All staff for the Institute for Library and Museum Services were put on administrative leave as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal spending and eliminate some government agencies on March 31. 

The Institute for Library and Museum Services is a federal agency that funds exhibits and staff for libraries and museums. It also funds accessibility tools for people with visual impairments and technologies for archival processing.

Grants to libraries and museums, totaling $266 million, seem unlikely to be administered. At least half of the 75 people on leave are expected to lose their jobs completely.

Today on The Metro, we’re bringing you some conversations with people who have been working at museums and libraries for years. 

Senior producer David Leins spoke with Devon Akmon, director of the Michigan State University Museum and a board member of the American Alliance of Museums.

Host Tia Graham also spoke with Russ Bellant, a longtime Detroiter and grassroots organizer. Bellant was formerly on the board of commissioners for Detroit Public Library.

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

The Greektown Neighborhood Partnership is working on a “Monroe Streetscape Transformation Project.” 

The project would allow the partnership to occasionally close down certain streets to cars and make them more people-friendly. Some of these changes include expanding pedestrian zones, large landscaping projects, increasing lighting for visibility and new signature signage. 

Greektown Neighborhood Partnership Chair and President Athina Papas joins The Metro to discuss the changes coming to downtown. 

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

Health experts say measles deaths could become more common, marking a shift backwards. Measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. 25 years ago, thanks to what state officials describe as “a highly effective vaccination program in the U.S.” along with better measles control across North, Central and South America.

But the landscape for infectious diseases is changing. Vaccine skepticism and hesitancy are on the rise. So far this year, over 600 confirmed measles cases have been reported across multiple states. For comparison, there were 285 measles cases reported for all of 2024.

Outbreaks are on the rise as well. The vast majority of measles cases are outbreak-associated, which is defined as three or more related cases. 

The nation’s hub for addressing infectious diseases — the Department of Health and Human Services — has faced major cuts under the Trump administration. Experts say those cuts could affect the response to infectious diseases at the local, state and national level.

Dr. Teena Chopra joins The Metro to help us understand the situation. She’s the Assistant Dean at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and specializes in infectious diseases.

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

Many free speech advocates are alarmed as the Trump administration revokes visas for hundreds of international students. Those students could face deportation for committing traffic violations or participating in political activism. 

In both circumstances, this kind of federal action is rare. Students are always at risk of losing their status for criminal convictions, but rarely for political demonstrations. 

People working in the Trump administration, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, say student activists do not have a right to be here. He claims students have been “vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus,” and that international students who “start a riot” will have their visas revoked. 

It is unclear whether any students who have lost their visas have been charged with starting a riot. And so, this has many people worried about crackdowns on free speech and the broader implications for all Americans, including Amir Makled. 

Makled is a civil rights attorney representing a University of Michigan protester pro bono. That protester faces criminal charges filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for allegedly defying law enforcement. 

On Sunday, Makled was detained for two hours by federal agents at Detroit Metro Airport after returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic with his wife and two daughters. 

Makled said immigration officials told him they knew he was an attorney and that he takes on “high profile” cases. They wanted access to his cell phone.

Just last month, Makled appeared on The Metro to explain why he is representing a pro-Palestine protester pro bono. This week, he returned to the show to discuss his experience being detained by federal officials. 

The Metro also contacted the regional U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, which participated in the detainment of Makled. The agency has not yet replied to that request.

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

About 30% of the food supply in the U.S. goes to waste, according to the USDA. Most of the time, food scraps end up in the sink or the garbage. But there’s something else you can do with your food scraps. 

Depending on where you live, it might be a program in your city, something that’s similar to recycling or trash collection. We’re talking about composting — the process of turning old food and yard waste into nutrient-rich compost.

Bill Whitley is the president of Spurt Industries. His company manages a multi-city composting program that includes operating a large compost yard in Rochester Hills. Spurt was hired by a municipal corporation called the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) that manages waste and recycling for 12 communities in Oakland County. The arrangement started March 31. 

Michael Edwards is the CEO and co-founder of Midtown Composting. They’ve been operating a compost service in the Midtown neighborhood since 2015.

Whitley and Edwards both joined The Metro on Tuesday to discuss the different options available to metro Detroit residents looking to compost at home.

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

The city of Detroit has long been a hotbed for jazz. In fact, many musicians would say Motown would not be what it is if not for the musical genre. 

Jazz legends like Marcus Belgrave, Kenny Burrell and Marion Hayden are just a few of the city's prominent jazz musicians that helped shape the city's music scene. But while jazz is still relevant in today's music industry, it's not a genre that most people associate with younger generations.

Robin Wilson, owner of Vesey Lane Goods in Detroit, is hoping to change that with her new children's book, “Jazz-A-Bet: An Original Jazz Alphabet.” 

She joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more about her book — a bilingual flip book with one side printed in English and the other printed in Portuguese — and to discuss the importance of exposing kids to music at an early age.

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

A new report from the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs is calling Gaza a “news graveyard."

At least 232 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began. Some appear to have been targeted by the Israeli army, while others were killed alongside civilians. 

“The war in Gaza has, since October 2023, killed more journalists than the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined,” the report read.

On Sunday, the number of journalist fatalities grew when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent camp in a hospital complex in southern Gaza. 

Journalist Helmi al-Faqawi was among the 10 killed. At least nine other journalists were severely injured when the encampment caught fire. 

It has been said — about journalists in Gaza and in many other places — that you can kill a journalist, but you can’t kill the story. 

This unflinching spirit of the press — to seek out the truth and report it at any cost — is central to The Gaza Project. It is a collaboration among more than 40 journalists across a dozen news organizations. Forbidden Stories is coordinating the project. The nonprofit works "to continue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder."

Hoda Osman is the executive editor at Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, among the news organizations working on The Gaza Project. She joined The Metro to discuss the findings thus far from The Gaza Project and some of the journalists who have been killed.

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

The Rackham Choir has been a vital part of Detroit's rich musical tapestry for more than 75 years.

Founded in 1949, Rackham is Detroit's oldest choir, and throughout its long history has collaborated with several Detroit arts institutions like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, and the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. 

In February, Rackham named vocal music teacher and choral conductor Julian Goods as the choir's new artistic director. The move comes after the chorus' previous director, Dr. Brandon Waddles, accepted a leadership position with a national tour of "The Wiz."

Goods made his official debut with Rackham this past Sunday at their spring concert, "A Celebration of Love and Joy," at Hartford Memorial Church in Detroit.

He joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more about the performance, Rackham Choir and Detroit's influence on music history.

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

Diversity, equity and inclusion is going away. It’s been the story for businesses and colleges in America over the last month. 

With pressure from the Trump administration and from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Michigan and a number of other universities have removed their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices. 

But it’s not just the White House that doesn’t like DEI. It’s been criticized by some professors, students and public commentators as well.

Metro Producer Sam Corey sat down with two professors to understand how DEI programs work and what could happen as they go away. Robert Sellers is a professor of psychology and education, and the first chief diversity officer at the University of Michigan. Stacy Hawkins is a Rutgers professor, diversity consultant and DEI expert. 

The Metro has reached out to several University of Michigan regents who helped usher in the end of DEI practices and programming. We are still waiting to hear back from those state-wide elected officials. 

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

Huge numbers of Americans took to the streets over the weekend for so-called “Hands Off” protests. People were condemning the Trump administration and many of its policies, including cuts to the National Park Service and other public lands. 

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has reduced staff that oversees public lands by hundreds of people. A judge ordered those positions to be reinstated, but it’s unclear how many people have actually returned to work. The White House has vowed to fight those rulings. 

Advocates, meanwhile, are bracing for additional cuts. This upheaval has raised concerns about the health and survival of America’s public lands, from popular national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone to national lakeshores like Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes. 

Tom Ulrich was the deputy superintendent for Sleeping Bear Dunes for more than two decades before retiring in 2023. Ulrich joined The Metro to discuss the current challenges facing America’s public lands. 

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order last week, directing national parks to “remain open and accessible.” Burgum says that means there will be proper staffing, but not everyone is convinced this will happen. 

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