Daily Detroit News Byte

Detroit Police Chief James Craig retires, and word is he's eyeing running for Michigan Governor as a Republican. But there's a hard reality that the violent crime rate in the city of Detroit is just about where he found it in 2014, even if we take out the pandemic. We discuss it and the Chief's answer that the November 2020 election result was a "political" question and so he won't address it until after he retires June 1st. Plus - Ford's Headquarters in Dearborn, the "Glass House," has a new look. We quickly touch on what's happening. More background, you should read here: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2021/05/10/ford-world-headquarters-dearborn-projection-screen/4997250001/ And finally, the old Newsboy Shelter on Belle Isle has been demolished. There wasn't much donation support for fundraising and rehabbing it would be cost-prohibitive vs. building new. We get into a discussion about Belle Isle needing a ton more money for it to operate properly, especially as the island is in large part was

Today's show is driven by a listener question we've gotten a lot over the last couple of months. Can employers mandate their employees get vaccines? Should they? And then we talk about what some businesses are actually doing. Our guest for this is Terry Bonnette. He's co-managing partner at Nemeth Law and is an expert on labor and employment counseling and litigation. In his career, he's dealt with contract compliance and regulatory compliance issues, including, FMLA, Wage and Hour, the American with Disabilities Act and more.  He's eligible to practice throughout Michigan, Northern Ohio, and all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. So I feel like we got our guy to help us be a bit smarter about what's ahead. Terry at Nemeth Law: https://www.nemethlawpc.com/attorneys-8.html Support our show: http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit  

On today's show, Fletcher Sharpe joins us to talk about Detroit City FC's win over the Maryland Bobcats and his thoughts on the Detroit Lions draft picks. That starts at 04:47 Also, if you don't know what a nutmeg is: https://twitter.com/SaintFDW/status/1389600381374767118 Also on the show: 00:20 Latest on the pandemic as vaccinations statewide hit 50%, Ford Field wraps up their mass clinic in two weeks, and cases drop (but are still high). 01:44 Gabe Leland is a Detroit City Councilman no more, pleading guilty to misconduct in office. 02:52 A failed housing development is being demolished. More: https://farmingtonvoice.com/farmington-hills-to-demolish-abandoned-development/ 03:26 Engineer Randy says hit JoeBar if you want to enjoy Cinco De Mayo tomorrow: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyDetroit/posts/1660456260805003 04:09 Keegan-Michael Key is hosting SNL May 15.  Support our work: http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit Share the show with a friend: http://www.dailydetroit.com/podcast  

The global silicon chip shortage has made computers and graphics cards more expensive and harder to find. But so many popular products are driven by chips, including automobiles. There are lots full of pickup trucks and other high-value vehicles sitting missing a few parts, unable to be sold until they get some key parts. And that's not good for our local economy or the workers that rely on it.  Gabrielle Coppola from Bloomberg joins the podcast to unpack what's going on, how long this will last, and some of the impacts we've already seen. Between troubles for buyers getting the car they want at the dealer, laid off workers because of shortage, or suppliers feeling the pinch as automakers will not make as many cars as they could sell this quarter - this global event has a very real local impact. Gabrielle Coppola on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gablova On Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/APKMi7fRJDs/gabrielle-coppola Support our show and tell a friend!  Or join Rebecca as a new member: http://www.

It's now spring so it's a great time to catch up on what's happening with Detroit's growing greenway infrastructure. Detroit Greenways Coalition Executive Director Todd Scott says that it's a "milestone year" for new construction projects and shovels in the ground. We talk about the Joe Louis Greenway, the Southwest Greenway, a possible rebuilding of Jefferson Avenue on Detroit's east side to coincide with work happening underground with the sewage system, how the pandemic has impacted greenway usage and more. Detroit Greenways Coalition website: https://detroitgreenways.org/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/DetroitGreenway On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DetroitGreenways

Today's show features a conversation with Bob Schwartz of the Here to Help Foundation. They've provided or helped with 1,100 cars for working people in Wayne and Oakland counties. More: https://www.heretohelpfoundation.org/activek/home Plus, stories around town: 00:32 - Ford announced a new battery research and development facility called Ford Ion Park. It'll be in Allen Park.  01:41 - If a lawsuit is successful in getting an injunction, Detroit's new medical marijuana licenses may be put on pause. 03:15 - COVID-19 updates including falling cases, vaccination rates, a new way the city of Detroit is teaming up with Pistons for a family vaccine day. Plus, our decision to switch from talking about a percentage for "herd immunity" to "community protection" going forward.  05:30 - Flower Day has some changes this year. There will not be one day, but a "Flower Season." More at https://easternmarket.org/public/ And the artist KayCeyKal, who did the poster and a section of it is our cover art today: https://www.insta

It's Friday funday at the podcast and we run down stories around town as well as our favorite donuts. 01:11 - Devon and Jer share their drinks and their vaccine side-effect experiences 05:27 - Downtown Detroit bars and restaurants are real slow compared to before the pandemic. Will that increase as more people get vaccinated and go out? 06:33 - Local election season is heating up across the region. We talk about it for a bit, including quickly the slew of mayoral candidates. There will be more on all that in future shows. 08:56 - Local furniture maker Floyd raises $15 million in a series B round 11:56 - The metro Detroit real estate market is very hot, with people buying nearly half-million dollar houses without inspections and more. Here's the MLive article we discuss: https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/04/unprecedented-housing-market-leaves-realtors-stunned-never-seen-anything-like-this.html 15:07 - The "Big Salad," a local salad chain, is expanding in Michigan. We discuss. https://www.restaurantnews.com/mic

Could we lower the city of Detroit's property tax rates - they are among the highest in the nation - while not gutting services? This would be a benefit for long-time Detroit residents who face very high property tax burdens and might be a longer term fix than the one-time forgiveness provided through a charitable program from Dan Gilbert's foundation. Also, it could stimulate more individual investment to make the city make more fiscal sense and help attract back the middle class, which Detroit has mostly lost. It's also something that wouldn't go first to billionaire and millionaire developers that live outside the city, but residents who live in their homes.  To talk about this idea is Stephen J.K. Walters. He's the author of a piece in City Journal, "Detroit's Black Wealth Tax: To help close the racial wealth gap, slash Detroit's confiscatory property tax rate."  Also, a bit of housekeeping. The Detroit City Council and mayoral races are heating up. A number of incumbents, including Andre Spivey, Raquel

Today's show is focused on Detroit City FC and the sport in general. First, Fletcher Sharpe runs down a pair of games last week as DCFC kicks off their season. Then we discuss the Super League briefing which leads into another topic - NISA. And how Detroit City FC really needs NISA to work, and what NISA could do to step up their game. 

Triage tents are going up at local hospitals. Beaumont reports that their facilities across the region are 90 to 95% occupied, and rising. The volume of patients there is higher than last fall. There are a number of individual hospitals that are over capacity. They're overwhelmed with unvaccinated adults who are on the verge of dying. Plus, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was paused for review. So what does that mean? And what's next? To help sort this unfolding crisis out and make us smarter, Dr. Paul Thomas from Plum Health Direct Primary Care joins us. Follow Dr. Thomas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlumHealthDPC Plum Health Direct Primary Care: http://www.plumhealthdpc.com Support our work on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit  

For our feature conversation, Potato chip expert, author and journalist Karen Dybis joins us to talk about the passing of the prince of chips. You might know him as Better Made CEO, Salvatore "Sam" Cipriano. But first, some news. 00:29 - Coronavirus update, including stunningly high case positivity rates across the region and in the city of Detroit. 02:25 - Facial recognition technology used to identify suspects in Detroit is in the news again, this time as the ACLU is suing on behalf of a wrongly arrested man. 05:12 - Detroit's casino revenues are rebounding 06:07 - Lithia Motors has closed on the acquisition of the Suburban Collection. 06:58 - Our feature conversation with Karen Dybis on the passing of Salvatore "Sam" Cipriano. Karen is in our opinion Detroit's foremost potato chip historian and author of "Better Made in Michigan: The Salty Story of Detroit's Best Chip"  Book: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Made-Michigan-Detroits-American/dp/162619985X/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=karen+dybis&qid=16