Kate Wells

When you can't afford to go to the emergency room: Michigan families and Medicaid

Kate Wells — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:13:20 +0000

For a lot of uninsured families in Michigan, this is a big week.

Lawmakers in Lansing are sloooowly moving ahead with expanding the state’s Medicaid program.

That would give another 470,000 Michiganders coverage.

So who exactly are we talking about here?

The morning I meet Jen and Todd Nagle, we have no clue the day will end with Todd being rushed to the doctor for chest pains.

New Web series laughs at Detroit's "tragic comedy"

Kate Wells — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 01:07:05 +0000

It just may be the first honest campaign ad.

A tall, broad-shouldered man in a gray suit speaks directly to camera as he strides through Detroit.

Charlie Brooks is running for mayor.

And he wants to be clear: even with an emergency manager in charge, Brooks still believes the mayor's office plays a crucial role.

“I’ll take long vacations, so I can be well-rested. And each day at 4 p.m., I’ll bring tea to our [emergency manager]. Tea time!”

If a state law can't save the DIA, here's what might

Kate Wells — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 21:42:49 +0000

Ever since Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr mentioned maaaaybe putting DIA gems on the table to appease creditors, the you-know-what has hit the fan.

Selling art to pay off debt is a big museum no-no, especially for one as well-regarded as the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Why, museum supporters ask, would any rich donor ever want to give money or art to the DIA again?

What’s to guarantee their gifts won’t just be auctioned off the next time the city needs cash?

And further, if the DIA is blacklisted and other cultural icons sold off, how is a post-bankruptcy Detroit supposed to become a sustainable, cultural, people-drawing city?

Grab the sunscreen: ArtPod kicks off summer music, movies and more

Kate Wells — Fri, 31 May 2013 02:52:09 +0000

ArtPod is chock-full of summer awesomeness.

We’re putting our own special ArtPod spin on three big summer crowd-pleasers.

The end-of-school concerts.

The new indie movie with all the buzz.

And your own private guide to craft cocktails in Michigan.

Hey, that counts as art. Right?

This summer, 50 Michigan museums are free for active military families

Kate Wells — Thu, 30 May 2013 04:06:45 +0000

You can almost feel the parental summer panic start to kick in.

School is almost out.

And there are only so many times you can take the kids to the pool before you all go insane.

Those long, hot days can be especially tough for military families, who may only have one parent at home.

That's why 50 Michigan museums are opening their doors, free of charge, to active military personnel and their families this summer.

Why Ann Arbor may lay off teachers for the first time ever

Kate Wells — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:32:57 +0000

In case you've been living under a rock the last couple of months, many Michigan schools are in financial crisis.

It's not just separate outbreaks. It's an epidemic. Buena Vista had to shut down for two weeks when they ran out of money to pay staff. Albion is closing its high school.

About 50 districts are on the state's financial watch list (as in, watch-out-these-guys-could-go-under).

Now, Ann Arbor, the artsy cosmopolitan Disney Land of public school systems, is feeling woozy.

Families of Flight 255 victims wait 26 years to hear sole survivor speak

Kate Wells — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:56:32 +0000

This summer will mark 26 years since Northwest Flight 255 crashed onto the highway outside Detroit Metro Airport.

One hundred fifty-seven people were killed. The wreckage stretched across half a mile.

Only one person survived: a four-year-old girl with brown eyes, a chipped tooth, and purple nail polish.

Her name is Cecelia Cichan, and this week, she’s breaking her long public silence about the crash.

Why the art world is freaking out over a house in Detroit

Kate Wells — Tue, 14 May 2013 01:56:09 +0000

“Huh.”

That is a completely understandable reaction the first time people see the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit’s new exhibit. It’s called “Mobile Homestead.”

The "work of art" is a mobile house, a suburban-looking, one-story, white ranch house. It's the kind of house they've seen a million times before.

So why is the modern art world, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal breathlessly declaring this house one of the most significant, world-renowned pieces of 2013?

Anne Frank cantata helps keep Jewish history alive

Kate Wells — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:33:44 +0000

When older generations die, there’s always the fear that we’ll lose their stories.

But in metro Detroit’s Jewish community, they’re trying to keep history alive…through music.

And they’re doing it thanks to Anne Frank, her chestnut tree, and a stressed-out high school orchestra in metro Detroit.

Specifically, the Berkley High School orchestra.

ArtPod on actors, adventurers and change

Kate Wells — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:56:59 +0000

This week, ArtPod is aaaall about the ladies.

You name ‘em, we’ve got them: Michigan photographers, amateur actresses, adventure authors ... the works.

What unites them? They all seek a change.

First up, two moms who found each other in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Grief, healing and one photographer's final family portraits

Kate Wells — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:44:36 +0000

Parents love pictures of their baby. That’s why we don’t complain, at least not to their faces, when they take over Facebook and fill up our email.

But when your baby’s life is cut short, those photographs can take on a whole new significance.

This is the story of two moms, and how these final family portraits are helping them heal after the loss of a child.

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman retiring

Kate Wells — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:20:53 +0000

The president of the University of Michigan is stepping down.

Mary Sue Coleman officially announced her retirement today:

The University of Michigan deserves the best in a leader, and I want to give the Board ample time to select the next president. I am committed to working with the Board members to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

In honor of his late wife, this man brings new orchestra to Flint

Kate Wells — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:53:10 +0000

There's a new orchestra starting up in Flint.

For decades, the University of Michigan-Flint has been trying to get an all-student orchestra together.

It shelved the idea back in the 1990s due to lack of interest.

This year, a new student string ensemble is up and running. And that got the music department thinking, maybe this was their year.

That's when emeritus professor Walker Fesmire showed up. He's giving the music department a $100,000 gift.

So this fall, the school’s first-ever all-student orchestra will perform an original piece in his honor.

Cheeks Kilpatrick, finally getting to the bottom of UFOs

Kate Wells — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:57:57 +0000

Edited to correct the name of Stephen Bassett, executive director of Paradigm Research Group and organizer of the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure.

There's a new twist in the Greek tragedy that is the Kilpatrick family's money woes.

Former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, mother of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, will get $20,000 to conduct a hearing into ... alien conspiracies.

The goal of these hearings is ambitious: get the federal government to admit that aliens exist.

That they've contacted humans.

And that for decades, the government has been covering this up.

Now let's be very clear, this is NOT actually a congressional hearing. It's all being put on by a group of alien conspiracy theorists calling themselves the Citizens Hearing on Disclosure.

They're shelling out $20,000 to each of the five former members of Congress who've agreed to come to Washington, DC for this panel.

Amidst public corruption investigation, Romulus mayor says he's not quitting

Kate Wells — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:30:15 +0000

This is not a great week for Romulus Mayor Alan Lambert.

State police are investigating him for public corruption and raided his home last month.

So far he's refusing to step down, even after the city council asked him to resign last night.