Stateside Staff

Today on Stateside, Governor Gretchen Whitmer will lay out her agenda for the year ahead at Wednesday night’s State of the State address. What can we expect to hear? Plus, a former U.S. Attorney for Michigan says there's an important struggle going on over the limits of executive power in the impeachment trial.

Today on Stateside, local and county clerks are raising concerns about their ability to deal with an influx of absentee ballots in November’s presidential election. Plus, the woman who turned the University of Michigan into a softball powerhouse talks about the yawning gender equity gap in college sports coaching. 

The federal civil rights legislation known as Title IX was instrumental in creating opportunities for women athletes in high school and college sports. Previously, varsity sports were mostly reserved for men while women played club sports on teams with shoestring budgets. As Title IX opened doors for female athletes, though, coaching opportunities for women gradually dwindled after its passage.

Today on Stateside, a new report calls on Michigan lawmakers to deal with the funding disparities between the state's poorest and wealthiest school districts. Plus, a staged reading of an FBI interrogation takes us inside one intelligence contractor's choice.

The stories of great activists are recorded in history books. Their words are quoted by politicians long after their movements have instigated large scale change. For the most part, history focuses on what activists accomplished. That can obscure the personal trials and tribulations of activists who organize and strengthen movements. We spoke to two activists, on opposite sides of the political spectrum, about the personal costs of a life of activism.

This weekend will be a monumental moment for the Michigan-based band, I Prevail. When their album, "Trauma," came out last year, it became an instant chart-topper. Their single, "Bow Down" hit Billboard's Rock Top 10. Their band has been nominated for Best Metal Performance and Best Rock Album at this year's Grammy Awards ceremony. 

Work continues this week on the Enbridge tunnel planned beneath the Straits of Mackinac. The tunnel would house replacements for the twin pipelines known as Line 5. Michigan leaders are still locked in legal action with the company over the project. Last week, a panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected a state request to halt construction.

Today on Stateside, we talk to the head of Enbridge's tunnel project about what's happening with Line 5. Plus, a conversation with the Detroit-based metal band I Prevail, which is nominated for two Grammy Awards this year.

Today on Stateside, we look at the dispute over Michigan's ban on public funding for private education. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case that could affect how the Michigan Supreme Court rules later this year. Plus, Tesla is coming to Michigan and we hear from a reporter about how the move could alter the auto industry's traditional power base.

Sales of recreational marijuana in Michigan have been booming. In the first six weeks after licensed dispensaries began selling the product in December, sales topped $10 million, generating around $1.7 million in tax revenue. But none of that money can legally be deposited in a bank. 

Today on Stateside, a lack of legal banking options in the marijuana industry means that many businesses are operating solely in cash—creating significant safety risks and limiting the industry's growth. Plus, a Michigan Supreme Court case is testing how much money the government can collect from tax-delinquent homeowners. 

Today on Stateside, we step back in time to the summer of 1963, to hear how Martin Luther King Junior set the stage in Detroit for the March on Washington later that year. Plus, we go over this year's list of Michigan Notable Books, which includes everything from new fiction to gripping history.

On June 23, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. stood in Detroit and spoke about a dream. It was a fraught moment in the history of the American civil rights movement. Noted civil rights activist Medger Evers had been murdered by a white supremacist just days earlier.

We talked to Detroit historian Ken Coleman, author of On This Day: African-American Life in Detroit and writer for Michigan Advance, about MLK Jr.’s visit to the city. 

Now that winter is feeling a little more, well, wintry, it’s a good time to hunker down inside with a book. If you’re looking for something new to read, the Library of Michigan has a few suggestions. Its 2020 Michigan Notable Books list was announced on Sunday. 

Today on Stateside, what the story about a state senator's alleged sexual harassment of a female journalist says about Capitol culture. Plus, a look at where Michigan's recyclables are going, two years after China stopped accepting U.S. waste.

Michigan State Senator Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Township) has received national attention for an off-the-cuff comment he made to a female journalist from the Michigan Advance outside the Senate chamber on Tuesday.

Thirty years before toxic green ooze spilled onto a Madison Heights road, the state's Pollution Emergency Alerting System hotline received a complaint about chemical storage pits dug into the basement of Electro-Plating Services (EPS).

For three years, it appears the state took no action. Then, in 1993, another complaint was made to the hotline. This time, the state investigated.

Today on Stateside, a Democratic congressman is proposing new regulations for safe disposal of PFAS. Plus, schools around the state are increasingly relying on long-term substitute teachers. We talk about what this means for students, and strategies for getting more certified teachers into classrooms.

Today on Stateside, it’s been four years since the state announced a criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. We talked to two journalists who covered the crisis about lessons learned on government accountability and public health. Plus, the state of Michigan files suit against some of the biggest names in corporate America over PFAS contamination. We'll hear about how a similar case played out in Minnesota. 

Jeff Daniels’ new play Roadsigns follows a young poet on a journey to find himself and his encounters with society's outcasts. The main character is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and Daniels' longtime friend, the late Lanford Wilson.

Today on Stateside, we take a deeper look at how property tax foreclosures in Detroit created a pileup of city-owned properties, and left residents to care for the most desolate blocks. Plus, a Michigan photographer captures a whole year of sunrises in the Upper Peninsula. 

For many of us, it is more pleasurable to look at pictures of beautiful sunrises than to get up and actually see beautiful sunrises.

An investigation by Reveal, the Detroit News, and PRX discovered the city of Detroit collected $600 million more than it should have in taxes because of over-assessed property values. Detroit News reporter Christine MacDonald and freelance journalist Mark Betancourt co-reported the story. They joined us to talk about how those overvalued properties contributed to the high number of foreclosures on Detroit homeowners.

Today on Stateside, an investigation finds the city Detroit overcharged tens of thousands of homeowners for property taxes. What recourse is there for people who lost their homes as a result? We'll talk to the reporters who broke the story. Also, how the polls misread voters in 2016 – especially ones without a party affiliation.

Today on Stateside, economists forecast how much money the state of Michigan will bring in and what it will need to spend in the coming year. Plus, some Michigan reads to curl up with when you’re stuck inside during this weekend’s winter storm.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a resolution to limit President Donald Trump's ability to take further military action against Iran. U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat representing Michigan's 8th District, sponsored the measure. 

Today on Stateside, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution Thursday to limit President Donald Trump's ability to take further military action against Iran. We talk to the congresswoman sponsoring the measure. Plus, the head of a Dearborn seminary talks about educating the next generation of Muslim faith leaders.