Bedrock Detroit and General Motors want Detroiters to weigh in on plans to redesign the Renaissance Center and 30 acres of land east of the building.

Watch Brett Kast's video report: Detroit's Renaissance Center riverfront community hub opens for public input

The Riverfront Community Hub at 521 Atwater Street opened today, giving residents a place to learn about the history of the Renaissance Center and share their vision for its future. The storefront is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

PREVIOUS REPORT: Developers seeking community input on RenCen redesign Developers seeking community input on RenCen redesign

Roughly 50-100 visitors stopped in on opening day, casting votes with marbles to choose attractions they want included in the project.

Detroit resident Allayah Craighead was among them.

"Hit me on the parking, surprised there's not more parking votes," Craighead said.

Her top picks for the space reflect a desire to bring new activities and entertainment options closer to home.

"My favorite for sure is the aquarium. Aquarium, movie theater," Craighead said. "We travel to do these things, so to be able to do it at home would be cool."

Jake Chedister, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Bedrock Detroit, described the hub as the public-facing home base for the project.

"This is really our storefront; this is the welcome center to the project," Chedister said.

The development team is now in a public input phase, which includes multiple community meetings traveling to each city council district, in addition to the hub being open 4 days a week through February.

"We're asking the question, what do you want to see on our riverfront?" Chedister said.

Chedister said the conversations happening inside the hub are exactly what the project needs.

"We find people are really interested about having a genuine long-form conversation with the project team to learn about what we're doing and learn how they can participate in the process," Chedister said.

The redesign calls for 2 of the Renaissance Center's towers to be torn down. For some residents, that initially gave pause.

PREVIOUS REPORT: RenCen redevelopment plan unveiled RenCen redevelopment plan unveiled

Detroit resident Sheldon Robinson said the vision won him over.

"Oh, I think it's a brilliant idea, very beautiful, make the city of Detroit look even more beautiful," Robinson said. "I was a little nervous at first because you're tearing down a landmark, but once I see the idea, it looks like it's going to be pretty much good."

Chedister said broad community participation is essential to the project's success.

"This project only works if we get the buy-in, the understanding, the support, and the participation from as wide a pool as possible; this has to be for Detroiters, by Detroiters," Chedister said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Detroit's Occupy the Summer program held its final event Friday night at the Boys and Girls Club on the city's west side, wrapping up roughly two months of weekly events aimed at giving young people positive activities.

The program was created in June, in part, as a response to a wave of teen takeovers across the city and country. The mayor met with Detroit teens involved in those incidents, who told her the takeovers were partially because they had nothing to do. More activities, they said, might be a solution.

Watch Brett Kast's video report below: Detroit's Occupy the Summer program wraps up, officials say it helped reduce teen violence

The finale featured kickball, music, face painting, bounce houses, free food, free ice cream and vendors. Famous athletes and celebrities, including Big Sean, took part in a kickball game that drew cheerleaders and crowds throughout the day.

Detroit parent Marquita Davis brought her two kids to a few of the Occupy the Summer events, including the finale.

"It was awesome. The concert, the vendors, the free food, free ice cream, it was awesome, 10/10," Davis said.

Davis said the program kept her family's summer full.

"I have a teenager here and she love these little events," Davis said.

For other parents like Angela Vaughn and Angel Hudson, the final event was their first of the summer. Both had daughters cheerleading at the kickball game.

"We've been here since 4:30 (afternoon) and it's been busy way before then, lines wrapped around the corner, all the kids out here," Vaughn said. "It brings them close together, keep them off the streets and just gives them positive things to think of and do."

Hudson said the event represented something the community needed.

"This is something positive for the community and we need positivity," Hudson said.

Detroit teenager Kayla Fields echoed that sentiment.

"It's real fun for the kids who have nothing to do and great for the kids who need book bags and haircuts and stuff," Fields said.

Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison called the program a huge success. He said the city has not had a teen takeover since Occupy the Summer began and noted that violence among teens and children is down this summer compared to last year.

"Oftentimes when we talk about youth violence, we talk about crime, it's because they don't have anything to do. We have completely occupied their summer, given them activity, positive things," Bettison said.

Watch our previous report when the program started below: Detroit leaders launch 'Occupy the Summer' program

Bettison pointed to a measurable difference from the previous summer.

"If you look at last year, I don't have the same level of youth violence. I'm not reporting on kids being shot and killed like I did last year," Bettison said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

A woman was severely injured after being hit by a boater while swimming in White Lake Township over the weekend.

It happened Saturday afternoon on Pontiac Lake. The Oakland County Sheriff's Department said the boat involved did not stop, and they're now asking the public for help.

Watch Brett Kast's report below Fenton woman severly injured after being hit by boater; police searching for suspect

A sunny Saturday on Pontiac Lake was nearly a fatal tragedy for 40-year-old Beth Ayers of Fenton, who had rented a pontoon with a friend, and was swimming in the water next to the boat at around 1:30 p.m. Her friend was watching from on board when another boater came speeding towards them.

"All of a sudden he mentioned there was a boat coming really fast in fact he screamed it at my daughter and she looked up and the boat was nearly right on top of her, they didn't even slow down," said Mick McCanna, Beth's father.

McCanna said his daughter made a quick decision to dive deeper into the water, avoiding a hit to her head and likely saving her life.

At the very last second she was able to dive down thankful because otherwise wed be talking a different story today," McCanna said.

But the boat hit her hard in the back. She was helped to the boat, then brought to shore, where an ambulance took her to the ICU, where she still is.

"Her injuries are pretty substantial she has a cracked vertebra, cracked ribs, laceration on the lungs, lung bruising, liver bruising, blood clots and a chest tube to drain the blood," McCanna said.

The boat that hit Ayers didn't stop, and now investigators with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office are working to identify it, describing it as a white speed boat or jet boat with dark accent striping.

"You had to see something, or you had to know you hit something especially if you hit someone in the back, there would be a thump," McCanna pointed out.

Boaters like Dusty Oskey hope the driver is caught soon. He says that the news of the incident spread on the lake quickly.

Really shocked but there's a lot of boats out here that go Lickety split all over the place," Oskey said.

Ayers is a mother of three, who now faces time off work and a long road to recovery. Her family is raising money to help, while asking for someone who knows something to come forward.

Its terrifying because you don't know, you don't know the extent of the internal injuries, you don't know how long its going to take to recover, but one thing we do know is that shes alive and were very thankful for that," McCanna told me.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. You can contribute to the family's GoFundMe at this link.

A 21-year-old man is recovering after being stabbed in the back during Raft Off, a popular boat gathering on Lake St. Clair, on Saturday. The suspect, 26-year-old Salem Asmar, was arraigned Monday the same day he was due in court for a separate felony case in Oakland County.

Watch Brett Kast's report below Suspect appears in court after stabbing at raft off Harsens Island

The stabbing happened in Muscamoot Bay near Harsens Island, where the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office said a record crowd had gathered for the annual event. Deputies said the large turnout brought with it a number of altercations, including the alleged stabbing.

Witness Allen Cherri was in the water nearby when the confrontation unfolded. He said Asmar wrongfully accused his friend of throwing a beer can at him.

"He confronted him thinking it was him because it's a big crowd, he didn't see who did it but (victim) was the closest to him, and that's when the altercation happened. Called him a bunch of racial stuff, they got into an argument, that's when he pulled (a knife) out of his swimming trunks in the water and stabbed him in the back," Cherri said.

Cherri said Asmar had a 4-inch switchblade. After the stabbing, the victim was brought onto a nearby boat, where bystanders helped cover the wound while first responders arrived.

"A bunch of guys did surround him (suspect) so Salem couldn't get away, and then the police pulled up on their jet skis and got him in custody pretty quick, so they did a good job doing that," Cherri said.

Asmar has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple assault charges, including one involving a firearm. Most recently, in January, he was arrested in connection with a break-in at a marijuana dispensary in Hazel Park. While fleeing police during a high-speed chase, he allegedly crashed into a police vehicle. The following day, he posted a $100,000 bond. He was due back in court for that case at the same time as Monday's arraignment.

72nd District Court Magistrate Dennis J. Rickert addressed those concerns during the arraignment.

"I see a couple things that are concerning to me, one is that he's currently on bond in Oakland County for a fleeing and eluding, I'm concerned the fact that he's on bond and he picks up another major felony charge," Rickert said.

The magistrate set a $100,000 cash surety bond. As a habitual 3rd offender, Asmar could face up to 20 years in prison.

The St. Clair County Sheriff's Office also reported that 50 people were left at Raft Off without a boat ride home, and that 5 people were found so intoxicated that they could have drowned.

"It's a messed up world we live in where you can't even go have fun with your friends without somebody doing that, I mean you're in the water it's not like somewhere you need to be carrying a knife anyways," Cherri said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

A big vote in a small town has created Oakland County's first new community in decades. With nearly 90 percent of the vote, a small section of West Bloomfield Township is now Cass Lake Village, a move residents have been pushing for for years.

Cass Lake Village is less than a third of a square mile, filled with five miles of canals, 15 bridges and just a few hundred people. In many ways, it's already its own unique community. But after this primary election, it officially is.

Watch Brett Kast's report below 'One of the most beautiful places to live': Big vote creates Oakland County's first new community in decades

After decades of living in West Bloomfield Township, these men now have a new hometown, one they created after legally turning their community HOA into it's own village.

These infrastructures are failing and theres no solution for it, this is a solution," said Brik Pardo

The problem lies in the creation of their neighborhood more than 100 years ago. Houses line miles of canals along Cass Lake, requiring 15 bridges, their own roads and their own community water system that their HOA, not the township, was responsible to maintain.

I'm sure that seemed like a good idea at the time, but 108 years later we have now accumulated a 25 million dollar infrastructure deficit," said Chris Laduke. An average MDOT bridge lasts 80 years, this one is over 100."

These small bridges are expensive, and issues came to a head recently, when the township had concerns about the bridge safety.

This bridge we were going to have to close top vehicular traffic because it was rated so low and even though we posted it lower there was a fear a fire truck would go over the bridge, it would collapse and end up in the canal," said Joshua Barstow.

The residents went in search of funding and found infrastructure grants perfect for the job. But the state can only give it to municipalities, not an HOA. So then came the question: why not turn the HOA into a village?

I was not for it really until we exhausted every other option," said Ken Russell. "It's overwhelming with the population you have trying to take care of this infrastructure it is the only way forward that made any sense."

Residents would have to pay both village taxes and taxes to West Bloomfield Township for fire and police services, but there's no longer HOA dues and a massive looming special assessment.

This hopefully will help us getting infrastructure grants and things like that because the cost is over a million dollars a bridge and that's a large cost for 230 some homes," Barstow said.

And on Tuesday at the ballot box, residents approved a charter for Cass Lake Village, with over 80 percent in support. These men were also elected to the new Village Council, and despite the ongoing maintenance and years of work, there's nowhere else, they'd rather call home.

You would think, Brett, people would go running from this place, right but it's probably one of the most beautiful places to live," Pardo said. "And that's why people still live here."

The Detroit Lions wrapped up day three of training camp Friday, with running back Jahmyr Gibbs sitting out for the third consecutive day and two defensive players leaving practice for injury evaluations.

Defensive tackle Alim McNeil left the field midway through practice to be evaluated for a potential neck injury. He walked off under his own power. Rookie linebacker Jimmy Rolder also left practice and is being evaluated for a potential leg injury. He also was able to walk off the field without assistance.

The team ran through full scrimmages, 7-on-7s and toward the end ran through a two-minute drill.

Head coach Dan Campbell had spoken highly of McNeil before practice, noting the defensive tackle's return to form after tearing his ACL in December of 2024. Campbell said it was clear he wasn't the same last season.

"He would never say anything about it. He never did last year, but when we went back last year and watch clip after clip back to back to back, when you start to go through all these, he was favoring the leg a bit. And I don't even think he noticed, Campell said. "It's just good to have him back. He looks great. He's moving well and he's a huge piece for us to have on defense... He does look better. He looks like he's back to what he was. He's healthy."

The Lions missed the playoffs last season, and linebacker Jack Campbell said the team is focused on moving forward.

"Everyone is out there hungry, ready to work. There's all this ho-rah about last year. It's a new year. No one's thinking about last year," Jack Campbell said. Every single year you've got to come into it with a mindset and if you don't come in there with a mindset, its going to be a long year. So I'm looking for guys, including myself, to push it to the maximum and lay it all on the line every single week... no matter who gets hurt. Whoever gets in there is going to play at a high level.

The linebacker also emphasized accountability across the roster as the defense focuses on stopping the run.

"There's no excuses. That's obviously something we're not going to go for this year... Get your job done. And if you don't do it, you can see it on the tape. It's blatant. Doesn't matter if you're the top guy or bottom guy on the roster, we need you to do your job," Jack Campbell said.

Jack Campbell also said one of his focuses during this phase of the season is working on punch-outs.

"Right now, I'm just really trying to continue my punch outs, so I think its a good time to work on that because obviously in a live game, it takes a very special talent to be able to punch a ball and secure a tackle. Its very impressive, Jack Campbell said. "Turnovers win games in the NFL, so for me, thats what I want to do."

While Gibbs remained sidelined, new arrival Isiah Pacheco took first-team reps at running back. Pacheco, who left Kansas City in the off season, said the Lions' coaching staff drew him to Detroit.

"The coaches, the leadership, they're coaching hard and that's what makes you want to play hard when you have coaches willing to stay extra, get the job done, you got to listen and be accountable," Pacheco said.

Tight end Sam LaPorta, who dealt with injuries last season, has been practicing at full strength. Tight end Brock Wright said LaPorta's health is a boost for the offense.

"Health is everything. You see the teams that make it the furthest each year are usually the healthiest teams and to have a play-maker like him being healthy out on the field, you saw it there in two-minute, brings a lot of energy and a lot of juice to the offense," Wright said.

Offensive lineman Christian Mahogany said the team's standards have not changed despite roster turnover.

"The expectation is not going to change just because we have newer guys in the room, some from different teams, some drafted. We have to meet the standard and play above the standard at some point," Mahogany said.

Jack Campbell echoed that mindset heading toward the regular season.

"We just have a great group of guys this year and I'm really excited to get into the thick of it and start callusing our bodies. The process is already started but just get ready for week one and being the most conditioned team," Jack Campbell said.

The Lions have Saturday off before returning to practice in front of fans Sunday in Allen Park.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.