The Metro

Our neighbors across the Detroit River have hosted the Windsor International Film Festival for 21 years. This year will be the first time the event will showcase outside of Canada. 

In partnership with the Downtown Detroit Partnership, film lovers will have a chance to partake in the festival. 

Campus Martius Park will act as a satellite location and offer two films for audiences to watch. 

Vincent Georgie is Executive Director and the chief programmer for WIFF, and David Cowan is Chief Public Spaces Officer for the Downtown Detroit Partnership. They joined The Metro to talk more about the film festival.

Fall is here, and that means cool nights, crispy leaves and the smell of hot apple cider. But the season won’t last forever, and there is a lot of fun to be had at Michigan's apple orchards, cider mills and corn mazes.

Laura Herberg, reporter for Bridge Michigan, joined the Metro to share the highlights from her recent story, "Five ways to fall for fall in Michigan."

What's on your winter bucket list? Laura Herberg and Bridge Michigan are taking your  suggestions.

The cost of college isn’t just measured in tuition dollars. For many students, part of the challenge is navigating the maze to get there. This is especially true for young people who are the first in their family to attend college.

Even though college is really expensive, many people are still making the case for it. Economists and educators generally cite the financial and social benefits that come with the experience. 

But getting admitted to a university can be difficult, especially for first generation college students. The price tag is one thing — but so is all the bureaucracy around the application process.

Last month, Wayne State University and Detroit public schools rolled out a plan to ease that burden. The university announced that Detroit juniors with a 3.0 or higher will be automatically enrolled at Wayne State through the Warriors on the Rise program. 

Cyekeia Lee is the Executive Director of the Detroit College Access Network, which helps Detroit public school students get into college. She spoke with Robyn Vincent about the potential benefits of the program.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit or Waawiyatanong is the ancestral homelands of the three Anishinaabe nations: the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi.  

As you drive around the city of Detroit, oftentimes you'll see street names like Cheyenne and Chippewa Avenue that serve as reminders of indigenous presence. 

For so many spaces in Detroit, the influence of the ancestral land holders persists. American Indians have been instrumental in the growth of the city. 

Today, on Indigenous People’s Day, the city of Detroit in collaboration with the North American Indian Association of Detroit, Detroit Indigenous Peoples Alliance, American Indian Health and Family Services, and Southeastern Michigan Indians will host a day of celebration. 

From noon-6 p.m., Hart Plaza will honor Indigenous People’s Day with cultural activities, including a powwow. 

Travis Schuyler is the program director with the North American Indian Association of Detroit. He spoke with The Metro’s Tia Graham. 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

James Boggs has the Detroit story. He was born into a sharecropping family in Junction, Alabama. He moved to the city and worked in the auto industry for over 20 years. His wife Grace was a Chinese American philosopher who was born in Rhode Island and lived in New York.

James and Grace Lee Boggs would go on to lead a movement of self-resiliency and working together as a community. They were instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement through the 60s and 70s and further into the eras with the Black Panther Party.  The two remained married for 40 years, until James’ death in 1993. 

Grace Lee Boggs carried their legacy and continued their work until her death in 2015 at the age of 100. She was an author, feminist, philosopher and social activist who inspired and changed the minds of so many, and made sure Detroit thrived with love and community. 

This month, The James and Grace Lee Boggs Foundation is celebrating with a 10 year memorial of her death. The gathering will honor the life and legacy of the civil rights activist and take a look at how to move forward in this moment in time we’re in today.

Donald Boggs, son of James Boggs and Alice Jennings J.D. joined Metro host Tia Graham to talk more about the 10-year memorial honoring the life of Grace Lee Boggs. 

The attorneys representing young people in Detroit’s courts say their pay hasn’t kept pace with their purpose.

They haven’t received a raise in more than three decades.

Wayne County juvenile attorneys handle neglect and delinquency cases. They represent kids and families in crisis, but unlike public defenders, they are independent contractors who receive a set fee per hearing and no benefits.

Juvenile attorney Marc Shreeman says the pay is about $500 for a preliminary hearing and pretrial appearance, roughly half of what similar attorneys earn in nearby Oakland County. 

Shreeman says low pay, coupled with rising caseloads, is having an impact. In 2019, roughly 120 attorneys were taking juvenile cases in Wayne County; now, there are fewer than 60. 

The dwindling number of juvenile attorneys and stagnant pay come as Detroit faces a rise in youth violence compared with last year, and a higher number of teens being caught with firearms. City officials have responded by strengthening curfew enforcement and raising fines for parents of minors found out after hours. 

WDET contacted multiple county officials for comment.

The Wayne County Executive’s Office did not respond.

A representative for the Wayne County Court Administration, which distributes pay to juvenile attorneys, said in an earlier statement that the department is “working closely with Wayne County to address potential funding options” and that staff have met with the Ways and Means Committee to discuss the issue.

WDET also contacted Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch, who chairs that committee, but did not receive a response.

Juvenile attorney Shreeman joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss the work of public defenders in a time when young people are facing more danger.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Bevlove is a Detroit R&B songstress who uses her words to paint pictures over smooth productions.

Bevlove grew up understanding the power of music. Like so many Detroiters, church played a huge role in fostering Bev’s musical curiosities. The fellowship and hallelujah choruses were all building blocks for the way Bevlove performs today.

CONTAINER On The Metro is a new WDET-produced storytelling series that brings Detroit’s creative heartbeat to the airwaves.

CONTAINER is a program created by The Love Building to showcase Detroit’s most promising creative talent across music, fashion, fine arts and food. Done in collaboration with WDET Public Radio with major support from the Gilbert Family Foundation.

The next Senator representing Michigan could shift the balance of power in Washington, and their policies relating to the auto industry, tariffs and electric vehicles could make Michigan’s economic interests pivotal nationwide.

The four main candidates are Abdul El-Sayed, Representative Haley Stevens, State Senator Mallory McMorrow and Mike Rogers. They’re all vying to replace Gary Peters as Michigan's next Senator.

The domestic auto industry has been on an economic roller coaster. Ping-ponging tariff policies and rollbacks of Biden-era electric vehicle tax rebates have added economic uncertainty to the equation of domestic automakers and parts suppliers.

So, what policies might the next Senator from Michigan bring to Washington?

Molly Boigon is a reporter who covers technology and innovation for Automotive News. She spoke to the four candidates on the Daily Drive Podcast and wrote a piece breaking down where they stand on key automotive economic policies.

 She joined Robyn Vincent to share what she learned about the candidates' positions on electric vehicles and tariffs.

There are about 2,200 urban gardens across Detroit. In a place with a lot of empty tracts,  that can be a great use of land. 

And, over the past few years, the city has done things to assist the people who tend to it. There’s now an entire department dedicated to the inner workings of urban farmers. 

Recently, the city alongside the Eastern Market Partnership are collaborating to offer $225,000 in grant funding to Detroit-based farmers.

But even with the new dollars being made available, preserving and expanding farms can be challenging because upkeep can be costly and labor-intensive. With Mayor Mike Duggan leaving office, there will likely be turnover and questions about the priorities of the new administration.

Amanda Brezzell is the creative director and co-founder of Fennigan’s Farms in Detroit, a board member for the Detroit Food Policy Council, and a policy and engagement specialist for the Groundwork Center.

They spoke with Cary Junior II about the challenges and joys of farming in Detroit.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

StoryFest returns to the Detroit Opera House with “No Small Wind Is Blowing,” a live celebration of migration, memory, and the unseen forces that connect us.

Festival curators Tay Glass and McArdle Hankin of Back Pocket Media join The Metro’s Cary Junior II to explore how storytelling can make us see each other more clearly.