Michigan Radio

prison bars — Flickr user FatMandy / http://michrad.io/1LXrdJM

Governor Whitmer cancels Ionia immigrant detention center deal

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has canceled the pending sale of a former correctional facility in Ionia to a private prison company, Immigration Centers of America, for use as an immigrant detention center.

Alana Burke and Samantha Engster — Michigan Radio

First generation college students reflect on challenges, joys of trailblazing

Auchter's Art: Accountable transparency

Judges in five Michigan courtrooms are using risk assessments to decide bond

By Sarah Cwiek • 15 hours ago

Early this month, judges in five Michigan district courts started using a new tool to make bond decisions.

It’s part of a new pilot program spearheaded by the Michigan Supreme Court. The judges will use a standard risk assessment to help make those bond decisions.

Howes: RIP John Dingell

By Daniel Howes • 18 hours ago

John Dingell, 29, is sworn in as a member of Congress in 1955 by House Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas — John Dingell website

John Dingell died the same day the “Green New Deal” appeared in Washington. Michigan’s legendary congressman would not have approved.

This driving force behind the Clean Air, Medicare and Affordable Care acts was notoriously suspicious of what he called the, quote, “damn enviros” and their idealized prescriptions for the economy. They, in return, pretty much hated Dingell, considering him too cozy with Detroit’s automakers and their union members.

Loss of African-centered schools in Detroit hurts black children the most

By Bryce Huffman • Feb 15, 2019

poster on a classroom wall — Bryce Huffman / Michigan Radio

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4:21

A feature story about what black children in Detroit are missing out on with the lack of African-centered schooling options

African proverbs and pictures of Harriet Tubman line the hallways at Paul Robeson/Malcolm X Academy in Detroit, one of Detroit’s few remaining schools that uses an African-centered curriculum.

Welia Dawson is teaching a sixth grade class about post-World War II America. Unlike most lessons about that time period that you might hear in a traditional public school, it’s focused on how black people were treated at the time.

Stateside: Kildee on EPA PFAS plan; first-generation college students; state “promise” scholarship

By Stateside Staff • Feb 15, 2019

a side by side of Dan Kildee and then a river with pfas foam on it — dankildee.house.gov / Lester Graham

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49:57

Stateside for Friday, February 15, 2019

Today on Stateside, the EPA on Thursday released a plan to deal with contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – better known as PFAS. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee says the plan shows the agency is “dragging their feet.” Plus, what it’s like to straddle two worlds as the first person in your family to go to college.

Many Presidents Have Declared Emergencies — But Not Like Trump Has

By Scott Horsley • Feb 15, 2019

In declaring a national emergency Friday, President Trump tried to underscore the urgency of what he calls a national security crisis along the U.S. border with Mexico, while at the same time downplaying the gravity of his response.

Polluter-pay law introduced in Michigan legislature

By Lauren Janes • Feb 15, 2019

Michigan lawmakers introduced new bills designed to make polluters pay. It requires that the polluter clean up the pollutant as much as technically possible.

Democrats Senator Jeff Irwin and Representative Yousef Rabhi introduced identical bills in the House and Senate Thursday. Irwin says there was a polluter-pay law, but the Engler administration changed them in 1995.

Artisans of Michigan: Early American custom gunmaking

By Lester Graham • Feb 15, 2019

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6:10

Listen to Steven Durren and Lester Graham talk about making early American style custom rifles.

It's early in the morning in the shop of Johnson’s Sporting Goods in Adrian. Steven Durren is using a rasp to form a rifle stock. He makes custom firearms, mostly early American style from the Civil War to WWI. They’re not exact reproductions, but in the style of those single shot and bolt action rifles.

CMU alleged rape case going to trial, after long legal battle

By Kate Wells • Feb 14, 2019

Emma Dale was a freshman reporter, covering the student government beat at Central Michigan University in 2016, when she got wind of a story: the student body president, Ian Elliott, was abruptly resigning.

John Dingell, the man and the leader, celebrated at funeral in Washington D.C.

By Virginia Gordan • Feb 14, 2019

Past and present political leaders from both sides of the aisle gathered today at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. for the funeral mass of former U.S. Representative John Dingell.

The mass, which was aired on WDIV Local 4, followed one that took place in Dearborn earlier this week.

Dingell died on February 7 at the age of 92.

Officials investigating spread of 1,4-dioxane in Ann Arbor storm drains

By Paulette Parker • Feb 14, 2019

Map showing the spread of the 1,4-dioxane plume — SCIO RESIDENTS FOR SAFE WATER

State and local officials are conducting new tests to check the spread of the 1,4-dioxane plume in groundwater in Ann Arbor's West Park area.

Dan Hamel is with the Department of Environmental Quality. He says a current consent agreement between the DEQ and the company requires Gelman Sciences to prevent the spread of the suspected carcinogen.