The Detroit Evening Report

Memorial Day travel

According to AAA Michigan, about 1.3 million state residents will hit the roads this weekend. The auto group says this is the second highest state number on record for the holiday weekend. This follows a national trend, with estimates setting up a new national record, topping last year’s numbers by 1%.    To avoid peak travel times, AAA suggests travelling between 9 p.m. on Thursday and 11 a.m. on Friday. Those traveling on Sunday will have little to no traffic, but those traveling on Monday will get the worst of it between noon and 5 p.m.     Memorial Day Weekend travel is costing more across the country this year on average due to rising gas prices. The increase is connected to the War in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. This year, gas prices average $4.74 per gallon in Michigan. Last year the average was $3.13.     ADDITIONAL HEADLINES FROM FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2026 LOCAL CATHOLIC CHURCHES FACE RESTRUCTURING Local Catholic church members are bracing for change as the Archdiocese of Detroit begins a restructuring process. According to a report from the Detroit News [https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/05/22/local-catholics-brace-for-change-as-archdiocese-of-detroit-restructing-models-emerge/90199802007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z116558p119850l116550c119850e1153xxv116558d--44--b--44--&gca-ft=219&gca-ds=sophi], about 22 churches could potentially no longer hold weekend masses in the foreseeable future. These changes could be connected to finances and dwindling church attendance.     Listening sessions across the archdiocese are expected to take place this spring and early summer to consider plans.     SPORTS   MLB   The Tigers are facing a 6-game losing streak as face the Baltimore Orioles this weekend. Detroit is at the bottom of the American League Central and hopes to turn things with a three-game series against the Orioles.  First pitch for tonight’s game is at 7:15 p.m. at Oriole Park in Baltimore.    Soccer   Detroit City FC is facing Loudoun United FC  tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Detroit has won their last two games and hopes to get their third victory tomorrow. The faceoff will take place at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia.        Final Four ticket lottery The Final Four [https://finalfourdetroit.com/] is coming to Detroit and here is your chance to get some tickets. There is a lottery system you can enter for an application fee of $25. Fans who apply will be charged up front for the number of tickets they are requesting. You can only get up to 4 tickets. The available tickets are in the upper bowl at Ford Field and cost about $400 each.    The deadline to enter the lottery is Sunday, May 31. Winners will be notified in the Fall.     NBA    And I know the NBA season is over, but there is news heading into the 2026-2027 season.     The Pistons announced that they’ve reached a new television rights agreement with Scripps Sports. This move brings Pistons basketball to over‑the‑air television for fans throughout Michigan. The Pistons and Scripps Sports plan to collaborate on a direct-to-consumer streaming application in the future.    MOVEMENT MUSIC FESTIVAL It’s Memorial Day Weekend so there is Movement in Detroit. The longest-running electronic dance music event in the world return for its 20th year. From Saturday to Monday, you have access to witness more than 115 artists perform on a variety of stages.  Many performances and set pieces have been curated in order to celebrate the twenty years of existence. Three day VIP passes are sold out but single day, VIP  and general admission passes are still available.   For more details go to movementfestival.com [http://movementfestival.com].

Mike Duggan drops out of Michigan governor’s race

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has dropped out of the race to become Michigan’s next governor. Duggan wrote in a letter posted to his campaign website [https://mikeduggan.com/] that unified anger over the war in Iran and rising gas prices made it difficult to continue his pitch for unified and bipartisan leadership. He also said he was unable to build “serious national fundraising support.” Duggan entered the race as an independent. A recent poll by the Detroit Regional Chamber showed him polling in third place. ADDITIONAL HEADLINES FOR MAY 21, 2026 POLICE COMMISSIONER CRITICIZES RESPONSE TO TEEN TAKEOVERS Teen takeovers are taking place across the country, and one in Detroit ended in the shooting of a 14-year-old boy Sunday. City officials have responded with stricter curfews and community outreach. But one police commissioner says that approach is not working. District 3 Police Commissioner Darius Morris is criticizing Mayor Mary Sheffield’s approach to the teen takeovers in downtown Detroit. After the first teen gathering in April, Sheffield held a news conference with organizers, touting a partnership with the teens to find more appropriate recreational activities. Morris says when he spoke with organizers of more recent takeovers, he discovered Sheffield’s plan had an unexpected result. “So I contacted him. I said, ‘Hey, what’s up with what are you doing involved in this? I taught you better than that. Why are you engaged in this?’ And he said, ‘Well, we’re doing it because we’re trying to get exposure and we’re trying to meet the mayor and do a TikTok video like the first group of people did,’” Morris said. Morris says city officials and police are being forced to do the job parents should be doing, and he wants to see parents take more responsibility for the whereabouts of their children. FEDERAL JUDGE CLOSES DETROIT BANKRUPTCY CASE A federal judge has closed Detroit’s bankruptcy case, ending almost 13 years of court supervision. The ruling comes as the city makes final payments to unsecured creditors totaling about $10 million. Detroit filed for Chapter 9 protection in 2013. The process allowed the city to shed about $7 billion in debt and restructure another $3 billion. Mayor Mary Sheffield thanked the city’s financial and legal teams, as well as retirees who went about 10 years without pension payments. The city resumed those payments four years ago. TRAFFIC PATTERN CHANGES UNDERWAY AT BELLE ISLE Visitors to Belle Isle will notice traffic pattern changes underway. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced traffic pattern changes and a new two-way bike lane on the island. The changes were recommended in the 2025 Belle Isle Park multimodal mobility plan. Central Avenue will transition to two-way traffic from Picnic Way to Portage Way. Central Avenue’s scenic route through the flatwoods will flip from eastbound to westbound to help ease traffic congestion near the beach area. A new dedicated two-way bicycle track will loop around the perimeter of the island, allowing cyclists to circle the entire island without crossing vehicle traffic lanes. Construction on the changes has already started. The project is expected to be completed by the first week of June.

Severe storms hit metro Detroit

Severe storms raced through metro Detroit Tuesday, bringing strong winds, heavy rains and even hail.  Streets throughout Detroit were left with large puddles, causing drivers to avoid them. Wind gusts knocked down trees and broke limbs in some places.   The canopy of a gas station on Detroit’s west side was knocked over by the winds, forcing its closure.  The Mobil station at Plymouth and Hubbell remains out of operation today.  ADDITIONAL HEADLINES FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2026 MARY WATERS DISQUALIFIED  Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters announced last month that she was running for Congress in Michigan’s 13th District.  She made the announcement just before the filing deadline.  But Waters has now been disqualified from running for failing to gather sufficient petition signatures.    Waters tried to run for the job in 2024, but came in second to incumbent Shri Thanedar in that year’s Democratic primary.  She was re-elected to Detroit City Council last year.   Congressman Thanedar is running against State Representative Donovan McKinney in this year’s August primary election.  MACKINAC POLICY CONFERENCE PREVIEW  Politicians, industry leaders and philanthropists are making last-minute preparations for the Mackinac Policy Conference.  They’ll travel to Mackinac Island next week to network, discuss policy and learn from one another.   The annual event is held by the Detroit Regional Chamber. [https://www.detroitchamber.com/]  Speakers will include Governor Gretchen Whitmer, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Professor Cornel West.  There will also be a debate between the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.   You can hear coverage of the Mackinac Policy Conference on WDET beginning Tuesday, May 26.  GAS PRICES DROP SLIGHTLY, BUT STILL HURT  Metro Detroit gas prices have fallen slightly in the past few days, but are still nearly two dollars per gallon higher than they were at the beginning of this year.  The average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded in the area is now $4.74.  That’s down eight cents from a week ago.   Motorists planning to head out on the road for the Memorial Day holiday weekend should still plan for prices that remain near $5 per gallon.  AAA says Michigan is one of the 10 most expensive states when it comes to gas right now.  NAACP CALLS FOR SPORTS BOYCOTT  The NAACP is calling on college athletes to boycott southern schools in response to a Supreme Court decision impacting the Voting Rights Act.  NBC News reports [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/naacp-black-athletes-boycott-southern-universities-redistricting-rcna345884] the civil rights organization launched the “Out of Bounds” campaign this week.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that using race to create two majority Black Congressional districts in Louisiana was unconstitutional.   The NAACP is asking Black recruits to withhold their commitments to attend certain colleges, most of which are in the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference.  The boycott could have a financial effect via national sports television deals, ticket sales and alumni gifts.

Former Detroit Police sergeant stands trial for rape

A former Detroit Police sergeant accused of raping six women and girls will stand trial. The Detroit Free Press reports [https://www.freep.com/story/news/courts/2026/05/18/ex-detroit-police-sergeant-benjamin-wagner-to-stand-trial-serial-rapist/90140111007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z116429p118450l003650c118450e1176xxv116429d--51--b--51--&gca-ft=211&gca-ds=sophi] Benjamin Wagner faces 20 charges, including criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.  Prosecutors allege that he committed the crimes between 1999 and 2003, attacking females ranging from 14 to 23 years old. He was charged in March, based on DNA evidence from a rape kit that sat in storage for years. The survivors testified against Wagner at his preliminary hearing.  His lawyer argued some of their stories had changed over the years. A judge ruled that enough evidence exists to let a jury decide.   ADDITIONAL HEADLINES FOR TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2026 DHS MAY END TPS FOR BURMESE REFUGEES The Department of Homeland Security wants to end Temporary Protected Status for Burmese refugees. TPS allows those fleeing dangerous conditions in their home country to live and work in the U.S.  TPS status was granted when the U.S. declared the mass killings of the Rohingya people a decade ago to be genocide. A federal judge postponed the effort to end Temporary Protected Status for Burmese refugees. DHS claimed conditions were safe enough for refugees to return.   DETROIT SIDEWALK REPAIRS The city currently has a backlog of 6,300 sidewalk repair requests. Some residents have been waiting up to five years for a response.  Detroit City Council approved an $8 million contract two weeks ago to fix the sidewalks and allocated an additional $1.5 million in carry-over funds from the previous budget.  Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield says when she was on city council, she constantly received questions about sidewalk repairs. "Oftentimes I think we think about big developments and big investments that residents want and deserve in their neighborhoods, but it's also about simple quality of life things like lights and sidewalks that residents deserve to get addressed."  Officials say the backlog should be cleared by the end of this construction season. The city is now taking requests for 2027.   -Reporting by Bre'Anna Tinsley [http://wdet.org/author/btinsley] CHEMICAL CLEAN UP Monsanto and the state of Michigan have reached a settlement to help pay for cleaning up PCB contamination.  PCBs are a class of chemicals that had a wide range of industrial uses before they were banned. They're linked to cancer, weakened immune systems and neurological disfunction, among other things.  PCBs are particularly troublesome because they persist in the environment and build up in the food chain. For example, the state has had to issue advisories warning people not to eat certain types of fish because of contamination. Attorney General Dana Nessel says Monsanto has agreed to pay somewhere between $108 million and $240 million once the settlement is paid in full. As part of the deal, Monsanto does not acknowledge any wrongdoing. It will be up to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the Department of Natural Resources to develop cleanup plans.  -Reporting by Rick Pluta [https://www.michiganpublic.org/people/rick-pluta] LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PREPARE TO SPEND OPIOID SETTLEMENT MONEY Local governments in Michigan are sitting on $176 million from the nationwide opioid settlement. The attorney general's office reports that cities, townships, and counties have spent less than 20% of the money they've received since checks started going out in 2023. The funds are supposed to help communities reduce drug overdoses and deaths. An adviser to the Michigan Association of Counties tells Bridge Michigan some local governments are preparing to spend part of that money this year. Last year, Michigan recorded the fewest drug-related deaths since 2013.

Hamtramck hosts Eid festival

Hamtramck is hosting an Eid gathering [https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffacebook.com%2Fevents%2Fs%2Fhamtramck-eid-festival-2026%2F1503152914681943%2F&data=05%7C02%7CNargis.Rahman%40wdet.org%7C189ead8881e04079a81008deb4fbdf09%7Ce51cdec9811d471dbbe6dd3d8d54c28b%7C1%7C0%7C639147191030472769%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=7phCh%2FCIjO9nX4bb5NbEaKMAvlDpZZvgSReP2QgAPHg%3D&reserved=0] next weekend for Eid Al-Adha. There will be rides, food and shopping vendors. Organized by community leaders. The festival will take place from May 28-31 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Keyworth Stadium.   ADDITIONAL HEADLINES FOR MONDAY, MAY 18 SKILLED TRADES MEETING The City of Detroit is hosting a Skilled Trades Task Force meeting [https://detroitmi.gov/events/skilled-trades-task-force-meeting-1]. The meeting is for those who are interested in building in Detroit. People can also learn more about how to apply for tuition free apprenticeship programs. The meeting will be held on May 20 from 4-6 p.m. at the Farwell Recreation Center. That’s located at 2711 Outer Drive E, Detroit, MI 48234.   D'ARTILLERY FASHION SHOW  The Hamtramck based studio D’Artillery is hosting a fashion show. The Behind the Seams showcase [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dartillery-behind-the-seams-fashion-showcase-women-only-tickets-1989230245212]is a celebration of Immigrant Heritage Month. The women-only event features clothes and accessories made by women in the sewing training program. The fashion showcase will be Saturday June 13 from 5-8 p.m. at 9528 Joseph Campau, in Hamtramck.  DEARBORN SPRING CLEANING  The City of Dearborn is launching its Spring Sweep. This is a joint effort by the city and residents to clean their properties. The city will be doing inspections on tall grass and overgrowth, trash and unauthorized storage or placement of items on lawns. Residents are asked to clean their properties from leaf accumulation or debris. The city says violations are not tickets, but residents must inform the city when corrections have been made. The city’s code enforcement is refining its process. For more information visit Dearborn.gov/Property [http://dearborn.gov/Property].