The Metro

More tariffs on imported goods took effect last week. 

The federal government is making big money from tariff revenues, which reached $29 billion last month. It is important to note that the money is coming from American wallets. 

Tariffs aren’t just numbers in a trade deal. They are hidden costs baked into the price of almost everything we buy and sell, and they have become a point of contention and anxiety with President Trump’s erratic maneuvers — announcing them, delaying them, increasing them, walking them back. 

He says his new tariffs aim to protect American industries, but they are hitting small businesses and big supply chains in Michigan and beyond. 

Economists warn that the state’s manufacturing base and retailers are especially vulnerable. That means higher costs for business owners, tougher choices on pricing, and potential sticker shock for many of us.

So we’re connecting the dots, from the global supply chain to the boutique sales floor with Rachel Lutz, owner of The Peacock Room, a women’s clothing and accessories boutique in Detroit, and Professor Jason Miller, interim chair of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. 

They joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to explain tariffs' local and less understood impacts.

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

When people left Detroit, the city lost a lot of momentum for development. Over the past decade, encouraging growth has often meant putting money toward large development projects in the Downtown area, including District Detroit and the Hudson's building. These projects include a lot of money from private developers and subsidies from city residents. 

Since Detroit began increasing its population gain, smaller projects have gotten less attention. Executive director of Building Community Value Chase Cantrell wants to change that by assisting small-scale developers. 

Cantrell spoke with Robyn Vincent about why small-scale development projects matter.

Building Community Value is offering in-person real estate development trainings for residents in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck. Applications for the training close August 27th.

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

A Wayne State success program is providing an evening of jazz an poetry to raise money.

The Crockett-Lumumba Scholars provides assistance to incoming freshman as they transition to college. Students in the program are also enrolled in courses that teach them about their cultural roots, community building, and social responsibility. 

This Saturday, August 16th, Crocket-Lumumba Scholars will host Homegrown: An Evening of Detroit Jazz and Poetry at the Gretchen Valade Center for Jazz. The fundraiser will feature renowned artists Marion Hayden, Michigan’s Poet Laureate Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd, Allen Dannard, and Tariq Gardner. 

David Goldberg, the director of Crockett-Lumumba Scholars, and Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd joined the show to discuss the program's importance.  

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

Vetoes aren’t just polite refusals. They're vital checks of power between executive and legislative branches, at every level of government. 

But when the city council doesn’t grasp how vetoes work, things can get heated.

During a recent city council meeting in Highland Park, confusion over veto authority sparked a heated moment with a dramatic walk‑out by Council Member Khursheed Ash-Shafii. 

The city council had previously voted to cease a contract with the consulting firm McKenna. The mayor vetoed that decision and then the city council was tasked with upholding or overruling the Mayor’s veto, per the city’s charter, at the Aug. 4th meeting. 

Metro Producer Jack Filbrandt spoke with Detroit Documenters Caitlin Santer and Lynelle Herndon to unpack the tension and decipher what went wrong. 

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

Tuesday night, Detroit got the election results that the polls predicted. Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield took the bulk of the vote and Reverend Solomon Kinloch Jr. took second. They'll compete to be Detroit's next mayor in the general election. 

Detroit wasn’t the only place that had elections this week. There were mayoral contests in many suburbs, but many of them didn’t hold primaries because the sitting mayors in those cities are running unopposed. 

There were no mayoral primary elections in Westland, Dearborn, Grosse Pointe, Southgate and several other downriver communities. We don’t know why so many people are running unopposed and what it means for our democracy.

WDET’s Morning Edition host and Senior News Editor Pat Batcheller joined Robyn to make sense of the election results, and why many elections were not competitive.

Summer temperatures have been high this year. So have energy bills, and frustrations from customers. Higher costs are driven by more than extreme summer temperatures. Factors like outdated power grids and a recent $217 million rate hike approved for DTE Energy by state regulators earlier this year are also at play.

Meanwhile, federal clean-energy incentives are starting to phase out. Michigan was on track to increase its renewable energy capacity by 2035. But with key federal tax credits repealed by the Trump administration, the state faces higher future costs and delayed renewable projects.

Nicholas Schroeck, dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, and an expert in environmental law and justice, joined Robyn Vincent to discuss energy affordability and sustainability and what residents can do about it.

Editor's Note: DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are financial supporters of WDET.

A new coalition wants to curb the influence of corporate money in Michigan politics and unveil the source of political donations. “Michiganders for Money out of Politics” intends to create a ballot proposal to force state-level “dark money” advertisers to disclose their donors. The group plans to take its language to the state board of canvassers for approval this month.

Sean McBrearty is the vice chair of “Michiganders for Money out of Politics” and the Michigan Director for Clean Water Action. He joined the Metro to discuss the initiative. 

An annual showcase of music, dance and culture from across the African diaspora is coming to the Motor City. The AfroFuture music festival will be in Detroit on August 16th and 17th with events planned throughout the week leading up to it. 

The festival's Director of Operations, Akosua Ayim, joined the Metro to explain why they elected to host this year's event in Detroit. The festival’s t-shirt design contest winner, Rohna Battle Woodger, also joined to discuss her experience training at Pensole Lewis College.

State Representative Mai Xiong wants answers about why ICE detained Hmong refugees in Detroit.

She says the people detained are not undocumented immigrants — they are refugees who entered the U.S. legally. The incident has sparked fear and confusion in Southeast Michigan’s Hmong community, prompting calls for accountability.

This issue hits home for Xiong, Michigan’s first Hmong American legislator and a former refugee herself. She represents Warren in Michigan’s 13th House District.

She joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to explain what she knows and the lingering questions that remain.

The Metro contacted Detroit’s ICE field office and the Detroit Police Department for details. Detroit Police said they did not know about the detentions. ICE has not responded.

If the buildings, halls and walls of the Cass corridor could speak they would speak for days. The Cass Corridor, now dubbed Midtown, has been through significant changes. Art and culture have long been central to life in the Cass Corridor. A new short film, "Detroit Boi," portrays the neighborhood through the eyes of longtime residents.

Detroit native Mike Targus is a writer and director. He operates Detroit based Mack Black Productions. He also directed “The Corridor. Defended.” which won best in comedy at the 2017 New York Shorts Festival.

Patrick “PT” Trainor is a carpenter, who worked on most of the buildings in the Cass Corridor and he’s one of the voices featured in "Detroit Boi."

The short film premieres at the Old Miami at 8 p.m., August 9, 2025.