Daily Detroit News Byte

Southwest Detroit Restaurant Week is October 4-13, 2019 and it brings 24 restaurants to the table highlight food from a variety of Latin countries and regions. Monica Casarez and Juan Carlos Dueweke Perez stopped by the studio to talk about this exciting event. More information here. In other news: We share information about the impending demolition of the Detroit Saturday Night building and ask if yet more surface parking lots is the right thing to do in a downtown Detroit that has already devoted 40 percent of its space to parking And in news you'll either be very excited for, or very not, there's a hard seltzer event coming to Royal Oak in December.

Hello friends. Today we're covering StateBudgetPalooza, in which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed all 16 budget bills sent at the 11th hour by Republicans, but only after making 147 line-item vetoes totaling nearly $1 billion, unleashing hilarity on the Great Lakes State. Is this any kind of way to do state budgeting? We discuss. Elsewhere, soccer correspondent Fletcher Sharpe joins us to run down the big news that Detroit City FC will launch a women's team in 2020 to compete in the United Women's Soccer, the second-tier pro league. Also: Auburn Hills police are looking for two people who allegedly broke into a shack and loaded an adult video onto a digital billboard on I-75 over the weekend. Someone on our Facebook page called it the "best crime of 2019" A house owned by a nonprofit run by state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit, was inexplicably and mysteriously demolished. And chef Max Hardy may be closing his River Bistro in northwest Detroit, but he's added a second night to his Jamaican Reggae Dinner pop-

Man about town Devon O'Reilly joins us in the studio to talk about Detroit's openings and closings. One of the notable openings? Smith And Co. And closings include a circus-themed bar no one understood in Grand Circus Park.  

The Detroit Tigers have the worst record in Major League Baseball, and we're wistful of Tiger Stadium's last pitch 20 years ago Electric car startup Bollinger Motors releases a pair of new vehicles, and they don't use stamping so it's very boxy Oakland County guarantees county employees $15 an hour Detroit's North End breaks ground on a new mini golf course A makerspace in Ferndale is having a livestream fundraiser this weekend and has a pedal pub with sewing machines and soldering irons. Find out more at http://www.i3detroit.org Fletcher Sharpe talks all things Detroit City FC A new T-Shirt is getting Twitter talking, and no, Michigan doesn't have a budget deal yet.

Lester Graham is a journalist at Michigan Radio, where he hosts "The Environment Report" and the news magazine "Stateside." Tammy Coxen is the host of Tammy's Tastings, a series of food and drink tastings, classes and experiences in Ann Arbor. The two friends been doing a segment on cocktails on Michigan Radio called "Cheers!" for more than three years. Now, they've got a new book based on that series. It's called "Cheers to Michigan: A Celebration of Cocktail Culture and Craft Distillers." As Graham and Coxen explain in today's episode, the book is part recipes, a little how-to and a lot of Michigan history stirred in the shaker. It covers everything from Detroit's outsize role in bootlegging during Prohibition to the city's invention of three famous cocktails, and the current boom in craft cocktails and craft distilleries. So belly up and have a listen. Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. If you like what you're hearing, tell a friend about us, leave us a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or supp

The United Auto Workers strike against GM over a lack of a new contract has dragged on into a second week. Meanwhile, the negotiations over the state budget are going down to the wire ahead of the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, and the prospects of enacting a budget and avoiding a state government shutdown don't appear bright. The combination of those two storylines isn't good news for Michigan's economy. On today's show, we hear from Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University who has written extensively about the state's economy. Ballard says the economics of a prolonged GM strike, coupled with a state government shutdown, would particularly hurt the Lansing region, which has a GM plant and is the state capitol. And it could definitely push Michigan back into recession for the first time in a decade. And Michigan's economy hasn't been doing all that great to begin with, Ballard says, with a major slowdown in the number of jobs created since 2017, and any economic gains most

The Motor City is a nickname for our town that is known the world over. After all, we put the world on wheels. But what if the same industry that gave us economic strength also, in a way, took away the vitality of the city? Detroiters for Parking Reform says there is too much surface parking around greater Downtown Detroit. And our guest today is Francis Grunow. They point to statistics like 40% of Downtown Detroit is devoted to storing cars. And they say in today's world, that hurts Detroit's resurgence. We'll get into that with Grunow and talk about lessons learned from being a key part of a Neighborhood Adivsory Council in the shadows of Little Caesars Arena. After all, the District Detroit held a lot of promise. But most of it is unfulfilled. And then we share a couple things you should know around town.

The now-defunct Axle Brewing said it hoped to find a like-minded brewer to take over their gleaming Livernois Tap when it announced it was ceasing operations in June, and it appears to have found one in Eastern Market Brewing Co., which announced it will take over the gleaming brewpub and eatery in Ferndale they're calling the Ferndale Project. According to the Freep, EMBC will rebrand the facility, which will allow them to triple — yes, TRIPLE — their brewing capacity. Also on today's episode, we talk about Devin Myers, the guy from that viral guilty-of-being-black video of being questioned by police officers from Royal Oak after a white woman said he was suspicious. He faces charges from an unrelated incident allegedly fleeing the po-po. [Daily Tribune] We also talk about what's going on with the project to convert I-375 in Detroit from an urban freeway to a surface boulevard with bike lanes, and one other little ditty about perseverence in Detroit. BONUS AUDIO: If you listen all the way to the end, I pu

On today's show: Amazon is looking to build a new facility at the site of the old Silverdome. Also, Amazon is buying 100,000 electric delivery vans from local electric car startup Rivian. An adult club was shut down in Detroit. The city is getting a grant for self-driving vehicle testing. I-75 is going to be a special kind of mess this weekend. The Somerset Collection is opening a permanent spot in downtown Detroit And Jer stopped by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy to talk about the progress on the riverfront and a new cigar and cocktail event, Smoke on the River. https://www.smokeontheriverdetroit.com/

Nearly 50,000 UAW workers have gone on strike at General Motors, the first time the union has gone on strike in 12 years, after the last four-year agreement expired without an agreement over a new one. The strike also comes at a time that federal authorities are widening their investigation into embezzlement by top union leadership past and present, with nine people so far convicted of skimming member dues and money from automakers meant to support job-training programs. On today's show, we speak with auto analyst Michelle Krebs of Autotrader.com all about the strike, how the corruption scandal is affecting negotiations and how a protracted labor stoppage could affect workers, GM and the broader economy. Also on this episode, we run through Ford's new master plan for its Research & Engineering Center in Dearborn. And we discuss Bon Appetit's mention of Ochre, a bakery you probably hadn't heard of (raised hand) on the far edge of Woodbridge, in its Hot 10 list. Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. If yo

Today my guest is Chris Gethard. He's the host of the podcast Beautiful / Anonymous, which tells beautiful stories from anonymous people in a most interesting way. Each week Gethard opens the phone line to one anonymous callet — and he can't hang up first, no matter what — and he doesn't know where the conversation will go. Anything can and does happen, and a live show is coming to Hamtramck this weekend as part of the Motor City Comedy Festival. More on the Motor City Comedy Festival: https://motorcitycomedyfest.com/ Also some brief news around town: There's a massive strike at GM. UAW workers want a better contract that makes up some of the ground they gave in leaner times. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan wants city council, then voters, to approve a $250 million bond to fight blight ahead of schedule. And 20,000 defective streetlights in the city have been replaced, according to the Public Lighting Authority.

It's almost the weekend! On the show today: Sven Gustafson breaks down what he's been able to track down up on Mackinac Island about the Grand Hotel's sale to a private equity firm, and talks about his experience working on the island Fletcher Sharpe joins us in studio to talk about Detroit City FC's epic win over Mexican first division Club Atlas, and previews this weekend's match against the Milwaukee Torrent And we chat with educator Justin Trombly as Waldorf schools are celebrating their 100th anniversary next week, and a Waldorf school has been a part of Detroit's Indian Village for decades. Love the show? Support us on Patreon. Or tell a friend about the show. Available in all of your favorite podcast apps.

The nonprofit Jefferson East Inc. has been working since the 1990s to redevelop Detroit's hard-bitten Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood and business district, located on the far east end of Jefferson Avenue near the border with Grosse Pointe Park. Recently, the organization and its for-profit real estate development arm East Jefferson Development Corp., held a weeklong community workshop to solicit ideas from residents about what they want to see in their neighborhood. On today's episode, we speak with EJDevCo CEO Derric Scott and Jefferson East Chief Exec Josh Elling about what the organization learned from the process, how it's working with would-be tenants to best serve the immediate needs of the neighborhood, and how the for-profit development unit helps expand what the organization can accomplish. Scott says East Jefferson Development Corp. owns or controls 87% of the properties located within Jefferson-Chalmers, a once-thriving business district that stretches along Jefferson from Lenox Street to Alter Ro

On today's show, the first half is auto news and the back half a grab bag of other stuff: - A big investment round for Rivian (Sven's story on Autoblog here: https://www.autoblog.com/2019/09/10/rivian-350-million-investment-cox-automotive/ - Why does Wall Street hate Ford? We discuss. - The Dodge Ram pickup gets a top safety rating - Rochester Mills brewery is bought by a California firm - Nathaniel Wallace is named the new Detroit Director of the Knight Foundation, putting a person of color in an important seat  - Longtime Detroit (and then Cleveland) sportscaster Fred McLeod suddenly died at the age of 67. - And the Grand Hotel up on Mackinac Island has been sold to a private equity group.

Over on Marlborough and Kercheval is an old post office from the 1940s that you might consider an unlikely spot for a Detroit retail and maker success story. After all, it's a few blocks from Grosse Pointe and has a giant automotive plant between it and the hip West Village and Indian Village. But the duo behind Mutual Adoration, Wayne Maki and Clare Fox, are making the 10,000 square foot craft, class, creation and retail space called Post Detroit work. So I thought it'd be good to check in with them to see what we all could learn from what they're doing in the Jefferson-Chalmers east side corner of Detroit. The even you can check out this weekend is  Textile Takeover Outdoor Craft Fair on September 14 and 15. More than 50 artists and makers will have their artwork and goods on display and for sale in the outdoor art and craft fair. During the weekend event, attendees can learn about and try out different types of art and craft techniques, such as macramé, natural dying, yarn spinning, knitting, marbling and

A jam-packed show for you today. Comedian, Actor and Impersonator Dave Coulier is returning to his roots and moving back to Metro Detroit. More at Hour here. KMart is closing all but three of their Michigan stores, as an era draws to a close for the once mighty retailer created in Detroit. A new salon called "Hair." is opening in the Fisher Building. We talk with lead stylist and owner Jenna Drudi. High-end Detroit restaurant staple Cuisine has a new, very blue facade. American Idol is doing auditions right here in Detroit. Sign up, future stars and starlets. A restaurant named after a Norse goddess is coming to Detroit's Milwaukee Junction. The Elton has opened in Corktown at Michigan & Trumbull. And finally, Detroit journalist and longtime Hour Editor Steve Wilke has died at the age of 61. We remember him and play a clip from an interview we did with him about the role of newspapers and magazines. Love the show? Don't miss another episode and get it automagically delivered to you via podcast.

On today's show: Michigan became the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes. There's a crackdown on drivers and pedestrians with the goal of lowering pedestrian deaths, with both the cities of Detroit and Warren ranking near the top of the list for fatalities. A $50 million proposed project to revamp the Motown Museum in Detroit took a step closer to becoming reality yesterday, with a $4 million gift from none other than Motown founder Berry Gordy. Dally in the Alley returns this Saturday. Jennyfer Crawford stopped by to talk about the Vintage Market happening this Sunday at Fort Wayne. More info here. And, there are some stunning renderings of what the future of the historic Book Tower could look like. Like the show? Don't miss another episode and subscribe free on iHeartRadio or your podcast app of choice.

Large projects like the new Fiat Chrysler America plant on Detroit's east side that are part of Detroit's comeback - and a lot of economic development in Michigan - almost always come with incentives given by the city and the state. But does the math work? Does it make sense? The President of the Center for Economic Accountability, John Mozena, says no.  One of the stunning statistics Mozena says is that the city of Detgroit spent more assembling land for FCA than they did on the health department that year.  The Center for Economic Accountability is a nonprofit education and advocacy group that is for free markets without corporate welfare and central planning. It's important to note that I had the other side of this argument on the show earlier this year. On episode 277 of the podcast I talked to the head of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Kevin Johnson. He was obviously for incentives, so I wanted to get someone on the other side of the conversation.

For your show for August 29, 2019: East Jefferson is getting a new master plan There's a new app to pay for bus rides on DDOT and SMART and soon the QLINE More Tiny Homes are rising in the Dexter-Linwood neighborhood thanks to Cass Community Services. They're doing tours as a fundraiser this weekend: https://casscommunity.org/tinyhomes/ And Fletcher Sharpe joins us to talk about the week ahead for Detroit City FC.  Thanks for listening! See you Tuesday as we get back on our regular schedule. Be sure to follow our Patreon page for updates, and consider becoming a supporter for the cost of a bus ride. http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit  

Welcome to your Daily Detroit for Tuesday, August 27, 2019. Here's what to know today: Up in Marysville, a city council candidate that made national news resigned.  Metro Detroit has the largest apartment construction spike in the country, with half the units being in the city of Detroit. $75,000 in high end Scotch as well as $150,000 in building damage was done in a liquor store caper involving an excavator. Former gubernatorial candidate Shri Thanedar is rumored to be looking at a House seat Cobo Center is being renamed later this morning. We have three fun ideas they're not going to use. Russell Street Deli closes for good Saturday. So get in while you can. Buddy's Detroit style pizza is expanding to Woodhaven And apparently the region is out of Popeye's Chicken Sandwiches.