When Mark Craighead and Lamarr Monson were released from prison and exonerated for murders they didn’t commit in Detroit, they pledged to help others who have been wrongfully convicted. Now the pair, united by a common cause, are raising money for a nonprofit they recently created – Freedom Ain’t Free – to connect innocent people behind bars with attorneys, paralegals, private investigators, firearm experts, and other legal resources.

Aiming to bring more green spaces and shade to Detroit neighborhoods, a coalition of local organizations and city leaders celebrated a significant milestone on Monday by planting the 25,000th tree in two years. The Detroit Tree Equity Partnership highlighted its efforts to restore the city’s urban tree canopy, improve air quality, and create job opportunities for residents during a ceremony in Bailey Park in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood.

Detroit has once again gained an unfortunate title, ranking as the least healthy city in the U.S., according to a new report by Forbes Advisor. The study evaluated health across 46 of the nation’s largest cities using eight key metrics. Detroit earned 100 out of 100, placing last due to widespread chronic health issues and lifestyle factors.

With their mayor at the helm, the city of Ann Arbor is working toward carbon neutrality by 2030. Severe weather in Michigan has strained budgets and put lives and properties at risk. In response, local leaders highlighted Ann Arbor’s climate actions to transition to clean energy through the A2ZERO plan.

When a loose cannon like Donald Trump bellows at campaign rallies that “the world is on fire” and that we are “on the verge of World War III,” it is easy to dismiss his hot spew as more lava from a verbal volcano. But when an authentic conservative elder like George F. Will objectively opines that this very war is already underway, it is worth considering his intellectual take with some serious thought — as well as fear for what is to come. Israel’s air attack on Iran over the weekend brought this thought into sharp, troubling focus.

As someone who has spent decades working to protect civil rights and to build safety and prosperity for the people of Michigan — including as Corporation Counsel for the City of Detroit — I understand just how high the election stakes are this November. Just as in 2016, third-party candidates threaten to muddle the results this year and hand Trump the win. Just as in 2016, Michigan is key to the outcome.

Gibraltar Police Chief Richard Tanguay has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city, claiming he was dismissed in retaliation for exposing corruption within the fire department and trying to prevent an illegal construction project. The lawsuit, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court on Wednesday, alleges Tanguay was terminated in retaliation for blowing the whistle.

Detroit police are investigating the recent theft of a life-size, bronze statue honoring a decorated Tuskegee Airman at Rouge Park. The statue was erected in early June to pay tribute to Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson, a WWII veteran, German prisoner of war, and beloved Detroit teacher who flew model airplanes at Rouge Park as a young boy.

Effective October 1, the QLine is under new management — yet a decade after its construction began the streetcar retains the same characteristics of an example of injustice as a separate and inequitable transportation option. Here in the nation’s largest majority Black city, the QLine advantages primarily residents and suburbanites who live, work, and play in the quickly gentrifying, white and affluent neighborhoods of downtown and Midtown. Referred to as a catalyst for regional transit, the initial private investment bankrolled by local billionaires is now owned and operated as a government entity by the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA).

Here we are again, enduring yet another election season filled with inflammatory political rhetoric and campaign ads attacking immigrants. Attacks that seem to be everywhere. I can’t even casually scroll through social media without being traumatized.

The current strain on Michigan’s prison system has been well documented. Data from the State of Michigan shows that the department has lost more than 1,000 corrections officers, with hundreds leaving each year. Those that reside within the walls of the Michigan Department of Corrections and corrections officers are rightly speaking out about deteriorating conditions in prisons throughout the state.

A longtime victim advocate for the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office called Prosecutor Peter Lucido a “self-absorbed” leader who mistreated victims, destabilized the office, and triggered an exodus of experienced staff. After 25 years of helping victims of crimes at the prosecutor’s office, Kay McGuire retired in January because she said she was burned out and disappointed that Lucido “destroyed the Victim’s Rights Unit as it was meant to be.”

Thrill-seekers from around the world visit Michigan every Halloween season to be devoured by giant creatures, chased by monsters, swallowed by a swamp, and even buried alive. These are just a few of the bone-chilling experiences that have made Erebus Haunted Attraction in Pontiac a legendary destination, now celebrating its 25th anniversary with new thrills. Founders Ed and Jim Terebus, known to some as the “grandfathers of haunting,” have a story that goes back even further than the opening of Erebus’s current home in 2000.

This article was updated with a statement from the Harris campaign. The Kamala Harris campaign kicked out a prominent Muslim Democrat from the vice president’s rally in Royal Oak on Monday, further driving a wedge between the Democratic Party and Arab and Muslim Americans. Ahmed Ghanim, a Democrat, says he accepted an invitation to the event and was seated in the Royal Oak Music Theatre when a campaign organizer ordered him to leave.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido likely violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act when he distributed a county newsletter containing a link to his campaign website, the Michigan Department of State has determined. State law prohibits the use of taxpayer-funded resources for campaign purposes.