Daily Detroit

General Motors dropped a bomb on Monday, saying it will likely close three assembly plants including Detroit-Hamtramck in a pre-emptive move to cut costs and headcount ahead of an expected downturn.

The moves mean the elimination of as many as 14,000 jobs — including 1,500 at Detroit-Hamtramck — and the elimination of slow-selling sedans like the Chevrolet Volt and Impala and the Buick LaCrosse. A transmission plant in Warren could also close.

It's a particularly dubious cap to the saga of the Poletown plant, which rose during the 1980s after the two cities it straddles worked with GM to condemn and raze a working-class neighborhood of the same name. On today's episode, we speak with Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski, who tells us the closure leaves a city defined by the auto industry without any actual auto manufacturing. It also leaves Detroit without an open auto-assembly plant. In fact, here's Mayor Mike Duggan statement about it:

"This morning I spoke to Mary Barra and she advised me for the first time of the situation at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. The news is troubling. I have spoken to UAW President Gary Jones and the city's economic development team. They are working together to come up with a solution that works for GM and the employees. We all know there is strong demand for manufacturing space in Detroit and we are willing to work with GM to fill all the available manufacturing space at Poletown with either GM-related entities or other companies."

You can also read the UAW's statement here.

We also speak with auto analyst Michelle Krebs of Autotrader to learn about the business rationale behind the move. And finally, tech guru Nuri Gocay joins us to shed some light on where General Motors is actually adding jobs (hint: It ain't in Detroit).

Enjoy today's episode in the player above, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. And if you like what we're doing and want to support us, check us out at Patreon.

Detroit will get a professional soccer team, but in a different way than many expected. No, Major League Soccer isn't coming to Detroit — not yet anyway — despite the efforts of Dan Gilbert and Pistons owner Tom Gores. Instead, the popular semi-pro club Detroit City FC has announced it will join a new pro league called the NPSL Founders Cup.

What does that mean for the team? The players? And what exactly is happening? To sort that out, soccer journalist and Daily Detroit contributor Fletcher Sharpe joins Sven Gustafson for an interesting conversation. And then we unpack the soccer landscape and talk about some key differences between the U.S. and the rest of the world when it comes to pro soccer.

Like the show? We're wherever fine podcasts are found. Would you like to support the show? Check out our Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit

Dan Gilbert made headlines this week when he issued an ultimatum to state lawmakers: Find a fix for Michigan's broken no-fault auto insurance system by mid-2019 or I'll bankroll an effort to put a proposal on the statewide ballot in 2020.

On today's show, Jer interviews Jared Fleisher, vice president of government relations for the Quicken Loans Family of Companies, about why Gilbert and Quicken are jumping into the fray.

Fleisher, who is running point for Gilbert's push to overhaul no-fault, says Quicken has 17,000 employees working in the city and has invested $3.5 billion to date in Detroit. He calls auto insurance reform "the single biggest but also most solvable barrier to the growth of the city."

He also draws a comparison between Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system and the much-criticized Obamacare health overhaul. Fleisher says that while the Affordable Care Act requires people to buy insurance, it offers them a choice of benefit levels to pay for. Michigan's auto insurance law similarly requires that every driver be covered, but it essentially forces everyone to buy the top-tier "platinum" level of benefits.

We spoke last month on the pod with attorney Steve Gursten, the head of Michigan Auto Law, all about Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's recent federal lawsuit accusing it of being unconstitutional. Gursten argues that Duggan's suit has a real chance of prevailing, but he says it's tough to know how to fix the law without more transparency into insurance company practices.

Many previous efforts to reform Michigan's no-fault system have run into a brick wall, but now it seems no-fault may be on a collision course with the forces of change.

Daily Detroit is powered by people like you. We appreciate our advertisers, but we also believe that projects serving the community should be funded by the community. That's why we've set up our Patreon. We have some cool rewards, too. http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit

There's a lot of competition between Metro Detroit area downtowns lately. Detroit, Ferndale, Royal Oak and others are aiming for shoppers, diners and residents as urban centers and more dense living and shopping are now the hot thing not just here but across America.

For a time, Royal Oak was one of few downtown destinations in our area. Now, they've launched an ad and marketing campaign to get their share. That campaign is by Factory, an ad agency headed by Mark Lantz in downtown Detroit.

Sven Gustafson talked with Lantz - who has some pretty impressive credentials with the Pure Michigan campaign, among others - about bringing folks into downtown Royal Oak to shop at their many restaurants and stores, as well as one of the most common debates in car-crazy metro Detroit, where to park.

You can find Factory here: http://factorydetroit.com

And Downtown Royal Oak here: https://www.romi.gov/101/Downtown

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Devon O'Reilly, international man of intrigue, is Daily Detroit's Man About Town. He joins us today for a week-ending episode devoted to the things that truly matter: Where to eat, what to drink and where are the best place around town to broadcast your every waking moment to the world on Instagram.

O'Reilly gives us the lowdown on Besa, one of Detroit's newest restaurants. It just opened for business inside the refurbished Vinton Building, with a killer wine list, a raw bar and a dish that fuses scallops and a sauce made of — get this — white chocolate.

Elsewhere, we discuss his list of favorite and least-favorite glassware, including why in God's name any bar would serve a mixed drink in a footed Irish coffee mug.

And last but not least, the holiday season is upon us, ready or not. That means lots of twinkly lights, mistletoe, garland and beaucoup opportunities to Instagram your smiling mug, personal brand or current status to the whole wide world. Where are the best places in Detroit to set an Instagram pic? We offer our suggestions.

Find Daily Detroit wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Tell your friends and family about us, and don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Your show for November 14, 2018:

Greektown Casino will be sold to Penn National. Dan Gilbert's going to take the cash and invest in more Detroit properties.

Two popular art pieces - one by Shepard Fairey, the other How & Nosm - on the side of a downtown building will be covered as part of an expansion.

The iconic Cadieux Cafe changes hands. We hear there still will be featherbowling.

Al Ameer gets Eater's nod again as one of the best restaurants in America, and the only Michigan entrant

Atwater Brewery is launching a new stout that's aged for a year in an oak barrel.

Like the show? Tell a friend. And don't forget to subscribe wherever you download podcasts.

Today we do a deep dive into a corner of Detroit. One that's making board games.

Jer's guest is Nemo Rathwald. He's the designer and creator of the board game Overworld, a recently successfully funded and delivered Kickstarter project.

What does it take to get your project successfully crowdfunded? What are some tips Nemo has for Kickstarter? And why is Michigan great ground to make board games?

Enjoy the interview.

Links:

Overworld Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magicmeeplegames/overworld-16-bit-tile-placement-and-exploration-bo

Game page: https://www.magicmeeplegames.com/overworld.html#overworld-form

Welcome to the work week, automatons!

Here's what to know:

1. We talk about the report Moody's Investors Services released on Detroit, which essentially asks where's the love (and money) for the neighborhoods.

2. Some development news: In Ferndale, craft beer retailer 8 Degrees Plato says it will close it store on Nine Mile by the end of the year. The beer will continue to flow at the Cass Corridor location, however.

3. In Northville, there's a battle brewing over the proposed demolition of a historic mid-century modern school.

4. That internet prank we told you about involving the Google results for Wyandotte Police Department? It's been fixed, but we solicit Downriver denizen and tech wizard/vlogger Tom Lawrence to try and get to the bottom of it.

And where to go:

1. Shianne Nocerini fills us in on the new sculpture "Divergence" by artist Adriana Ohar. You can see it at New Center Park.

2. We have deets on this year's big Christmas tree lighting ceremony, which takes place Friday at Campus Martius, with concurrent activities taking place over at Beacon Park on the other side of downtown Detroit. THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR and all that.

3. Lastly, Sven interviews Dannis Mitchell of Barton Malow about the "Ready. Set. Build" workforce expo that takes place Wednesday at Cobo Center. It's all about helping to connect people with jobs in the skilled trades, where developers are also seeing a shortage of qualified employees.

Find Daily Detroit wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

On November 8, 2018:

Ford made news today by buying Spin, an e-scooter mobility company. Jer head to the Ford World Headquarters to talk with the VP of Ford X, Sunny Madra, about the purchase and what they plan to do with the service. And, it's beginning service in Detroit.

Plum Market is opening in downtown Detroit (More here).

Karen Dybis talk with Sven about the Knight Arts Challenge Grants. She's a winner for her project to chronicle Detroit's vanishing Delray neighborhood.

Then, we chat about what's happening around town, including a signage cleanup at Bakers, an infamous motel known for being dirty getting remodeled and rebranded, and what's happening at the old Diablo's space in downtown Royal Oak (there are more in-depth details here).

Thanks for listening! Don't forget to tell a friend about the Daily Detroit podcast.

It was a big Election Day here in Michigan, where the much-discussed "blue wave" helped sweep Democrats — all of them women — into the top statewide elected offices. A fourth, Debbie Stabenow, survived a closer-than-expected battle to win re-election to the U.S. Senate.

We're devoting today's episode 100 percent to post-election results and analysis. Occasional host and Daily Detroit spirits advisor Nuri Gocay joins Jer and I to break down the results. He also talks about his experience shuttling people to and from the polls as a volunteer with the Detroit Bus Company.

Later, I speak with Oakland University political science professor David Dulio. He helps provide context for Gretchen Whitmer's comfortable win over Republican Bill Schuette, the importance of suburban voters and the prospects for divided state government, with the state House and Senate remaining under GOP control.

We also break down the three ballot proposals, which all sailed to approval, including the Proposal 2 anti-gerrymandering initiative and Proposal 3, which will make it easier to vote. I interview medical marijuana expert and attorney Denise Pollicella about Proposal 1, which will make recreational marijuana legal in Michigan.

Pollicella says the licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries has been an overly complicated mess in Michigan, but she credits the drafters of Prop 1 for restricting the state's ability to interfere in the new recreational cannabis industry. Still, she says the first recreational marijuana dispensaries aren't likely to open their doors before spring 2020.

Don't forget to subscribe to Daily Detroit on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. -Sven