English speaking media are not the only news sources fighting the rising tide of misinformation and disinformation infiltrating American politics. Spanish language outlets have also been targets.
Journalist Martina Guzman has reported on news and events affecting Detroit’s Hispanic community for many years. She also directs the Race and Justice Reporting Initiative at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights. It’s part of Wayne State University’s Law School.
Guzman says a credible source gave her a tip that Russian agents were buying airtime on Spanish language radio stations across the U.S. before the 2024 election.
“I was alarmed that it was happening, and more alarmed at how pervasive it was,” she said.
So, she decided to investigate. She discovered that a small handful of people knew what was happening because they were listening. She was, too, and wanted to make other journalists aware of it.
“I was convinced there was a tool that would allow you to listen, and that would make it easy for journalists to find out what was happening,” Guzman said.
To her surprise, there wasn’t. So, she set out to create one. Working with Public Data Works, Guzman and design engineers built “VERDAD,” which means “truth” in Spanish.
VERDAD “listens” to Spanish language broadcasts and begins recording as soon as it “hears” certain words that Guzman and the designers entered into the system. Then it transcribes the broadcast and translates it into English.
“American journalists who don’t speak Spanish now have an entire way of monitoring disinformation so they can see it in English,” she said.
Guzman added that journalists are monitoring Arabic, French, Creole, and Vietnamese broadcasts for misinformation, as well as Russia’s Sputnik propaganda channel.
“Once the tool is built, it can be applied to multiple languages at the same time,” she said.
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The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved a $217 million rate hike for DTE Energy.
One condition of the increase by the MPSC order includes allocating $87 million for the utility’s tree trimming program.
MPSC Chair Dan Scripps says improving service reliability is the commission’s main goal.
“We’re supportive of a number of investments specifically tied to improving reliability performance, including $87 million in additional funding for the tree trim surge program, which brings the five-year total that we’ve approved under this program to just under $500 million.”
DTE Spokesperson Rachel Steudle says the utility trims about a million trees every year.
“We have 31,000 overhead line miles and by the end of this year we will have trimmed every one of those miles to our enhanced specification,” Steudle said. “We’ve been executing this work since about 2019. So this year in particular, we’re touching over 6000 miles.”
Steudle says the utility has amplified its efforts to clear away overgrown trees in the last six years.
The rate hike is offset by a power supply cost adjustment made at DTE in November. Residents should not see an increase in their monthly bill. Steudle says customers experience a 40% increase in service reliability after trees are trimmed in an area.
The utility rate hikes are set to take effect on Feb. 6.
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This week brought an end to a bitter conflict between General Motors, a famous racing name and the world’s most prestigious form of auto racing.
Formula 1 approved GM’s bid to enter the globe-spanning series under its Cadillac brand in time for the 2026 season.
The effort and the infrastructure to build the cars came from race team owner Michael Andretti. But F1’s ownership rejected Andretti’s proposed team, leading the U.S. Justice Department to launch an investigation into whether Formula 1 had violated anti-trust laws.
Now Andretti’s father, legendary racer Mario Andretti, will serve on the Cadillac team’s board of directors.
Mario Andretti told WDET it’s a role he’s become familiar with during the long journey to joining Formula 1.
Listen: Mario Andretti discusses his role with Cadillac Formula 1 team
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Mario Andretti: Nothing is really changing a great deal from the moment that Michael and his partner started this venture. I always was part of it to some degree as far as a sounding board. And that will continue to be so, which is great and it’s very exciting moments for us. We’ve been on this project for quite some time now and, finally, to be given the green light puts a whole new energy into the team. So it was great news.
Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: What will you be doing as a part of the board of directors?
MA: I’m available to be involved in some decisions where I think I have experience, such as driver choices and some technical issues and so on. Wherever it seems like I could be contributing, I’m there. That’s as simple and as complicated as that.
QK: Your son Michael’s made such an investment in the infrastructure and all the facilities that will be used for the team. Is that going to be the base of where the cars are built?
MA: The objective is to be an all-American team. So the basic car I’m hoping will be built in America. But all of the operational side, once the season starts, will be out of England. But they have a design team in England right now. A lot of the specific details are not really for us to divulge yet, to be honest with you.
QK: Michael put so much into this project. Apart from yourself, is there going to be any mention of the Andretti name in regards to the project?
MA: I don’t know. Probably, if I get arrested, I’m sure my name will be mentioned.
QK: Ha! Apart from that, though?
MA: We’re still involved, whether it’s up front or whatever, it’s still a project that’s very much close to our heart and we’re not going anywhere.
QK: Did it surprise you, the length of time and the seeming contentiousness about getting this whole bid put together?
MA: Well, I really don’t care to go there now. I think, for me, it’s all full steam forward. That’s the objective now. I don’t want to waste any time looking back. It’s all good now and that’s the important part.
QK: I’m talking to you from Detroit, which is the home of General Motors headquarters. It’s going to be the all-American team that you had talked about. But it wasn’t exactly all-American, but Penske Racing had some troubles years ago in Formula 1. The American-owned Haas team now has had periodic difficulties. What do you think sets the Cadillac effort apart from those others?
MA: It’s huge. It’s historic. I think it’s the first time ever that General Motors and the Cadillac brand will be officially involved in Formula 1, which is fabulous for the sport. Fabulous for Formula 1, and it also gives you a lot of confidence about the effort. So this is all good stuff.
QK: It might be a little bit early right now, but do you have your eye at the moment on any drivers you think would fit the team, either experienced or any young Americans?
MA: The driver situation is all-important, as we all know. So a lot of things have been considered. This project started about three years ago, ultimately, so there were a lot of other things that were in place then. And now it’s not going to be on track until 2026. So you have all of 2025 to mull things over and make decisions. But the team is going to field teams in Formula 3 and Formula 2. And that’s going to be where some of the opportunities for, hopefully, some American talents to go there and hone their skills to progress to Formula 1.
QK: What do you think of the series itself right now, Formula One? It’s obviously gotten very popular now in the U.S. But it seems like a single manufacturer has been dominating for a while, whether it be Red Bull or Mercedes or whatever. Do you see a more competitive series coming with the new rule changes in 2026?
MA: I think we have seen that it’s gradually going in that direction. I think the competition has closed up as this season was progressing. And when you’re looking at 2026, it’s going to be a clean sheet of paper with new chassis and power units. So that could probably close the field. But going back to single team domination, that’s nothing new for Formula 1. Historically it’s been there from the beginning, from 1950 on. But the chances of three teams, and maybe even more, potentially being able to win races during a season is real and it’s unprecedented.
QK: How about for yourself? Growing up and watching Formula 1 and winning the world championship in 1978, as well as making such a name in U.S. racing, obviously. Is it almost like a full circle thing to come now to where you’re going to be part of a team that’s there?
MA: I guess you can call it that way, full circle. Being part of a team was never my ultimate ambition. My ambition was always driving. But I think Michael has shown me something different. When he stepped out of the cockpit he wanted to continue in ownership. Now, actual, real ownership was something that never really appealed to me. But to be part of it, something that started with Michael being involved, I welcome that opportunity and I’ve been invited to stay on, and I will.
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As the weather gets colder, many of us are retreating inside and turning up the heat. But shelter and heat are not guaranteed for everyone, and homelessness affects many people in Detroit. The scarcity of affordable housing is compounded by other issues vulnerable people face, like a lack of a strong social safety net, health problems, domestic violence and more.Veronika Scott, founder of the nonprofit The Empowerment Plan, joined The Metro on Monday to discuss how her organization is not only working to alleviate homelessness in the city, but to empower individuals experiencing homelessness by providing them employment and training.Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.“We employ people that are either experiencing or have a history of experiencing homelessness to manufacture these coats that turn into sleeping bags,” Scott said. “So we produce them on site in our facility on the east side, and we’re producing about 12,000 coats this year that are going to go out across the entire U.S. and 20 other countries.”Scott also discussed her personal experiences with homelessness in her childhood and the importance of avoiding stereotyping of homeless people.“You can’t see it slapped across someone’s face that they had been or had experienced homelessness,” Scott said. “Some of the most surprising people I’ve ever met had to sleep in their car, had to go through a lot of struggles.” Chad Audi, president of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, joined Scott for a call-in roundtable about the factors at play that keep people from overcoming homelessness. He also discussed the political barriers in place for accurately recording the rate of homelessness.“The government is a big barrier for us to do the work right, because most elected officials are not really looking to end homelessness like they claim to be,” Audi said. “Instead, they’re trying to reduce the number by showing an altered kind of reports to show that they’re doing good through their terms.”During the second hour of The Metro, we asked listeners:
“How do you interact with your homeless neighbors? And whose responsibility is it to address housing and homelessness?”
Caller Ankha from Royal Oak discussed her past as a trans woman experiencing homelessness: “I’m an older trans woman, but I don’t qualify yet for Social Security, but I’m on disability. I get $943 a month. You can’t work. Nobody is homeless because they want to be,” she said. “There’s not enough housing available and there are restrictions to it now, for instance as a trans woman I’m going to be, they’re going to try to place me in a male shelter where I don’t belong.”Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.More stories from The Metro on Nov. 25:
Healthy Roots Dolls is a Detroit-based business that creates dolls with kinky, coily and curly hair for Black children of color. Healthy Roots Dolls CEO Yelista Jean-Charles joined the show to discuss the company’s mission.
Overdose deaths in Michigan decreased more than 6% from 2022 to 2023. To learn more about the decline, producer Sam Corey spoke with Steve Norris, director of overdose prevention and recovery support for the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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A respected University of Michigan economic think tank has bumped up its projections for wages and salaries in Michigan this year.
Wage growth was slightly higher than expected in the first part of the year, and the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics (RSQE) expects that trend continued since its September forecast. Therefore, its experts revised upward their prediction for the balance of the year.
“When we were looking at the data previously, we were saying there’s very little growth happening in people’s living standards since the pandemic,” said RSQE Director Gabriel Ehrlich. “Now we are seeing some growth and I think that’s an important point to make.”
The RSQE November forecast rolled out this week anticipates per capita income in Michigan will be $64,000 this year. That’s a $2,500 improvement over its September forecast.
“In most cases, it’s not enough to transform somebody’s life,” said Michigan State University economics professor emeritus Charles Ballard, who was not involved in coming up with the projection. “It’s not going to mean that you’re going to be able to buy a Cadillac, so, it’s an incremental, it’s a small movement in the right direction.”
But that income growth may be at the expense of job growth, said Ballard.
“It’s a mixed bag,” he said. “Good news – the income numbers have been revised upward, so we’re a little bit more affluent than we thought we were. Not-so-good news – employment growth has slowed to essentially nothing.”
Ehrlich said RSQE’s projections – which are based on federal jobs data — are that wage growth will continue into 2025 but at a slower pace.
Ehrlich said a wild card is how new policies that might be adopted after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January will affect jobs and income.
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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. Donate today »
What if a radio show could almost feel as frenetically fresh as your Instagram feed? Welcome to MI Local: your one-stop shop for literally the latest in local music, particularly when a cavalcade of new releases comes tumbling into my inbox just in time for the show!
Pictured above, we have Mother Night, a new cinematic-sounding indie-rock quintet coming out of Ypsilanti; they have their debut full-length album, “Hungry Ghost,” out on Nov. 30, and we were able to premiere their lead single, “Looking Skyward,” before it even appeared on Bandcamp or iTunes (or elsewhere). Mother Night will perform an album release party next Saturday at the Dreamland Theatre in Ypsilanti.
One of my favorite new artists in town, Bluhm, recently released a full-length album, “Midnight Hill.” They were previously in-studio guests, earlier in the summer, where I interviewed vocalist and guitarist Claire Bluhm and multi-instrumentalist and producer Cameron John Marion. Bluhm will be releasing a new single, “Double Dream,” this Friday, but you can hear it — exclusively — on MI Local this week!
Singer-songwriter and music educator Audra Kubat will lead an impressive lineup of songwriters at this weekend’s “Friday Night Live,” at the DIA. Kubat is working on a follow-up to her 2019 album, “The Sliver and the Salve,” and (surprise) we were able to hear an unreleased track from this as-of-yet-untitled-follow-up, with a beautiful ballad titled “Hand and Leaf.”
But there’s more! Two local garage-pop trios, Zem and Prude Boys, are putting out a split EP, featuring three songs by each band. A digital release should be available on the internet any day now, but you can hear Zem’s “Finger,” and Prude Boys’ “Insane” on this week’s MI Local.
Plus, we heard the latest hip-hop track from happytree, the latest punk shredder from The Antibuddies, and a danceable electro-pop track from the project known as Haunted House!
See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.
Editor’s note: This conversation discusses some disturbing subject matter, including torture.
A U.S. jury last week awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago.
The decision from the eight-person jury came after a different jury earlier this year couldn’t agree on whether Reston, Virginia-based CACI should be held liable for the work of its civilian interrogators who worked alongside the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004.
The jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages.
The three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the prison.
Al-Ejaili joined The Metro on Monday along with Troy attorney Shereef Akeel — who represented the plaintiffs in the case — and local interpreter and attorney Mohammed Alomari, to discuss the case.
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
-Reporting by Matthew Barakat, Associated Press
More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 18, 2024:
The Kresge Foundation’s Artist Fellowships program has been supporting metro Detroit artists since 2008. Starting in 2025, the Foundation will increase the fellowship awards to $50,000 per artist. Katie McGowan, deputy director for Kresge Arts in Detroit, joined The Metro to talk more about the fellowship program.
A lot of people are struggling to purchase homes right now. A limited supply of affordable housing options is a part of that problem, propelled by labor shortages, supply shortages and regulatory issues at the city level that make it harder to build. Houm, an architectural design firm in Detroit, is working to change that by building cheaper, more efficent homes. Co-founder Breck Crandell joined the show to talk more about Houm’s efforts to build more affordable homes.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 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. Donate today »
Michigan’s firearm deer hunting season officially opened on Friday, meaning thousands of enthusiasts from around the state and beyond are preparing to take part in the popular tradition — including our executive producer David Leins, who is in northern Michigan doing just that!
For some, hunting is more than just a hobby. It’s a way of life — a way to feed their families. Others simply hunt deer for sport. But there are many Michiganders who’ve had little to no exposure to hunting, and one local organization is working to make it more diverse.
Antonio Cosme is a co-founder of “Black to the Land Coalition,” a nonprofit working to build back the connections between people of color and the natural world. Cosme joined The Metro along with avid hunter Andrea Di Cresce, who serves as global kids program coordinator for Black to the Land.
The Coalition offers hunting safety courses and they’ll be hosting a “hunters of color” network gathering next week, Cosme said.
“We just want to create a network, create some support opportunities,” Cosme said. “We’re really interested in helping urban hunters get access to private land. That’s something that we are particularly interested in because that is gonna be your best opportunity to hunt deer.”
Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.
More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 15, 2024:
Since Michigan legalized recreational marijuana five years ago, weed edibles have been getting into smaller and smaller hands. From 2020 to 2022, the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center recorded a 75% increase statewide in unintentional youth cannabis ingestion. Detroit City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway joined the show to discuss an effort to keep weed advertisements out of sight from kids.
The Detroit Documenters play a crucial role in improving our access to public information. They’re at all the city’s public meetings, taking notes on what leaders and community members are saying. Public comment dominates these meetings, often stretching for an hour or two. The board could soon make changes to their public comment process that some worry could have a chilling effect on free speech. Detroit Documenters Coordinator Lynelle Herdon joined the show to discuss these potential changes.
Macomb is a swing county. That’s been true in previous elections and on Tuesday, Nov. 5, it was proven to be true as a lot of people came out to vote for President-elect Donald Trump. In Michigan, many of those voters were in Macomb County, with 20,000 more residents there voting for him this time compared to 2020. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel joined The Metro to share his thoughts.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 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. Donate today »
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