Sven Gustafson - Daily Detroit

Mark Hackel Opposes Big Gretch On COVID, A New Jeep SUV & A New Series Tackles Food Waste

Gym rats, rejoice? In a much-anticipated announcement, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says gyms and fitness facilities can now officially reopen, if they require everyone to wear face masks. So, yay? via GIPHY Speaking of Big Gretch, one fellow Democrat who isn’t likely to end up on her Christmas card list this year is Mark Hackel, the Macomb County executive. Crain’s reports he’s backing “Unlock Michigan,” the petition drive aimed at stripping the guv of her powers to declare a stat...

Sterling Heights

COVID 'Motoring Along At A Level Of Suck' In Michigan, Ford Layoffs & Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum

Rumors are swirling that high-school football could once again be on this fall, now that the Michigan High School Athletic Association has said they’ll follow other states’ examples if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer amends an executive order. Plus, President Trump said he spoke with the B1G commissioner about “immediately” starting the fall football season, because a) of course he did and b) there’s nothing else really going on right now that’s worthy of the attention of the president of the Unite...

COVID Testing Tomfoolery, Clearcover Hiring 300 Plus An Update On Nextdoor Lawsuit In Bloomfield Township

Happy Hump Day, Detroit. It’s been another depressingly large lump of confirmed positive coronavirus cases here in Michigan, on the same day reports say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have changed their recommendations for asymptomatic people who’ve been in contact with infected people. The agency’s new recommendations read as follows: “If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have sympt...

Should Investigations Be Independent Of The Police Department? Dan Gilbert Gets Richer & DCFC Goes Goalless

Protests have continued to take place in Detroit, but early Sunday, things got ugly downtown. There, police in riot gear took an aggressive tack against marchers from Detroit Will Breathe who had shut down Woodward Avenue to traffic, shoving protesters and clubbing others who had their backs turned and were walking away. Tear gas and pepper spray were also used. Police Chief James Craig said Monday there was no way he would allow what he called a “Seattle-type zone of lawlessness” in...

The Skinny On Labor Day Festivals & Fanless Lions Games, Plus A Remembrance Of Honest John Thompson

Welcome to Friday, comrades. On today’s show, we air an overdue remembrance and tribute to John Thompson, a quintessential Detroiter and giant of a human being who was the original owner of legendary watering hole Honest?John’s. (Close observers will note that Thompson passed away last months and we are late to the game. That’s true. This segment got lost in the shuffle, and we’re a small and often overburdened team. But we still felt strongly that we needed to eulogize him.) The De...

Colleges To Track Students With Faulty Software To Stem COVID & A $600M Flint Water Crisis Settlement

On today’s show, Tom Lawrence, Daily Detroit’s resident Downriver Tech Guru and principal of Lawrence Systems, joins Jer to talk about some controversial location-tracking software being used by some local colleges as part of coronavirus safeguards. Tom’s always a good listen. Also, the state on Thursday announced a $600 million settlement for civil litigation stemming from the Flint Water Crisis. Most of the money is targeted for minors who were at the most risk from lead contaminat...

The Perils Of Coronavirus College, Bollinger Motors Moves To Oak Park & Amazon Is Hiring

Happy Hump Day. Today, Jer speaks with Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health Direct Primary Care all about Michigan State University’s announcement that it’s going 100% virtual instruction this fall and encouraging students to stay home and not move into dorms. It got me thinking about the Twitter thread below, about the difficulties universities face in opting to pull the plug on in-person instruction this fall. So everyone is talking about UNC's COVID-19 mess – and all that criticism is...

How Parents Can Stay Sane When The School Year Starts From Home, With Coach Karen Liska Evans

School’s about to be back in session, and for many students, the new school year begins from home. That’s frankly stressing the hell out of many parents, who must contend with supervising their children’s online learning while continuing their own efforts to work from home and manage daily household matters. So to get some ideas on how to cope, we hit up Karen Liska Evans, a friend of the pod and coach who’s literally writing a book on working from home with kids. She offers some...

The New School Year Looms, Detroit City FC And OMG Belarus!

Back from the rolling Pennsylvania highlands, I join Jer again in our daily Starsky and Hutch routine to run down what’s happening around town. So what’s happening around town, you ask? via GIPHY Well, Macomb County is now driving the bus on coronavirus infections in metro Detroit, yay? The Legislature has approved bills tying funding to public schools’ coronavirus efforts, parents in Livonia are protesting against virtual instruction for their kids’ school, the MAGA Cruise on S...

Local Primary Election Result Rundown, And Dr. Paul On Why More Schools Are Going Virtual

On today’s show, we run down some of the big headlines from the Primary Election on Tuesday, including freshman U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s Democratic primary challenge, the Oakland County Executive race and some notable results from the prosecutor races in Oakland and Macomb Counties. Plus, we cover a few state House primaries that listeners asked us to keep tabs on. Also, friend of the pod Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health Direct Primary Care joins us to talk the latest in coronavirus i...

Penis Cake In Macomb, Matt Stafford Has Coronavirus & Mass Evictions Loom

Today on your Primary Election Day edition of your Daily Detroit, don’t forget to get out and exercise your freedom to vote, because Democracy hinges on it and also on robust participation. See, the scoundrels don’t want you to vote. It helps them slip their unpopular proposals into law. Also, we have a show for you today. We talk about: * Michigan’s RT level, which measures the spread of the coronavirus, is now below 1, which suggests the spread is slowing in the Mitten, yay....

How Iggy Pop Became The Voice Of Detroit City FC's Equity Crowdfunding Campaign

Late last week, Detroit City FC announced a plan to offer up equity stakes to fans and investors as a way to raise some badly needed cash amid a season mostly dashed by the coronavirus. And joining the campaign and its video pitch is a familiar voice: Detroit rock legend and pride of Ypsilanti, Iggy Pop. Joining us on today’s episode is Bill Shea, a reporter at The Athletic who writes about how the former Stooges frontman, famous for onstage antics including rolling around in b...

marijuana

Inside Metro Detroit's Newest Adult-Use Recreational Marijuana Dispensary: Not Your Father's Head Shop

Skymint, a Michigan-based cannabis retailer, has opened its newest location in Hazel Park, brightening a forlorn stretch of John R with a gleaming, state-of-the-art weed store that frankly wouldn’t look out of place at Somerset Collection or any other upscale mall. On today’s show, we speak with Summer Ransom-Cleveland, the company’s president of retail, all about contemporary marijuana retail marketing, and with Joe Neller, chief government affairs officer and co-founder of Green Pe...

I-375 Rebuild On Ice, Blake's Cider Kerfuffle & Sterling Heights Wants Space Command HQ

We’ve reported several times about the state’s plan to rebuild Interstate 375 as a grade-level boulevard complete with bike lanes, sidewalks, streetscaping and new buildable real estate. Now, Crain’s reports the plan has been inexplicably iced to at least 2027, unless Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan can convince officials not to delay it. On today’s show, we also discuss Ferndale’s nifty new drive-through voting initiative, plus Sterling Heights’ bid to become the U.S. Space Command, overs...

PODCAST: Detroit Will Get Federal Agents, WTF Is Happening In Warren? Plus 5 Things To Know

Welp. Operation LeGend, the Trump administration’s name for sending federal troops to cities to impose law and order that aren’t asking for any help, will come to Detroit after all. Sometime in the next three weeks, the latest news has it, heavily armed, camouflaged federal troops will descend on the Motor City. Recall that yesterday, Mayor Mike Duggan and Police Chief James Craig said basically, “Yeah, no thanks, we got this.” Should be fun. On today’s show, we follow a 2-minut...

Detroit Leaders Don't Want Federal Troops, Fiat Chrysler & Waymo Are BFFs, And The Jordan Jumpman Logo On Pistons Jerseys?

Earlier this week, we told you about how President Trump casually mentioned the idea of sending in federal troops to cities including Detroit (“all run by liberal Democrats,” he sniffed), like he has done to quell protests in Portland, Ore. Yeah, well Mayor Mike Duggan and Police Chief James Craig have basically said thanks no thanks, we got it. “The Detroit Police Department has had the support of the Detroit community in making sure our City did not have a single store looted or a singl...

Fizz Fight 2020: Michigan-Made Hard Seltzers, Ranked

In what will surely rank as one of the more ridiculous ventures ever undertaken by your Daily Detroit, we offer you today’s show. It’s essentially a taste test, undertaken by our team members using the latest in COVID-safe masks and social distancing practices, of eight Michigan-made hard seltzers judged against White Claw as the wildly popular standard-bearer: Michigan-made hard seltzers in alphabetical order Listen to hear the winners! Just click play ▶️ below. * Atwater...

Ford Rolls Out A Reimagined Bronco, A Fiscal Fight In Warren And How The Coronavirus Is Affecting Windsor

Ford finally unveiled the Bronco Family of three, new off-road SUVs on Monday, resuscitating the Bronco nameplate after more than 20 years in the wilderness via a series of videos. Here’s how Greg Migliore, editor-in-chief of Autoblog, described it to us: “It was genuinely an exciting moment for Ford, for enthusiasts and for the auto industry. I think almost everybody I know who is into cars, trucks, vehicles of any sort was excited about the Bronco last night. You don’t always see th...