The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has issued an air quality alert for the state of Michigan. That’s due to smoke from Canadian wildfires.  

The air quality can harm those who are unhealthy or sensitive groups… potentially reaching the unhealthy range. EGLE has published a page for resources on how to respond to wildfire smoke. 

The state’s health department advises people to limit outdoor activity by monitoring the air quality in their area. They also recommend sheltering indoors with air conditioning — and to find a shelter if it’s too hot at home. People can call 211 to find a local shelter.  

Visit michigan.gov/egle for more information.  

Invest in MI Taxes  

Some Michigan lawmakers are backing a joint resolution to have voters decide whether the state’s highest earners should pay more in taxes. The proposal seeks to change an extra 5% tax on annual income above half a million dollars for single filers or a million dollars for joint filers. The extra revenue would go toward health, housing and education.

Democratic State Senator Stephanie Chang says the money could come in handy as economists predict tough years ahead for the state budget.  “I think its important that as lawsmakers we keep talking about those priorities and also talk about how if we make the wealthy pay their fair share, we can create another revenue source that can help generate over a billion dollars.”  

Republicans and business groups claim the plan increases taxes for small businesses — organizers say that’s not true. It would take supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature to get the measure on the ballot.  

-Reporting by Colin Jackson

DTE outage response

Days after severe storms interrupted service for thousands of DTE Energy customers, the head of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) says the company’s response could have been better.  
Commission Chairman Dan Scripps says DTE’s own restoration estimates fed into people’s frustrations.  

“There were a number of problems with the restoration estimates. They were off… and sometimes significantly. And not just the level of communication that you’d expect from a utility to its customers.”  

Scripps spoke with WDET’s Robyn Vincent on The Metro. He says MPSC received higher-than-normal public complaints after the storms.  

DTE’s chief executive apologized to customers last week, saying the company will review its response and try to do better.  

DTE Energy is a financial supporter of WDET.  

-Reporting by Pat Batcheller

Chinatown Block Party 

The Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee is hosting its second annual block party in Detroit on Cass and Peterboro Streets. The event corresponds with the 2023 demolition of the former Chinese Merchants Association Building, which also housed several Chinese organizations. Community members opposed the demolition of Detroit’s Historic Chinatown.  

Lisa Yee-Litzenberg is a volunteer member of the committee. She says the block party and commemoration is an effort to create a safe space, a Pan-Asian district in Detroit. 

“This is an opportunity for people to celebrate and feel pride about their culture and their history, but also for people from all walks of life to come and learn about the culture, the history of different Asian groups in the Detroit metro area, so that’s a big.”  

Yee-Litzenberg says her father Henry Yee was the former unofficial mayor of Detroit’s Chinatown in the 1960s and 1970s.  

Last year, Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang announced one million dollars in funding to create a streetscape in the Chinatown district to recognize the contributions of Asian Americans. 

The free Detroit Chinatown Block Party takes place Saturday, July 25, from noon to 8 p.m. The event will feature historical exhibitions, performances and food from over 50 vendors. There will also be free film screenings at the Masonic Temple featuring the movies “Bad Axe” and “Warren King: King of Cardboard.”  

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

The Michigan Senate is set to lose three women of color from Detroit-area districts.

Erika Geiss, Stephanie Chang, and Sylvia Santana are all term limited.

Eboni Taylor is running in the 3^rd district – and was recruited to run by Senator Chang.

There are 10 other people in the primary including: Kimberley Hill Knott, Latanya Garrett,  Adam Hollier, John Conyers III, and Korey Hall.

Taylor is also the Vice President of Programs for Higher Heights for America, a political action committee with the goal of increasing Black women’s elected representation. Taylor spoke to WDET’s Russ McNamara about the challenges Black women face in campaigns and where she finds the most support.  

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Taylor: All federal races, all statewide executive races, according to the state’s constitution, and the only local race that we partake in is top 100 cities for mayor. So, really excited that my organization, with me at the helm of the program and the political work, was very proud that we were able to support our now Mayor Mary Sheffield. 

McNamara: Does Mayor Sheffield endorse your campaign currently? 

Taylor: I think that Mayor Sheffield is currently staying out of it because it is an extremely crowded race. There are 11 people in the race, but I know that she does believe strongly in Black women’s leadership, and Black women stepping up and deciding to run. So, I do know that she holds that value. 

McNamara: What are the challenges that go into getting a woman of color elected? Black women specifically. 

Taylor: Women in general, it takes them four to five times to be asked to run before they say yes. A woman of color, it takes even more times for them to be asked before they decide to run, and when they do say yes, the issues that they face are numerous, but the number one issue is that it’s hard to raise funds. As the Vice President of Programs and the political work at Higher Heights, I’m in conversations with candidates all across the country, all different walks of life, and that is probably the number one thing that rises to the top, is that it’s hard to raise money in comparison to their white counterparts, to their male counterparts. It’s hard to get campaign staff that actually can put forth products and put forth a campaign that’s in their voice, because these are folks who are cookie cutting from campaign to campaign, instead of understanding that a Black woman’s voice and a Black woman’s way of running a campaign might be different, not always, but it might be different, and for us to not have just across the board, campaign managers, finance directors, who don’t understand the importance and the uniqueness of a Black woman or a woman of color running, we need more of that, and so those are probably the top two issues that we’re seeing.  

McNamara: Does that surprise you? Since one of the key pillars of the Democratic base are Black women. 

Taylor: Yeah, and Black women, we have been key to the Democratic party. We have been a very strong voting block. We have been essentially the architects, the purveyors, if you will, of democracy, and for us to not be at the helm, at the vanguard, and the forefront, is a problem. And I think that the Democratic Party, it’s high time for them to step up—and I think that they are—to see the uniqueness that Black women bring and the community and the network that comes with Black women, because we are at the center of our communities, we help support our immediate families. I was just on the doors with a woman who was talking about making sure she got to all of her neighbors on her block, that they got out and voted, or they submitted their absentee ballot, and so this is the work that Black women have been doing to ensure that they can feed their families, to ensure that they can go to work and not worry about being treated unfairly, and that’s the only way that they can do it if they do it themselves.