Daily Detroit

Welcome to your Tuesday edition of Daily Detroit, where we deliver two pieces of big news:

1. Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson says he has stage four pancreatic cancer and won't seek an eighth term in 2020.

2. DTE Energy says it expects to sign a deal with the city to swap a decommissioned power plant on the east riverfront so it can be used to store Jeeps built at a new factory being pursued by parent Fiat Chrysler. [Freep]

Why is this sad, you ask? This is the important line.

FCA said it needs DTE's Conners Creek land for storage of vehicles for the Jeep plant to be built at Mack and St. Jean. - Detroit Free Press

n my opinion, this somehow feels quintessentially Detroit, a repeat of what we've always done: surrender to the automobile. Weren't we supposed to be trying to reclaim our riverfront? And wasn't DTE Energy crowing about redeveloping that parcel? (Why yes. Yes, they were.)

In other news, measles cases are on the rise in Oakland County after being traced to a man who visited the area from Israel, circa New York City. We recently spoke with an infectious disease specialist from Beaumont Health about measles and why it's coming back.

On the lighter side, both John King Books and Motor City Gas get nods for their excellence from Mentalfloss and Yelp respectively.

And finally, Jer speaks with James Chapman of Rock Ventures about the Quicken Loans Demo Dayon June 14 and how you can get involved.

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. Find us and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and consider supporting us as a member.

At least three boutique hotels are coming to Detroit, bringing a dose of luxury to still-gritty parts of the city. The Mid will take shape next to the old hammer-and-nail building on Woodward, while the West Elm Hotel will incorporate the old Bonstelle Theater several blocks south. And downtown, there are plans for a new 154-room hotel at 600 West Lafayette, plus the old Park Hotel downtown just sold to a hospitality company, suggesting yet more hotel rooms could be possible.

Most of the hotels include mixed-use space, including some high-end "luxury" housing. On today's show, we talk about what's driving that, and why the spate of recent hotel development still isn't enough to start landing us the really big mega-conventions and sportsball events. And on a tangent, we also dive into the idea that Detroit needs more Kroger or Meijer stores. FYI, there are some solid grocery stores here.

In other news, Sterling Heights has announced the five finalists for naming the so-called "Golden Corridor Icon" of Hall Road.

Also:

• Ferndale's metered parking rates, and hours of enforcement, will go up April 1 — no April Fool's joke here
• And drinking aficionado website Liquor.com has named two Detroit bars at the opposite end of the spectrum among the best places to drink around the world

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. Find us, leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and consider supporting us on Patreon.

This is a bonus interview edition of your Daily Detroit and this episode is all about cannabis - a potcast, if you will.

Marijuana is poised to become a big business opportunity here in Michigan, after voters overwhelmingly voted to grant full legal status to weed last November.

Meanwhile, medical marijuana has been legal in Michigan for a decade now, with a new licensing system under way that is reshaping the industry.

Weed is estimated to become a $1.7 billion market here in Michigan.

On today's show, we speak with Rush Hasan, who runs operations and business development for The Reef, a medical marijuana dispensary on Detroit's east side.

The last piece of the new Shinola Hotel will open its doors Monday when The Brakeman starts pouring beers inside its new digs on the corner of John R and Farmer in downtown Detroit.

It's part of a new wedge-shaped building that took over a former surface parking lot, and it's an airy, light-filled space, thanks to several garage-door windows that will be able to roll up when the weather warms up.

On this episode of the Daily Detroit podcast, spirits advisor Nuri Gocay and I speak with partners Joshua Pickard and Luke Ostrom from New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group, about Detroit's newest beer hall concept.

It'll feature a rotating list of Midwestern and Michigan craft beers, a full bar, and fried chicken and other eats from the adjacent Penny Red's. It's definitely a nice addition to a fast up-and-coming corner of downtown.

We have a bunch of pictures up on Daily Detroit as well: http://www.dailydetroit.com/2019/03/21/a-look-inside-the-beautiful-brakeman-beer-hall/

Find Daily Detroit and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. You can also support our work on Patreon.

A den of coyotes has taken up residence near downtown Detroit — specifically, in that weird no-man's-land site of the old Brewster housing projects where I-75, I-375 and the spur to Gratiot Avenue converge. The Michigan DNR says not to worry. But if you live nearby in, say, Brush Park, you might want to keep a much closer eye on your pets.

Also: Yes, we inaccurately datelined yesterday's episode as a Monday. It brought to mind this classic scene from "Groundhog Day."

In other news, Dan Gilbert has a new podcast in the pipeline. It's called "Speed of the Game," and it has a tagline straight from a shoe company ad. Hmmmm…..

Also:

• Ford plans to invest $900 million and create 900 new jobs in the coming years, mostly to build electric vehicles Downriver in Flat Rock
• The Detroit Regional Chamber is the first big business organization in Michigan to officially endorse Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's plan to "fix the damn roads"
• "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda surprises show-goers with an appearance at the Fisher Theater last night
• The 10th annual Marche du Nain Rouge happens Sunday

All that and a bag of fun on this episode of your Daily Detroit.

Find us and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and consider supporting Daily Detroit on Patreon.

Welcome to Tuesday, March 19 and the final day of winter, YAY!

On the show today, we run down the news that not only does Detroit have a homegrown winery, but Detroit Vineyards aims to open a tasting room in the Stroh's Ice Cream building on Gratiot near Eastern Market this spring. Will wonders never cease?

Elsewhere, Beaumont Health is proposing to open a $140 million, 117-bed hospital in Oxford, filing a certificate of need application with the state. That makes Beaumont the latest in a list of big health systems that have tried to win approval for a new hospital in the growth exurbs of northern Oakland County.

What else, you ask?

• Freshman U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, wants to prohibit auto insurers from using a person's credit history to set insurance rates
• Tigers pitching ace Michael Fulmer may undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery to reconstruct ligaments in his right elbow
• Three nonprofits are getting funds to help Detroiters get better jobs
• A new Mexican bar and restaurant called Peso is set to open in the space formerly occupied by Fist of Curry (and before that, the beloved Huron Room, may it rest in peace)
• There could be a Lego kit of Mackinac Island's famed Grand Hotel, if enough of you vote to make it happen
• Detroit neighborhoods could get residential parking permits under a proposed city ordinance
• And the city of Detroit has finally begun posting restaurant health inspection results online

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit!

It's Monday, and your weekend warrior dreams have been dashed. Back to work, automatons!

Oh, and the city of Sterling Heights would like the public to help rename (or name) the sculpture it calls the Golden Corridor Icon in the median of Hall Road. There are a ton of prizes on offer for first-, second- and third-place entries, so find more information here.

In other news of the absurd, Little Caesars is unveiling a bacon-wrapped deep-dish pizza, ringed with three and a half feet of bacon.

Yes, we discuss some real/serious news as well:

• A former UAW vice president has been charged as part of a wide-ranging federal corruption investigation
• President Trump wants General Motors and CEO Mary Barra to re-open its Lordstown, Ohio plant, which made the Chevy Cruze until earlier this month
• Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber says the league still can't get behind Detroit's bid for a new franchise because of Ford Field
• Detroit's Islandview neighborhood is getting some apartments that cost as much as $850,000 at the Saint Charles Residences
• Today is Transit Driver Appreciation Day, so hug your local bus driver
• And in a new segment, Jer, Shianne and I each take turns sharing a cool place, new or otherwise, that we've recently visited. We covered Petite Cabane in Birmingham, the Lexus Velodrome, Taqueria El Rey and the Mutiny Tiki Bar

Thanks for listening to Daily Detroit. Find us and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and consider supporting us on Patreon.

On a recent episode of this podcast, I went on a brief side rant praising my local Meijer store for accepting plastic bags for recycling and had a minor freak-out over the looming global environmental crisis over our increasingly all-plastic everything.

That caught the attention of Joe Munem, a Daily Detroit podcast listener who works as director of government affairs and public relations with GFL Environmental USA, a trash hauler and recycling service.

He wrote us to say that municipal recycling programs have some very tough choices to make in the wake of official government actions by the People's Republic of China, halfway around the world. It's so bad, he said, that the city of Westland recently notified residents it has begun landfilling all the recyclable materials people put in their bins.

We had Munem drop by the Detroit Shipping Co. studio of Podcast Detroit, for some insight into the looming crisis facing residential recycling programs across the country.

It's a fascinating discussion, and you can listen in the player above. Or, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. We're on all the podcast things, in fact.

If you really want to keep the show going, be sure to support us on Patreon. http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit

There's a new house in a modest neighborhood of northeast Ferndale, made of shipping containers, that is listing for $450,000.

Is Ferndale about to become like Midtown Detroit? Oh, SNAP!

Also on today's show, we discuss the new measles case identified in Oakland County, and we speak with Dr. Nicholas Gilpin, an infectious disease specialist and chief medical officer at Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, for more about the virus. Elsewhere:

Michael Bloomberg joins Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in announcing a $10 million grant to combat the opioid epidemic in Michigan.

We run down a host of road-construction news, ranging from the I-75 reconstruction project in Oakland County to a slew of projects in Macomb County.

The Detroit News uncovers new details about the FBI investigation into Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars.

Macomb County Public Works officials have identified two unknown substances fouling the Bear Creek drain near 11 Mile and Mound roads.

And Customs officials seized 10 pounds of meth during a search of a car traveling from Montreal to Calgary … at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron. More than a little bit out of the way for them.

Love the show? Tell a friend! Word of mouth is how the show grows. And if you really love the show, consider becoming a Patreon member!

It's March 13, or written another way, 3/13, or #313Day.

It's become quite a thing locally on social media. And it's become, in Jer's words, "a meme holiday." Although it's good to spread positivity, it could be a lot better. He's got a different proposal to try and infuse some more action into it. We talk about it on the podcast.

There's lots of real news we cover on today's show, as well:

• Ford is issuing pink slip to salaried workers in Dearborn
• Fiat Chrysler is recalling some 860,000 vehicles that don't meet federal emissions standards
• City Airport is getting its main runway replaced, which would seem to put rumors of redevelopment to rest
• The Foundation Hotel faces a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, now a group of Trump supporters says it's on the wrong end of discrimination by the hotel
• We circle back to the fact the Masonic Temple inked a deal with AEG
• Detroit vs. Everybody is teaming up with Adidas for a new line of sneakers and apparel
• And Anthology Coffee is moving to Eastern Market

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