Michiganders have a long history of tragic environmental exposures, from contaminated animal feed with polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) in the 1970s, to lead and toxin contamination in Flint’s water supply.

While the city of Detroit recently announced a home repair program—Renew Detroit—that will distribute $30 million in American Rescue Plan funds as home repair grants to seniors with low incomes and homeowners with disabilities, gaps in home repair resources remain. 

Through the Riverfront, Matt Cullen saw a way around the regionalism that had plagued Detroit, Wayne County and its neighbors. Born and raised in Detroit, Cullen knew how to unite people for a common cause: the city’s revitalization. 

The original glass coasters feature murals from “Detroit’s Wailing Wall” near 8 Mile Road and Wyoming that was built in 1940 as a division between Black and white neighborhoods. The images of brightly colored houses, factories and neighbors added years later gave the wall new meaning.

According to the survey of Detroit households conducted by U-M’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, a significant majority of Detroiters favor police reforms, including requiring police to be trained in nonviolent policing methods (79%), giving the civilian oversight board the power to investigate and discipline officers for misconduct (68%), and using unarmed first responders for mental health calls (66%).

Inspired by Nuit Blanche arts fes­ti­vals from around the world, DLEC­TRIC­ITY is a spec­tac­u­lar out­door visual light and art cel­e­bra­tion that takes place in Detroit’s cul­tural cen­ter and DTE’s Bea­con Park Fri­day and Sat­ur­day from 7 p.m. to midnight. 

Detroit, like many cities, is in great need of housing that’s both accessible and appropriate for its residents — especially the 40 percent of Black Detroiters who don’t have access to a car.

Six of the 11 Michigan cities subjected to emergency management saw changes to their drinking water systems that were implemented to save money or to reduce expenditures. In many cases, those decisions led to poor water quality, service unreliability and increases to water bills, according to the researchers.

The toolkit was introduced to coaches and administrators during the DPSCD Athletic Symposium in August. Sept.17 was National Concussion Awareness Day.