Daily Detroit

On today's show: The latest news locally around the Coronavirus, including when we might see an apex to cases, schools closed for the year, dismal unemployment numbers and people doing some good.

Plus, if you've been online and followed national news, you know about the phrase, "That Woman From Michigan." It was said by President Donald Trump about Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Well, it's become an extremely popular shirt. And it originated right out of metro Detroit. Artist, Amanda Burden of Top Knot and Twine joins us later to talk about how it came together.

On today's show: Sven and Jer talk about falling sales for the auto industry (including Ford, FCA and GM) and how Ford is making respirators out of repurposed car parts.

Also: The most recent official Coronavirus case numbers. Michigan cases continue to rise.

A recent survey shows a $491 million dollar hit to the restaurant industry, with 72,000 jobs and more layoffs to come.

Amazon workers walk out of a facility in Romulus.

National Coney Island is temporarily closing its locations, so no Hanis for you.

Meanwhile, AMC Star Southfield is closed for good. Is it just the first local movie theater to not make it through the pandemic?

Governor Gretchen Whitmer is working with local and statewide TV stations for a town hall Thursday night at 7 p.m.

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It's Tuesday, in the decent chance you need a reminder of what day it is today, and we've got another full episode worth of coronavirus updates.

I also speak with Anson Smuts, a senior economist at O'Keefe, a Bloomfield Hills business consultancy, about the historical implications of the massive unemployment filings in the wake of the outbreak.

Also on today's show:

The state of Michigan reported that the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbed above 1,000 for the first time, at 1,117.

Ford has announced it will manufacture 50,000 ventilators within 100 days from its Rawsonville components plant near Ypsilanti.

Local companies Carhartt and Lear, an auto supplier, are also kicking into gear making badly needed medical equipment.

Motor City Comic Con has been postponed, with no make-up date yet released.

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith has resigned after Attorney General Dan Nessel charged him and three associates in an alleged racketeering scheme.

The suburban SMART bus system has announced more service cutbacks amid dwindling ridership during the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, MoGo bike-share bikes are temporarily free to ride.

Eastern Market Brewing Company-slash-Ferndale Project has acquired Ashe Supply Company, the coffee shop and roaster. It's part of a string of new businesses the brewery has launched to try and stay afloat during the crisis.

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On today's show for Monday, March 30, 2020:

As of this recording the state numbers for confirmed Coronavirus cases in the state is 6,498 with 184 deaths. The city of Detroit is a major center, with Oakland county's deaths doubling overnight. Field hospitals are being considered for three locations in Oakland County.

On Sunday MIchigan State Representative Isaac Robinson, who served Detroit, died. Coronavirus is the suspected cause of death. He was 43.

Updates from Governor Gretchen Whitmer:

The Coronavirus is spreading quickly through the prison systems in Michigan, so some non-violent prisoners may be released.

The state government is enacting a hiring freeze and is shutting down all non-discretionary spending until further notice.

It is expected that conditions in Michigan will get much worse before they get better. We are weeks away from a peak in the number of cases of Coronavirus in Michigan.

The economy is continuing to slow down. Monroe based La-Z-Boy Furniture is furloughing 6,800 employees. In national news, Macy's is going to furlough nearly 130,000 people. And Wednesday workers at Detroit's three casinos will get their last paychecks until after the pandemic clears. Their benefits with copay will run through the end of June.

GM says production is on track to start this week at a factory in Warren to make level-1 surgical masks.

The TCF Center is going to be turned into a two-level, 900 bed hospital as the city and region braces for even more Coronavirus hospitalizations. This means the auto show will be canceled in 2020.

Sven Gustafson speaks to Greg Migliore, the Editor in Chief of Auto Blog about the NAIAS (North American International Auto Show) being canceled, the impact, and the future of auto shows in general.

And, finally, we all need something to uplift us. Jer speaks to the women behind Lullabies from Detroit about how it came about. Follow their page here.

Thanks to Detroit On The Cheap for recommending us among some other great local podcasts. Check that out here.

On today's show: Matt Roling from Wayne State's Office of Business Innovation joins us to talk about tips to help make sure your business stays afloat or pivots to adapt to the Coronavirus today and the new reality afterward.

Plus, we do some top-level updates on what's happening out there locally, as this was the largest spike in new cases in Michigan since the pandemic started and half of the cases statewide are within Wayne County.

The coronavirus pandemic is intensifying in Michigan on multiple fronts. The state reported a jump of 801 new cases, Detroit Police Chief James Craig has now tested positive for COVID-19, and Ford and GM spent much of Friday on the firing lines of President Trump's Twitter feed. Even Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wasn't spared POTUS' wrath.

To recap, GM and Ford in the past week have both announced partnerships with medical device manufacturers to help increase production of critically needed ventilators. Experts have said the devices, which help patients who struggle to breathe on their own, are in critically short supply to treat patients with severe coronavirus symptoms.

The New York Times reported late Thursday that the Trump adminstration had balked at paying GM and its partner, ventilator maker Ventec Life Systems, and would instead take more time to shop other proposals. So he lambasted both GM and Ford on Friday, urging them to START MAKING VENTILATORS NOW!!!!! and at one point saying, "Always a mess with Mary B," a reference to GM's chairwoman and CEO, Mary Barra. Then, he apparently decided to finally use the Defense Production Act to spur GM into action, and … well you'll just have to listen to the show, because I can't even, and this will probably be outdated by the time I'm done typing this sentence.

Also: Metro Detroit and Michigan's population continues to drop according to new 2019 estimated Census numbers, and the people who are staying in the state are shifting west. In Metro Detroit, we have fewer residents living in our region than in 1970.

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On today's show:

Guest Angela Rogensues from Playworks Michigan joins us to talk about play-at-home tips while you're cooped up. https://www.playworks.org/michigan/

Also:

A ton of local Coronavirus-related updates, including the passing of a law enforcement officers and the possible permanent shuttering of a popular downtown Detroit nightspot.

Plus, the city of Detroit is building a large, temporary dam on Detroit's east side as it's expected the river will be even higher this year. More on that in the show.

Love what we're doing? Become a member! Join us at http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit

On today's show:

We update the top-line Coronavirus case numbers across the state.

Drive-thru testing is going to start Friday at the State Fairground in Detroit. We have the details on this bold program to test between 40 and 50 people an hour.

A second DPD member has died of COVID-19. There's going to be a new testing regimen put in place.

Detroit community leader Marlowe Stoudamire has died of COVID-19 at the age of 43. He had no underlying health issues. He left a major impact, and we remember some of it, including a clip from when he was on the show.

Ernie Birchmeier from the Michigan Farm Bureau joins us to talk about Michigan's farmers and food supply chain in-depth. It's an interesting and detailed conversation about our true situation.

In lighter fare, because we all need some, Castalia Cocktails has new to-go drink cubes that you just add your favorite booze and voila! Fancy cocktail. There are three available right now and Sven talks about his favorite pairings. More: https://www.castaliacocktails.com/cocktail-kits

Dr. Joel Fishbain, an infectious disease specialist with Beaumont, Grosse Pointe, joins the show today and tells us about what's happening on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus. Fishbain tells Daily Detroit that he was initially among those who thought this was simply a version of the common flu. But now he's seeing alarming numbers of people in their 40s and 50s who have to go on ventilators — as well as a phenomenon he called "robust diarrhea."

Beaumont has reported 333 confirmed cases in inpatients with COVID-19 across the hospital system as of Tuesday, while the number nearly doubled since Monday to 170 at Henry Ford Health System's five Detroit-area hospitals. Statewide, the tally is now 1,791 confirmed cases, up 35% in a day, and 24 deaths. Both Jer and I now count ourselves among those who know someone who died of coronavirus. This is real, friends. Take it seriously.

In non-apocalyptic news, Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed criminal corruption charges against Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith and three others, alleging they helped embezzle an estimated $600,000 of county funds and shielded it from county oversight. It's an extraordinary development in Michigan's third most-populous county, which has had many issues of late with public corruption among elected officials.

To ensure that not everything on today's show is depressing, we have some fun reading listener feedback about my recent poor audio from my basement office. We're trying to set a positive example and practice social distancing podcasting, see. And we've got it fixed!

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. If you like what you're hearing, tell a friend about us, leave us a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or support us by becoming a Patreon member.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday issued a stay-at-home order to all Michigan residents, ordering non-essential businesses and workplaces closed and outlawing all public or private gatherings between people who aren't part of the same household.

It sounds, and is, extreme, though it's necessary to minimize the worst effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. And if you've already been following best-practice advice, then it frankly isn't a big departure from the new norm.

Just don't go out and hoard toilet paper or other essential items, K? The full order is here, if you want to read it.

Also, on today's show, we give updated coronavirus numbers from the state. Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, says officials should just call the rest of the school year off, already. And Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says people who stay home and watch TV or play video games are heroes. No, really.

Other tidbits:

People who get infected with coronavirus are reporting they temporarily lose the ability to smell or taste anything. Hamtramck-based handbag maker Better Life Bags has announced it's making surgical masks for health care workers. And Ferndale Project, the new side venture from Eastern Market Brewing Company, gives an update on their coronavirus carry-out operations. Because they serve food, they're considered an essential business.

Plus, Andy Didorosi joins us to talk about how his bus company started making hand sanitizer, as well as what he thinks small businesses need to make it through this crisis.

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. If you like what you're hearing, tell a friend about us, leave us a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or support us by becoming a Patreon member.