A Metro Times review found that donors named in the Epstein files have given nearly $4.7 million to Mike Rogers’ campaigns and groups supporting him.
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Newly uncovered record shows Mike Rogers repeatedly opposed efforts to establish, advance, or fund medical care for people sickened after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The post Mike Rogers opposed 9/11 responder health care not twice, but nine times appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
In this episode
With only a couple of months left until the midterms, Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates are trying to build support in their bids to become the state’s next governor. This week on WDET’s MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss how this race for governor differs from previous ones.
They are joined by Andrea Bitely, founder of the public relations firm Bitely Communications.
The race drawing the most attention in Michigan so far is the U.S. Senate race between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers. As for the gubernatorial race between Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Rep. John James, Bitely says it isn’t garnering the same level of attention.
“The gubernatorial race is potentially the most boring gubernatorial race in the history of gubernatorial races.”
Bitely continued by saying that after Mayor Mike Duggan dropped out, the race lost some of its interest for her.
“I think it got a lot more boring on May 21st [2026]. But maybe that’s just the the Duggan campaign staffer in me coming out.”
May 21 was the day Duggan dropped out of the race for governor.
Bitely concluded that to draw more attention to the gubernatorial race and their respective campaigns, the candidates need more rallies and events, along with a resounding message that sticks with voters.
The midterm elections are Nov. 3.
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The post MichMash: Analyzing Michigan’s gubernatorial race ahead of the midterms appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Tomorrow marks 25 years since the twin towers came down. That day, before people mourned, they were in shock.
What came next reshaped this country. The Patriot Act. Two wars. Here at home, a registration program fingerprinted, photographed and questioned more than 80,000 men and boys largely from Muslim-majority countries. It didn’t produce a single terrorism conviction.
Meanwhile, reported hate crimes against Muslims jumped seventeenfold in one year. They have never returned to where they were.
Almost none of that machinery was ever dismantled. So, we’re wondering how has American politics changed — and how hasn’t it — since September of 2001.
Ali Harb is a freelance journalist based in Washington D.C. He covers American politics, U.S. foreign policy, and politics in the Middle East. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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The post The Metro: How America has changed — and hasn’t — 25 years after 9/11 appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
More than 450,000 DTE Energy customers lost power in last week’s storms. Many of them will not see a dollar for it.
Michigan requires DTE to credit customers $42 a day when the lights stay off. But the rule, written by the Michigan Public Service Commission, works on a sliding scale: the bigger the storm, the longer the wait. In the largest outages, nothing starts until day four. Power was back for most customers before then.
The storms produced three tornadoes, including one that tore across Detroit’s east side Thursday with 115 mph winds and kept going into Windsor — the first inside the city since 1997.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who represents Dearborn and part of Detroit, has spent this year pressing both the company and the state regulators who set that rule. In February, a federal judge fined DTE and a subsidiary $100 million for air pollution at Zug Island. Two days later, regulators approved a $242 million rate increase. In April, the company asked for $474 million more.
Her bill, the Make DTE Pay Act, would raise Clean Air Act penalties on utilities that seek rate increases within two years of an environmental fine.
Tlaib joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss the storm, the rule and the regulators who wrote it.
The Metro contacted DTE Energy and did not receive a response by airtime.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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Is money corrupting Michigan’s politics?
According to a Politico poll, 72% of Americans say there’s too much money in politics. Respondents said special interest spending leads to corruption that should be restricted.
In Michigan, a local campaign believes residents can have a stronger, more representative democracy if political spending by some big-time actors is limited.
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics measure, which is now on the November ballot, would change some aspects of how money gets into the hands of politicians and political candidates.
Voters decide Nov. 3, though opponents have asked the Michigan Supreme Court to block it.
Sean McBrearty is the executive committee co-chair for the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign. He spoke with producer and host Robyn Vincent about what happens if the ballot measure passes.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
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The post The Metro: An initiative wants to remove money from Michigan politics. Can it? appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
If Mike Rogers wanted to distance his Senate campaign from the racism and Islamophobia surrounding the race, holding a fundraiser at the home of a former state lawmaker who once said “we can’t make an African American white” was a strange way to go about it.
The post Mike Rogers raises cash with ex-lawmaker who said ‘we can’t make an African American white’ appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Detroit voters created a board of civilian commissioners in 1974 with the power to investigate their own police department. Eleven members. Its own staff of investigators.
Since May, those investigators can no longer pull body camera video themselves. The cops can edit the footage and decide what’s relevant.
Victoria Camille represents District Seven on the oversight board. She’s circulating a petition to get that access back. And Thursday afternoon, she was prepared to vote on whether Detroiters can still speak to her board from home.
Commissioner Camille spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent about what the police oversight board can actually do to hold cops accountable and whether some of its power has weakened.
Editor’s Note: After this segment aired, the motion to limit public comment options to solely in-person attendees was rescinded.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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Since the pandemic, Michigan schools have faced a persistent problem: Students are not showing up enough to class.
In Detroit public schools, the chronic absenteeism rate has been higher than the rest of the state’s. Recently, that number has been decreasing.
In just one school year, chronic absenteeism dropped 10 percentage points. Even in comparison with other high-poverty school districts, a recent report shows Detroit public schools have been the most effective in the state at boosting attendance rates.
Why? And, should other school districts take note of what’s happening in Detroit’s schools?
Jeremy Singer is an assistant professor of education policy and leadership at University of Michigan-Flint, and does research with Wayne State. He helped write that report, and spoke about it with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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The post The Metro: School attendance is improving quickly in Detroit. Here’s why. appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Michigan is in the national spotlight.
That’s in part because of the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. If Democrats lose, their path to a Senate majority all but closes.
The race can tell us a lot about the direction of the Democratic Party — what is seen as acceptable to voters, and what appears too extreme.
That’s because trends here represent things happening elsewhere, in places where manufacturing is declining but still deemed important, where wages are stagnating, and where younger people are leaving in hopes of finding greener pastures in other states.
So, how should we be looking at the Senate race between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers? What does it tell us about the politics of the median Michigan voter? And what does it say about the kinds of politics that are possible.
Adrian Hemond is the CEO of the bipartisan advocacy firm, Grassroots Midwest. He’s also a longtime Democrat. He spoke with The Metro‘s Sam Corey.
Editor’s Note: In this conversation, Adrian Hemond said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has associated with people who have committed acts of antisemitism. He did not name anyone on air, and we did not press him to at the time. We should have. WDET asked Hemond afterward for specifics and reviewed what he provided. None of it involved conduct by Dr. El-Sayed, and we found no evidence supporting the claim as stated. We should not have let it air unchallenged.
An earlier version of this note included material that did not meet our editorial standards.
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The post The Metro: Why Michigan’s Senate race reveals gaps between candidates and voters appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Jay DeBoyer, the Republican nominee for Michigan lieutenant governor, said he would personally support cutting Medicaid and food assistance in a speech just five days after John James announced him as his running mate, according to audio obtained by Metro Times.
The post John James’ running mate says he would cut Medicaid and food assistance appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
In this episode:
Ballot proposal drama, the significance of a report on the Flint water crisis and mixed feelings about funding for a copper mine. There was a lot to cover this week.
On MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben break down the week’s major headlines with The Detroit News’ Beth LeBlanc.
One of the main headlines was Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urging lawmakers to send new versions of nine vetoed bills to her this fall. LeBlanc says she understands the move but doesn’t think it will succeed.
“Those nine bills passed through a Democratic trifecta. Right now, the makeup of the House and Senate is very different. Matt Hall held up these bills for a year, and many in his caucus don’t agree with these bills. I don’t really know if they have any chance of getting to the governor at this point,” LeBlanc said.
The governor received a lot of pushback when she vetoed the bills nearly six weeks ago.
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The post MichMash: A Flint water crisis report; disputes with ballot proposals; and funding for a UP copper mine appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Wayne County has reported its first human case of West Nile virus this year.
The Wayne County Public Health Division says the person who contracted the mosquito-borne illness does not live in the county.
Chief Medical Health Officer Avani Sheth reminds residents that mosquito season is not over. She recommends limiting time outdoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active, and removing standing water from properties, where mosquitoes can breed.
Detroit-based music artist collective Beat Rhymes Everything Detroit, or BRED, is hosting the Hip-Hop Theater Festival this weekend.
The event is the culmination of a 16-day period in which playwrights came together to create four new plays inspired by narrative hip-hop songs.
The festival will feature a hip-hop improv showcase, a hip-hop family hour and an all-ages play.
The festival runs Aug. 28-30 at the Hilberry Gateway, 4715 Cass Ave. in Detroit. Events begin at 7 p.m. Aug. 28.
For more information, visit hip-hop-theater-fest.com.
A celebration of art, design, culture and community is coming to Detroit’s historic Livernois Avenue of Fashion on Sept. 5.
Art on the Avenue 2026 will bring galleries, artists, creative businesses and retailers together along the corridor for exhibitions, art showcases, live entertainment and more.
Participating galleries include Jo’s Gallery, Sherwood Forest Art and Art in Motion.
More information is available on the events page at Detroit Month of Design.
Kroger is investing $73.5 million to build two new metro Detroit stores in Dearborn and Commerce Township.
Both stores are set to open in 2027 and will replace existing nearby Kroger locations. Together, the new stores are expected to employ roughly 350 people.
The Dearborn store will be located at Ford Road and Mercury Drive and will replace the Kroger at 15255 Michigan Ave. It is expected to open in June 2027.
A third Kroger proposed as part of a mixed-use development in Royal Oak is awaiting full municipal approval.
Access from westbound I-696 to I-75 is expected to be restored Aug. 31.
Motorists traveling westbound on I-696 will regain access to both the northbound and southbound I-75 ramps.
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, both directions of I-696 and associated ramps are expected to reopen by the end of the year.
Additional work is planned along both sides of I-696 between I-75 and Dequindre Road in 2027.
The post Detroit Evening Report: Wayne County reports first human West Nile virus case of the year appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Republican gubernatorial nominee John James has weighed in on one of the more pressing issues facing Michigan voters: whether men should submit their penises to the Lord.
The post You won’t believe what John James said about submitting penises to the Lord appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed ran the health departments of both Detroit and Wayne County. Three weeks ago he won a U.S. Senate primary by roughly 15,000 votes statewide, and lost Detroit by nearly 2-1.
Seven miles away in Dearborn and Hamtramck, he took 78 and 82%, respectively.
In Detroit, fewer people voted in this primary than in 2016: About 98,000, which is down from 126,000.
So the question in front of him now isn’t only whether Detroit residents will vote for him — it’s whether Detroit residents will turn out to vote.
Bishop James Williams is founder and senior pastor of Spirit and Truth Christian Ministries, and second vice president of the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity— a group that supported Dr. El-Sayed during the primary. He joined host Robyn Vincent to speak about what his congregants make of the U.S. Senate race, and how their political preferences have been shifting.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
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The post The Metro: El-Sayed won Michigan and lost Detroit. Pastors could shape what comes next appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
A week ago, the Dearborn City Council moved its meeting to the public library because they expected a crowd. Police were outside in riot gear. Wayne County sent officers on horses. By the next morning, 22 people had been arrested from across Michigan, and from as far as New York and Tennessee.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud told the council his own daughter didn’t go to daycare that day. Some businesses stayed closed. Sports practices were rescheduled.
What brought all this on was a man with a megaphone who told the council that Muslims had come here to steal, and that their time in this country was running short.
Jake Lang doesn’t hold office. But his words are not far from the ones spoken by people who do. Three weeks ago, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. Within hours, a sitting U.S. Senator called him a terrorist. A sitting congresswoman called every Muslim holding public office in America “a Trojan horse.”
Last year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, logged over 8,600 complaints nationwide, more than in any year since the group started counting in 1996. In Michigan, the chapter recorded nearly 500 — also a record, up 25% from the year before. These are complaints people brought to an advocacy group, not hate crimes confirmed by police. But they’re climbing, and they have been for three years running.
Amy Doukoure is the lead staff attorney for CAIR-Michigan, a nonprofit dedicated to combatting anti-Muslim hate locally. She spoke with host Robyn Vincent about why anti-Muslim hate is rising, and what can be done to stop it.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.
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The post The Metro: Why ‘the last vestige of acceptable racism’ is intensifying appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
What should we make of the climate movement’s accomplishments over the last decade?
On one side, the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act helped distribute clean energy across the country. Those policies dropped solar prices — 90% over the last decade. Battery storage costs fell by the same amount from 2010 to 2020.
But the Green New Deal never passed, and many Republicans in Michigan and across the U.S. are against a clean energy transition. President Donald Trump has consistently said climate change isn’t real and the world continues to warm at a rapid clip.
Jay Inslee has been at the center of the climate movement. He was governor of Washington for three terms, and a presidential candidate in 2020 when he pushed Democrats to take climate change more seriously.
What does he make of our climate politics today? And where should the climate movement go next?
The Metro’s Sam Corey recently spoke with Inslee when he was in town stumping for Jocelyn Benson in her bid for governor.
The Metro has reached out multiple times to the campaign for Republican John James for governor. They have not yet given us a time when the candidate is available to join us.
A few notes about this conversation:
Inslee mentioned a Washington ballot measure on climate that won 62 percent of the vote. That was a 2024 vote on whether to scrap the state’s climate program — the one that makes big polluters pay for what they emit. Voters chose to keep it.
He also cited a Washington vote on electric school buses. That wasn’t a ballot measure — it was a bill, passed by the Legislature in 2024.
He said President Trump’s White House construction and renovation projects will cost $800 million. According to Reuters, those projects are now more than $900 million.
Inslee said that 80% of rural voters supported a clean energy ballot initiative in Washington. We could not verify that.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
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The post The Metro: Jay Inslee on where the climate movement should go next appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
U.S. Rep. John James once attacked a political opponent for getting rich in Congress. Now, financial disclosure records show James’ own wealth has soared since he took office.
The post John James’ wealth soared in Congress as he traded stocks in industries he helped oversee appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers is pitching deregulation as a path to cheaper housing decades after pushing measures that weakened building safeguards and energy-efficiency standards while his family was in the construction business.
The post Mike Rogers weakened housing rules while his family was in the building business appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
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