City leaders joined with community members and stakeholders on Wednesday to celebrate the grand opening of a new affordable housing complex at the historic St. Matthew School on Detroit’s east side.

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Renamed The Residences at St. Matthew, the building had previously been vacant for almost a decade. Now the residence will offer 46 new affordable apartments with 36 one-bedroom, four two-bedroom and six studio units. Twenty-five of the units are reserved for permanent supportive housing for individuals who were unhoused. The rest of the units will serve folks making 30%-60% of the area median income.

The Residences at St. Matthew is part of the national Healthy Housing Initiative launched by Catholic Charities USA. The Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan, who spearheaded the renovation, will have the residence serve both affordable housing needs and health services delivered through a partnership with Henry Ford St. John Hospital.

“This redevelopment represents the heart of Catholic Charities’ mission — to create hope, foster dignity, and build community,” said Paul Propson, CEO of CCSEM, in a statement. “We are proud to honor the legacy of St. Matthew’s Parish by helping meet a critical need for affordable housing in Detroit.”

Other headlines for Friday, May 9, 2025:

• The My Mental Wellness clinic inside the Islamic Center of Detroit will host a mental health first aid training from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10.
• Southwest Detroit music venue El Club closed down Saturday due to what the general manager described as “police intimidation,” Detroit Metro Times reports.
• The late Detroit funk and soul ‘ambassador’ Amp Fiddler is being honored on May 16 with his own street — Amp Fiddler Ave. The city of Detroit, in collaboration with the Amp Fiddler Estate, will reveal the street sign on the corner of 7 mile Rd and Revere St.
  All are welcomed to attend.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

At the beginning of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s new memoir, armed protesters surround her house.

It’s December 2020, one month after the presidential election that Joe Biden won. He was not the preferred candidate of the armed mob shouting outside Benson’s home. 

The protestors yelled “treason” and “lock her up.”

In the moment, Michigan’s top election official tried to play it cool, all while her 4-year-old son sat unknowingly in front of the television watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Benson was indeed scared that night. But as she points out in her book, “The Purposeful Warrior,” “standing up to bullies” is nothing new for her. 

She did it investigating white supremacists in the American South, while she was dean of Wayne State’s law school, and during her tenure as Michigan’s Secretary of State amid President Donald Trump’s lies of a stolen election.

Benson joined The Metro this week to discuss her new book and why she is running to be Michigan’s next governor.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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The Michigan Global Talent Initiative released a report saying Michigan is on track to add 125,000 college-educated immigrants to the state’s job market as part of the state’s Sixty by 30 goal.

The goal aims to have 60% of Michigan’s workforce to obtain a post-secondary degree or professional credential by 2030.

Steve Tobocman, executive director at Global Detroit, says the state has added nearly 55,000 new college educated foreign born individuals, or immigrants, to the job market since 2019.

“We created an ambitious plan with business and state government and local Chambers of Commerce to almost double that and raise the number of high-skilled immigrants joining the Michigan economy to 120,000 to 125,000 by the year 2030,” he said.

Tobocman says Michigan is also the first state to develop a comprehensive immigrant inclusion strategy to help the group reach its goals.

“If we had done nothing, had no strategy around immigrant talent, we probably would have added 65,000 college-educated immigrant workers to the workforce by 2030, which would roughly mean about 12% of the overall goal,” he said,

Tobocman says Michigan has over 38,000 international students who account for 70% of the graduate school students in advanced STEM fields. However, students need support to integrate into jobs and stay in Michigan post-graduation.

“While the nation is having its own debates about border security and the right frame of immigration, this kind of talent initiative is one that has received bipartisan support, that the first appropriations happened under the Republican legislature,” he said.

Still, he says, the initiative is seeking funding to continue these programs.

From May 20-22, Global Detroit and the city of Detroit will co-host “Welcoming Interactive,” gathering leaders to welcome immigrants and provide resources.

Tobocman’s conversation with WDET’s Nargis Rahman was featured on The Metro this week. Take a listen below.

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The Catholic Church’s selection of its first American Pope took many observers by surprise, both worldwide and those present at the event.

That includes Michigan native and WDET photographer Dawn Uhl-Zifilippo.

She was in Vatican City during the conclave to elect the new Pope.

She described the electrifying moments after Cardinal Robert Prevost stepped to a balcony and delivered his first address as Pope Leo XIV.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Dawn Uhl-Zifilippo: It sounds like a soccer match right now in St Peter’s. It’s just unleashed joy right now. All this energy that’s been held back waiting for that decision has just sprung out. Just a lot of happiness, a lot of joy in that square right now. And a lot of people.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: It looks like a vast crowd from all the scenes there. It also sounds as if the announcement that a new pope had been elected made a big difference in the mood of the crowd.

DZ: When I was there earlier it was still a sea of people. But it was actually rather quiet. You would expect a higher crowd noise from the amount of people that were there. I wouldn’t say it was quite reverent, but they were using their “inside” voices, almost like when you’re walking through a museum. But under that was this energy, a vibration, if you will, that felt like a coiled spring. So there was a lot of anticipation, but it was a calm, quiet anticipation. You knew when the announcement was made that the crowd would just explode. And that’s exactly what’s happened.

QK: You’ve traveled a bit, you’ve seen various places. Now you’re there during this historic event. Is there anything that has surprised you, something that you weren’t expecting?

DZ: Once again, it is the way the crowd conducted itself, the huge amount of people there. The first day there was 45,000 people. The Vatican City is about 109 acres of land and everywhere you went, it was full of thousands of people. But it didn’t sound like you had that many people there. I guess it was the respect and almost reverence. It was not quite that because not everybody there was waiting to see who the new pope was going to be. There’s a lot of people who are simply tourists. But still, the kind of respect there among that many people, it was really kind of impressive.

QK: Have you heard any talk among those people or others in hotels, bars, etc., about their reaction now that the church has actually named its’ first-ever pope from the U.S.?

DZ: I think a lot of people are a little surprised. The top two contenders were Italian, so it was a bit of a shocker. There was some conversation before the announcement was made, where I was at, hoping that there would be someone to follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis and continue the church on that trajectory. Because, in their opinion, the church needed that progressive stance. So after the announcement was made and we found out who the new pope is, his address to everyone thanking Pope Francis, it was obvious that he was going to be following in that line. I think there was a bit of relief, quite honestly, that this is where it was going. Now, of course, not everybody feels that way. But among the groups that I overheard, that was the general feeling.

QK: Obviously this is a global event. You see pictures of people waving flags, carrying them around. Did you ever see anybody with any U.S. flags or anyone there saying, “Yeah, go American?”

DZ: Not that I saw to begin with. And I was in the space for quite a while. I stood in place just listening and I counted somewhere around maybe eight different languages that I’m aware of. But not very many English-speaking people there. You saw pride of place, people carrying flags and wrapping themselves in the flag of their home country. I did not see any American flags then. Now that the announcements have been made you do see some people that have American flags in the square celebrating. Clearly this position as pope has impact across the world and it was reflected in the people that were walking around the square. There is a lot of people with hope. We’ve always known this as a powerful position. But being on the ground, seeing the amount of people, the diversity, it really drives home how powerful this position is.

QK: For people that would have just watched the event on television or online, is there something that you’ve seen, felt, heard, that people wouldn’t get from just a flat screen video of the event?

DZ: Being on the ground it was, I don’t know how to put this, heartening, I guess. There was this underlying feeling of hope and anticipation. And walking in that space, again with everyone being calm and relatively quiet, it really was powerful. That this position would have that kind of impact, that someone embodied that kind of hope and almost unity, honestly. It’s under a particular religion, but it was something lovely to see with all of the violence and acrimony that’s going on now. This amount of people having a peaceful gathering with the hope and the anticipation behind it. It was refreshing. And the contrast over three hours’ time. It being very full in the area around St. Peter’s but still some space, to now being just solid human beings. In three hours’ time. The contrast is stunning, the calm and now the joy and the energy. It’s like you flipped a switch.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has expanded its support for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. 

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The National Institute of Justice reports that four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced domestic violence.  

Lorna Elliott-Egan is the director of tribal government services and policy at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She says there are about 4,000 open cases in Michigan of MMIPs. 

“When we look at Native American data, we generally know that the impact is much more than the data reflects, because it’s not always easy to collect those numbers,” she said. “You can’t look at your neighbor and know whether they’re Native American or not, unless they tell you and are they enrolled in a tribe.”

Elliott-Egan says there is grant funding for domestic violence and crime victim programs for members of the 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan. 

“They have their own domestic violence programs, human services programs, health clinics, their own tribal police, and so each one of those tribes is working sort of off of a federal template to create a murdered and missing indigenous persons plan for When these things occur,” she said.

Elliot-Egan says the state is working on a resource hub for Native American residents to find information in one place. 

Other headlines for Thursday, May 8, 2025:

• The TRUE Community Credit Union is providing $75,000 over five years to the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) to set up a recovery center for substance use disorders.   
• The Hamtramck Drug Free Community Coalition is hosting its 16th Annual Hamtramck Health Hike from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 17. The first 400 people will receive freebies. Register at tinyurl.com/HealthHike. 
• The city of Warren is hosting its second annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Celebration from 12-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, at the Warren Community Center, 5460 Arden Ave. The event will feature music, food and vendors.
• The supermarket La Jalisciense is expanding to Taylor, Michigan. The supermarket offers Mexican cafeteria style foods and groceries. The new store, La Jali, is an expansion of its Southwest Detroit store that’s been family run for over a decade. The new store is located at 9411 Telegraph Rd.  

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Michigan schools have sputtered and stalled since the pandemic and advocates say the stakes are historically high.

According to a new report by the nonpartisan think tank Ed Trust-Midwest, Michigan ranks near the bottom nationwide in terms of how it funds students from low-income families.

Student learning, meanwhile, is stuck in a lethargic recovery following the virtual school days of COVID-19.

The report shows significant gaps in reading and math scores. Students from low-income households, students with disabilities, and Black and Latino students are all falling far behind.

At the same time, federal financial support for public schools remains uncertain as the Trump administration makes substantial cuts to the Department of Education.

These findings have animated a bipartisan group of Michigan leaders who say now is the time to act. They are calling for more investment, more accountability, and a concrete plan to support Michigan’s most vulnerable kids.

So what does this moment demand — and what happens if Michigan misses it? To answer these questions, Amber Arellano, executive director of Ed Trust-Midwest, joined The Metro.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinal Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV.

White smoke poured from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the great bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled Thursday after cardinals elected the 267th pope to lead the Catholic Church on the second day of their conclave.

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers, priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted “Viva il papa!” after the white smoke wafted into the late afternoon sky at 6:07 p.m. Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won.

The smoke signal means the winner secured at least 89 votes of the 133 cardinals participating in the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis.

As the crowd waited, the Swiss Guards marched out and a military band played, marching up the steps to the basilica.

The name will be announced later, when a top cardinal utters the words “Habemus Papam!” — Latin for “We have a pope!” — from the loggia of the basilica. The cardinal then reads the winner’s birth name in Latin and reveals the name he has chosen to be called.

The new pope is then expected to make his first public appearance and impart a blessing from the same loggia.

Eyes on the chimney

Earlier Thursday, large school groups joined the mix of humanity awaiting the outcome in St. Peter’s Square. They blended in with people participating in preplanned Holy Year pilgrimages and journalists from around the world who have descended on Rome to document the election.

“The wait is marvelous!” said Priscilla Parlante, a Roman.

Pedro Deget, 22, a finance student from Argentina, said he and his family visited Rome during the Argentine pope’s pontificate and were hoping for a new pope in Francis’ image.

“Francis did well in opening the church to the outside world, but on other fronts maybe he didn’t do enough. We’ll see if the next one will be able to do more,” Deget said from the piazza.

The Rev. Jan Dominik Bogataj, a Slovene Franciscan friar, was more critical of Francis. He said if he were in the Sistine Chapel, he’d be voting for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who is on many papal contender lists.

“He has clear ideas, not much ideology. He’s a direct, intelligent and respectful man,” Bogataj said from the square. “Most of all, he’s agile.”

Some of the cardinals had said they expected a short conclave.

For much of the past century, the conclave has needed between three and 14 ballots to find a pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.

Conjecture on contenders

The cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual Wednesday afternoon, participating in a rite more theatrical than even Hollywood could create. Bright red cassocks, Swiss Guards standing at attention, ancient Latin chants and oaths preceded the slamming shut of the Sistine Chapel doors to seal the cardinals off from the outside world.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old secretary of state under Francis and a leading contender to succeed him as pope, assumed leadership of the proceedings as the most senior cardinal under age 80 eligible to participate.

Parolin seemed to have received the blessings from none other than Re, the respected elder among the cardinals. During the traditional exchange of peace during the pre-conclave Mass on Wednesday, Re was caught on a hot mic telling Parolin “auguri doppio” or “double best wishes.” Italians debated whether it was just a customary gesture acknowledging Parolin’s role running conclave, or if it might have been an informal endorsement or even a premature congratulations.

The voting process

The voting followed a strict choreography, dictated by church law.

Each cardinal writes his choice on a piece of paper inscribed with the words “Eligo in summen pontificem” — “I elect as supreme pontiff.” They approach the altar one by one and say: “I call as my witness, Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected.”

The folded ballot is placed on a round plate and tipped into a silver and gold urn. Once cast, the ballots are opened one by one by three different “scrutineers,” cardinals selected at random who write down the names and read them aloud.

The scrutineers, whose work is checked by other cardinals called revisers, then add up the results of each round of balloting and write them on a separate sheet of paper, which is preserved in the papal archives.

As the scrutineer reads out each name, he pierces each ballot with a needle through the word “Eligo.” All the ballots are then bound together with thread, and the bundle is put aside and burned in the chapel stove along with a chemical to produce the smoke.

–Reporting by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press. AP Writers Giada Zampano, Helena Alves and Vanessa Gera contributed.

No matter who you are, being a parent is a tough job. There’s no one definitive playbook for how to best love and guide your kids. 

And mothers are frequently the ones to care and nurture us, to keep us in line when it matters and to expose us to different people and places. 

The former U.S. Surgeon General said last year that parental stress is a significant public health issue. But we know that, in addition to the challenges, there are a lot of joys that come with motherhood. 

There are opportunities for creating stronger connections, for providing and maybe sometimes receiving care and for expanding love. 

And as Mother’s Day is coming up, we’re looking at what a day in the life of a mom is like. Today on The Metro, two mothers from different places in our region share their perspective on motherhood and what it means to them.

Ambra Redrick runs the nonprofit Teen Hype in Detroit. She has two biological daughters and her husband has two children that she helps raise as well. Lori Goldman is a mom of four.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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7 Mile and Livernois is home to Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion and has been for many years. Thriving businesses line the streetscape with an array of shops, restaurants and art galleries — most of them Black-owned.

Detroit artist Tiff Massey shines a spotlight on this culturally rich neighborhood with her latest exhibit “7 Mile + Livernois” — which has been on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts for the past year. Massey is the youngest artist to have a solo exhibit on display at the DIA.

The exhibition — closing this weekend — features a variety of installations, public art and wearable sculptures that celebrate Black American culture and style. The DIA will host a closing celebration, “7 Mile and Livernois After Dark,” this Friday, with live performances from DJs Kesswa and Donavan Glover. 

Massey joined The Metro on Thursday to reflect on the year-long exhibit before it closes.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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May is Military Appreciation Month, and one nonprofit organization working to support veterans will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary.

Stack Up is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans’ mental health and wellbeing through video gaming. Stephen Machuga — the group’s founder and a veteran himself — served eight years in the army.

Machuga says he’s been a gamer all his life, and found the hobby really helped him unwind while he was in the army.

“Whenever I would come back in from patrol or get off of work while I was overseas, gaming was the thing I escaped with,” Machuga said.

Because of this, Machuga started sending video game consoles to units overseas to provide the same reprieve to someone else. Ten years later, the organization connects veterans and civilian supporters through gaming.

Stack Up primarily supports post-9/11 veterans — many of whom grew up with consoles and handhelds and are now navigating civilian life with those same devices in hand.

Machuga says video games offer a kind of “recreational therapy,” similar to programs like equine therapy or wilderness retreats.

“Happy veterans don’t kill themselves,” he said bluntly. “If we can disrupt that cycle — keep someone company overnight while playing Fortnite or just remind them they’re not alone — that’s what we’re here to do.”

A new survey conducted by the Entertainment Software Association shows that 77% of veterans believe that video games have positive impact on their lives, with 86% saying video games help relieve stress and anxiety.

Stack Up offers multiple programs including supply crates for troops, game nights, and a 24/7 crisis intervention service known as the Stack Up Overwatch Program (StOP).

As for concerns that military shooters like Call of Duty might be triggering, Machuga says most service members aren’t phased.

“Ninety-nine percent of the military isn’t out there kicking doors,” he said. “But for those who are triggered — there are hundreds of other games. You don’t have to shoot anyone to play video games.”

This week, we’ve got some family-forward events to celebrate Mother’s Day, including wildflower walks, bike rides and crafting sessions.

Plus, award-winning productions, art fairs and your last chance to see a Detroit-inspired exhibit. Read on to learn more.

Mother’s Day activities

Huron-Clinton Metroparks are celebrating Mother’s Day this weekend with themed walks at three of their parks:

• Kensington: A guided stroll through the Kensington Nature Area is scheduled for Saturday, May 10 from 10–11 a.m. and 1–2 p.m. Registration is $5 for adults, $3 for kids and free for children under 2. RSVP is required.
• Lake Erie: A guided stroll through Lake Erie Metropark is scheduled for Sunday, May 11 from 2–4 p.m. An interpreter will point out signs of motherhood in insects, birds, mammals and more. This walk is suitable for ages 8 and up and includes frequent stops. Registration is $5 for adults and $3 for kids. RSVP is required.
• Stony Creek: When visitors hike through Stony Creek’s wildflowers on Sunday, May 11 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., they can receive a certificate and a flower to take home and plant from the nature center. Admission is free and pre-registration is not required.

On Saturday, May 10, the Detroit Public Library is also celebrating Mother’s Day with gift-making workshops at three of their branches:

• Wilder Branch: Visitors can make a unique gift using craft materials like foam, stickers and the library’s Cricut machine from noon to 1 p.m. Admission is free and RSVP is required.
• Knapp Branch: Visitors can make their own wind chimes from 2–3 p.m. Admission is free and RSVP is required.
• Jefferson Branch: Visitors can make their own bracelet from 1–2 p.m. Admission is free and RSVP is required.

On Saturday, May 10, Terra Joy Castro and Socially Chrissy are kicking off a new monthly series, Family Bike Rides on the Detroit Riverfront. This month’s ride starts at Cullen Plaza at 10 a.m. and will end with coffee and snacks at the Riverwalk café. Bikers of all ages and abilities are welcome, and the goal is to explore the Riverfront together on two wheels and to get moving as a family. Participants are asked to bring their own bikes, helmets and water, but Wheelhouse Detroit will be on-site for bike rentals. Admission is free and registration is required. For more information, visit their Eventbrite page.

Creative collections

Art Birmingham, originally known as the Birmingham Fine Art Festival, returns for its 44th year this weekend. On Saturday, May 10 and Sunday, May 11, the street surrounding Shain Park in downtown Birmingham will showcase 150 juried artists from across the country, featuring paintings, sculptures, photographs and more. There will be live music, food and drinks available for purchase, and a kid’s art activities tent. For more information, visit theguild.org.

The 57th Annual Political and Pop Culture Show will take place this week at the Skyline Hotel in Romulus. Collectors from across the country will gather to share and sell memorabilia from political campaigns from throughout American history. On Friday, May 9, there will be a reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by an auction at 7 p.m. On Saturday, May 10, over 50 dealer tables will be on display between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the hotel. Admission is $5. For more information, visit apic.us.

New productions

Detroit Public Theatre is closing its 10th anniversary season with the world premiere of “Soft Target,” a play about childhood, guns and the wounds we can’t see. The production centers 9-year-old Amanda and her toys — stuffed penguin Jonah, American Girl Doll Molly, trusted Diary and weighted emotional support bunny Ugly — as their once-peaceful world is thrown into darkness and chaos. Performances take place Wednesdays through Sundays now through June 7. General admission is $50, and $25 tickets are available on Thursdays. For more information, visit detroitpublictheatre.org.

Detroit Opera’s latest production is “The Central Park Five,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning true story adaptation of systemic discrimination. The opera follows the wrongful convictions of five African American and Latino teenagers in the assault of a white female jogger in Central Park. Despite racial injustice, resilience and redemption emerge as the five men fight for freedom. Performances take place Saturday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 18 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range from $30–$145. For more information, visit detroitopera.org.

Exhibition ending

This weekend is your last chance to see Tiff Massey’s 7 Mile + Livernois at the DIA. The exhibit, inspired by the neighborhood where Massey grew up, features fashion accessories scaled up to the size of architecture, creating sculptures that celebrate’s Detroit’s evolving neighborhoods and the history of West African and Black American culture and style. The last day to see the exhibit is Sunday, May 11. Admission is free for residents of Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties. For more information, visit dia.org.

WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question:

“Fortune Records recorded Detroit artists for 25 years — just a mile from WDET. Can you tell us the story and play us some music?”

WDET listener David Perry was perusing the stacks at Ann Arbor’s Encore Records when he stumbled upon a three-disc compilation album with 60 tracks — ranging from R&B and doo-wop to hillbilly, rockabilly, blues and gospel — all recorded at the now defunct Fortune Records in Detroit.

“It was $9.43 and it turned out to be a real bargain,” Perry said.

It was his first introduction to the pioneering mom and pop label, which — as a music lover — led him to wonder why he hadn’t ever heard of it before. So, he turned to WDET to find out more.

The short answer

Fortune Records was founded by husband and wife Jack and Devora Brown in 1946. It operated in Detroit for more than 30 years under the Fortune name and other subsidiary labels, recording a diverse range of artists and genres.

The label produced many local stars throughout the ’50s and ’60s out of their small studio on Linwood Avenue — and later on Third Avenue in the Cass Corridor — but the couple’s hesitancy toward licensing and distribution deals and a devastating accident would eventually hamper their success.

The ‘Myths and Mysteries’ of Fortune 

To help us learn more about this otherworldly Detroit gem and why it faded into obscurity, we headed to Hamtramck to speak with a man who, for all intents and purposes, wrote a textbook on the subject.

Michael Hurtt is a Detroit area writer, musician, and music historian. He co-wrote the book “Mind Over Matter: The Myths and Mysteries of Detroit’s Fortune Records” with his long-time friend Billy Miller, who sadly died four years before the book went to print.

“That was brutal,” Hurtt said of Miller’s death. “And to have to finish it without him would have been more difficult, had we not had an absolute cosmic connection over this stuff.”

At 576 pages, the book has been referred to as “the brick” or “the bible” for its heftiness. It took more than a decade to complete.

Still, Hurtt admits there were many mysteries associated with the label that they never did get to the bottom of.

“When Billy and me were marveling at this incredible story and asking ourselves, ‘Why did they do this? And why did they do that?’ It doesn’t make any sense…” Hurtt said. “A lot of times, we didn’t know the answers, and we never found them.”

The couple behind the label

Fortune’s story begins in the early 1940s with Jack and Devora Brown, a young, middle class Jewish couple in Detroit who had hopes of breaking into the music business.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio to immigrant parents, Devora was a talented songwriter and composer who dreamed of selling her music in Tin Pan Alley — New York’s historic music publishing district.

Jack studied accounting at Wayne University and spent most of his life in Detroit.

After striking out with publishers in New York City, the couple launched their own publishing company in 1943.

“Trianon Publications was the name of their company,” Hurtt said. “Jack founded it just sort of like, because he wanted her dream to come true, ya know? And then they just started the label in 1946.” 

And just like that, Fortune Records was born.

Without a studio space of their own, they recorded the label’s first hit at United Sound Studios on Second Avenue.

“A song called ‘Jane (Sweet as Summer Rain),’ that was the first Fortune record,” Hurtt said.

Devora wrote the music for the track, which was performed by Canadian singer Russ Titus with American bandleader Artie Fields and his Orchestra.

“[The track] doesn’t sound like any of the crazy rock and roll or rhythm and blues or soul or hillbilly music that we associate with the label,” Hurtt said. “But that’s interesting, because it’s sort of where they came from.”

Devora and Jack continued to make records at United Sound until 1951, when they opened their own studio on Linwood Avenue on the city’s west side, where much of the city’s Jewish community resided.

Sounds of the city

“The minute they opened the studio on Linwood, they started recording everyone that came through the door basically,” Hurtt said.

That included artists like the Davis Sisters, John Lee Hooker, Earl and Joyce Songer, Paul Lewis and The Swans, The Royal Jokers, The Five Dollars, and many other artists who — had it not been for Jack and Devora — may have never been recorded.

Contrary to Motown’s highly-polished, almost formulaic sound, Fortune stood out for its rawness and diversity of artists. Hurtt says Devora’s fondness for exotic or foreign styles of music and the melding of cultures in the city at the time was reflected in the types of records they produced.

“They had everybody on this label, every culture that was in the city at the time,” he said. “They recorded some of the first gypsy music that was ever recorded in the United States; Tony Valla and the Alamos, which was, you know, Latino rock and roll; and then later Tejano from Southwest Detroit.”

Fortune’s ‘Big Three’

The first real hitmakers for the label were Nolan Strong & the Diablos — a young doo-wop vocal group attending Detroit’s Central High School, which was across the street from the Brown’s studio.

“They just walked in there and wanted to know what they would sound like on a record, and they basically pestered Jack and Devora into recording them,” he said. “Of course, that became… it was ‘Adios My Desert Love,’ that really started the label off in rhythm and blues.”

“If I could really sing, I’d be Nolan Strong”

– Lou Reed

Andre Williams was the label’s next major star. Though he himself would say he was a lousy singer, he was a brilliant entertainer who masked his lack of singing skills by talking over his records.

Willams’ biggest hit, “Bacon Fat,” was recorded by the Browns in 1956. The record’s success led Devora and Jack to license it to Epic Records for wider distribution, but later felt that they weren’t compensated fairly.

As a prolific performer, Williams felt the Browns’ reluctance toward distribution deals with larger labels restricted him. He eventually left Fortune to record for various other labels over the years.

“[Andre] ended up helping Berry Gordy get Motown started, actually, which is something that I don’t think he really gets credit for,” said Detroit musician Matt Smith, who has performed with and produced records for both Williams and Nathaniel Mayer — Fortune’s third major hitmaker.

Smith says both Williams and Mayer played pivotal roles in the development of rock and roll, soul music and funk.

“Andre was really kind of ahead of his time with a lot of ideas, and his stuff had an enormous influence on the generation of rock and rollers that came after him,” he said.

Mayer’s 1961 record  “Village of Love” became Fortune’s biggest national hit. However, the Browns’ distrust of others would ultimately go on to stifle his success as well.

An ethereal echo: Fortune’s signature sound

Devora wrote many of the label’s biggest hits and was considered the creative force behind the label.

“There’s a certain mystique to Fortune Records, like an otherworldly sound,” Hurtt said. “And part of it has to do with Devora Brown and her Ampex 350 tape recorder, which she just loves the echo effects of.”

That ethereal echo effect is especially prevalent in The Diablos’ 1954 hit, “The Wind.”

“[‘The Wind’] is, you know, one of the greatest doo-wop records ever — if not thee greatest doo-wop record,” Smith said. “It’s just one of the most mysterious, supernatural sounding records ever made…I mean it is just weird.”

Hurtt says The Diablos wrote “The Wind” while cruising on Belle Isle.

“They’re like harmonizing sort of to the breeze…to the wind,” he said. “It’s almost like he is the wind, you know? Is this guy a spirit, or is he real?”

The label’s decline

In 1956, the Browns moved the label to a standalone cinderblock building on Third Avenue, in what was then considered Skid Row. 

“Supposedly the floor was partially dirt. Whether that’s true or not is another myth and mystery that we were never able to truly solve.”

– Michael Hurtt, co-author of “Mind Over Matter”

The label persisted at that location for decades, but after the mass exodus following the 1967 riots, the neighborhood wasn’t the same.

“The Detroit of the ’70s, was so much different than the Detroit of the ’60s,” Hurtt said. “And after the rebellion, you know, the riot…so much changed in the city that I think it was sort of a convenient time for Fortune to sort of, you know, go into decline.”

The label began to truly fall apart in 1973, when Jack and Devora were hit by a car while crossing the street.

“There are all these weird stories about that, you know, and one of them was that he was run over by a disgruntled hillbilly artist,” Hurtt said. “Well, that wasn’t true at all.”

Jack sustained internal injuries from the accident that eventually led to his death in 1980. 

Devora tried to keep the label alive but without Jack handling the business operations it proved to be too difficult to maintain. The building was sold in 1996, shortly before Devora died. Despite efforts to save it, the building was demolished in 2001. 

“It was criminal that that happened,” Hurtt reflected. “I mean you can imagine what it could be now, it could be a museum, that could be any number of things. There was enough left, even though the roof was gone, you know, it basically was a shell and it looked the same.”

Fortune Records may not have lasted long in our collective memory, but it certainly had an impact on the music industry and especially in Detroit.

“If you look for the records, they’re hard to find,” Smith said. “But there’s hundreds and hundreds of these Fortune records, and they’re all out there.”

About the listener

David Perry has lived in metro Detroit for over 30 years. As a music lover, Perry says he was drawn to the wide variety of genres recorded by the label during its golden era.

He currently resides in South Lyon with his wife and grandson.

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More from CuriosiD:

• What happens to old fire trucks in Detroit?
• How did Ann Arbor get its name?
• Does Gen Z know who Bob Seger is?

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For the first time in over a decade, Mayor Mike Duggan will not be on the ballot for Detroit mayor.

The longtime Democrat announced in December that he’ll instead be campaigning (as an independent) for Michigan governor — opening up a competitive field of candidates vying to fill his shoes.

That includes former Detroit police Chief James Craig, Detroit Councilmember Fred Durhal, Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, former nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins and attorney Todd Perkins. 

As mayor, Duggan prioritized ridding the city of blight, revitalizing parks and recreation centers, and decreasing crime with the help of initiatives like community violence intervention programs.

Today on The Metro, BridgeDetroit reporter Malachi Barrett breaks down the Detroit mayoral race and the candidates’ priorities for the city. We also revisit a recent conversation with Detroit Future City CEO Anika Goss about what she believes the city’s new leadership should be prioritize.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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

A recent report from the state health department says big federal spending cuts threaten Medicaid benefits for 700,000 people in Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order in April asking the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to conduct a study into how Medicaid cuts would affect Michiganders.

The report found that Michigan could lose $1.1 billion dollars a year in funding. Michigan hospitals could also lose billions of dollars, resulting in  hundreds of millions less for nursing homes.

“Medicaid provides a lifeline to 2.6 million Michiganders, and the huge, proposed cuts will terminate coverage for our neighbors, family, and friends who need it most,” said Whitmer in a statement.

Republican leaders say Medicaid is off the table, but many budget experts say GOP spending targets can’t be met without touching health care. 

Other headlines for Wednesday, May 7, 2025:

• The United Auto Workers union held rallies in Trenton and Warren this week to demand Stellantis move production work to the U.S., and Michigan in particular.
• Detroit City Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero says she is certified to appear on the August primary ballot. The city elections department disqualified her over a late fee it said she failed to pay.
  Santiago-Romero contested the penalty, saying she did pay it, and that her disqualification was due to a clerical error.
• Construction crews have begun building the Detroit Grand Prix racetrack around the Renaissance Center. Race organizers say it’ll take about a week less to set up for the race this year thanks to a new wall and fence design. The races runs May 30 through June 15.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Americans are struggling to find affordable places to live. With the cost of living, gas and groceries going up, Detroit it is no exception. According to a report from the Detroit Justice Center, Detroit is behind in supplying affordable homes to residents.

Still, this is an issue city leaders have tried to address. For the better part of a decade, officials have invested millions of dollars into affordable housing projects. But the city is still unable to keep up with demand. Those efforts have only multiplied in recent years.

Julia Cardi, an investigative reporter for The Detroit News, has been covering affordable housing in Detroit. She joined The Metro on Wednesday to talk about the city’s past investments and the work that’s happening now to bring more affordable housing to the city.

Also, MiSide Community Impact Network President Sean De Four joined the show to talk about Campbell Street Apartments — Southwest Detroit’s new $18 million affordable housing development — ahead of the project’s ribbon cutting.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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

Voters across metro Detroit made key decisions on school funding, local government changes, and city leadership in the May 6 special election.

To learn more about this special election visit the “Michigan special elections: What metro Detroiters should know before May 6” published on May 2, 2025

Ferndale voters approved both a school improvement bond (70% yes) and a Headlee override millage (58% yes).

Redford Union School District passed a $44 million bond proposal with 54% support.

Southgate Community Schools saw all three of its funding proposals pass.

Mount Clemens voters rejected a $91.8 million bond proposal for school upgrades, with 67% voting no.

Lamphere Schools in Madison Heights also failed to secure an $85 million bond, with 58% opposed.

Clawson voters turned down two charter amendments related to city council size and term lengths.

In Wyandotte, Mayor Robert DeSana was reelected with 79% of the vote. Six city council members were also elected, and three administrative offices were uncontested.

For full details, visit the Detroit Free Press election coverage.

Know your rights

Michigan’s primary election will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. Check back for updates to WDET’s Voter Guide as the election gets closer.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has refused to consider a request by the Oxford High School shooter to withdraw his guilty pleas and challenge his life-without-parole sentence.

The appeals court panel rejected the request in an order issued Tuesday that said the appeal was denied “for lack of merit in the grounds presented.”

Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling were killed and six other students and a teacher were injured in the 2021 shootings.

The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to 24 counts that included murder and terrorism.

When Crumbley filed his appeal in January, he was assigned a new legal team through the State Appellate Defender Office. That team argued that he had ineffective legal counsel during his appearances before the trial court. The filing also argued the life-without-parole sentence was unconstitutional and that the Oakland County Circuit Court judge failed to ensure the shooter’s rights were protected. His attorneys also argued the then-16-year-old likely suffered from the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome and mental health issues at the time he pleaded guilty.

His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure the gun used in the shootings and ignoring signs that he posed a threat.

We love having local musicians hang out in-studio during MI Local, and this week I have to appreciate how Elisabeth Pixley-Fink made the late-evening drive in from her homebase of Ann Arbor so that we could talk about her new album, “Heartskin.”

Pixley-Fink is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, band leader and poetic lyricist who, on her latest album, has woven together a particularly scintillating swath of guitar riffs and cathartic phrasings that taps into seminal riot grrrl energy, mixed with ballads that dynamically soften the sonic terrain with poignant lyrics sung in versatile vocal ranges that draw inspiration from queer Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, which we discuss during our live on-air interview!

Next Friday, May 16, at the Outer Limits Lounge, Pixley-Fink performs for an album release show that also features Kalamazoo-based indie-rockers The Go Rounds. Speaking of Kalamazoo, that’s actually Pixley-Fink’s original hometown; she’s been touring in, around, and outside of the state of Michigan over the last decade, and released her first recorded music back in 2012.

Pixley-Fink said “Heartskin” has been in the works for eight years.

“The process of making an album is the process of learning something,” she said. “So I took a long time writing the songs on ‘Heartskin’ and getting them to a place I wanted. Meanwhile, I have a day-job I work to support myself, and I think that’s an important part of myself as an artist: it’s cramming art into my daily life — having it be part of every day.”

Regarding the inspiration for the album, Pixley-Fink said she came across a collection by the late poet/playwright while she was living in Mexico City.

“I fell in love with (Lorca) as an artist,” Pixley-Fink said, “and felt a connection through time as a kindred spirit. There’s a poem called ‘Corezon Nuevo,’ that says ‘…my heart is like a serpent that has shed its skin / I hold it in my hands / heartskin of honey and wounds…'”

Just before we played Pixley-Fink’s title track song live on the air, she said “…it was the last song I recorded for the album and it just summed up the whole point of it — of looking at the beauty and the pain and the gooey goodness and the wounds, and I’m singing about all of that on the record.”

Speaking even further on the sense of “shedding,” Pixley-Fink posited that it ties in to a sense of recovery, “…of going through a lot and making sense of it — making sense of your part in it and accepting yourself, accepting all parts of yourself and not through someone else’s eyes.”

Among many other facets of the record, including a touching track titled “The Coffee Is Cold,” we also touched upon how many talented collaborators — all of them Michigan artists — contributed to the making of “Heartskin.” Even that, Pixley-Fink said, tied into a sense of shedding, perhaps “any protectiveness” that she may have felt, about the nature of opening up to collaboration, and the rewarding results that were rendered because of it.

Read back to a previous feature, when WDET premiered the music video for Elisabeth Pixley-Fink’s “Fearless & the Pure.”

Per usual, MI Local strives to deliver a sonic tour of the state, and this week we took listeners over to Grand Rapids to hear the latest from indie-rockers Low Phase, with their new single, “Reason,” which will lead into a forthcoming full-length album later in the summer. We also heard new music coming out of Kalamazoo, with songwriter (and librarian) Jay Alan Kay, delivering an EP of stripped-down acoustic ballads regaling nostalgia that’s endearingly tied to professional wrestling. Kay has a show this Thursday night at the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids. Speaking of live shows, you can see indie-art-punk singer-songwriter Henry Walters live at Ziggy’s in Ypsilanti this Friday — we heard a new song by Walters titled “Don’t Care.”

Another big premiere, this week, featured a new-ish Detroit-based indie-pop trio, Pretty Island, featuring Linda Ann Jordan, Lauren Milia, and Dina Bankole, each talented and harmonious singers and respectively songwriters who initially joined together a year go to flesh out solo songs by Jordan.

See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

MI Local Playlist for May 6, 2025

• Reason – Low Phase
• Country Girl – Greet Death
• Put Me Over – Jay Alan Kay
• Don’t Care – Henry Walters
• Wild Child – Pretty Island
• Remnants – Lester
• 400 Horses – Death By Lions
• Stupid Luck – Addicus
• Get Back Up – TY
• What Were We Thinking – Tyvek
• Heartskin – Elisabeth Pixley-Fink
• Coffee is Cold – Elisabeth Pixley-Fink
• Those Were The Days – Elisabeth Pixley-Fink