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Grand Haven health care workers to management: ‘Invest in us!’
Updated, 9:36 a.m., 8/9/23 After a 24-hour strike on Friday, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) workers and Trinity Grand Haven Hospital health officials on Monday are at a stalemate centered on wages. Workers returned to their jobs on Saturday and are calling for management to return to the bargaining table. SEIU Healthcare’s position is that […]
‘He provoked you to think’: Detroit leaders reflect on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Innervisions’ turning 50
Michigan native and Motown Records legend Stevie Wonder’s seminal album, “Innervisions,” turns 50 years old this week. Wonder released the recording at a time when he commanded artistic autonomy to pursue issues such as race discrimination and social injustice. The artist who was born in Saginaw and raised in Detroit was 23 years old at […]
Asian-American community calls for recognition of Detroit’s former Chinatown district
Detroit’s Asian-American community and allies on Monday urged the city of Detroit and Olympia Development of Michigan to work with them to create a visual presence that recognizes the former Chinatown district after a building there was demolished. State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), Detroit City Council Member Gabrielle Santiago-Romero and the group Rising Voices issued […]
Whitmer signs bipartisan $57.4B state general government budget in Wyandotte
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed the bipartisan $57.4 billion state general government budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The second-term Democrat made the case that the fiscal blueprint will “grow the economy, lower costs, deliver on kitchen-table issues, and help anyone “Make it in Michigan.” “The Make it in Michigan budget will lower costs, deliver […]
‘We are fortunate that Jesse Louis Jackson came our way’
Earlier this month, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, now 81, officially retired from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the civil rights organization that he founded in 1971. Known as the “Conscience of the Nation” and “the Great Unifier,” Jackson was awarded in 2000 the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — by then- President […]
Sen. Chang, others urge Detroit to halt demolition of historic Chinatown site
State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), Detroit City Council Member Gabrielle Santiago-Romero and the group Rising Voices have called on Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration to stop the demolition of the building at 3143 Cass Avenue in the city’s historic Chinatown district. “For many Asian Americans in and around the city of Detroit, this building represents […]
National GOP group dings Dems for Michigan budget with DEI funding
A national GOP organization has blasted Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on FY 2024 budget, particularly on diversity, equity and inclusion spending. The attack from the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which works to elect GOP state lawmakers across the country, echoes other GOP criticism of DEI or “woke” programs in education and government, like from […]
Measure to rename Detroit’s Hart Plaza after Martin Luther King Jr. introduced
Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters has proposed a resolution that rename Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit after the late Martin Luther King Jr. The measure was referred to the Neighborhood and Community Services Standing Committee on Tuesday with no further action. In the resolution, Waters, a former state House member, cited King’s commitment to […]
‘There are going to be a lot of packages not delivered to people’s doorsteps’
The clock is ticking down on an expiring labor contract between the United Parcel Service (UPS) and the Teamsters, the union representing nearly 340,000 UPS workers who want better pay, particularly for part-time workers, and improved working conditions. Negotiations are set to resume Tuesday on a five-year labor contract that expires at midnight July 31. […]
Nelson Mandela exhibit announced at Dearborn’s Henry Ford museum
The Henry Ford, a sprawling museum in Dearborn, announced Tuesday it will offer an exhibit focused on the late South African president and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela starting this fall. “Mandela: The Official Exhibition” will be on display from Oct. 21 to Jan.15, 2024. It will include 150 historical artifacts and personal effects on loan […]
On this day in 2013: The city of Detroit files for bankruptcy
On July 18, 2013, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. It was the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. The decision was made by Kevyn Orr, then-Gov. Rick Snyder’s hand-picked emergency manager. Orr, a corporate lawyer and University of Michigan Law School graduate, had been on the job in Detroit since […]
Gun reform advocate Gabby Giffords backs Slotkin for U.S. Senate at Detroit event
During a press event in Detroit on Monday, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) announced that she is endorsing U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing) for U.S. Senate in Michigan in 2024. “Elissa has the unwavering commitment needed to address the epidemic of gun violence our country faces,” Giffords said. “Having grown up around firearms and […]