The Detroit Evening Report

By WDETSociety & Culture News Daily News

The Detroit Evening Report episodes

July 19, 2022 Detroit Evening Report July 19, 2022
Catch up on the latest headlines about Detroit.
5 min
July 18, 2022 Loved Ones Remember Slain Detroit Police Officer at Funeral
Catch up on the latest headlines in Detroit.
4 min
July 14, 2022 Federal Grand Jury Indicts Man Who Bought Gun That Killed Detroit Officer
A federal grand jury has indicted a Detroit man accused of buying the gun used to kill police Officer Loren Courts. The Detroit News reports the one-count indictment alleges Sheldon Avery Thomas lied earlier this summer while buying a Draco semiautomatic pistol from a dealer. Prosecutors say he claimed he was the buyer of the firearm but he actually purchased it or Ehmani Davis.
5 min
July 13, 2022 City To Pay $7.5 Million to Settle Lawsuit by Man Who Says Cops Framed Him
The City of Detroit has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit by a man who claimed police framed him for murder. Desmond Ricks was convicted of fatally shooting a friend outside a Detroit restaurant in 1992. He was released from prison in 2017 after serving 25 years in prison. The Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school asked a judge to reopen the case after photos of two bullets taken from the victim did not resemble the bullets that were examined by a defense expert decades earlier. The actual bullets didn't match the gun police said Ricks used in the shooting.
4 min
July 12, 2022 Reforming the Cash Bail System
36th District Court in Detroit is undergoing changes to make the cash bail system more equitable for low-level offenders. Under an agreement reached with the ACLU of Michigan, the court will not set cash bail for people at or below 200% of the federal poverty line.
5 min
July 11, 2022 Man Facing Federal Charges for Buying Gun That Killed Officer
The criminal complaint accuses 26-year-old Sheldon Avery Thomas of buying the gun for Ehmani Davis for a $50 profit. Officials say Davis shot officer Loren Courts with the weapon before being shot and killed by police. Under federal law, Thomas faces up to 10 years in prison for lying about buying a gun for someone else and a $250,000 fine.
5 min
July 08, 2022 Advocates Call for More Transparency on City's Water Affordability Plan
The city of Detroit recently announced an income- and usage-based water affordability plan. But residents and advocates say the city did not consult the community on the Detroit Water and Sewerage Lifeline Plan. They are calling on officials to make the process more open and transparent.
5 min
July 07, 2022 Detroit Officer Killed in the Line of Duty
A Detroit officer and a 19-year-old man were fatally shot on the city’s west side on Wednesday. Detroit Police Chief James White says the officer and his partner responded to a call of a man firing a weapon Wednesday evening. He says when the officers arrived, they were met by the suspect who was armed with an assault-type weapon and firing in their direction. White says one officer was struck. Officer Loren Courts was later pronounced dead at a hospital. During a news conference Thursday, White singled out the actions of Courts’ partner. Officer Amanda Hudgens who tended to Courts’ gunshot wound, even as the suspect approached them.
5 min
July 06, 2022 Eligible Households Can Order More Free COVID-19 Tests
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has expanded its partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation through Project Act. The initiative will provide 300,000 COVID-19 tests to 60,000 households free of charge. Residents in at-risk communities for spread are able to request tests once per month in July and August. Households will receive one kit each month containing five tests, which usually arrive within a week. The free COVID-19 tests can be found through accesscovidtests.org by entering a ZIP code to see if that area qualifies.
6 min
July 05, 2022 City Official Abused Authority, Investigators Say
The City of Detroit says deputy city clerk Reuben Washington abused his authority by organizing part of the petition signature effort for City Clerk Janice Winfrey. Winfrey is running for Congress in Michigan’s 12th District. BridgeDetroit reports the city’s office of inspector general found that Washington used city resources during work hours to support Winfrey’s campaign. That’s a violation of the city charter and city ethics rules. Investigators reportedly found that Winfrey did nothing wrong. Winfrey is running against Shanelle Jackson, Kelly Garrett and incumbent Rashida Tlaib in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary.
5 min