Blacklegged ticks (deer ticks), which transmit Lyme Disease hitch rides on hosts like white-tailed deer to migrate across the state. The disease is now endemic across much of southern Michigan, including Southeast Michigan.
In areas where Lyme disease is prevalent, it’s estimated up to 50% of adult deer ticks harbor the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi.
Blacklegged ticks are most commonly found in heavily wooded areas with lots of brush or dry leaf piles.
Identification
There are several kinds of ticks in Michigan, including the dog tick. Only Blacklegged ticks (Deer ticks) carry Lyme disease, so identifying the species of tick, if possible, is an important part of diagnosis.
Prevention
There are several prevention methods that, used together, help reduce tick bites. Follow safety instructions with particular attention for children and pets.
Daily tick checks after spending time outdoors where ticks are prevalent
Apply EPA-approved insect repellents such as DEET, Picaridin, and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus,
Treat clothes with Permethrin
Wear light-colored clothing and tuck your pants into your socks.
Symptoms
Lyme disease symptoms may include rashes, muscle or joint pain, headaches, and even neurological issues such as Bell’s palsy (facial paralysis). If you’ve been bitten by a tick or suspect that you have, doctors can administer an prophylactic dose of doxycycline within 72 hours to reduce the chances of contracting Lyme.
A radiating bullseye rash from a tick bite, indicating possible Lyme disease.
However, if you miss this window, duration of treatment with antibiotics goes up as time from contracting illness and symptom severity increases.
Guests
Dr. Jean Tsao, professor and tick researcher in Fisheries and Wildlife department at Michigan State University
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
“Black Summers” – a book about growing up in the urban outdoors – is a compilation of writings from Detroiters. In it they detail what it’s like to experience a summer here. But it’s not just about playing tag at the park or barbeques on Belle Isle. The book balances the joys and freedoms that come with the season while remaining very aware of how our racial history at one point restricted it.
The 33 entries in the book range in their style and depth. Together they paint a picture of what it’s like to be outside in Detroit. Desiree Cooper is the editor of the book. She joined the program to explain how she weaved these pieces together.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Detroit officials gathered at the Adams Butzel Recreation Center yesterday to unveil their summer crime prevention program. Called “Occupy the Summer,” the initiative looks for ways to keep teens actively and productively engaged once the weather warms up.
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison says the overall idea is to find more ways to keep the community safe. “We know that as the temperatures rise, our children, our seniors, our community – everyone is waiting to come outside. We see year after year, violence and gun violence start to rise.”
The Occupy the Summer initiative will keep several Detroit recreation centers open until 11 p.m., expand youth programming, hold cultural activities and bring back midnight basketball. The program kicks off June 12 and runs until August 14.
Additional headlines for Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Casino revenues are up
Detroit’s three casinos are showing improved financial numbers for April. Revenues hit $118.9 million for the month. That’s up nearly 8% compared to April 2025.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board says MGM Grand showed the greatest year-over-year increase at 14.3% MGM also retained the largest share of the market in Detroit at 49%. Motor City controlled 29%, while Hollywood Casino at Greektown pulled in 22%.
The three casinos paid $14 million in wagering taxes and development agreement fees to the City of Detroit last month. They paid another $9.6 million in taxes to the state of Michigan.
Gas prices continue rising
Gas prices in metro Detroit continue to rise. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded was $4.82 this morning. AAA Michigan says that’s up a nickel from yesterday. Crude oil prices remain high, with very little traffic passing through the critical Strait of Hormuz. Refinery problems in the U.S. are also impacting gas prices in Michigan.
Pistons prepare for game five
The Detroit Pistons play game five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals tonight. They take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit had a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series last week, but the Pistons have lost two straight games to Cleveland.
Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff says the team didn’t play up to its potential in game four on Sunday afternoon, losing 112 – 103. Game five starts tonight at 8 p.m. It will be televised on ESPN.
Lions play Patriots in Germany
The NFL announced this morning that the Detroit Lions will play the New England Patriots in Germany this season. The teams are scheduled to meet on November 15 in Munich. The Patriots won the AFC East last season and advanced into the playoffs.
The Lions failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2022. The full NFL schedule will be released Thursday night.
Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
While camping outdoors requires some equipment and knowledge, those resources are within reach, and the new campground is more accessible than ever, says Amy McMillan, CEO of Huron-Clinton Metroparks.
“One of the great things about these improvements is we have barrier-free camping now, if you have mobility issues or have a stroller you need to push around, it’s absolutely perfect for that.”
A number of education and community events are available for camp-curious metro Detroiters, including a Family Campout Night on July 24-25, and weekend programs for first-time campers to try out equipment for the first time.
“You kind of get that up north feeling being right here next to Belleville,” says McMillan.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
Support local journalism.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Large groups of teenagers have been gathering in downtown Detroit organized on TikTok and Snapchat. It’s part of a national trend being called “teen takeovers.” Most of the kids were just hanging out. But some of these gatherings turned chaotic. There have been brawls, vandalism, and an attempted robbery on Woodward. On April 11, a gun was fired, though no one was hurt.
Two of the 16-year-olds who organized the first gathering sat next to Mayor Mary Sheffield at a press conference last week. Daveion Page said he did it because he was bored. Danasha’ Tidwell said the violence that followed was “harmful and very unacceptable.”
Where can Detroit kids go to be safe and have fun? And, what’s the responsibility of a city to help grow and develop young people?
Jerjuan Howard is the first director of Detroit’s new Office of Youth Affairs. He’s also an Army veteran, founder of the Umoja Debate League, and the owner of a new bookstore on Puritan Avenue. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
In this episode of CuriosiD, listener Katie Byerly asks the question:
What is Detroit ballroom and hustle dancing?
The short answer
Detroit ballroom and hustling are two distinct dance styles. Ballroom is a partnered dance traced back to the 70s that was loosely based on the Cha-Cha and accompanied by R&B or Soul Music. Detroit, or “urban ballroom”, is a smoother, more fluid dance style, as opposed to more structured and formal standard or Latin ballroom dances.
Hustling is another name for line dancing. It’s a group dance often set to specific songs. You might have heard the songs “Wobble” by V.I.C, or “Cupid Shuffle” by Cupid played at parties to get people on the dance floor.
Detroit Hustles
The most famous line Dance would be the Electric Slide, popularized in the 1970s. It’s done to many songs. But in Detroit, it most famously was danced to the song “My Eyes Don’t Cry” by Stevie Wonder.
There are hundreds of variations of line dances that go along with specific songs across different cultures.
And Detroit has popularized a few of its own, such as the Tamia Hustle danced to the song “Can’t Get Enough” by Tamia. Or the In the Line of Duty hustle created by a former Detroit police officer and danced to the song “Feels So Right” by Janet Jackson.
And then there is the Turbo Hustle created by Detroit’s own legend, Frederick “Fast Freddy” Anderson.
“Right, right, right, left, left, left. That’s mine… I created that,” said Freddy. “But what they did, after a while, somebody took my name off of it. They had the same music. It started with me.”
In the original version, you can hear him saying “Freddy’s on the move” at the beginning of the song.
Fast Freddy leading a hustle at The Office Lounge
Freddy says he created the Turbo Hustle in the now closed Northland Shopping Center.
“We had a contest inviting groups to come in, and we all migrated and put this together, but I was the one who put the foundation to it, and we put it together, and that’s how it became the Turbo,” said Freddy.
Creating this line dance is only one of Freddy’s accolades. He’s had an extensive career in dancing, DJ-ing and modeling, since appearing on Detroit’s popular TV show The Scene in the 1970s and 80s. Now, at nearly 80 years old, Freddy can be found still emceeing parties across the city.
“This means an awful lot to me. You see, I take it seriously. People that generally don’t dance, they get up and dance for me,” Freddy said.
Freddy also teaches classes at rec centers in Detroit. On multiple days he can be found in senior homes for his class, “Getting Down While You Sit Around.”
Freddy says ballroom and hustling are easy ways to get people on the dance floor comfortably and without any social stakes.
“It’s an exceptional thing, because, you know, a guy takes a girl out, they don’t have to go on one side of the room, and you dance by yourself. This is thing that we all, we all do together, and to see a room full of people do it is truly exceptional.”
Hustle Classes
Finding a place to learn the steps to these dances isn’t difficult. Freddy is only one of dozens of instructors across the city teaching hustle and ballroom classes.
On Wednesday’s at Shield’s Pizza in Southfield Steven “Silk” Sturkey can be found teaching hustle classes from 6-8 p.m.
Silk says there are simple basic steps that make up a hustle.
“Like a cha, cha box, square, tick, walk, easy, reverse, full, turn, half, turn, pivot. There’s tons of names for each. Most of the moves are recycled. It’s just the choreography of the moves, where they go, how they go, the timing,” Silk said.
Steven “Silk” Sturkey leading a hustle at Shield’s Pizza in Southfield.
Silk has been teaching classes since 2012. He says in his time, there were more restrictions to becoming an instructor and an instructor certificate was required.
“Nowadays, it’s not so stringent. But from where I came from, there is a deep history the instructors that instructed me were instructed by instructors, and it was kind of passed down from generation to generation, so to speak,” Silk said.
It’s a community
Detroit’s community of hustlers and ballroom dancers is tight knit, but still welcoming to newcomers and beginners.
Ask Maurice Franklin, better known as DJ RocWitMoe. He hosts the city’s Dancing in the D event in Downtown Detroit’s Spirit Plaza.
RocWitMoe says the hustle community feels like family.
“Because it gives a community feel. Because there’s a certain amount of people that do hustling and ballroom, not that it’s a community that’s closed off, you know?” RocWitMoe said.
“I mean, it’s a community where other people could come in, but it’s a community style to where everyone pretty much knows, you know everyone else. So we looked at more like as a family, rather than, you know, just people out partying.”
DJ RocWitMoe at WDET studios.
RocWitMoe says while hustling and line dances are seem more prevalent as they are done at almost every party, ballroom is also still very popular among Detroiters.
He’s been hosting several ballroom events called the Ballroom Bash at the Norwood on Woodward. The next one will be on May 1.
RocWitMoe says events like these are good for the city because they give people a fun, safe outlet.
“You know, people working day in and day out, you know, doing what they got to do to feed their families and everything you need that outlet. And it can’t be the head banging club scene,” RocWitMoe said.
“But you may still want to go somewhere and you know, maybe have a cocktail or two and then go home. And that in between part where you can have a release and a getaway from regular life is what you know ballroom is.”
WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
We want to hear from you!
Have a question about Southeast Michigan’s history or culture? Send it our way at wdet.org/curious or fill out the form below. You ask, we answer.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
As part of WDET’s series CuriosID, a listener wonders if driving an electric car could actually create more pollution, since it would force power plants to generate more electricity to charge it, thereby generating more smog.
In this episode of “CuriosiD,” we answer a question about the heyday of the iconic, ornately-designed structure and what the future holds for the historic site.
Detroit teenagers have been gathering in large numbers downtown over the past few weeks.
On its face, there’s a simple explanation: as the weather warms up, teens are looking for somewhere to be. But there was a time when Detroit teenagers already had those places. So what happened to them?
Pete Saunders, an urban planner and publisher of the Substack The Corner Side Yard, thinks these gatherings are signaling something deeper about how American culture changed. He joined the show to discuss why these teen gatherings are happening across the U.S.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Login
