The Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor is nearly open, and its community benefits process is winding down.

The bridge will create a second international crossing between Detroit and Windsor-Essex and has been in the works for years. It was first proposed in the early 2000s and the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority was created in 2012. In 2019, a Community Benefits Plan was published by the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority. 

Residents on both sides of the border, including Delray in Detroit and Sandwich in Windsor, were engaged through a number of meetings and an advisory council was assembled. The report highlights key issues raised by community members:

• Workforce development
• Landscaping and aesthetics
• Construction effects
• Community safety 
• Economic development opportunities

Heather Grondin is the Chief Relations Officer for the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority. She joined The Metro to look at what community benefits were delivered for residents of Delray on the Detroit side, and Sandwich on the Windsor side.

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

It’s easy to fall into a restaurant rut. But, it’s the new year, and that means a chance to turn the page and find some new places to eat. There’s a lot to be excited about in metro Detroit’s culinary world in 2026.

Melody Baetens, dining and entertainment reporter for Detroit News, compiled a list of new restaurant openings to look forward to in the coming year. She joined The Metro to take us through the list.

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

Some people welcome winter in Michigan with open arms, while others watch the calendar until spring’s warmth returns.

One way to overcome the long, cold winter here in Michigan is to get outside and try some new activities.

Laura Herberg, reporter for Bridge Michigan, joined The Metro to walk us through the Michigan Dreaming Winter Bucket List.

12 activities made this year’s winter weather fun bucket list, with dog sledding in the Upper Peninsula taking the top spot and drop-in hockey on Belle Isle representing Southeast Michigan.

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

A child has been diagnosed with measles in Oakland County. DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township has been identified as the likely site of exposure.

People who were in the Emergency Department of the hospital on Dec.  7, 2025  between 7:20 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. may have been exposed.

Kate Guzman, Oakland County Health Officer, told The Metro the child was not vaccinated for measles and had recently traveled domestically.

Vaccine recommendations changing at CDC, FDA

This follows a series of major changes to federal vaccine recommendations and guidelines, made under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic and his views are becoming policy at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both of which are under his supervision.

These changes include loosening recommendations for infants and toddlers regarding hepatitis B, chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR).

At the FDA, Vinay Prasad, the chief medical officer and head of evaluation and testing, issued a statement forecasting a more time and cost-intensive process for new vaccine approvals. Members of the medical community including former FDA officials, have shared concerns for public health, saying the proposed changes would make thoroughly tested and safe annual vaccines like the flu shot too expensive and time consuming to adapt to new versions of the virus.

Guests:

• Dr. Teena Chopra is a professor of infectious diseases and Assistant Dean of professional development in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University .
• Kate Guzman  is Oakland County’s health officer.

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

Somewhere between the psychedelic 1960s and the arrival of punk in the late 1970s, Detroit had a unique imprint on American music with an avant-garde, noise rock scene. Destroy All Monsters was an influential band and art collective at the time.

Their sound was radical, experimental, and noisy.

The band was formed in Ann Arbor in the early 1970s by Cary Loren, Mike Kelly, Jim Shaw and Niagra.

The group’s influence on art and music in Detroit is being recognized with a retrospective at Cranbrook Art Museum called “Mythic Chaos: 50 Years of Destroy All Monsters.” Also on display through March is a sister exhibition, “Noise, Vision, and Ruins” at the Detroit Public Library, Main Branch and curated by Cary Loren. 

Both exhibitions are open through March.

The Metro’s David Leins spoke Loren about the group’s origins, and what to expect from the exhibitions.

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

Choosing the right tree to plant that will thrive long into the future just got easier.

Michigan’s tree canopy is changing due to climate change. Whether it’s due to invasive species, flooding and drought, or extreme heat, some species will do better than others.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently released a 57 page species selection guide that rates species for climate change resiliency and hardiness using characteristics like size, shade and rainwater absorption.

Lawrence Law is an urban and community forester and partnership coordinator with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He led the development of the Michigan Communities Tree Species Selection Guide.

He says some species that are ubiquitous in Southeast Michigan, like Silver Maple (rated 1 of 10), are poor choices compared to lesser-known ones like Kentucky Coffeetree (rated 10 of 10) due to climate adaptability.

“I have seen so many good examples of Kentucky Coffeetree in the area. It’s just a powerhouse. You can get cultivars that are seedless and it’s like boom, plant and forget, almost.”

Law spoke with David Leins on The Metro about how people can use the guide to choose the right tree for their yard or right-of-way.

WDET’s Detroit Tree Canopy Project is supported by a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. 

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

Alzheimer’s research has come a long way in recent years. Blood tests to identify an abnormal protein called ptau217 can mean diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms like memory loss show up.

Early intervention is key, says Dr. Rany Aburashed, a neurologist and CEO of Neurogen Biomarking.

“The whole game now is determining as early as possible if you have these plaques developing in the brain. The earlier we know, before the symptoms are significant, the more we can interact and actually change the disease itself.”

The blood tests identify sticky amyloid plaques and tangled fibers, which are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s based on biology instead of symptoms means early interventions could reduce progression or severity of Alzheimer’s symptoms later in life.

“Just because you have a genetic predisposition, it does not mean you’re going to progress to dementia […] but you can only change that if you’re in front of it,” says Dr. Aburashed.

Some people have genetic predispositions, and lifestyle factors in 40’s, 50’s and 60’s can trigger the disease, especially drinking alcohol and smoking, adds Dr. Aburashed.

The FDA approved several new tests for Alzheimer’s diagnosis this year.

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

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

More stories from The Metro

Evidence of colonization is embedded in the United States government. Through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or the U.S. territories that are governed by colonial administration models, like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The place we now call Detroit, or, Waawiyatanong, the ancestral and contemporary homeland of the Three Fires Confederacy, has a unique place in United States’ colonial history.

The people of the Three Fires Confederacy—the Ojibway, Ottawa and Potawatomi nations, or collectively Anishinaabe people, were subjects of colonialism, violence and displacement. First by European settlers, then by the United States government. That process was carried out and documented by bureaucratic process, what scholars call colonial administration.

Maggie Blackhawk is the Moses H. Grossman professor of law at the NYU law school. She’s an expert in colonial administration, law, and history.

She spoke to Metro producer David Leins about what we can learn today from the bureaucratic records of the past to better understand colonialism in the U.S. and Michigan.

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

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

More stories from The Metro