> The park was considered by state officials to be second to Niagara Falls, which saw 4.4 million visitors last year but had COVID-19 restrictions in place […] It’s the largest city-owned park in the U.S., even out-sizing New York's Central Park.

> The annual increases are usually minimal, said Julie Schneider, so the 12 percent jump was higher than expected. […] She said the rising figures reinforce the need for more deeply affordable housing in Detroit, where census data shows the median income is $32,498 and a third of residents live in poverty.

[Full article: Archive.today, 12ft Ladder]

> Todd Bettison acknowledged Tuesday that the initial batch of [10] scanners won’t be enough and that the department is seeking grants to secure an additional 10 scanners. […] Some security experts nationally have raised doubts over the accuracy of the scanners, warning that weapon detection systems have not been adequately studied and can be vulnerable to false positives.

> SEIU officials say currently, janitors working in downtown Detroit buildings are being “forced to raise their families on hourly wages ranging between $11.25 and $15.30.” […] The calls for better wages comes as Detroit, especially downtown, sees a resurgence, fueled by new developments and building restorations.

> Organizing in Michigan, once a union stronghold, has symbolic significance. […] Votes for the other Michigan locations are expected to be collected in the first week of June.

[Full article: Archive.today, 12ft Ladder]

> When it opened its doors to the public, the Wright Museum was the largest Black history museum in the world. […] Dr. Charles H. Wright was an attending physician at the March 7, 1965 Civil Rights march in Selma, Ala. known as Bloody Sunday. Three days later, back in Detroit, Wright convened a group of fellow Detroiters to establish the International Afro-American Museum, or I AM.

[Full article: Archive.today, 12ft Ladder]

> Detroit now joins 14 other cities and three states that offer legal representation for tenants in eviction proceedings. Cleveland’s right to counsel program provided lawyers to about 60% of eligible households, compared with 1% or 2% prior to the law passing.

> Throughout the summer, the City of Detroit will host vaccination clinics for children ages 5 to 17, on select Saturdays at various recreation centers across the city. Vaccinations include the COVID-19 vaccine and lead testing. […] To find out more about the immunizations and testing clinics, go to detroitmi.gov.

> Two popular Detroit trees, Norway maple and Gingko, were predicted to have high adaptive capacity and low to low-moderate climate vulnerability in both emission scenarios. Natives like hackberry, Kentucky coffeetree, swamp white oak and burr oak were also projected to be highly adaptive and minimally vulnerable.

> Detroit rapper and superstar Eminem will be inducted into to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this fall. […] MC5, the revered rock band formed in 1963 in Lincoln Park and best known for its hit song ”Kick Out the Jams,” failed for the sixth time to gain induction in the performer category.

[Full story: 12ft Ladder]

> The lawsuit alleged Redfin’s minimum home price policy violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against sellers and buyers of homes in communities of color. Plaintiffs alleged that policies that limit or deny services for homes priced under certain values can perpetuate racial segregation and contribute to the racial wealth gap. Redfin said in a statement that the settlement was not an admission of liability.

[Full article: 12ft Ladder]

> The city ID program seeks to provide equitable access to the basic city services. “Whether it’s getting a library card, going for a medical exam, enrolling your kids into school, starting a bank account, those are things you need an ID for,” Yolanda Hill-Ashford said. […] Detroit ID cards are free for the first 5,000 who apply. […] To sign up or view required documents, go to the city’s ID program website.

> Questionnaires recently completed by patients of the Detroit clinic shed light on the travel burden a ban could impose. Some already come from outstate, where clinics are sparse, or Ohio, where a restrictive law prevents abortions for women more than 20 weeks into pregnancy. […] Below a prompt asking how hard it had been to gather the money, both women circled “extremely.”

> Dr. Shakara Tyler: “The sugarbush process is a sacred ritual where we commune with our trees as ancestors, as the kin that they are, as they gift the sap to us. […] Sap is not just something we consume because it tastes good. This is a very spiritual process where we can honor our sacred histories and honor the ancestral energy that’s present.”

> This year's festival is scheduled for Aug. 11-14, organizers said on Monday. It's expected to feature more than 100 local artists, performing in about 20 music venues across Hamtramck. No acts have been announced yet, but artists can apply to perform at the Hamtramck Music Festival through May 15.

> The transportation service has been in the works for a few years and it’s “finally coming to fruition.” It would initially run Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. […] The service is expected to start in early July after the Grand Prix wraps up on the island. Scott Pratt says the original vision was that the shuttle would be a trolley but it might end up being a bus.

> “If we’re thinking about equity – these were thriving Black neighborhoods that were demolished,” Chase Cantrell said. “It only makes sense that we’re being very thoughtful about how Black people are involved in the regeneration of this area.”

> “The idea here is we want our utility companies to hire more utility workers to fix the issues as they happen,” Abraham Aiyash told the crowd. “We want them to actually invest in retrofitting and upgrading and making sure that our grid is climate resilient, so [the utility company] can’t blame a little bit of wind and a little bit of rain which shouldn’t be taking out people’s power in the first place.”

> Anika Goss says Black Detroiters are denied mortgages at rates that are much higher than their white peers. “For the upper income [bracket], African Americans were still denied at a rate of 23 percent as opposed to white borrowers that were being denied at a rate of 10 percent. And so, there is something in the system that is pushing African Americans, even upper income African Americans, at a higher denial rate.”

> Ted Tansley said Detroit should fit low-income residents more broadly into the program so that “more people can qualify and get reduced-rate fare access to transportation.” “It would certainly expand opportunities for people who cannot get transportation access affordably,” Tansley said.