Detroit officials have opened up a new section of the Joe Louis Greenway. 

About two miles of the greenway’s new additions are spread throughout the city’s west side, running from Joy Road to Chicago Street.   A sculpture of Joe Louis was also unveiled at the trailhead of this section near Grand River and Oakman.

District 7 City Councilman Fred Durhal says the greenway expansion will help bring city residents together. 

“What this project means for our community here is connectivity.  Connectivity to our lives.  Opportunity for our youth, for our seniors—all to come together in a healthy way.”

Mayor Mike Duggan also attended Tuesday’s event.  He says the greenway is making a visible difference in city neighborhoods, adding that the name of the project makes sense for Detroit. 

“Whose name could possibly be great enough—whose impact in the city could be great enough that would affect and do justice?  And it wasn’t a hard decision at all.  And so to recognize Joe Louis forever—as my friend Joyce said— “you named a hockey arena after him and you knocked it down, but greenways are forever.” 

Duggan says about 6 miles of greenway have been completed and another 6 miles are under construction.  The entire project, when finished, should cover about 27 miles. 

Additional headlines from Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick dies at 80

Former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick has died. 

She served as one of Detroit’s representatives in Congress from 1997 until 2011.  Before that Cheeks Kilpatrick was a member of the state House from 1979 until 1997.  She was also the mother of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. 

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick was 80 years old. 

Whitmer signs budget  

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed the state budget into law. 

The $81 billion budget includes more money for roads, and a larger wholesale tax on marijuana.  The marijuana tax has been increased to 24% as part of a deal to raise funds for road construction and maintenance. 

In a video statement, Whitmer says students will benefit from the new budget, too. “We’re making a historic investment in our children, including the more than $10,000 per student investment to improve their classroom experience, free school meals for all to save parents more than a thousand dollars a year per child and make sure no kid goes hungry.”

State legislators failed to meet an October first deadline to get a budget to the governor, but they came up with a temporary plan to keep state government open while they finished up final details. 

Casino revenue update

Detroit’s three casinos brought in $98.9 million in revenue last month.  That’s down about 3% from September 2024. 

MGM Grand continued to hold the largest share of the Detroit casino market at 47%, Motor City had 30% and Hollywood Casino at Greektown had 23%. 

The casinos paid $16.1 million in wagering taxes and other fees to the City of Detroit in September.  They paid another $8 million to the State of Michigan last month. 

Tigers status 

The Detroit Tigers are fighting to stay alive in the American League Divisional Series. 

They lost to the Seattle Mariners yesterday 8 – 4.  The Mariners lead the best-of-five series two games to one.  That means Detroit will be eliminated if they lose another game. 

The Tigers and the Mariners play game four this afternoon at Comerica Park.  First pitch is at 3:08 p.m. 

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she shared her concerns with President Trump about his new H1B visa policy which makes the price of applying for a visa $100,000.

H1B visas allow companies to bring in international workers for specialized jobs requiring higher education. Whitmer says she told President Trump that raising the application cost of those visas by around 10,000% could hurt Michigan’s economy.

Whitmer adds the state’s medical and automotive industries could be directly impacted by visa policy changes, saying large numbers of Canadian workers in fields like nursing and engineering rely on the visas.

Additional headlines from Tuesday September 30, 2025

Southwest Detroit hosts forum for candidates in upcoming election

A group of local community organizations is hosting the State of Southwest: A Municipal Candidate Forum on October 11.

Candidates for mayor, City Council District 6 and at-large seats have been invited to hear personal testimonies and concerns from residents of Southwest Detroit before sharing their plans to address the problems.

Organizers include 482Forward, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Michigan United, Raices Detroit, Urban Neighborhood Initiatives and We the People MI.

The forum is Saturday October 11 from noon to 3 p.m. in the  El Nacimiento warehouse at 7000 W Vernor Hwy. 

Resource guide for Native Americans returns

The state is relaunching a resource guide for Michigan tribal communities.

The Office of Civil Rights began publishing the Michigan Indian Quarterly more than 30 years ago. Now the Native American Resource Guide will be produced by the Department of Lifelong Education Advancement and Potential in partnership with Michigan State University’s Native American Institute.

The guide will include a list of tribal, state and federal contacts, education, legal and health resources, scholarship opportunities, genealogical research tools and artwork from Native artists from Michigan.

Print copies can be requested at nai@msu.edu.

Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival 

The Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival is this weekend.

The city’s creative community invites visitors to their home studios and front porches as well as to coffee shops, galleries and parks throughout the city. Organizers say the festival is meant to show that art is for everyone and that all are welcome.

The Hamtramck Night Bazaar will offer food and goods from a variety of vendors, and stores and restaurants will also be open. For more information visit hnaf.org.  

DNR on the lookout for Belle Isle alligator

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has confirmed sightings of a small alligator roaming on Belle Isle.

The Detroit Free Press reports someone took a picture of the gator and shared it on social media. The DNR reviewed the photograph and used geolocation data to determine its authenticity.

The agency says it doesn’t know how the reptile got there, but it reminds people that releasing pets or wild animals on Belle Isle or other state parks is illegal and harmful to native creatures.

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

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In this episode:

• Why SanDisk pulled out of the semiconductor plant deal
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s reaction to the deal’s collapse
• A case against Michigan’s proposed bottle bill expansion

The $63 billion project proposed by SanDisk — a computer technology company — was a lofty goal for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who in a statement on Wednesday blamed the project’s collapse on “massive economic uncertainty at the national level.”

“Their board came to this decision amid national economic turmoil, which is at risk of worsening amid threats of even higher tariffs,” the emailed statement read. “Michigan’s Mundy Township site was the company’s preferred destination to build their massive facility.”

Both Whitmer’s office and local economic development groups have said the roughly 1,300-acre site is ready for other businesses, but Kasben cautioned against hope for such a deal.

“If economic uncertainty is the reason SanDisk pulled out, what are the odds of another company existing in this same economy being ready and willing to take on a similar project?” Kasben said.

Speaking with Roth and Kasben about the proposed expansion to Michigan’s bottle bill, Csapo explained his reasoning for not fully supporting the initiative.

“It’s not necessarily that we’re opposed to expansion. It’s that we need to be mindful of the law of unintended consequences,” he said. “If our goals are to continue to expand Michigan’s circular economy and capitalize on the economic, environmental and supply chain benefits of recycling, then any change to one part of the system has to consider the impacts and the other parts of the system expansion.” 

With Michigan’s bottle return rate decreasing, a solution for increasing the state’s recycling efforts remains difficult to conceive.  

More from WDET:

• Whitmer sets goal of winning microchip factory before leaving office
• Why it’s time to reform or repeal Michigan’s bottle return law
• MichMash: How to recycle bottles more efficiently

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• How did the $20 million grant for Beydoun’s nonprofit get approved?
• What role did MEDC play in getting the funding approved?
• How much did the governor’s office know?

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office opened an investigation into the $20 million grant awarded to Beydoun’s nonprofit business accelerator last April, after reporting by The Detroit News highlighted how the funding was being misused.

The $20 million grant — which has since been canceled — had been earmarked in the state Legislature’s 2022 budget for the nonprofit Global Link International, which was incorporated just 10 days before the spending bill’s passage.

But the latest reporting from Mauger and LeBlanc have led to new questions about the circumstances behind the grant’s approval, and what exactly the MEDC and governor’s office knew at the time it was approved.

“There’s a lot more going on here than the governor’s office has informed voters of ever before,” Mauger said. “Essentially the governor’s team has tried to put this all on former House Speaker Jason Wentworth and saying basically that [state] House Republicans put this $20 million grant into the budget at the last second and the governor just signed off on the budget.”

An email obtained by The Detroit News last week sent by MEDC CEO Quentin Messer Jr. to state officials showed that Beydoun had advocated for a similar $15 million grant that had been included in Whitmer’s initial budget recommendation in February 2022.

“We know that eventually in the budget there was a direct earmark for [Beydoun] with language that is very very similar to that international business accelerator,” LaBlanc said. “…the common thread through all of that is Beydoun’s involvement, and the fact that she would qualify for this [grant] at the end of the day.”

Whitmer has not responded to Mauger and LeBlanc’s latest reporting on the matter.

More from WDET:

• Nessel charges politically connected former legislative staffer with corruption
• Detroit Evening Report: A MichMash lookahead; Detroit eases business licensing + more
• MichMash: State Sen. Jeremy Moss seeking more transparency in Michigan government

Detroit’s North End will soon be getting some special funds for summer events in the area. 

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced more than $130,000 in grants on Wednesday for nine Michigan communities, including Grand Haven, Saline, and Blissfield. 

The grants of up to $15,000 are part of the Michigan Main Street Vibrancy program, with money going toward community enhancement efforts and improvement projects. 

Funding can be used for a wide range of purposes, including physical improvements such as signage, advertising or pop-up events. 

Other headlines for Wednesday, June 25, 2025:

• Former Judge and state legislator Virgil C. Smith has died at 77 years old. Smith served for more than a decade as a Wayne County Circuit Court judge. He was working as Chief of Staff in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office when he was appointed as a judge in 2004. Before that, Smith served in the state House for 11 years, and another dozen years in the state Senate. He was Michigan’s first Black Senate minority floor leader.
• The city of Detroit will hold a mayoral candidates forum Wednesday evening to give residents a chance to interact with candidates running in the August mayoral primary.  The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at the 3Fifty Rooftop terrace above Music Hall, 350 Madison St., Detroit.
• The Belle Isle Park Advisory Committee is hosting a meeting Thursday to get feedback from the public about potential redesign plans on the island. Belle Isle Conservancy CEO Meagan Elliot says the organization has been attending block club meetings and encouraging residents to make their thoughts heard. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the Flynn Pavilion on Belle Isle. It will also be livestreamed.
• The Detroit Golf Club is getting ready to host another national event.  The Rocket Classic kicks off Wednesday, with more than 150 athletes taking part in the tournament — including a dozen of the world’s top ranked golfers. The tournament will be televised on CBS Saturday and Sunday afternoons. 

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