Detroit City Football Club has called Hamtramck home since 2016. The team moved from its original grounds at Cass Technical High School and raised almost $750,000 to upgrade historic Keyworth Stadium.

Now, DCFC plans to build a new stadium in Corktown.

The club bought the vacant Southwest Detroit Hospital in 2024. Owners plan to demolish the building and clean up the property on Michigan Avenue near I-75 and I-96.

Co-owner Alex Wright says they want a modern facility.

“A lot of the stuff we’re doing is behind the scenes currently, but it’s something that we want to be a special place, a community place, and very much the next step in sort of the vision of building our ambition of being Detroit’s soccer team,” Wright said.

Soccer seeds bear fruit

A new stadium would be the next step in DCFC’s evolution. The club started in 2012, playing against regional teams in the amateur National Premier Soccer League. It quickly became one of NPSL’s most successful clubs. After moving to Keyworth in 2016, City was playing before sellout crowds.

Le Rouge went pro in 2020, joining the fledgling National Independent Soccer Association. After winning two NISA championships, the club moved up again, to the United Soccer League Championship division in 2022. It has qualified for the USL playoffs every year since joining the league.

In 2025, USL petitioned the U.S. Soccer Federation to create a new pro division that would compete on the same level as Major League Soccer. Alex Wright says building a new soccer-specific stadium would improve DCFC’s chances of promotion.

“A lot of that has to do with the facility you play in,” he said. “We feel confident that we will be eligible to be part of that inaugural class of USL Division One.”

Breaking ground, building the game

The first step is demolishing the old hospital, which could cost up to $6 million. The Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority voted unanimously to reimburse the club’s demolition costs over 21 years. Wright says while he expects some hiccups along the way, they should not derail construction.

“This isn’t something we want to drag out for a generation,” he said. “We want to have a stadium where we’re kicking a ball in 2027.”

Wright says the stadium campaign is the latest effort to grow soccer organically in Detroit. He says the owners will not be absentee landlords.

“The three of us that are working full-time for the club, we’re within biking and walking distance of this location,” he said. “Find me another ownership group in America that can walk to the stadium they’re building.”

Wright says the new stadium could have up to 15,000 seats — almost twice Keyworth’s capacity. He expects to break ground this summer with more details and designs to come.

Detroit’s iconic area code is getting some company.

The Michigan Public Service Commission says the city and adjacent suburbs will run out of available 313 numbers by the end of 2027.

When that happens, new phone lines will start with 679. The new area code will share the same space as 313.

Ryan McAnany directs the MPSC’s telecommunications division. He says 679 will not replace 313, and people with 313 numbers will not have to change them.

“Everyone that is a 313 customer or has a 313 telephone number, nothing will impact them,” he said. “The 679 area code overlay will impact only new customers.”

The MPSC previously said that the number of unassigned 313 numbers would be exhausted this year.

Read more: Detroit could run out of 313 phone numbers, new 679 area code proposed

Dialing extra digits

One thing will change: people with 313 numbers will eventually need to dial 10 digits — including the area code — to make local calls.

Starting April 7, customers will have six months to adjust.

“They don’t have to start calling 10 digits on April 7,” McAnany said. “They still can call the seven digits, but we’re trying to get the word out to customers that this change is happening, and it will be mandatory starting Oct. 7.”

Although the new 679 area code officially begins in November, McAnany says it might take a couple of years to catch on. But the number of available 313 numbers is dwindling.

“Right now, the projection is fourth quarter of 2027,” he said. “But that end date is a moving target, so it all just depends on how many numbers are being requested.”

McAnany says the changes will not result in higher phone bills.

“As far as calling rates, nothing will change,” he said. “Local calls will still be the same. There will not be any additional charges to that, and long distance will be the same.”

Area codes through the years

The 313 area code was established in 1947 as part of the North American Numbering Plan. It originally covered all of southeast Michigan, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint and Monroe.

As the region’s population grew, so did the demand for new phone lines, as well as pagers, fax machines, and dial-up internet modems.

In 1993, a new area code — 810 — was created for areas north of the city, including Oakland and Macomb counties. Within a few years, they received their own area codes — 248 for Oakland County in 1997, and 586 for Macomb in 2001.

In 2002, Oakland County got a second area code — 947 — which covers the same area as 248.

Ann Arbor, Monroe, and most of the Downriver communities have been in the 734 area code since 1997.

Tornado season has arrived, and the National Weather Service has started its annual training sessions for Skywarn spotters.

Jackie Anderson is the warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS forecast office in White Lake Township. She says the information spotters provide is crucial during tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flooding rains.

“When we’re issuing warnings, we’re looking at what’s going on with radar,” she said. “Our spotters really provide us with that ground truth as to what severe weather is actually happening in their area.”

Anderson says meteorologists says spotter reports help keep the public informed during bad weather.

“We can actually update our warnings to say trained spotters have confirmed one inch hail, 60 mph winds, tornadoes,” she said.

What do spotters learn?

A typical spotter training session lasts up to 90 minutes. Anderson says NWS staff use that time to review the previous year’s severe weather.

“We talk about different events that have impacted southeast Michigan,” she said. “We talk about what to look for, and then how you can report it to us.”

Spotters learn how to identify the early indications of a severe thunderstorm or tornado, such as the difference between wall clouds and shelf clouds.

Southeast Michigan saw a few tornadoes in 2024, including one that struck Livonia without warning in June, killing a 2-year-old boy. A rare February twister touched down in Grand Blanc, and a weak tornado spun up briefly in Holly in November.

Safety comes first

Spotting storms does not mean chasing them. Anderson encourages spotters to be careful.

“While we want to know what’s happening and get that ground truth information, the safety of all our spotters is the most important thing,” she said.

The White Lake office trains about 100 people a year and offers classes in several counties. Anderson says they do not need any background in meteorology to become a spotter.

More: NWS seeks winter weather spotters in Detroit

“We welcome anybody who’s interested in helping us provide that ground truth information,” she said. “People can also attend if they’re just generally interested in severe weather safety information.”

Spotters are always needed

Anderson cannot comment on recent layoffs at the National Weather Service, but she says spotters — who are not paid — are vital to the agency.

“We always rely heavily on spotters regardless of the time of year, whether it’s winter or severe weather season,” she said. “Having that ground truth support really helps us in the warning process.”

More: Local meteorologist says NWS layoffs risk public safety

The agency has several spotter training sessions coming up. You can find one here.

March 16-22 is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Michigan. NWS will conduct a statewide tornado drill at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19.

The Trump administration’s purge of federal workers includes layoffs at the National Weather Service.

An NWS spokesperson would not say how many people lost their jobs. NPR reports that the firings raise concerns over the agency’s ability to forecast hurricanes. The cuts could also affect America’s fishing industry.

Detroit area meteorologist Paul Gross says the government’s decision to stop launching weather balloons in western Alaska impacts the rest of the country.

“That upper air data is ingested into the computer models that we use to tell you days ahead of time about a particularly devastating or disruptive storm,” he said.

Gross worked at WDIV-TV for 40 years. He left the station in 2023 and owns a weather consulting firm. He says NWS was already stretched thin and more cuts could endanger the public.

“What if there’s a degradation in the ability to warn people during a tornado outbreak?” he asked. “Every single American should be concerned about this.”

NWS has wide reach

Gross says broadcasters rely on National Weather Service data to produce daily forecasts. That includes networks such as The Weather Channel.

“TV stations all have computer graphics systems,” he said. “But the data that comes into those systems comes from the National Weather Service.”

The same goes for mobile weather apps.

“Where do you think the app gets all the data and all of the computer modeling? It starts with the National Weather Service,” Gross said.

Most Detroit TV stations have their own meteorologists. Many radio stations rely on networks such as AccuWeather. WDET relies entirely on the NWS office in White Lake Township for its weather broadcasts. That includes daily forecasts, seasonal outlooks, and severe weather alerts.

Read more: WDIV’s Paul Gross wraps up TV career

Gross says further cuts could make it harder for broadcasters to warn the public.

“We can certainly tell you about storms,” he says. “But we cannot and do not issue the warnings.”

NWS says cuts won’t compromise safety

WDET asked the National Weather Service how the cuts might affect local forecasting.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spokesperson Susan Buchanan replied:

“Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing internal personnel and management matters. NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience. We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission.”

A backyard poultry farm in Monroe County is the latest Michigan flock hit by the highly pathogenic Avian influenza. 

Hundreds of thousands of turkeys at a commercial farm in Ottawa County had to be euthanized at the end of last year because of the bird flu outbreak. 

But the disease isn’t only affecting turkeys and chickens. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimates the virus has killed more than 300 wild birds in five counties since Jan. 1, 2025.

Mitch Marcus, a wildlife health supervisor at the DNR, says the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is also affecting waterfowl and birds of prey.

“Think ducks, geese, swans,” he said. “Also scavenging birds and raptors, so think eagles and owls.”

People who found dead birds in the wild alerted the DNR. Marcus says scientists at Michigan State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab test tissue samples for the virus.

“If HPAI is suspect from those results, the samples get sent on to the national vet services laboratory for confirmation,” he said.

The DNR encourages people who find at least six dead birds in one area to report the discovery through its “eyes in the field” tool.

Marcus says it’s best to avoid direct contact with a dead bird in the wild. If someone finds one on their property, he recommends caution.

“If they’re in a situation where they have to get that carcass removed, I would suggest that they utilize some personal protective equipment,” he said.

Read more: Avian flu outbreak forces major layoffs at Michigan’s largest poultry farm

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also offers advice for pet owners concerned about bird flu.

“A good general precaution is just keep your pets away from any sick or dead wild animals,” Marcus said.

The DNR says HPAI has infected some feral and domestic cats in the U.S., but so far, it has not affected dogs.

The state has detected the virus at large commercial poultry farms in western Michigan as well as backyard flocks in Wayne, Oakland, and Monroe counties.