Starbucks workers at a Westland store voted to unionize Monday, becoming the 20th Michigan location to join a nationwide organizing campaign that began nearly five years ago.
The post Westland Starbucks becomes Michigan’s 20th unionized location appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Over the past four months, northern Michigan has experienced a series of extreme weather events.
In March, an ice storm caused tens of thousands of utility customers to lose power. In April, record-breaking precipitation caused rivers and lakes to flood, ripping apart roads. Now, smoke from Canadian and Minnesota wildfires has been creating air quality alerts.
Before the smoke blew to metro Detroit, it hit northern Michigan first, choking that part of the state with a blanket of smoke.
Climate change is affecting everyone, but effects can very depending on the location. What are things like for residents of northern Michigan? And, how are they preparing for future extreme weather events?
Vivian La is a climate solutions reporter for Interlochen Public Radio and Grist. She spoke about the northern Michiganders trying to adapt to climate change — and those who are trying to maintain the status quo — with The Metro’s Sam Corey.
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: How Michiganders are adapting to extreme weather appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Alongside comfort classics from Talking Heads, TV on the Radio, Doves, Wes Montgomery and Abdullah Ibrahim are some of the year’s most interesting newer releases from James Blake, Benjamin Booker, pôt-pot, Nirosta Steel and others.
In the 2 p.m. hour, pianist Michael Malis and Constantine Novotny perform their new album “Another Shore, Another Country” live in our studios ahead of their Concert of Colors performance on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Hellenic Museum of Michigan.
Malis’s original song cycle is based on the poetry of C.P. Cavafy, the seminal poet of the Greek diaspora. They will also perform traditional songs in an intimate, stripped-down setting, evoking the beauty and majesty of Greece.
Malis is a recipient of Greek America Foundation’s 40 Under 40 Award. His music has been described as “downright transcendental” and he has shared the stage with luminaries such as Marcus Belgrave, Marion Hayden, Tyshawn Sorey and many others.
Novotny is a baritone who has performed with Apollo’s Fire Singers, American Bach Soloists, Audivi, and many others. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and St. John the Divine Cathedral.
Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.
In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for July 17, 2026
Listen to In The Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.
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The post In The Groove: Michael Malis, Constantine Novotny perform ‘Another Shore, Another Country’ live on WDET appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Tensions are high in Lansing among the Democrats with Governor Whitmer vetoing a series a bills from her own party. This week, on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Services’ Zach Gorchow unpack the 18 months of legal battles that led to this moment.
Then later on, David Meninga, senior vice president for Community Development Programs & Execution at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation stops by. He talks about reviving the transformational brownfield program, a state incentive that ended a few years ago but will soon come back once Governor Whitmer signs bills that passed the Legislature on July 3.
In this episode
In late 2024, as the Democratic trifecta in Lansing was about to end, several high-profile bills passed.
There was legislation prioritized by unions, a key Democratic constituency, to have have local governments, school districts, colleges, universities and other public bodies pay a greater share of their employees’ health insurance premiums. There also was legislation enabling the state’s corrections officers in prisons to gain access to the State Police pension system.
There were bills to allow for a regional property tax to provide funds for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Historical Center, as well as relief from debt garnishment.
Gorchow said after that the bills went no where. “Mysteriously – and this has never been explained – the nine bills containing these policies were never walked over to the governor’s office and formally presented to her for a signing decision. The bills remained somewhere on someone’s desk in the Legislature.”
After 18 months of legal battles, the Michigan Supreme Court decided not to take the case, leaving in place a lower court ruling requiring the House to send the bills to the governor. About five hours later, the House complied with the courts and presented the bills. A couple hours later, the governor’s office sent out a veto letter indicating Whitmer had vetoed all nine bills.
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The post MichMash: Whitmer clashes with state Democrats after vetoing bills; MEDC revives economic development incentive appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
The nation’s largest apartment manager is accused of illegally rejecting low-income tenants with housing vouchers at properties across Michigan as part of what a housing watchdog describes as a widespread pattern of discrimination spanning six states and Washington, D.C.
The post Undercover investigation finds Michigan apartments illegally rejecting housing vouchers appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
In a normal year, Michigan sees about 50 cases of a parasite called cyclospora. As of July 16, over 4,000 people have been infected, with more than 100 hospitalizations. Stranger still, Michigan’s own case count is larger than the entire national total.
The parasite cyclospora causes days, sometimes weeks, of explosive diarrhea, and health officials still can’t tell you exactly which food it rode in on. Their best guess this week: lettuce.
Given all this, something feels off, not just with our salad, but with the system that is supposed to see these things coming.
Professor Barbara Kowalcyk has spent more than 20 years trying to fix that system. She came to the job the hardest way there is: in 2001, her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Kevin, died after eating contaminated food. She turned that loss into her life’s work — she helped create the blueprint for America’s last major food-safety law. Today, she directs the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at The George Washington University.
She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to assess this moment for Americans and how it is challenging the people working in public health trying to protect them.
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 streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
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The United Auto Workers on Monday accused a corporate-backed super PAC supporting U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of misleading Michigan voters by using the union’s logo in campaign ads.
The post UAW slams pro-Stevens super PAC over ‘misleading’ campaign ads appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
The Ann Arbor Art Fair will welcome nearly half a million visitors from July 16-18.
There will be a thousand juried artists from across Michigan and the entire country. They will display their work at three simultaneous nonprofit events:
A Youth Art Fair and Kids Collectors Club also emerges for grade school creatives.
Karen Bauer has been the executive director of the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair for 20 years, while Teesha Lieber is a Detroit marbling artist from Spontaneity Works. Both joined The Metro to talk more about this year’s festival.
Bauer says putting so many separate fairs together may seem like a lot, but experience is on their side. “These fairs have been working together since the early 60s, we are a well oiled machine at this point.”
Tune in to listen to the discussion with Bauer, Lieber to learn more about youth participation, and how art remains authentic during the digital age.
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. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The post The Metro: The Ann Arbor Art Fair sketches out a big weekend appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
After President Donald Trump took the country to war and raised costs, many Republicans are finding it difficult to campaign in this election season.
While the sitting president’s party often performs poorly in midterm elections, the trend seems likely to continue this year.
In general-election polls, Democrat Jocelyn Benson holds the lead. But in politics, anything can happen. Last week, two debates spotlighted the active Republican candidates for governor: Congressman John James, Mike Cox, and Perry Johnson. Who are they, and what do their campaigns reveal about the Republican Party in Michigan?
Andrea Bitely is the founder and principal of Bitely Communications, a Lansing‑based public‑affairs firm. She spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about the stories the Republican candidates are telling, and why they signal significant changes to the party.
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 streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR or wherever you get your podcasts.
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The post The Metro: The Republican gubernatorial campaigns — and the shifts they signal about the party appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga’s campaign has paid more than $400,000 to a company owned by his brother, who has simultaneously worked as a full-time real estate agent and helped sell luxury condos owned by Huizenga and his wife.
The post Huizenga’s campaign paid his brother’s business $400,000 as he sold the congressman’s condos appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Dowagiac residents who say a massive data center has made their homes nearly unlivable will get a rare opportunity Monday to confront representatives of the company behind it.
The post Dowagiac residents get their chance to confront data center operators after months of noise appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
“In this episode”
Both the Democratic U.S. Senate debate and the Republican gubernatorial debate showed the divides among the party’s candidates. This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben and Zach Gorchow break down the major components of the race.
During the Republican gubernatorial debate, former Attorney General Mike Cox and businessman Perry Johnson called out the current frontrunner U.S. Rep. John James. In return James had some rebuttals for the two, one of which he may have created because of a MichMash episode.
On March 20th’s episode of MichMash, businessman Perry Johnson said
Johnson touted repealing the income tax will save every family $4,747. On the episode he mentioned part of his calculous was using Google or Chat GPT to figure out the median income in Michigan.
Kasben said James brought those numbers into question. “James called Johnson’s income tax plan magic numbers. That was an interesting attack from James on Johnson’s main policy point for his campaign.”
In the U.S. Senate debate, the remaining two candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens showed their different styles, presenting two different looks of a Democratic candidate. Gorchow pointed out both candidates might still have different challenges when facing their Republican opponent. “I think they both definitely have their own challenges, but I think based on the environment, I would give the Dems the advantage going into November regardless of if it’s El-Sayed or Stevens.”
The Michigan primary elections are on August 4.
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Millionaire U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers said people who blame President Trump for rising prices have “lost their mind,” dismissing voter concerns about affordability as Michigan families continue to struggle with higher costs.
The post Millionaire Mike Rogers says voters blaming Trump for high prices are ‘nuts’ appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Come November, thousands of political seats are up for grabs.
One of the most compelling races in Michigan is the Senate. That’s in part because of what it says about the Democratic Party, especially after Mallory McMorrow dropped out.
Most polls have Abdul El-Sayed leading in the race, but there is still uncertainty as to whether he can defeat Haley Stevens, a sitting congresswoman who gained notoriety for her moderation, and for bailing out the auto industry.
Dennis Darnoi is the founder of Densar Consulting, based in Farmington. He says many voters want candidates that have an anti-institutional and populist bent.
“Progressive candidates are running against these establishment candidates and they’re being more successful because the Democratic base is really looking for two things: They’re looking for people who are going to fight and they’re looking for people who are anti-system.”
Darnoi spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about the Senate race and how it reflects changes to politics in Michigan and beyond.
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.
Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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The post The Metro: What Michigan’s Senate race reveals about the state — and future — of the Democratic Party appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Michiganders are broadly against data centers, especially when they’re proposed near their residence.
Their concerns about electricity and water use are compounded by a general feeling that large tech companies control too much of their lives. Residents have gotten particularly loud about those problems at town hall meetings, including at one Saline Township meeting.
Despite local apprehension, Saline is now slated to host one of the largest data centers in the country.
At this point, 52 localities in Michigan have passed data center moratoriums.
But are concerns about hyper-scale data centers overblown? And, are there more benefits that townships aren’t fully appreciating?
Eric Paul Dennis is the infrastructure research associate for the Citizens Research Council. A new report he did on data centers says their benefits often actually outweigh the costs.
“You cannot discount the idea that data centers can increase electricity rates, but it’s actually not that common and quite minimal,” says Dennis. “Regulatory agencies have now kind of gotten ahead of this and I don’t think it’s going to be as much of a concern for the future.”
The Metro‘s Sam Corey spoke with Dennis about why he thinks data center projects sometimes offer more benefits than drawbacks.
After the two spoke, electricity rates increased in Henrico County, Virginia — which is home to 37 data centers. Dominion Energy says it increased the rates due to inflation, rising fuel costs, the cost of grid equipment, and the need to make more grid investments.
The Metro contacted Dennis about the rate increase. He said that while data centers “have caused headaches for grid managers” in Virginia, the problems are not necessarily “critical or unavoidable.” He says, in fact, “We appear to be managing the risks and even benefiting from the addition of data centers on the grid.”
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: Are concerns about data centers overblown? appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
A new coalition of formerly incarcerated women and family members of women held at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility is launching a statewide tour to amplify allegations of abuse, neglect, unsafe conditions, retaliation, and medical mistreatment at Michigan’s only women’s prison.
The post After deaths and abuse allegations, former Huron Valley prisoners and families take their fight statewide appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
It’s the 4th of July weekend and many Michiganders are celebrating by going to their favorite parks to go swimming, hiking, camping and fishing. This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow discuss the recent investments put into parks. They are joined by Kristen Kosick. She is the chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation division.
In this episode
Kosick share that Governor Whitmer helped them with the Building Michigan Together Plan. This plan is a $250 million dollar federal relief program to help tackle the backlog of critical infrastructure needs in our state parks system.
Kosick shared this plan helped in multiple ways. “There was a lot of utility upgrades, water improvements upgrades, electrical upgrades at our campgrounds. These are things that visitors may not be able to physically see, but are so foundational to the work we do in our parks and to all the visitor services that we provide.”
According to Kosick, these backlog projects were a huge focus to the improvement plans. The plan also helped address aging historic structures, camping facilities, parking lots, and more.
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The United States of America is celebrating its 250th anniversary this week. There will be parades and fireworks and lots of speeches. But does this holiday mean the same thing to African Americans as it does to other Americans?
Vincent Hutchings is a political science professor at the University of Michigan. WDET’s Jerome Vaughn asked him about the meaning of “Independence Day” for the country’s Black citizens.
Hutchings says the holiday doesn’t mean the same for whites as it does for Black Americans because of their different experiences over the last 250 years. He says, for example, that Black people were largely enslaved for the first 80-plus years of the country.
“The truth of the matter is that the country that we think of today as the United States of America, from the vantage point of most African-Americans doesn’t actually start until 1865, not 1776.”
Hutchings says there has been a disparity between the lived experiences of most White Americans and most Black Americans throughout the history of the country. And he says that continues to be the case as demonstrated by a number of metrics today.
“On multiple dimensions from life expectancy to maternal health to infant mortality to unemployment to poverty, to the racial wealth gap and various other outcomes, Black Americans, on average are living in very different circumstances. And it’s not by accident.”
Hutchings says the facts are not in dispute, but the question to be asked is why is that the case. He says, perhaps, many Black Americans will be celebrating their endurance and their ability to survive during the country’s history.
The post Black Americans may have a different viewpoint of America 250 appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
The Republican gubernatorial race just had a major shake up with President Donald Trump making an endorsement. This week on MichMash, WDET’S Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben discuss how surprising the endorsement was and what this means for the upcoming primaries.
Also, with Cheyna being back, we thought we would catch her up on the major political stories from the past couple of months and look ahead to see what the rest of 2026 has in store.
In this episode
Consider this episode as a catch up of all the major news that have been occupying your headlines and a preview of the stories that might come in the future. Like Alethia says in this episode, MichMash is a great summer activity.
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