Harmful algal blooms form in western Lake Erie every summer. Scientists monitor the water for toxic bacteria and caution people not to swim in areas where they see green scum on the surface.

Lake St. Clair has its own algae problem. It has fascinated scientists and frustrated lakeshore residents.

What is it?

Its scientific name is Microseira wollei, but folks in Macomb County have their own name for it—the “muck.”

M. wollei has been a problem in the lake since at least 2010. That’s when large mats of algae were seen floating on the surface of the water near the Lake St. Clair Metropark beach in Harrison Township.

It caught the attention of biologists, including Donna Kashian. She’s the director of Environmental Science at Wayne State University. Kashian and three other scientists went to the beach in 2010 to take water samples and study the algae, which had a different name at the time, Lyngbya wollei. Whatever one calls it, Kashian says it’s not hard to spot.

“It forms these little balls,” she says. “When you’re walking along the beach, you’ll see these ribbons, essentially along where the water’s washing up, where you’ll see the muck accumulating.”

How bad is it?

The muck has spread to other parts of Lake St. Clair over the last 15 years. Steve Dobreff owns the Freedom Boat Club in Harrison Township. He says it has grown so thick in some places that people can’t use their docks.

“That guy over there has a boat launch,” Dobreff says, pointing to an area on Campau Bay near the boat club. “This guy over here used to have a dock…that’s gone.”

Dobreff says the muck has even fouled the water near the lakeshore neighborhood where he grew up near L’anse Creuse Bay. 

“This was beautiful water, and it was all sandy beaches,” he says. “This is where we spent the majority of our time growing up right here on this dock and hanging out right here in this area.”

Now, Dobreff says, the muck has made it unswimmable.

How did it get here?

But where did the muck come from? Prof. Kashian says the explanation is murky. She says it turned up in Lake Erie years before appearing upstream in Lake St. Clair, which is kind of backwards.

“Usually things move downstream, not upstream,” she says. “So we don’t know if it was transported by boats or it was possibly there at some low level.”

However long it’s been there, Kashian says removing the muck won’t be easy. She says warmer water, more frequent storms, sewage discharges, and fertilizer runoff are all variable factors in its growth.

“I think we’re going to see patterns where some years we have more of it, and then other years we won’t see it,” she says.

Cutting off its “food” might help

One way to see less muck might be to reduce combined sewer overflows into the lake. Kashian says the algae trap E. coli, a common cause of beach closures.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller says her department has reduced CSOs by half since she took office and will expand its infrastructure in 2026 to keep more sewage out of the lake.

“We’re going to be announcing another project, which will take us really just about to 0%,” Miller says. “I mean, you might have an occasional discharge, but we are doing pretty darn good.”

Miller says she’s working with state and federal agencies to solve the muck problem. The Michigan Legislature set aside $800,000 in its 2026 budget to start the process.

State Representative Alicia St. Germaine sponsored that appropriation. She says that’s how Alabama tackled the problem in its lakes.

“They removed it and then treated it with an algaecide, and they mitigated it by more than 80%” St. Germaine says.

What’s being done about it?

The Army Corps of Engineers published a study in 2023 showing that algaecides are effective at controlling M. wollei. But eradicating the muck is unlikely because it’s so widespread. Instead, the corps has proposed a plan to manage the algae growth and limit its effects.

Rep. St. Germaine says the sooner officials can attack the muck, the sooner people in her lakeshore district can get some relief.

“I have visited several constituents who can’t even go outside and sit on their patio because this algae, this toxic algae, is smelly and gross and even hard to look at,” she says.

Like the algae that grow in Lake Erie, M. wollei can produce toxins that can cause liver and neurological damage. Prof. Kashian says she and her colleagues looked for the gene that produces those toxins and did not find it in this strain of algae.

For now, the muck has given Kashian and her classes at Wayne State plenty to study.

The head of the FBI says agents thwarted a potential terrorist attack, arresting several people in Michigan this morning.  Bureau director Kash Patel offered no other details in an early morning post on X. 

The FBI says several people have been arrested.

Dearborn Police confirmed on Facebook that federal agents conducted operations in the city this morning, but the department says there’s no threat to the community.

Agents from the FBI and the ATF are going through homes in two Dearborn locations. Michigan State Police are also on scene.

This story is still developing. Our news team is working to keep readers updated with current verified information. Last edits made at 2:07 p.m. 10/31/25

Detroit voters will elect two at-large city council candidates from a field of four.

Incumbents Coleman Young II and Mary Waters are on the ballot with former council member Janeé Ayers. The fourth candidate is James Harris. He’s the Detroit Fire Department‘s Community Relations Chief.

Why is he running?

Harris says winning would fulfill a dream he’s had since a city councilman came to his elementary school and spoke to his fifth grade class.

“He made us feel like our voice counted,” Harris says. “And I said one day I want to serve the citizens in that capacity.

Harris is the only at-large candidate without council experience. He says that’s not necessarily a disadvantage.

“The majority of people say we need some fresh blood in there,” he says. “The city always needs to change.”

One change Harris says he wants is to make it easier for new businesses to start up in Detroit. He says it’s frustrating for many entrepreneurs to cut through red tape.

“I’d make it a simple one-stop shop,” he says. “You get your certificates, you get all your compliance done, bam! You’re ready to go.”

Public safety matters

Harris has been a Detroit firefighter for 28 years. He says that experience is something his opponents do not have. He also says public safety starts with the citizens.

“You can’t have a police officer on every corner, every block, every house, but you do have citizens,” Harris says. “When you build that bridge with the citizens, with community violence intervention, it works.”

Harris says he does not want to see the National Guard policing the city.

“We have one of the best police departments in the world,” he says. “Our police officers, our citizens, our block clubs have a relationship.”

His vision: an affordable, walkable city

Harris says one way to increase affordable housing in Detroit is to lower property taxes. Another is to keep building housing projects that working class people can buy. He also wants to make Detroit more walkable. Harris says people should be able to walk to work, school, church, and recreation centers safely.

“I will work with the eight other council members to see what we could do to have more walkable communities.”

Election Day is Nov. 4, 2025.

More election coverage

In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question:

Why isn’t Lake St. Clair considered a Great Lake?

An easy way to remember the names of the five Great Lakes is by thinking of HOMES—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Add St. Clair to the list, re-arrange the first letters, and you get “SCHMOES.” Any schmo knows St. Clair is not considered a Great Lake. But why not?

Bryan Champine of Pittsburgh grew up on the lake in Chesterfield Township. He wants to know why the lake doesn’t get the same recognition as the others that surround Michigan.

“I always call it the ‘not-so-great’ lake,” Champine says. “It’s such a contributor to the overall health of the Great Lakes system, I want to see it get more appreciation.”

So, let’s dive into his question: Why isn’t Lake St Clair one of the Great Lakes?

Size matters

Donna Kashian has thought about this a lot. She’s a professor of biological sciences at Wayne State University. She’s also the president of the International Society for Great Lakes Research. Kashian and her students have studied Lake St. Clair for years. She offers what seems like the obvious answer to the question.

“I do think it’s solely on size,” Kashian says.

One look at a map supports the professor’s hypothesis. Each Great Lake dwarfs Lake St. Clair, which covers 430 square miles. That’s less than a tenth the size of Lake Ontario, the smallest Great Lake in terms of surface area. In terms of depth and volume, Lake St. Clair is shallower and holds 99 percent less water than Lake Erie.

While it may not be great in size, Kashian says Lake St. Clair’s impact on the rest of the lakes is huge.

“I look at it as the heart of the Great Lakes, because it’s even shaped like a heart,” she says.

The fishing is great

That heart pumps billions of dollars a year into Macomb County’s economy alone, providing the lifeblood for recreation, such as sport fishing.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy says nearly a third of all sport fish caught in the Great Lakes basin every year come out of Lake St. Clair. The Bassmasters professional fishing tournament happens on the lake every summer.

Amateur anglers can charter a fishing boat or find a secluded spot on shore, like Tom Anderson of St. Clair Shores did. He fishes the Clinton River for perch, pike, and walleye, but rarely keeps anything he catches.

“I’m just out here to have fun,” Anderson says. “I really don’t care to have to clean them.”

Boaters love it

Boating is big business on Lake St. Clair, but it’s also a lifestyle. Steve Dobreff calls Harrison Township “Boat Town USA.”

“We have more boats per capita than anywhere else in the world in this little square mile territory,” he says.

Dobreff is a lawyer, but his passion is boating. He owns the Freedom Boat Club on South River Road. The club offers members the benefits of using a boat without the hassle of owning one.

“We own the boats, we do all the maintenance, all the work that you don’t want to do as an owner,” Dobreff says. “And our members get to use the boats here on Lake St. Clair.”

It’s a vital shipping route

Pleasure boats share the water with much bigger vessels, namely freighters carrying ore and other cargo. Lake St. Clair connects lakes Erie and Huron, creating a critical link in the multi-billion-dollar Great Lakes shipping industry.

The Lake Carriers Association says ships carry more than 160 million metric tons of commercial cargo across the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair every year.

Policing the lake is a big job

The Macomb County Marine Division watches over boating and other recreational activities on Lake St. Clair. Its commander is Lt. Gary Wiegand. He says deputies patrol the water to ensure are boating safely.

“Life jackets are a big concern,” Wiegand says. “We’re also available for any kind of search and rescue or recovery operations.”

The marine division employs eight full-time sheriff deputies year-round and 70 reserve officers in the summer. Wiegand says law enforcement is their primary mission, but education is part of the job, too.

“We teach boater safety year-round at no cost to the public,” he says.

The lake is central to the environment

Lake St. Clair features the largest freshwater delta in North America. Much of that water flows through an area called “the flats” on Harsen’s Island. This creates a large habitat for all kinds of animal life, especial waterfowl.

John Darling is a wildlife technician for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He oversees the managed hunting unit at the Lake St. Clair Flats State Wildlife area on the island. He says this is a vital hub for bird migration.

“We are at the point where the Mississippi Flyway and the Atlantic Flyway for waterfowl come together,” Darling says. “We get crossovers from both flyways with birds heading to the Atlantic Coast birds that are heading down to Mississippi.”

As water flows from the St. Clair River into Lake St. Clair, Darling says the wetland acts as a filter.

“It’s slowing down that water, it’s allowing sediment to drop out,” he says. “It’s absorbing some of the pollution that’s coming downstream.”

Millions get drinking water from the lake

Removing pollutants is critical because Lake St. Clair provides drinking water for more than four million people in southeast Michigan. Candice Miller is the Macomb County Public Works Commissioner. She’s lived her entire life near the lake and says protecting it is a big job.

“I look out there and I think about how I’m trying to do whatever we can in our department to impact the water quality and the quality of life for people that live around the lake,” she says.

Making a small lake great (again?)

Miller’s previous job was representing Macomb County in Congress. The first resolution she introduced in the House in 2003 called on Washington to preserve and protect Lake St. Clair as a vital part of the Great Lakes System. If she had a vote today, Miller says she’d give the lake a promotion.

“In my mind it is a great lake,” she says. “I don’t care if anybody says anything different, we love it.”

And there is precedent. In 1998, the federal government designated Lake Champlain between upstate New York and Vermont as the sixth Great Lake. That lasted about two weeks after states bordering the other five lakes objected.

Congressman Shri Thanedar, whose district includes part of Lake St. Clair, says he would not make it an official Great Lake. But he agrees with Candice Miller it’s worth protecting.

“It supports 18,000 jobs, it contributes almost $2 billion in economic activity annually, so it means a lot,” Thanedar says.

The Detroit Democrat says he has sponsored efforts in both the U.S. House and the Michigan Legislature to clean up pollution in Lake St. Clair.

“A lot of the resources have to come from the federal government,” Thanedar says. “We need to make it a priority to clean our water.”

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.

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More CuriosiD

The Detroit Red Wings celebrate 100 years of hockey in the Motor City. The team started playing as the Cougars in 1926, changed their name to the Falcons in 1930, and settled on their present identity in 1932.

The Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, more than any U.S.-based franchise. The last time they hoisted it was 2008.

It’s been 10 years since Detroit qualified for the National Hockey League playoffs, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

They might break that streak this season.

Youth is served

Detroit Free Press hockey writer Helene St. James says several young players could help the Wings fly in 2025-26.

One of those players is Axel Sandin-Pellikka, a 20-year-old defenseman from Sweden. St. James says the rookie was the team’s best player in the preseason.

“He’s such a good puck handler,” she says. “I think there’s potential there for him to have a huge impact.”

St. James says two other rookies impressed her in training camp. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård of Norway and Alberta’s Emmitt Finnie are also 20. All three made the regular season roster.

Who’ll stop the puck?

Fans should also keep an eye on the team’s new goaltender, John Gibson. The 12-year veteran signed with Detroit after playing his entire career for the Anaheim Ducks.

The 32-year-old Gibson played 29 games for the Ducks last season and will split time with returning goalie Cam Talbot.

St. James says the Wings hope Gibson will stabilize the position and maybe take over as their top netminder.

“It’s been such a carousel for them the past four, five, six seasons,” she says. “Goalies come in, goalies go out.”

McLellan’s first full season

Head coach Todd McLellan will decide who plays and when. He took over the team in the middle of last season after General Manager Steve Yzerman fired Derek Lalonde.

The Wings strung together two 7-game winning streaks under McLellan but lost 17 of their last 28 contests and missed the playoffs.

Despite that, St. James says the players believe in McLellan and showed a high level of energy in training camp.

“He had them scrimmaging right from the get-go,” she says. “They buy into what he wants them to do.”

The Red Wings open the 2025-26 campaign on Thursday, Oct. 9 vs. the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena.

Detroit voters will elect two people to at-large seats on the City Council this fall.

Incumbents Mary Waters and Coleman A. Young II are on the ballot with former council member Janeé Ayers. James Harris is also running. He’s the Detroit Fire Department’s Community Relations Chief.

Housing is a vital need

Voters elected Waters in 2021. She says she’s done a lot during her first term, such as starting a dedicated call center for people who are looking for housing.

“The people need a one-stop shop because they become very frustrated when they can’t find a decent place to live,” she says.

Waters believes people are also frustrated with the Detroit Land Bank Authority. Since its inception, the DLBA has fixed up and sold more than 100 homes and over 30,000 vacant lots.

While the program has been largely successful at reviving home ownership in Detroit, Waters says potential buyers sometimes get tied up in red tape. She says some have even lost their homes because they weren’t able to meet the authority’s repair requirements.

“They’ve invested thousands of their dollars, their hard-earned money, only for the land bank to say, ‘well, this is not good enough, you didn’t meet the deadline, so now we’re going to evict you,'” she says.

Waters, a former state lawmaker, has asked the Michigan Legislature to hold out-of-state landlords accountable for the properties they own, especially those shielded by limited liability corporations.

“It’s very difficult for our Board of Review and our assessor’s office to locate them because they are hiding under one LLC after another,” she says.

Waters also supports rent control to protect people who don’t own their homes from eviction.

Detroiters can protect the city without military intervention

Besides better housing, Waters says she wants to make city streets safer. Detroit recorded its fewest homicides since the 1960s in 2024, and Mayor Mike Duggan says murders are down 15 percent so far in 2025.

Waters says she supports the city’s Community Violence Intervention program, as well as a curfew for minors.

“Sometimes if young people are out late, there’s a possibility they could commit a crime,” she says.

Waters would also like to see the city put more foot patrols in neighborhoods and restore funding for block clubs.

“When block clubs were funded and they had the support of the municipal government, they were able to patrol their neighborhoods,” she says.

Waters does not want to see the National Guard fighting crime in Detroit, but she says President Donald Trump can help in other ways.

“What I want [him] to do is make sure that municipalities like ourselves have the necessary resources so that we can do this ourselves,” she says.

Water says if voters re-elect her, she will keep working to train people for skilled trades jobs and to provide services for seniors and veterans.

More election coverage

Detroit voters will elect two at-large city council candidates in 2025. Incumbents Coleman Young II and Mary Waters are on the ballot. So are former council member Janeé Ayers and Detroit Fire Department Community Relations Chief James Harris.

Why she’s running

Ayers joined the council in 2015. She was appointed to replace Saunteel Jenkins, who vacated her seat to become the CEO of The Heat and Warmth Fund. Ayers won a special election in 2016 and secured a full four-year term in the 2017 general election. She ran for re-election in 2021 but lost.

At the time, the federal government was investigating corruption in city government. FBI agents searched her home for evidence but found none. The Justice Department closed the case in 2025 without charging her.

Ayers says if not for that ordeal, voters would have re-elected her.

“It was horrible, but I’ve come through it,” she says.

Ayers says she couldn’t talk about the investigation until now but welcomes voters’ questions about it. She also says it helped her understand many of the problems Detroit faces.

“I’ve lived it in a way that makes me so much more keen on the issues that people are dealing with,” she says.

Support local police

One of those issues is crime and how to fight it.

Detroit has seen a steady drop in the number of homicides and other violent crimes in recent years. Despite that, President Donald Trump has insisted crime is out of control in Detroit and other U.S. cities.

Vice President JD Vance repeated those claims while visiting Howell, Michigan, and said Trump would send the National Guard to Detroit if Governor Gretchen Whitmer requests it.

Ayers doubts she would.

“She and I know each other well,” Ayers says. “If she did, she’d have some serious questions to answer.”

Ayers says the federal government doesn’t need to police the streets of Detroit. But she does see a problem on the horizon—replacing Detroit Police officers who are retiring.

“We’ll be losing a lot of the institutional knowledge in those folks that have been on the job,” she says.

Ayers chaired the Public Health and Safety committee throughout her years on the council. She says the city needs to encourage young people to join the Detroit Police Department as older officers leave.

“We definitely need to strengthen that pipeline for Detroiters to start taking those positions,” she says. “So that we just have people that are from our community policing our community.”

On housing and jobs

Besides public safety, Ayers says she’s concerned about affordable housing in Detroit. One reason why it hasn’t been affordable for many, she says, is the formula the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses to calculate the city’s median income.

“For us, it is Detroit, Warren, and Livonia, and they take the median income from those three cities,” she says. “We can’t get a median income that makes sense for Detroiters as long as we’re compared to those two cities.”

Ayers says more Detroiters could afford to buy a home if they had better jobs and better access to transportation. She would also like to pick up where she left off with a task force to help people returning to the city after being incarcerated.

Don’t call it a comeback

While Ayers hasn’t been on the council for almost four years, she has been busy running her own consulting company and returning to work for the city’s recreation department where she started.

“I’ve been right here doing all the things I would have done with or without the title,” she says.

More election coverage

Ford Motor Company plans to move out of its world headquarters in Dearborn, but it’s not moving far.

Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley announced the automaker’s operations will relocate from the iconic Glass House on Michigan Ave. to a new facility on Oakwood Blvd. across from the Henry Ford Museum.

In a joint statement, Ford and Farley say it’s not just a new building.

“It’s a catalyst for innovation and a physical symbol of our Ford+ transformation,” the executives say.

Ford+ encompasses all the company’s operations, including vehicle production, design, engineering, and innovation.

The Deuce you say!

The new headquarters will keep the old one’s name—the Henry Ford II World Center. The grandson of Henry Ford led the family business from 1945 to 1980.

Bill Ford and Jim Farley say the new building will be twice as large as the Glass House and hold twice as many employees. Some have already moved in during construction.

“Our team is working hard to wrap up construction as hundreds of employees are collaborating in the building already,” the executives say.

The automaker will hold a grand opening at the new facility in November. Construction should be completed in 2027.

An era ends

Ford built the Glass House in 1953 and opened it in 1956. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in Metro Detroit. Ford and Farley say the structure’s age and industry changes necessitated the move.

“The future of our industry demands a different kind of space, one that is more connected, more flexible, and built for the speed of a technology—and software—connected company,” according to their joint statement.

Once the Glass House is empty, crews will demolish it and work with the City of Dearborn to find a new use for it. Demolition will take about 18 months.

Michigan mass transit agencies are waiting to find out how much money they will get from the state in 2026.

Lawmakers have until October 1 to approve a budget and send it to Governor Gretchen Whitmer to sign.

Transit proposals are similar

The governor, the state House, and the state Senate have all approved $226 million for local bus operating revenue. The House budget proposal adds $60 million in new revenue for transit systems that serve more than 100,000 people. The Senate plan includes $15 million in new funding.

The Michigan Public Transit Association analyzed all three budget plans. It says bus systems would lose an average of 5 or 6 percent in state funding if the $226 million figure is approved.

SMART, Southeast Michigan’s regional bus service, gets about a quarter of its funding from the state. General Manager Tiffany Gunter says the governor’s proposal would cost SMART about $8.6 million.

“We obviously don’t know where those cuts would come from directly today,” Gunter says. “This would have a horrible effect on the region’s ability to move mobility forward.”

Cuts jeopardize improvements

Gunter, who became SMART’s GM in August, says state budget cuts threaten plans to improve customer service. That includes expanding the Flex program, which lets people in about a dozen communities schedule shuttle rides seven days a week.

“We wouldn’t be able to move forward with those improvements to the service and those enhancements, because we just wouldn’t have the funding to do so,” she says. “We’d be looking at areas where we could pull back service instead.”

While the House proposal is more generous than either Whitmer’s or the Senate’s, Gunter says the devil is in the details. To get a share of the extra $60 million, a transit system must get at least 10% of its revenue from rider fares. Gunter says SMART’s farebox recovery ratio is 4%.

“43% of our riders are either seniors or people with disabilities, and those individuals pay a half fare,” she says.

Most funding comes from regional tax

60% of SMART’s revenue comes from a regional transit millage, which enables the agency to offer fare discounts.

Gunter says her goal is to ensure that SMART buses are safe, convenient, and reliable.

“We’re not just moving people here,” she says. “We know that what we do every day gives people access to opportunity.”

SMART says it carries an average of almost 11 million riders per year.

Longtime Detroit businessman and youth advocate Ed Deeb has died. The Michigan Youth Appreciation Foundation says the founder of Metro Detroit Youth Day passed away at home on Sept. 2, 2025. He was 89.

WDET’s Pat Batcheller was there when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources honored Deeb in 2018. Here’s Pat’s report.

The following story was originally published July 11, 2018.

Ed Deeb’s legacy lives on

Tensions were high in Detroit when a grocery store owner and two teenagers were killed in 1980. Then-Detroit Mayor Coleman Young called business leaders into his office, and challenged them to do something to keep young people out of trouble and ease the problems between retailers and the city’s youth. Ed Deeb was in that meeting. He founded the Michigan Food and Beverage Association. Deeb accepted Young’s challenge, and organized an event on Belle Isle. Since then, Metro Detroit Youth Day has become an annual rite of summer for thousands of kids across the city and the region. Deeb, who coached football at Eastern High School, says Belle Isle was a natural choice. 

Pat Batcheller

“We didn’t have a practice field for football. We came here to practice,” Deeb says. “So when they said, ‘where are we going to have this event?’, I said, ‘well, the only thing I could think of is the athletic field at Belle Isle. Nobody’s using it, and we practice there’—so we got the permission to have our first one there, and we did.”

Deeb was disappointed with the turnout for the first Youth Day, which drew about 1,200 people and a few local celebrities. It’s where a young Bruce Ross met his idol, Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Lem Barney. But Ross says Barney didn’t talk to him about football. Instead, he had message for Ross.

“You need to go to college. Make something of yourself,” Ross recalls. “So, Metro Detroit Youth Day has been more than just a fun event, it’s been an event that has reached out to me, have a college education.” 

Ross earned his degree from Wayne State University and now works with Ed Deeb as a Youth Day board member. Education is a key component of Youth Day, which has presented more than 2,000 scholarships to young Metro Detroiters since its inception.

Pat Batcheller

Bruce Ross watched as city and state officials honored Deeb on July 6, 2018. From now on, Vista Avenue will be known as Edward Deeb Avenue. A new, bright blue sign bearing Deeb’s name now overlooks the athletic fields where the event has been held from the beginning. Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones says it’s a fitting tribute.

“And he can know that he has been appreciated, is still appreciated,” Jones says. 

Ed Deeb says he expects the 2018 Metro Detroit Youth Day to attract about 40,000 people to Belle Isle, which is now a state park managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Deeb says he’s noticed the difference the DNR has made working with the Belle Isle Conservancy to improve the island for everyone.

“What they’ve done and what the conservancy has done,” Deeb says. “This is a new Belle Isle, and it’s going to get better than ever, and I’m just pleased to be part of it.”

Edward Deeb Avenue ensures he’ll be a part of Belle Isle for this Youth Day and many more to come.

Apple lovers will have plenty to pick this fall. 

The Michigan Apple Committee estimates growers will harvest about 30 million bushels of fruit in 2025. That’s about 1.2 billion pounds. 

Good weather helps

The committee’s executive director, Diane Smith, says the weather has been perfect for growing apples.

“We’ve had a little hail here and there, but generally that stays localized and doesn’t affect the overall crop,” she says. 

Michigan has more than 850 family-owned apple farms and over 17 million trees covering 38,000 acres. 

Smith says new farming methods have yielded several bumper crops.

“We’ve gone to more high-density planting,” she says. “So instead of having 250 trees to an acre, you can have up to 2,000 trees per acre.”

The future could look different

While the weather has been ideal, Smith says climate change could eventually affect the industry.

“As temperatures continue to rise, we’re seeing less rain at different times during the summer,” she says. “In 10 or 15 years, there could be a shift in some of the varieties that we grow.”

Michigan is one of the top three apple producing states, behind Washington. It competes with New York for second place. 

Smith says the industry also competes with other fruits, and that could take a bite out of sales.

“People aren’t eating as many apples as maybe they used to,” she says. “You go into the grocery store, and you can get different products year-round that maybe before you couldn’t get.”

Labor is another challenge

Smith says most Michigan apple farms rely on migrant workers to pick the fruit in the fall. She says that’s costly, but necessary.

“We just don’t have enough domestic workers that want to do the harvest,” she says. “Not many people just want a job for six weeks.”

Smith says she is not aware of any immigration raids at Michigan apple farms this summer. She also says tariffs have had little impact, though some producers face higher prices for imported chemicals to spray their crops. But she says most growers utilize organic methods.

“They don’t want to spray unless they absolutely have to,” she says.

Microplastics are everywhere, including the Great Lakes. They come in many forms, but are typically smaller than 5 millimeters. 

Some wash up on beaches while others end up in the stomachs of fish and birds. 

Scientists are concerned about their impact on human health, too.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will host its first virtual microplastics summit on October 22.

EGLE environmental quality analyst Eddie Kostelnik says microplastics are ubiquitous.

“We’ve found them in humans and organisms throughout our ecosystem,” he says. 

What are they?

Microplastics come in many types, including scented beads and synthetic clothing fibers. They can also form when larger items such plastic bottles break up over time.

Kostelnik says the summit will explore the risks microplastics pose to human health and the environment.

“I think there are still some holes in terms of human health effects,” he says. “But we have started to see some organism health effects trickle in.”

Experts will also examine how microplastics interact with other contaminants and where they go. 

Researchers make progress, but want to learn more

Kostelnik says research has produced better ways to detect and identify microplastics. He adds it is possible to reduce the amount of microplastics in the lakes.

“There are certainly ways that we can reduce plastic use and replace plastic products with reusable alternatives,” he says.

Kostelnik says anyone who’s interested in the issue can attend the virtual summit, whether they’re experts or not. 

Registration is free.

Detroit City Football Club celebrated the naming of its new stadium with food, music, and artist renderings of the project. 

Club co-founder Sean Mann says the new grounds in southwest Detroit will be called AlumniFi Field. AlumniFi Credit Union is the team’s official financial partner.

The stadium will be located between Corktown and Mexicantown. Representatives from Mexicantown joined Mann for the announcement at The Mercado on Bagley St.  

Mann says the next step in the process is to craft a community benefits agreement with the city and surrounding neighborhoods.

“We’ve been very mindful from day 1 of creating a very neighborhood-oriented facility,” Mann says. “We’ve done over 50 informal and formal meetings with block clubs in the neighborhood.”

More than just a soccer field

Mann says the project will also include 15,000 square feet of retail space around the stadium, a 420-unit parking deck, and 76 units of affordable housing. He also says since the project is privately owned and financed, the club will pay property taxes on it.

Before crews can start building the stadium, they have to tear down the vacant Southwest Detroit Hospital. Mann says they’ve already had a few challenges, including hazardous chemicals in the water on site.

“All the water has been pumped and filtered,” he says. “Now we have to update our environmentals, and that’ll clear the way for us to start demolition shortly.”

Players and supporters react

Mann says the goal is to finish the stadium and open it in time for the club’s 15th anniversary in 2027. Team Captain Stephen Carroll says he hopes to lead Le Rouge onto the pitch. He says he hopes fans and families will be able to enjoy the stadium for generations to come.

“I have a 1-year-old son now, and hopefully he’ll be able to play in this stadium when he gets old enough” the Irish defenseman says. “It’s obviously a great step forward for this club, and the city, and the sport in general.”

DCFC has played its home matches at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck since 2016. Northern Guard Supporter Jared Coke of Livonia says it’s a step in the right direction for the club and its fans.

“And not just for our team actually, but for the whole city,” Coke says. “We love soccer, this is a soccer city.”

Detroit’s mayoral candidates agree the city needs more affordable housing but have different ideas to solve the problem. 

Retired businessman Joel Haashiim says if he were mayor, he’d create a municipal building company to manufacture housing. 

“It’s a great industry,” he says. “It’s something where we can create 10,000 Detroit resident jobs.”

Haashiim also says it would diversify the city’s economy.

“We basically rely on the auto plants and the small service industries that maintain the local economy,” he says. “This will give us an opportunity to put billions of dollars into our city treasury, as well as in the community.”

Haashiim says he would also work with financial institutions to make buying a home more affordable.

“30- to 50-year mortgages are what we want to introduce into Detroit,” he says. “This will allow us to compensate for the high cost of building.”

If they build it, will people come?

By creating a larger number of affordable homes, Haashiim says he hopes to accelerate Detroit’s population growth. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city gained about 6,000 residents since the decennial head count in 2020. He says the key is to attract more business.

“We are an international city with no international companies,” Haashiim says. “I’m the only candidate who has done 15 international business delegations around this country, bringing in companies to this metro area.”

Haashiim says he would also invest in public projects and education to lure new residents to Detroit.

“We do want to bring in families,” he says. “We want to make sure we reach out to them as a city that’s interested in making sure that our children can compete in the 21st century.”

Haashiim is one of nine mayoral candidates on the Aug. 5 ballot. Arnold Boyd and Rogelio Landin are running write-in campaigns. The top two finishers in the primary will run against each other in November.

Mayor Mike Duggan is not seeking re-election. He’s waging an independent campaign for governor in 2026.

Learn more about upcoming elections with WDET’s 2025 Detroit Voter Guide »

Wayne State University will field a women’s soccer team in the fall of 2026. It will be the school’s first new varsity sport in over a decade.

WSU’s Director of Athletics, Erika Wallace, says the first order of business is hiring a head coach this year.

“We’re looking at someone who has ties to the area for recruitment purposes,” she says. “We’re also looking at head coaching experience, assistant coaching experience, some club coaching experience as well.”

Expanding opportunities for women

Wallace reviewed the athletic program when she took the job and found a need for more women student-athletes. She says adding soccer will help WSU comply with Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education.

“Proportionality is one of the prongs that you look at,” she says. “We have to make accommodations in order to stay relevant and in compliance with Title IX.”

Wallace says this will attract more students to WSU.

“We’re the only school in our conference that doesn’t have women’s soccer,” she says. “People will want to come here and play.”

The support is there

Wallace says funding for the new women’s soccer team will come from the athletic department’s general fund as well as philanthropic donations.

She also says Detroit’s soccer culture will sustain the program.

“We have some of the best clubs in the country here,” Wallace says.

Wayne State has a partnership with Detroit City Football Club, which fields men’s, women’s and youth sides.

Wallace says WSU will make some upgrades to the soccer pitch behind Tom Adams Field before the women’s team starts play.