Sarah Cwiek

The ACLU of Michigan says medically-vulnerable immigrant detainees at the Calhoun County Jail should be released because of a COVID-19 outbreak there.

The jail houses immigrant detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ACLU has been pushing for those deemed medically-vulnerable to be released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michigan reported 2,030 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday—the largest one-day increase the state has seen since the pandemic began in March.

There is some nuance to that number. A computer glitch slowed data transfers earlier this week, which means some cases reported Thursday should have come in Wednesday.

An ongoing corruption investigation into the Detroit Police Department's narcotic unit may take up to two years, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Wednesday.

Craig launched the investigation into what’s now called the "major violators" section after a former officer, Michael Mosley, was indicted for taking bribes from drug dealers. He subsequently pleaded guilty.

Two companies are facing a lawsuit after a COVID-19 outbreak among workers who helped with re-building efforts in Midland and Bay counties.

Servpro Industries and BTN Services brought the workers from Florida to mid-Michigan after this spring’s catastrophic floods.

A white man now faces a federal hate crime for allegedly assaulting a Black teenager in a Monroe County state park this summer, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

A federal agent’s affidavit lays out the case against Lee James Mouat, 42, detailing an encounter between him and a group of Black teens at Sterling State Park on June 6.

A federal judge in Grand Rapids has ordered three of the men charged in an alleged terrorist plot to be held without bond.

Two other men face hearings later in the week.

Federal prosecutors laid out extensive evidence in court Tuesday against the five men charged in a plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. A total of 13 men face charges in the case.

At a hearing in Grand Rapids Tuesday, assitant U.S. prosecutor Nils Kessler showed pictures, videos and screenshots of text conversations among the five men.

The operator of a Detroit dock site that partially collapsed into the Detroit River late last year will pay the state $60,000 in fines.

The Revere Dock, which was illegally storing limestone aggregate along the river when the site collapsed in late November, 2019, has also entered into a consent agreement with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. A sinkhole also formed on the site sometime after the collapse.

Detroit has issued a health order meant to provide what Mayor Mike Duggan calls “certainty and continuity” for COVID-19-related restrictions.

The order is meant to fill the void and alleviate confusion left when the Michigan Supreme Court challenged orders issued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The court ruled that the 1945 law Whitmer’s orders were based on was unconstitutional.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says voting is more accessible than ever before this election year, and the results will be accurate—but not necessarily quick.

Benson urged Michigan voters to take advantage of early voting, which has already begun, as she picked up a ballot at a satellite clerk’s office in Detroit on Monday. It’s one of 23 satellite clerk’s offices that the city, working with Benson’s office, has established for Detroit voters to register, pick up, and cast their ballots leading up to Election Day.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed suit against a dairy farming operation she says has repeatedly “thumbed its nose” at environmental regulations.

Slater Farms is a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in rural West Michigan. According to the Attorney General’s office, it collectively owns and manages CAFOs with more than 1,500 mature dairy cows and 400 cattle. Every year, those operations produce about 8.9 million gallons of liquid waste and 1,500 tons of solid waste.

Michigan is on the road to carbon neutrality by 2050, per an executive order Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed on Wednesday.

Whitmer made the announcement at a U.S. Climate Alliance virtual meeting. That’s a group of states led by governors who have committed to addressing climate change according to the framework laid out by the Paris Agreement, which President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from in 2017.

The Michigan Supreme Court has appointed a special master to help decide whether a Wayne County judge committed judicial misconduct.

Two female prosecutors have accused Third Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow of making sexually suggestive and explicit comments during a 2019 homicide trial—from derogatorily comparing one prosecutor’s questioning of a medical examiner to sexual intercourse, to asking another about her height and weight (see the accusations here, and Morrow’s response to them here).

The state of Michigan is launching a pilot effort to establish a wastewater surveillance system for COVID-19.

Yes, the novel coronavirus can be detected in human poop—even when people are asymptomatic, or have yet to show symptoms. And there are a number of pre-existing wastewater testing programs already running in Michigan.

President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., campaigned for his father in Macomb County on Monday night.

Trump Jr. addressed a festive but occasionally-angry (and largely maskless) crowd at a Harrison Township boat club along with his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Singer Kid Rock also performed there.

Some clinical trials for potential COVID-19 vaccines are going well—but don’t expect a vaccine any time this year, says an infectious disease specialist with Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System.

Dr. Allison Weinmann is involved in phase three clinical trials for Moderna's mRNA-1273 Coronavirus Efficacy (COVE) vaccine study. Henry Ford is participating in the national study, which has recruited 30,000 volunteers to receive either the vaccine or a placebo, and monitor the results for both safety and efficacy.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Detroit city clerk Janice Winfrey have formed what they call a “partnership” to help run Detroit’s November election more smoothly.

Detroit had some election troubles during the August primary. There was a mismatch between electronic poll book entries and voter tallies in many precincts, particularly absentee voter ones. That led to calls for Benson to step in and make sure Winfrey’s office could handle things in November.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig is defending officers’ use of force to break up a protest on Saturday night.

Officers used batons, gas, and other aggressive means to remove protesters gathered in a downtown Detroit intersection. 44 people were arrested.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers says Detroit needs help from the Michigan Secretary of State to make sure the November election runs smoothly.

This comes after the board found discrepancies in Detroit absentee voter precincts in the August primary.

Eastern Michigan University students will need to take a COVID-19 test before going back to school.

The university is mandating that students who will be living on campus take an at-home saliva test for the coronavirus before returning to school.

Detroit Federation of Teachers members have given their leadership the go-ahead to strike if the union’s return-to-school safety demands aren’t met.

In a Wednesday evening vote, 91% of participating DFT members voted to authorize a “safety strike” if the Detroit Public Schools Community District doesn’t “implement basic science-based safety protocols before schools reopen during the continuing coronavirus pandemic.”

The ACLU of Michigan has settled a lawsuit with the Flint Police Department and an after-school program run by the Flint-Genesee Chamber of Commerce.

The lawsuit stemmed from a 2015 incident where Cameron McCadden, a seven-year-old boy with ADHD, was handcuffed by police for nearly an hour after having what witnesses described as a childhood tantrum at the after-school program.

Monday was the first day in five months that Detroit’s 36th district court could start hearing eviction cases—though according to the court, hearings on some 200 eviction cases will not begin until at least next week. The court’s eviction moratorium lasted a full month longer than Michigan’s statewide moratorium.

Detroit will try a new approach to help out some of its most vulnerable, isolated households, Mayor Mike Duggan announced Wednesday.

The Community Health Corps will send social workers and other professionals into people’s homes. There, they’ll assess a family’s immediate needs, and connect them to social services to assist with housing, utilities, and the like.

The city of Detroit has announced plans to have investors re-develop 142 acres of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds at 8 Mile and Woodward.

The first phase of that development is expected to be an Amazon distribution center.

An Oakland County judge has released a fifteen-year-old girl from probation, in the apparent last twist in the controversial case of the girl known as “Grace.”

It was a probation violation that landed Grace in juvenile detention in May. Grace is the girl’s middle name, used to protect her privacy.

The state will spearhead an engineering study to assess the condition of the remainder of a Midland County dam that failed in May.

The Edenville dam partially collapsed after heavy rains, along with the Sanford dam, leading to major flooding in and around Midland. But part of the dam facing the Tobacco River is still intact. The question is how stable and secure it is.

An undocumented Albanian man who’s been living in sanctuary in a Detroit church to avoid deportation has an important hearing this week.

Ded Rranxburgaj came to the U.S. with his family illegally in 2001, in hopes of claiming political asylum. Advocates say they’ve tried every legal way they could to stay in the U.S, but the Trump administration moved to deport Rranxburgaj in 2018.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District wants parent input about how their students will be learning in the fall.

DPSCD is offering both fully virtual and face-to-face instruction. District officials say they want a parent feedback survey completed by August 4, though the “drop-dead deadline” for responses is August 21.