Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has dropped out of the race to become Michigan’s next governor.

Duggan wrote in a letter posted to his campaign website that unified anger over the war in Iran and rising gas prices made it difficult to continue his pitch for unified and bipartisan leadership. He also said he was unable to build “serious national fundraising support.”

Duggan entered the race as an independent. A recent poll by the Detroit Regional Chamber showed him polling in third place.

Additional headlines for May 21, 2026

Police commissioner criticizes response to teen takeovers

Teen takeovers are taking place across the country, and one in Detroit ended in the shooting of a 14-year-old boy Sunday.

City officials have responded with stricter curfews and community outreach. But one police commissioner says that approach is not working.

District 3 Police Commissioner Darius Morris is criticizing Mayor Mary Sheffield’s approach to the teen takeovers in downtown Detroit.

After the first teen gathering in April, Sheffield held a news conference with organizers, touting a partnership with the teens to find more appropriate recreational activities.

Morris says when he spoke with organizers of more recent takeovers, he discovered Sheffield’s plan had an unexpected result.

“So I contacted him. I said, ‘Hey, what’s up with what are you doing involved in this? I taught you better than that. Why are you engaged in this?’ And he said, ‘Well, we’re doing it because we’re trying to get exposure and we’re trying to meet the mayor and do a TikTok video like the first group of people did,’” Morris said.

Morris says city officials and police are being forced to do the job parents should be doing, and he wants to see parents take more responsibility for the whereabouts of their children.

Federal judge closes Detroit bankruptcy case

A federal judge has closed Detroit’s bankruptcy case, ending almost 13 years of court supervision.

The ruling comes as the city makes final payments to unsecured creditors totaling about $10 million.

Detroit filed for Chapter 9 protection in 2013. The process allowed the city to shed about $7 billion in debt and restructure another $3 billion.

Mayor Mary Sheffield thanked the city’s financial and legal teams, as well as retirees who went about 10 years without pension payments. The city resumed those payments four years ago.

Traffic pattern changes underway at Belle Isle

Visitors to Belle Isle will notice traffic pattern changes underway.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced traffic pattern changes and a new two-way bike lane on the island. The changes were recommended in the 2025 Belle Isle Park multimodal mobility plan.

Central Avenue will transition to two-way traffic from Picnic Way to Portage Way.

Central Avenue’s scenic route through the flatwoods will flip from eastbound to westbound to help ease traffic congestion near the beach area.

A new dedicated two-way bicycle track will loop around the perimeter of the island, allowing cyclists to circle the entire island without crossing vehicle traffic lanes.

Construction on the changes has already started. The project is expected to be completed by the first week of June.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Over the weekend in downtown Detroit, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the chest near Library Street and Grand River Avenue. Two groups of teenagers had converged outside a Gucci store. Police say there was an argument and one teen, in the chief’s words, “decided to settle it with a firearm.” The boy is expected to live.

For months, teenagers across the country have been mobilizing each other on social media and meeting up. In Detroit, it has been mostly just noise — kids hanging out, looking for something to do in a city that wasn’t built with them in mind.

Some nights, it has turned chaotic.

Last weekend alone, Detroit police detained 109 teenagers across two large gatherings downtown and at Palmer Park, almost all for breaking curfew.

The city’s answer is to give teenagers somewhere to go and enforce the rules more strictly. Mayor Mary Sheffield is working with organizers to move the gatherings into sanctioned spaces. Police are leaning into the existing curfew — 10 p.m. for kids under 16, 11 p.m. for 16 and 17-year-olds—and ticketing parents whose children break it.

One member of the Board of Police Commissioners says this isn’t enough. Darious Morris represents District 3 on the civilian board that oversees the Detroit Police Department. He joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to talk about what the city owes its teenagers, and what their parents owe them, too.

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 streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

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.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro