Daily Detroit News Byte

On the show: Michigan is the first state in the midwest and the tenth nationally to legalize recreational marijuana. The ballot measure passed last month with almost 56 percent of the vote, and it became official law today. There are few key things you need to know before you roll. Detroit's Town Pump - a long-standing drinking establishment - is moving across the street. Their "one last pump" party is this January. Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2216700125236311/ This one is just breaking as we record the show... the Detroit News is reporting that Fiat Chrysler will activate the old Mack Avenue Engine II plant in the city of Detroit. More, with info on the car being built that wasn't available when we recorded: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/chrysler/2018/12/06/fiat-chrysler-open-new-assembly-plant-detroit/2225735002/ The rent is high! A new report says that our very own Motor City has seen the highest rent increases of any U.S. city. Also, it costs 47% of the average Detroiter's inc

There are a lot of people doing good work in Detroit. Folks that put their shoulder to the wheel and are making things happen and making the community better. But often, those folks don't get as much recognition. That's why Ryan Landau and Re:Purpose, a Detroit-based firm, started the Purpose Awards. Ryan joins us on the show to to talk about them, why he's doing it, and who should apply (there are also some great prizes, too. Who wouldn't want a stay at the Foundation Hotel?) If you want to get in on the action and nominate yourself, a friend or a coworker, visit: https://repurpose.co/michigan-purpose-awards

On today's show: Jer was back at Michigan Central Station today and checked in on the progress of the restoration and renovation as phase one kicks off. The Michigan Legislature is taking up a set of controversial bills, most with the aim of blunting the voice of voters, watering down successful ballot initiatives and taking power away from the incoming Democrats. The Fillmore is getting a new marquee and it's the talk of the town, and maybe for not the right reasons. Sven adds history and context. Photo: https://www.facebook.com/acronymofficial/posts/1924719857564493 Ridesharing service Lyft has released the most popular destinations in Detroit. We break them down.  Remember we're wherever your favorite podcasts are found. If you love the show and want to support us as a business or an individual, join our Patreon!

In a very special episode of the podcast recorded on Noel Night at the Podcast Detroit studios in the Detroit Shipping Company, we run down the Detroit contributions to the L.A. Auto Show and an electric car company that emerged from obscurity to being the focus of all the buzz. Jeep made a major splash with their new Gladiator, Rivian turned heads with their vehicles and Sven, Nuri, Randy and the team break down some of the major changes ahead for the economy due to electrification, including the elimination of things like oil changes. Like the show? You can support us in two ways! One: Tell a friend! Word of mouth is the best way to grow the show. Two: Want to help ensure the show is here for years to come? Join our Patreon. The monthly contribution helps keep the lights on, and we're glad to give you a shout out on the show. http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit  

Big fancy towers downtown get all the press, but today we take you to Detroit's North End neighborhood and check out a revitalization project on John R between Kenilworth and Westminster. There was $100,000 of exterior work on the building they are in and the streetscape they're located on. The before and after pictures are in one word, unbelievable. We have those photos up on the Daily Detroit website. If you like what we're doing, consider supporting our work. http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit  

On today's show, we talk about the news that Hard Rock closed. Also, the bike share service MoGo shared a new report of ridership and usage. The Winter Blast is expanding and has a new sponsor. Shianne has all the details. And, two Detroit area restaurants get nods from Esquire magazine for being among the best new restaurants in America. Congrats to Voyager and Lady of the House. This show was recorded on November 28, 2018. Reminder: Our live show is on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Detroit Shipping Company. Come by and have a drink! 

On today's show: President Trump is taking aim at GM's electric car incentives that were going to sunset anyway Ford's incentives for their $740 million Corktown campus are approved Shield's is opening in Midtown - https://www.metrotimes.com/table-and-bar/archives/2018/11/26/detroit-style-pizza-maker-shields-is-opening-a-midtown-location The historic building that until recently was home to Cheli's Chili Bar was sold to the Ilitches Detroit's getting a new Welcome Center And Shianne Nocerini gives you her picks for Noel Night, that's now expanded into daytime. This show was recorded on November 27, 2018. Two things before I let you go. One, we have an event on December 1st. A live podcast at 5pm at the Detroit Shipping Company. More on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/events/292222641404385/ Second, if you enjoy our work, we've started up a Patreon. Any support is always appreciated. http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit    

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 t

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 require

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 Thanks for listening. Love the show? Tell a friend. 

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 pi

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 c

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 initiati

Happy Election Day, Detroit!  On today's show, we run down some news about long lines and voting machine hiccups across the region. Reports of long lines are widespread. Elsewhere, Amazon HQ2 is said to be headed to the New York City and Washington D.C. areas as a split second headquarters. That's given critics plenty of fodder, as we discuss. Remember when Detroit and Windsor joined forces to bid on HQ2? We had a great Happy Hour episode breaking down our fair city's failure to crack the top 20. It's so worth a listen. Officials from the Michigan Department of Transportation are hedging on an end date to the never-ending I-696 construction project. An upcoming fundraiser dinner at the DIA celebrates the food and art of Italy. And our own Shianne Nocerini gives us the lowdown on a delicious private dinner created by chef James Rigato at Mabel Gray. Find Daily Detroit wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Welcome to Monday, friends. Here's your Daily Detroit for Nov. 5: The workers strike at the Westin Book Cadillac hotel is over, as the Unite Here union announces a settlement and a new contract.  GM has rolled out e-bikes as part of its focus on mobility and cracking urban mobility markets. But it wants help from the public in coming up with a brand name. Beaumont Health and Universal Health Services will open a $40 million, 150-bed inpatient mental health hospital in Dearborn. An oil spill fouls the Red Run in Macomb County. Once a small network of rivers, the Red Run is now mostly used for sanitary and storm sewer runoff into the Clinton River. The Detroit Institute of Arts has opened an expanded gallery of Asian art, courtesy of the founders of Buddy's Pizza. Detroit gets a new bike signal on the edge of Palmer Park. And speaking of pizza, Melody Baetens at The Detroit News has the details about the new Detroit-style pizza being cooked up by the new owners of Como's in Ferndale. The place doesn't open

On today's edition of your Daily Detroit podcast, the team goes deep on the major statewide races and ballot issues that will appear on next week's Nov. 6 ballot. We're not making newspaper-style "endorsements," just breaking down each race and, yes, divulging who we're voting for. And agree or disagree all you want — just so long as you get out and cast your vote. It's the best way to preserve our fragile democracy. Also on today's show: The John and James L. Knight Foundation drops another $20 million in grant funding on Detroit to support art institutions and programs. Art matters, y'all! The as-yet unnamed regional group that aims to ramp up business attraction to southeast Michigan has named its new CEO. This is the same group L. Brooks Patterson accused of trying to persuade businesses to leave Oakland County for the city. Yay, regionalism. Nike has released the new "City Edition" version of alternate uniform for the Detroit Pistons. We have some thoughts on the alt-uni craze that is sweeping sports.