The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says there are now more than a thousand registered doulas in Michigan. That includes 700 doulas who take Medicaid.

Doulas are trained non-medical professionals who provide birth assistance, including emotional and physical support, and help families navigate the birthing experience. 

Dawn Shanafelt is the Director of the Division of Maternal & Infant Health for MDHHS. She says the state has surpassed its goal of registering 500 doulas through the Doula Registry by 2028, doubling that number as of last week. 

“What’s next for the program is to continue to support our existing doulas that are part of the registry. So the one thousand plus doulas. And then we are really focusing on enrollment and recruitment of doulas in areas where the number of doulas that are available for families is lower, and then also for special populations.”

Shanafelt says that includes populations that speak a language other than English, Indigenous populations, and teenage parents.  

She says having doula-assisted births reduces birth complications and medical interventions, shortens the duration of labor, and increases breastfeeding support. Babies also tend to have healthier birth weights.  

Additional headlines for Monday, November 24, 2025

MDHHS launches more On-the-Go food pantries

MDHHS has added a mobile food distribution site in Hamtramck, partnering with Forgotten Harvest.

The On-the-Go popup pantry will provide food pick-up for people who schedule appointments. There are options for fresh produce and grains and culturally appropriate foods such as halal or kosher options.

MDHHS says they will select and offer similar mobile food pantry options in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties every month. The next one in Hamtramck will be held tomorrow Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the MDHHS office located at 12140 Jos Campau St. in Hamtramck.

People can make an appointment by emailing MDHHS-FH-WC-Hamtramck@michigan.gov.  Dial 211 or visit mi211.org online for free referrals to food pantries.  

Entry Points artist residency program wins award

A Hamtramck-based artist residency program is receiving a $175,000 award.

Entry Point is a program which offers housing and studio space for returning citizens who were formerly incarcerated juveniles. The nonprofit is receiving the 2025 J.M.K Innovation Award. The award is given by the J.M. Kaplan Fund to 10 awardees for their work in tackling social justice, environmental conservation, and heritage preservation.  

Entry Point was created by artist-activist Jonathan Rajewski and writer and former juvenile lifer Kyle Daniel-Bey through Hamtramk Free School, an alternative educational organization that facilitates creative writing and art workshops in Michigan prisons, working with juveniles who were sentenced to life without parole.   

Entry Points helps returning citizens reintegrate into public life, including presenting their work publicly.  

EGLE awards grants to limit runoff

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is awarding $2.9 million to several groups to reduce pollution in waterways.

The Nonpoint Source Program grants will fund eight projects aimed at eliminating runoff at nonpoint sources which come from farms, urban areas and construction sites.

This occurs when there is rain, snowmelt, or when the wind carries pollutants into waterways. The grants will help repair waterways to reduce sediment, nutrients, and bacteria.  

If there is something happening in your neighborhood that you think we should know about, drop us a line at DetroitEveningReport@wdet.org.

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A hundred years ago, the world was changing and ushering in new ways of living, The first transatlantic phone call from London to New York. Ford Motor Company became the one of the first companies to implement the 40-hour work week. And The National Hockey League approved a new franchise team in Detroit. The Red Wings is one of the original six member leagues.

The team has won 11 Stanley cup titles, which is the most out of all United States based NHL teams. 

Helene St. James has been covering The Red Wings for The Detroit Free Press since 1996. She’s the author of multiple books on the wings including The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings: A Curated History of Hockeytown.

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The Detroit Red Wings have a long, gritty history that mirrors the city it calls home. To celebrate and commiserate the last 100 years, a new exhibition is on display at the Detroit Historical Museum. 

Detroit Red Wings at 100 will have a unique array of artifacts on display that capture the franchise from 1926 to today. The exhibition will be on display through 2026.

Jeremy Dimick is the lead curator at Detroit Historical Museum. Marcel Parent is the Director of Curation & Collections at Ilitch Holdings. Both joined The Metro to talk more about the exhibit and Detroit Red Wings history. 

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America’s health insurance is distributed in a patchwork way. There are public health insurers, like Medicaid and Medicare, and then there are private ones. That’s where a lot of citizens and state residents get their health insurance — through their work or through the private market. 

That insurance may become harder to come by for over 200,000 residents. Two health insurance agencies, Health Alliance Plan and Molina Healthcare, will no longer offer coverage through the Affordable Care Act in Michigan. And, Meridian Health Plan will be significantly shrinking its coverage for state residents. 

That’s happening as premium costs are expected to go through the roof because the Republican-controlled Congress did not include an extension of health insurance tax credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

Robyn Vincent spoke with Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, about what these changes will mean for Michiganders who sign up for healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, and how hospitals will be impacted.

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Birthing is a fragile process. That’s why, with new life coming into the world, it’s the responsibility of a lot of people — doctors and nurses and caregivers and family members — to ensure that such life is properly cared for. 

But in order to do that well, we have to care for pregnant women. In this state, we’re being told that we’re not doing a great job of that task, specifically for Black mothers. 

A new report shows that about 1 in 6 babies born in Detroit were born prematurely. And this issue is directly related to that of infant mortality and maternal health. Two years ago in our country, over 20,000 babies died before their first birthday, with the highest rates occurring in the South and Midwest regions. 

Why is maternal healthcare, particularly for Black mothers, so bad in the U.S. and worse in the Midwest? And what can we do about it?

Tamika Jackson is a reproductive justice and maternal health organizer for Mothering Justice. She spoke with Robyn Vincent.

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This week’s episode of Big Sonic Heaven paid tribute to two great artists who recently passed: the bassist of The Stone Roses, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, at the age of 63, and Rorika, half of the shoegaze duo Fleeting Joys, who passed away in July of this year. The latter news just became public a few days ago.

Plus, new music from Ashes and Diamonds, The Church, Ivy, and a track from the Chameleons’ first new album in over two decades.

Check out the playlist below, along with the on-demand replay above for the next two weeks.

• Donimo – Cocteau Twins 
• Infinity Peaking – Bdrmm
• En Lögn, En Sanning – Kallsup
• Deep Ocean Vast Sea – Peter Murphy
• I Wanna Be Adored – Stone Roses
• Sapphire Door – Soft Blue Shimmer
• Holiday House – Beach House
• Hooked Into My Soul – Fleeting Joys
• Saviours Are A Dangerous Thing – Chameleons
• Carousel – Hatchie
• Fine Friend – Pale Saints
• Only So Much Light – Air Formation
• Just One Kiss – The Cure
• Hollywood – Ashes and Diamonds
• Creation – Meena
• Brother (feat. Dave Gahan) – Humanist
• All That We Had Is Lost – Postiljonen
• Say You Will – Ivy
• Double Dream – Bluhm
• The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove – Dead Can Dance
• Sacred Echoes (Part Two) – The Church
• Bedbugs and Ballyhoo – Echo and the Bunnymen
• Hazlewood – Toothpaste
• Division – Tycho
• Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) – Pixies
• Until You Come Back Home – Nother & Moon Leap
• Mandy – She’s Green
• Dagger – Slowdive
• The Big Shake – The Mary Onettes
• New Town Velocity – Johnny Marr 
• City Girl – Kevin Shields
• Bright as Yellow – The Innocence Mission  

On this week’s episode of Acoustic Café, we dip into the archives for Words + Music from past in-studio guests, including greats Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss, Gregory Porter, Joan Baez and many many more!

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

Acoustic Café Playlist for November 23, 2025 (all in-studio stuff!)

• “Million Dollar Intro” – Ani DiFranco
• “God Is God” – Joan Baez
• “On My Side” – AHI
• “All Day I Dream About” – Joe P
• “Brown Eyed Lover” – Allen Stone
• “The Joke” – Brandi Carlile
• “Bring My Flowers” – Tanya Tucker
• “Everything Old Is New Again” – Barenaked Ladies
• “Stolen Moments” – Cautious Clay
• “Ain’t Got Time For Hate” – Shemekia Copeland
• “Telepathic” – Ani Difranco
• “Whooping Crane” – Lyle Lovett
• “The Moment Has Passed” – Jeff Tweedy
• “Oh, Miss Claudia” – Rodney Crowell
• “Hill Country Love” – Cedric Burnside
• “Back To Me” – Grace Potter
• “Rake” – Cowboy Junkies
• “Sweet Talk” – Iron & Wine
• “When You Give It Away” – Bruce Cockburn
• “Don’t Lose Your Steam” – Gregory Porter
• “Gentle On My Mind” – Alison Krauss
• “El Invento ” – Jose Gonzalez
• “Steppin’ Out” – Joe Jackson w/Graham Maby

Listen to Rob Reinhart’s Essential Music every Saturday from 2-4 p.m. ET on Detroit Public Radio 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand at wdet.org

In this week’s episode of Rob Reinhart’s Essential Music, “Double Fantasy” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono turned 45 this week, plus a look at the upcoming Ann Arbor Folk Festival—happening Jan. 30-31!

Also, we’ll remember the late songwriter Todd Snider with some neat in-studio performances from Acoustic Cafe.

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

Rob Reinhart’s Essential Music Playlist for November 22, 2025

HOUR ONE:

• “Bitter Rivals” – Sleigh Bells
• “Piranhanana” – Shovels & Rope
• “By The End Of The Night” – Amber Mark
• “Heartbreaker” – Indigo De Souza
  
• “Wildfire Skies” – The City Lines
  
• “Talkin’ Seattle Blues” – Todd Snider
  
• “Dearborn” – Bahamas
  
• “Godspeed” – Mavis Staples
  
• “Celeste” – GoldFord
• “Witch Dance” – Florence & The Machine
• “Honeydew (No Light)” – Josh Ritter
  
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen (Night At The Opera turning 50)

• “Monument” – Greensky Bluegrass (A2FF, January 30)
• “Hold On Tight” – Amos Lee (A2FF, January 31)
• “Shake Shake” – Jon Muq (A2FF, January 31)
• “A Little Bit Of Everything” – Dawes (A2FF, January 31)
• “The Well” – The Crane Wives (A2FF, January 31)
• “My Generation, Pt. 2” – Todd Snider (Acoustic Cafe performance)
• “Black Myself” – Amythyst Kiah
• “I’m Losing You” – John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Double Fantasy is now 45 y/o)
• “Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)” – John Lennon
  
• “Everybody Knows” – The Legal Matters
  
• “Long Haired Country Boy” – Todd Snider (Acoustic Cafe performance)

Listen to Rob Reinhart’s Essential Music every Saturday from 2-4 p.m. ET on Detroit Public Radio 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand at wdet.org

The Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation is the city’s workforce agency, connecting residents to jobs, training and other opportunities. 

It was created by Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration in 2012 and it’s also run by the mayor’s office. 

Mayor elect Mary Sheffield will soon be sworn in. Changes to the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation could be on the way. The agency was also doing a lot of work with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, and they’re drying up. 

At the Nov. 3 meeting, the agency discussed how they’ll navigate their finances while exploring different funding options. Producer Jack Filbrandt spoke with Detroit Documenters Jasmine Kaltenbach and Noah Kincade to learn more about the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation.

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The Trump administration wants to cut the number of waterways protected under the Clean Water Act.

Some business owners and developers say the move would help them operate better because it would change which wetlands and streams legally count as an “official water of the United States.”

Those designations are covered by the Clean Air Act, which was originally written in part by the late Michigan Congressman John Dingell.

His wife, current U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, says protecting streams and wetlands helps stop pollution from flowing to large bodies of water like the Great Lakes.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell: People that are seasoned, like myself, know what our waters used to look like. And John Dingell was really the significant author of the Clean Water Act, along with the late former U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie. And he did it because the Rouge River caught on fire. Now, the consequences of what this administration is going to do would undermine the strong protections that have kept our water safe and healthy and have cleaned them up. So I’m very concerned that we not go backwards. We see the Great Lakes and our Detroit water system is significantly improved from where it was 30 years ago, 40 years ago. But we have to keep cleaning it up. And taking away those safeguards endangers our water.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Some environmental groups often raise concerns about runoff from farmland into waterways or companies dumping there illegally at times. Now they say this change proposed by the Trump administration could increase the chance of those types of activities happening. Do you agree with those kinds of concerns?

DD: I’m very, very concerned about what this means and what the real consequences are. Lake Erie has seen very significant experiences of algae blooms. People have actually been told not to drink tap water. So I think it’s very important that we make every effort to continue to clean up our water, protect our waters. And the administration’s announcement that they were going to roll back Clean Water Act regulations worries me greatly.

QK: On the other side, some business owners and farmers, among others, have said that they think the change will help them. It’ll limit the costs and regulatory red tape, they say, of having to check if a stream or other waterway on their property is covered under the Clean Water Act. They say it should be something that states regulate more than the federal government. What’s your reaction to those comments?

DD: We need to have federal regulation. Because here’s the reality. Water doesn’t say, “oops, I’m at a state line.” Do you think Lake Erie or the Detroit River know when they’ve crossed a state border? I think we should all be working together to keep our water safe. But when water runoff is going into major tributaries like the Huron River, the Rouge River, then goes into the Detroit River, which goes into the Great Lakes, there are consequences when there are things in those waters that are not safe. Things the public needs to be protected from. I want to reduce regulation. I want to look at how we can simplify. But undermining the goal of clean water is something that worries me greatly and something I will always fight for.

Pontiac launches new Down Payment Assistance Program

The City of Pontiac unveiled its Down Payment Assistance Program this week, an initiative aimed at expanding homeownership opportunities for first-time buyers and encouraging wealth and investment in Pontiac neighborhoods. City leaders are inviting renters to apply for this first-of-its-kind program.

To qualify:

• Your prospective home must be in Pontiac.
• Applicants must be first-time homebuyers or individuals who have not acquired a home in the past three years.
• You must complete a homebuyer education session through the organization National Faith Homebuyers and receive a certificate.
• You must work with the homebuyer organization to meet HUD and program requirements.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 313-255-9500.

Additional headlines for Friday, November 21, 2025

Detroit breaks ground on new affordable housing near Brewster Wheeler

The City of Detroit broke ground this month on four new buildings that will bring 211 units of affordable and permanent supportive housing to long-vacant land next to the Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center.

The units will have rents based on 30 to 80 percent of the area median household income.

Three of the buildings will include 53 units that received 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the State of Michigan. They will offer a mix of one- and two-bedroom units starting at less than $500 a month.

The fourth building will be a 52-unit permanent supportive housing development, with each unit supported by project-based vouchers that keep residents paying no more than 30 percent of their income for rent.

Completion of all projects is scheduled for 2027.
More information: https://detroitmi.gov/news/work-begins-80m-development-bringing-211-new-units-affordable-permanent-supportive-housing-brush 

Sports

NFL
The Detroit Lions face the New York Giants on Sunday as they try to bounce back from a tough loss to the Eagles. The Lions are currently third in the NFC North. The game will be held at Ford Field, with kickoff at 1:00 p.m.

NBA
The Pistons have won 11 games in a row. They’ll look to keep the streak alive as they face the Bucs at the Fiserv Forum. Tipoff is Saturday at 8:00 p.m.

NHL
The Red Wings sit at the top of the Atlantic Division as they prepare to face the Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena.

The Rink at Campus Martius opens for the season

The holiday season brings the return of The Rink at Campus Martius Park, which opens to the public starting tomorrow. From November 22 through March 1, visitors can experience what USA Today named the No. 1 Best Ice Skating Rink in the country in its 2024 ranking.

For hours and additional details, visit: https://downtowndetroit.org/experience-downtown/things-to-do/the-rink/

Local shopping for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday

DER will be off for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but local businesses will be out in force for the holiday shopping weekend. Online tourism site Visit Detroit has compiled a list of local shops to explore, including sneaker boutiques, floral shops, art galleries, and more.

To see the full list, visit: https://visitdetroit.com

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Michigan lawmakers are working on bipartisan approaches to ensure crimes are accounted for and increase privacy for lawmakers.

WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben talk with State Senator Stephanie Chang and State Representative Sarah Lightner. They discuss the Violent Crime Clearance Act, shielding of addresses for certain public officials, and more. 

Murder-solve rate in Michigan

According to a Michigan State Police report, the murder-solve rate is at 31.7% as of March of 2025. State Rep. Lightner said there could be more done to help law enforcement solve crimes.

She says a bill she introduced with State Senator Stephanie Chang will, “allow more for technical assistance for forensics or more people to investigate. [This bill] would help utilize those dollars better and have better access to labs.” 

Privacy for public officials

Another proposal both lawmakers were unified on was a bill that shields the addresses of certain public officials. Due to the increased climate of political violence over the past several years, both legislators want to help ensure safety for lawmakers.

State Sen. Chang said, “We are in a different time with the heightened risk of political violence. The judicial protection act was spurred by the killing of a judge’s son. Having personal identifying information puts everyone at further risk.” 

State Sen. Chang said now that the state budget is done, these bills have a better change of being addressed  

More MichMash

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.

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The recent pause in SNAP benefits has pushed hunger back into the headlines. Families who were already stretching every dollar suddenly had to stretch the impossible. At the same time, grocery stores, stadiums, airports, and restaurants were still throwing away food that could have fed them.

Jasmine Crowe-Houston has spent years thinking about that contradiction, and she built her company, Goodr, to close the gap. 

The idea is simple but radical: hunger is not about having too little food. Instead, it is about wasting too much of it, and failing to get it to the people who need it.

Goodr is her answer. It is a tech-driven system that turns surplus food into meals, waste streams into climate wins, and food access into something dignified. 

What started in her one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta has now grown into a national model that keeps millions of pounds of food out of landfills and puts millions of meals on dinner tables.

Jasmine Crowe-Houston joined Robyn Vincent to discuss how the SNAP pause has magnified the urgency of feeding Americans—and what scaling the system she has built really looks like in American cities.

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The days may be getting shorter, but Detroit knows how to make the most of wintery weather. From finding the perfect gift during Small Business Saturday, to strolling through breathtaking light displays with a loved one, here’s how to kick off your holiday season in metro Detroit.

Plus, indoor entertainment to keep you warm. Read on to learn more. 

Upcoming events

Wayne County Lightfest

Hines Drive

  Thursday, Nov. 20 – Wednesday, Dec. 24

  $5-50 cash, depending on vehicle 

Every Wednesday through Sunday from 6-10 p.m. Hines Drive goes full winter-wonderland with miraculous light displays! En route there’s also food trucks, hot chocolate, and plenty of opportunities to snap the perfect photo. 

Sunset: A Cyber-Lament

  Andy Arts in Detroit

  Thursday, Nov. 20 through Tuesday, Nov. 25

  $11.63–$64.15

A music-driven work inspired by medieval retellings of the Orpheus myth and our collective internet-driven madness. The production weaves technologies old and new to mythologize our relationship with technology and how it has changed and shaped our imagination. This performance runs approximately 80 minutes with no intermission.

Art for the Holidays

  Detroit Artists Market

  Friday, Nov. 14 through Saturday, Dec. 20

  Free

Detroit Artists Market’s Art for the Holidays exhibition is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Peruse and purchase unique pieces from almost 100 local artists, perfect for the gift-giving season! 

Detroit Tree Lighting

Campus Martius 

  Friday, Nov. 21

  Free

The 22nd annual tree lighting will be accompanied by live entertainment, holiday shopping, food trucks, and giveaways. It’s a great time to watch professional ice skaters hit the ice and make a visit to Santa! 

Light Up Beacon Park

 City Bird and Nest

  Friday, Nov. 21

  Free

Watch as Beacon Park brings a massive White Fir to life with ornaments and listen to carolers as the park lights up with festive cheer. Beacon Park celebrates the start of the holiday season from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21. 

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday

City Bird and Nest

  Friday, Nov. 28 and Saturday, Nov. 29

  Free

Visit City Bird and Nest for special deals and events during extended hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free gifts will be available, as well a DJ set, a locally crafted photo-op and Midtown Holiday Bingo. For those unable to attend in person, a coupon code is available from Friday to Cyber Monday. 

CatVideoFest 2025

Detroit Film Theatre

  Friday, Nov. 28 through Sunday, Nov. 30

General Admission $11.50, Senior/Student/DIA Member $9.50

Cat videos are a long-standing gem of the internet era, and the Detroit Film Theatre invites you to enjoy the cutest and goofiest of them on the big screen. There are 4 showings over the weekend of this 80 minute compilation. The DFT recommends purchasing tickets in advance. A part of the proceeds will be donated to local shelters. 

Detroit held a grand opening for the Violet T. Lewis Village senior apartment complex on Wednesday. It sits on the site of Michigan’s first and only historically Black college. The school was founded by a Black woman named Violet T Lewis. 

The Lewis College of Business offered courses in typewriting, bookkeeping, stenography, penmanship and office management. It was closed in 2013 amid Detroit’s bankruptcy and was re-opened as the Pensole Lewise College of Design and Business in partnership with the College for Creative Studies. 

Dr. Violet Ponders is Lewis’s granddaughter. She tells the story of how her grandmother started the school. 

“When she got out of school, she found it difficult to get the kind of job that she wanted. Then once she began to go and do some other things, she then found out that there were there was nobody that looked like her in offices doing office work. So, you know, she kept saying, we got to do something. We got to do something. So she did something. She founded the college in 1928. She was an educator, but yet she touched the souls of people in a different kind of way.

“One of the things she started was the March of Dimes fashion extravaganza, a group of community women here in Detroit raising money for polio. Everybody called her mommy TV. Those of us who were in the family, there was a certain place on the stairwell … where she stopped being mommy TV, and she became Doctor Lewis. And we would ebb and flow that way all of the time.” 

Violet T. Lewis was also one of the founders of the Gamma Phi Delta sorority. 

Fashioned in the sorority’s iconic baby blue and pink Dr Contessa Bell, the 14th president and CEO of Gamma Phi Delta says Violet T. Lewis’s impact echoed far beyond her lifetime. 

“She helped build a sisterhood rooted in service, leadership, business excellence, and empowerment through Lewis College of Business. She opened doors that many believed were locked. She championed education when it seemed like it was impossible, and during her time when it wasn’t easy, and especially for women.” 

Detroit City Council person Angela Whitfield Calloway is a member of the Gamma Phi Delta Sorority and has proposed more affordable housing in the city since taking office in 2021. 

She says Lewis had done more in the city than simply opening an HBCU. 

“She owned that property over there on John R and Ferry when Black folks were restricted from owning properties over there because of the restrictive covenants in the deeds. But she worked around that and opened that school.” 

The Violet T. Lewis Village is a senior apartment complex, with rents based on income starting as low as $427 for a one bedroom. To find out more about availability call 313-270-9150 or pvm.org.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

A moody mix to match the weather with a ton of throwbacks, starting with James Brown, Massive Attack, Deftones covering the Cars and lots of moody morsels in between. Plus, giving our flowers to Stone Roses bass player Gary “Mani” Mounfield, who has died at the age of 63.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for November 20, 2025

• “The Payback” – James Brown
• “Protection” – Massive Attack
• “Drive” – Deftones
• “Ritual Union (Maya Jane Coles Remix)” – Little Dragon
• “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” – Gnarls Barkley
• “Kiss Me On The Neck” – Erykah Badu
• “Uno Punto Uno” – Women In Jazz & Rosa Brunello
• “Underwater Love” – Smoke City
• “The Truth (feat. Roisin & J-Live)” – Handsome Boy Modeling School
• “Pride May Put Me To Rest” – Louise Walker
• “Speak To Me” – Julian Lage
• “Fall Again (feat. Lil Silva)” – Duval Timothy & Melanie Faye
• “Africa” – Bill Laurance & Michael League
• “Baltimore” – Nina Simone
• “Hey Now (When I Give You All My Lovin’)” – Romare
• “I Can’t Hardly Stand It” – The Cramps
• “No News Is Good News” – Pops Staples
• “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” – Dr. John
• “Exuma, The Obeah Man” – Exuma
• “Carried Away” – H.E.R.
• “T.I.B.W.F.” – The Budos Band
• “Lo Life” – Antibalas
• “Let Go” – NewDad
• “2020” – SUUNS
• “The Equalizer” – Clinic
• “Lebanese Blonde” – Thievery Corporation
• “Dream Of You” – Lionlimb, Angel Olsen
• “Brown Paper Bag” – DIIV
• “Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi” – Friko
• “I Am the Resurrection” – The Stone Roses
• “Fools Gold” – The Stone Roses

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

Movies are a window into a different world. They can take us from our lived reality and submerge us into the point of view of a people or a time that may be different from our own. But, if the mainstream lens through which stories are told only focuses on a handful of perspectives, how do we uplift and nurture the stories from communities that have are often left out? 

Detroit Narrative Agency is a local organization that makes a point to highlight compelling storytelling from people of color.

Through its Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship, Detroit Narrative Agency selects four filmmakers to receive mentorship, funding, professional development workshops, and networking opportunities to support the creation of a short film. 

In Sequence — A Premiere Showcase of the Detroit Narrative Agency ’24-25 Fellowship Films debuted at Senate theater. 

Ashley Calhoun is Interim executive director of Detroit Narrative Agency and Lindsay Robillard is a Director of Development at Detroit Mercy and a volunteer with Senate Theater. They joined the show to talk more about supporting Metro Detroit’s film community. 

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

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More stories from The Metro

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This past spring, the city of Rochester became home to a ‘micro forest,’ a dense grove of trees and shrubs planted in an area as small as 1,000 square feet. 

The micro forestry concept began in Japan and aims to support birds, insects, and other pollinators in heavily urbanized communities. Specifically helping to remediate degraded soil caused by human development. 

Rochester City Council member Marilyn Trent spearheaded the project with the help of volunteers, arborists, and city officials. 

“The response from the community was absolutely phenomenal,” she says. 

Trent based Rochester’s micro forest on the famous Miyawaki method of planting native plants, trees and shrubs thirty times as dense as usual, a very different method of helping water mitigation, pollinator species support, and carbon capture than re-foresting or rewilding land. “We’re not trying to replicate a forest,” Trent adds.  

Trent says other cities in metro Detroit have reached out with interest in replicating the project in their communities. With one growing season successfully over, she says the biggest lesson so far is be prepared to water, water, water. 

“Keep it watered…that is one thing. And thank goodness for the DPW [Department of Public Works] when the drought starts coming in July or August, you have to keep it watered,” she says.

This story is a part of WDET’s Detroit Tree Canopy Project