dearborn City Clerk’s Office on June 18. If the language is approved, the city would have council members per district and only two at-large seats, for a total of nine council members.
If the language is approved, the city would have council members per district and only two at-large seats, for a total of nine council members.
Campaign spokesperson Mona Mawari says the changes are overdue and necessary for equal representation of the city’s east and south sides.
“So most of the seats are won by folks from the west side; and the East End has only one person on city council, and the South End has none,” she said. “So that’s when I decided to create this campaign where we will be going to change the structure of city council to a more equitable structure.”
If all the signatures are certified and election language is approved, voters in Dearborn will see the measure on their ballot in November.
Changes to the city council and charter commission would go into effect in 2029.
Other headlines for Monday, June 30, 2025:
A series of bills were introduced in the state Senate that aim to make renting more accessible. The bills would cap rental application fees at $25, eliminate junk fees that occur after a lease is signed, and seal eviction records.
The city of Dearborn will be increasing its police presence this Fourth of July weekend to combat a rise in illegal fireworks usage. Parents of children caught mishandling and using illegal fireworks will also receive citations as well. Police are reminding residents that fireworks are only allowed on private property from 11 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. between June 29 and July 5.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Detroit mayoral candidate and City Councilman Fred Durhal III last week announced his strategic plan for improving the city, including cracking down on blight and implementing a more “equitable tax strategy.”
His plan emphasizes the importance of cutting taxes and red tape when necessary, reinvesting in communities and “main streets,” creating more affordable housing and expanding Detroit’s development authority to Midtown, Corktown and to Gratiot, near Eastern Market. Durhal also wants to see more thriving business corridors, more Detroit enterprises and more city residents.
He joined The Metro on Wednesday to expand upon the priorities laid out in his strategic economic plan for the city of Detroit.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Residents are struggling to find affordable housing, Detroit students are not keeping pace with the rest of the state or the nation, and many long-time Detroit residents feel excluded in Detroit’s transformation. So where do we go from here? And who is the right person to lead the city into its next chapter?
Come November, Detroit residents will make that decision when they elect a new mayor. There are nine candidates, plus two write-ins, that believe they are the right person for the job.
Life-long Detroiter and businessman Jonathan Barlow is among them. He joined The Metro on Tuesday to share why he decided to run for mayor, and what his priority would be if elected. He says the city’s next leader needs to focus on supporting families and legacy Detroiters.
“I’m recreating the family fabric; I want to make Detroit [a] community again, and make sure that we ensure that every home has what it needs to get by,” he said.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Residents of Eastpointe and Rochester Hills are among four people accused by federal authorities of operating a $63-million scheme to steal checks from people’s mail and sell them.
Jaiswan Williams, 31, of Rochester Hills; Dequan Foreman, 30, of Eastpointe; Vanessa Hargrove, 39, of Detroit; and Crystal Jenkins, 31, of Detroit, have been charged with conspiracy to aid and abet bank and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon announced Friday.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Hargrove and Jenkins were Postal Service employees who “diverted and ultimately stole checks and other negotiable instruments from the mail, including a high volume of tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury,” officials said in a news release. Williams and Foreman administered online marketplaces on which they sold the checks, officials said.
“When public employees break the public trust, they enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer and undermine the institution itself,” Gorgon said in the release. “We will find and prosecute those who exploit their position for personal gain. We are committed to disrupting these shadowy schemes.”
According to allegations submitted by federal investigators, Hargrove and Jenkins sold the stolen checks to Williams and Foreman, who marketed them for sale on Telegram Messenger, a cloud-based, cross-platform instant messaging application. Prices varied based on the face-value of the checks. One of the Telegram channels, named “Whole Foods Slipsss,” was used to advertise high-dollar checks while another channel, “Uber Eats Slips,” was used to advertise lower-dollar checks. “Slips” is a term commonly used in these schemes to refer to stolen checks.
Transactions were completed via other methods using a variety of electronic payment systems. Purchasers of these checks would then attempt to fraudulently cash them using a variety of methods.
According to a report in Reuters news service and other media outlets Thursday, Vietnam authorities have instructed telecommunication service providers to block Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by its users. Unrelated to the alleged stolen-check scheme, 55 men were arrested in France this week as part of an operation to dismantle a suspected pedophile ring that allegedly operated over Telegram, following a 10-month investigation, according to multiple media reports. Telegram was founded in 2013 by two Russian brothers and is headquarted in Dubai, United Emerites.
Regarding the charges against the foursome, Sean McStravick, acting inspector in charge of the Postal Inspection Service’s Detroit Division, thanked investigative partners for helping to “maintain the integrity and respectability of the U.S. Postal Service.”
“The charges against these four individuals underscore the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s commitment to securing the nation’s mail system from those who seek to exploit it for personal and financial gain,” McStravick added in the release. “Postal Inspectors utilize every tool at their disposal, including crucial partnerships, to uncover, investigate, and prosecute these schemes to the fullest extent of the law.”
Williams also faces charges on allegations of money laundering for activities dating back to October 2022, and for millions of dollars of fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic unemployment insurance benefit claims submitted between August and December 2020.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General with assistant from the Postal Inspection Service, participating investigative agencies included the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General.
The case is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Ryan A. Particka and Darrin Crawford.
The U.S. District Court building in Detroit.
U.S. DISTRICT COURT PHOTO
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