UAW Stellantis workers are reportedly disappointed because they are not getting profit sharing checks from 2025. This follows the company facing a multibillion dollar deficit last year. It’s also the first time Stellantis hasn’t provided a profit-sharing bonus since the recession.

The Big Three has faced obstacles because of tariff uncertainty, electric vehicle whiplash, interest rates and more, but Ford and GM still provided a profit-sharing checks to their employees. Stellantis says that it expects 2026 and its expanding product wave to bring profitable growth in North America.

A new report from the Michigan Health Council shows that Michigan doesn’t have enough opportunities for students to become behavioral health care workers. This is contributing to a shortage of certified school-based mental health professionals across the state, according to the council.

This shortage puts a large workload on the personnel in this field. In the 2023-2024 school year Michigan had about 600 students per school counselor, over a thousand students per school psychologists, and almost 500 students per social worker. The report goes on to share that improving vocational programs could introduce thousands of high school students to fulfilling careers in behavioral health.

NBA

The Detroit Pistons face the Cleveland Cavaliers today at Little Ceasars Arena but—like their game against the Thunder—the opposing team is without their best players, with both Donovan Mitchall out with groin injuries and James Harden questionable with a thumb injury.

The Pistons are playing without their full strength with Isaiah Stweart out again because of his involvement in the fight with the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 9. This is his sixth game of his seven game suspension.

Tonight’s game tip off is at 7 p.m. with a following away game against the Magic on Sunday, March 1.

NHL

The Red Wings face the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow Feb. 28 at the Lenovo Center. The Red Wings are currently second in the Atlantic Divison with 34 wins and 19 losses. Game starts at 7 p.m.

More than 55,000 pounds of frozen blueberries, some of which were shipped to Michigan, have been recalled because of possible listeria contamination.

The Oregon Potato Company was the distributor of the recalled berries. This shipment was also sent to Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Canada.

The FDA recalled it initially on Feb. 12 and classified the recall as a Class 1 recall on Feb. 24, which means there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Go to your local grocery store to see if your purchase of frozen blueberries was in the mix.

And the dystopian world of the Handmaid’s Tale comes to the Detroit Opera House. The play, once a hit television series and novel, is a chilling look into a future where America’s democracy morphs into a religious tyranny.

There are showings on Sunday March 1, Thursday March 5 and Saturday March 7.

A new affordable housing project celebrated its grand opening this week. The Benjamin O. Davis Veterans Village on Detroit’s eastside holds 50 units designed to help homeless and disabled veterans.

Vouchers from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the Detroit Housing Commission will guarantee rents at 30 percent of the resident’s income. Building amenities include a media room, common dining room and kitchen, exercise room, and an exclusive outdoor dog park.

The complex was named after Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., the Army’s first African American general and a trailblazer who helped lay the foundation for the integration of the U.S. military.

Metro Detroiters will pay higher water bills next year. The Great Lakes Water Authority’s board of directors voted to raise rates by an average of almost 6 percent. Customers would pay about 4 percent more on average for wastewater service. The agency says it needs the money to fix aging infrastructure and reduce water main breaks.

Detroit’s Project Clean Slate has received a 200-thousand-dollar grant from the Michigan Justice Fund…allowing the program to run for another 2 years. Project clean slate helps Detroiters with legal services for expungement of eligible criminal convictions. The service has expunged more than 19 thousand records. PCS expects the grant to allow for another ten thousand expungements. 

The Detroit Women of Comedy Festival is looking for comedy acts for this year’s show. Organizers are seeking acts of all kinds such as stand up, improv, sketch, and more. The festival is inclusive of all genders and identities.

The mission of the event is to celebrate and elevate women, trans, and non-binary comedy makers in the metro Detroit area. The festival will be held at Planet Ant Theater on May 15 and 16. For more information about submitting an act, email DWCFsubmissions@gmail.com.

The City of Highland Park has announced the date Mayor Glenda McDonald will give the State of the City address. The mayor will give a public update to residents on Wednesday, March 18 from 6-7p.m. New Grace Missionary Baptist Church will host the event at 25 Ford Street.

Detroit Disability Power is hosting a “teach-in” in March, focused on threats to immigrants and people with disabilities.

Care not Cages: Meeting the Moment with Disabled Detroiters will take place over 2 days – the March 13 event will focus on context; March 20 will be centered around action.

The event is free and dinner is provided.

Wayne State University has a new president. The school’s Board of Governors elected Richard Bierschbach as the 14th president of the university at a special meeting Tuesday.

Bierschbach has served as Wayne State’s interim president since the departure of Kimberly Andrews Espy last September. Before becoming interim president, he was the dean of Wayne State’s law school. While there, Bierschbach helped the law school rise from a national ranking of 100th in 2017 to 55th best in the U.S. now.

Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib heckled President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address Tuesday night. The Detroit Democrat called the president a liar during his remarks. She wore an anti-ICE button, as well.

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar also jeered at Trump during the event. Trump responded by saying the Democrats should be ashamed of themselves.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivers her final State of the State address Wednesday. She’s expected to tout her accomplishments over the past year and lay out her vision for the future of Michigan.

Whitmer is expected to spend a portion of her speech talking about the importance of creating more affordable housing options for Michiganders. That includes plans for a new affordable housing tax credit.

You can hear the State of the State tonight at 7 p.m. on 101.9 WDET FM or at WDET.org.

U.S. and Michigan flags across the state will fly at half-staff Thursday and Friday. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered the action in honor of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson died last week at age 84. In a statement, Whitmer says, “Rev. Jackson had a special connection to Michigan and especially the city of Detroit.”

BET reports Jackson will lie in state at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago tomorrow and Friday. A private homegoing service will take place on March 7. That event will be livestreamed.

Ford is recalling almost 414,000 Explorer SUVs because of possible steering problems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says certain vehicles from the 2013 through 2017 model years could have faulty rear suspension toe links that could break. The problem could make it hard to steer the vehicle.

Affected owners will be notified by mail. Repairs will be made at no cost to consumers.

The Detroit Pistons play the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight in a battle of NBA first place teams. The Pistons are first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 42 wins and 14 losses. The Thunder hold the top spot in the Western Conference with 45 wins and 14 losses.

Game time at Little Caesars Arena is 7:30 p.m. tonight.

About a thousand protesters showed up to city hall in Romulus to protest a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the city.

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who is hoping to win the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State was also there. "I make sure that people have the power to vote against those who would want to sign off on a budget that would approve these kind of expenditures... that would approve this kind of ICE personnel deployment," said Gilchrist. "That is unacceptable, and we need ICE out of Michigan."

Romulus City Council voted unanimously to condemn the proposed detention center, but admitted they still have not received formal confirmation of the building's sale to the federal government.

-Reporting by Russ McNamara

Governor Gretchen Whitmer will use her State of the State address Wednesday to call for more programs to address a shortage of affordable housing in Michigan.

Her plans include an affordable housing tax credit to spur development, cuts to regulations and faster approval of building permits. The governor has expressed concerns that President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs will add thousands of dollars to the costs of home-building materials. The governor delivers her State of the State address the evening following the president's State of the Union address tonight. (MPRN)

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield has established a new office of Neighborhood and Community Safety. Its goal is to help prevent domestic violence and promote conflict resolution.

Teferi Brent will lead the office. He says domestic abuse is a major source of violence that the city needs to address. Brent says that effort would further lower the number of homicides, which hit a 60-year low in 2025.

-Reporting by Pat Batcheller

The Detroit Historical Society is kicking off Women’s History Month with ‘Love and Flowers: A tribute to Detroit’s Black Matriarchs’ Sunday.

The event is a celebration of caregivers past and present and an opportunity to reflect on the question of what it looks like to honor the Black women who "built… nurtured and fought for a better Detroit."

Registration is through the Black Bottom Archives as a part of its Bottom Up series of community programs exploring memory, storytelling and Black Detroit’s living history.

A museum membership is required for admission, but the Detroit Historical Museum offers a free membership to Detroiters and individual memberships starting at $60 on its website.

The Flint Unity Farming Project is having a popcorn fundraiser to support is literacy and learning programs.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago is hosting a virtual Immigration and Detention 101 training in partnership with several Asian American organizations.

The Michigan nonprofit Rising Voices, which organizes Asian American women to get civically engaged, says the training will cover current immigration, detention and deportation information for Midwest AAPI audiences.

The training takes place tomorrow, Tuesday, February 24 from 7-8:30 p.m.

The economic development group Midtown Detroit Inc unveiled the finalized plans for streetscape improvements in Detroit’s Chinatown neighborhood at Cass and Peterboro Street.

The plans include wider sidewalks, upgraded lighting, and cultural elements like murals and bronze plaques.

State Senator Stephanie Chang secured $1 million dollars in the state budget for the streetscape project. She says the project is one way to preserve culture and history.

“During this chaotic and challenging time in our country that we are in right now where there are efforts to erase history and demonize and rip people away from immigrant communities, it's so important that we proudly celebrate culture and community.”

Midtown Detroit launched a fundraising campaign to raise the remaining $1.6 million. The construction is slated to be completed by the fall of 2027.

-reporting by Bre’Anna Tinsley

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib proposed a bill she says would expand Head Start to 11 million children. The program provides early education and support for health care and housing to low-income families and their kids. Tlaib says the Trump administration has hurt Head Start by closing offices and withholding funds. She says underfunding has led to staffing shortages and aging facilities.

-reporting by Pat Batcheller

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is sharing resources on ways to decrease PFAS exposure. PFAS are a group of harmful chemicals in the environment, also known as "forever chemicals".

MDHHS says possible ways to decrease exposure is using certified PFAS-reducing water filters, following fish and deer consumption guidelines and limiting the use of stain-resistant and non-stick items. People should also avoid contact with foam on water surfaces such as on lakes and streams.

High exposure to PFAS may lead to high blood pressure or other complications during pregnancy, decreased immune system response or the development of kidney and other cancers.

The office of Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Detroit’s District 6 city councilwoman, is hosting a skating party. The third annual event will take place at RollerCade Detroit.

The event is on Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Entry, skate rental, and pizza are free for the first 250 residents who attend.

The City of Detroit and the Cass Corridor Neighborhood Development Corporation celebrated the groundbreaking of the Greystone Senior Living Apartments this week in the heart of midtown.

The new four-story, 49-unit affordable housing development is designed for seniors earning 30-80% of the area median income. The development corporation says this development is part of their 40 year commitment to preserve affordability and to advance community ownership in the Cass Corridor. The new construction is on a site that has been vacant for 20 years.

Mayor Sheffield said she is proud that this is her first groundbreaking of her administration. “Seniors have been near and dear to my heart. My 12 years serving on the City Council...I actually represented the highest amount of senior buildings in the state of Michigan in my district. I know firsthand the needs of our seniors. I do believe that it is important as a city that we are building housing for all income levels and all stages of life.”

According to the city, this project is set to be completed in 2027, and welcoming residents shortly after.

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and city leaders celebrated the opening of Kandies Mini Mart. This is the first Green Grocer Program ribbon cutting since the program relaunched in 2024. This section will live in Blackwell’s Kandies sandwich shop and catering service which is located at the Durfee Innovation Society. The mini mart will provide fresh produce in the Dexter Linwood Neighborhood.

This time of year, the weather feels like it cycles through all of the options Mother Nature has to offer and this weekend is no different. According to the National Weather Service Michigan is expected to cycle through hail, fog, winds, rain, and snow. So, say goodbye to the warm front we’ve been experiencing and hello again to your hats and winter jackets as colder air moves in.

The weather service also issued a wind advisory until 9 p.m. tonight. There is an 80% chance of snow on Sunday and the temperature this weekend is expected to be around the low 40’s and upper 30’s.

Stay strong Detroit, Spring will come... eventually.

Winter Olympics

This is the last weekend of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Governor Gretchen Whitmer made a surprise visit at this year’s games. She claimed Michigan has more Olympians competing in this year’s Olympics than any other state and also noted that California’s Governor Newsome had challenged her on the fact. The Winter Olympics final ceremony is on Sunday February 22.

NBA

Last night the Pistons had another dominant win against the New York Knicks 126—111. Cade “THE ALL STAR” Cunningham was two rebounds short of a triple-double with 42 points and 13 assists as the Pistons completed their season sweep of the Knicks. There is even talk of MVP consideration for the young star. The Pistons next game is against the Bulls tomorrow at the United Center. Tip off is at 8 p.m. EST.

Last but not least, this weekend Detroit Book City is having their 10th annual African American Family book expo on Saturday February 21 from noon to 5 p.m. This event celebrates Black History Month by having a meet and greet with over 40 independent Black authors for all ages.

The event is free with books available to purchase. This is all going down at the Village Hall in West Detroit.

The Detroit Police Department told city council Tuesday that the department does not participate in immigration enforcement.

City Council questioned the department about how and if it provides any support to ICE after reports of officers working alongside Customs and Border Patrol. First Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald told the council the department is not in the immigration business.

“We have, obviously, a city ordinance for bias-based policing. We have our own policy for bias-based policing. We have special orders that we do not unless there is an absolute nexus to a violent crime. We're not in the immigration business, and even then, I'll tell you, if it's connected to a violent crime, we shouldn't care.”

Police Chief Todd Bettison has said recently he plans to fire two officers who used Customs and Border Protection for assistance during traffic stops, which is against DPD policy.

Council Member Santiago Romero says she is speaking with the mayor about establishing a hotline for residents to call if they are concerned about DPD working with ICE

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation’s Green Grocer Program had its first ribbon cutting this week since the program relaunched in 2024. Kandies sandwich shop will now feature a mini mart that will sell fresh produce, dairy, baked goods, and other grocery items.

Owner Jacquisha Blackwell received a $25 Green Grocer grant to purchase refrigeration, shelving, and upgrade electrical systems. The Green Grocer program has generated more than $50 million in investment during its first phase between 2010 and 2017, supporting more than 40 grocery stores.

The Justice Department is investigating the Detroit Public Schools and two other Michigan districts. Prosecutors want to know if the schools teach sexual orientation and gender-related topics in their classes without giving parents the choice to remove their kids from such lessons.

The DOJ says that would violate federal law and subject the districts to lawsuits and a loss of federal funding. The department has also sent warning letters to the Lansing School District and the Wyoming Godfrey-Lee public schools in west Michigan.

Construction on I-94 near Detroit Metro Airport has begun between Romulus and Dearborn. Traffic will be reduced to one or two lanes in each direction beginning this summer. The $353 million rebuild is expected to wrap up in mid-2029.

Oakland County leaders and residents are protesting a possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement administrative office in Southfield. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and State Senator Jeremy Moss were among dozens of protesters at the site Tuesday. State Representative Jason Hoskins says residents are concerned about ICE having a larger presence in Southfield.

“Across the country, people have seen mass federal agents operating in ways that feel aggressive and intimidating and disconnected from the communities that they serve, and when communities of color see mass individuals exercising power, it says a historical weight that cannot be ignored.”

The building owner, REDICO, said in a statement that the lease is with the General Services Administration, and not directly with ICE.

DTE Energy fined for clean air violations

A federal judge has ordered DTE Energy to pay 100 million dollars for Clean Air Act violations in Metro Detroit. The infractions occurred at a subsidiary facility on Zug Island where coal is turned into coke for steel production. Sulfur dioxide is produced during the process. The gas can cause health problems when inhaled. The Environmental Protection Agency sued the coke plant in 2022. The judge also ordered the facility to come into compliance with clean air laws and to start a Community Quality Action Committee to work on air quality improvement projects. DTE Energy says it will appeal the ruling.

Cardiac emergency plans for school stalls

Michigan lawmakers required schools to adopt a cardiac emergency response plan for the current school year if the Legislature appropriated “sufficient funds." But funding wasn't dedicated in the education budget. A Senate proposal to include funding was removed by the House and was not included in the final budget. That means enforcement of the law is stalled. Bridge Michigan reports the state Department of Education says decisions on whether to implement emergency plans at the state’s estimated 5,000 public and nonpublic schools depend on local capacity and available resources.

The holy month of Ramadan has begun

Ramadan has begun. The Islamic holy month began Tuesday after sunset. Today is the first day of fasting. Muslim communities observe the event by praying intently, reading the Quran, giving to charity, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. Families gather in the evening to break their fast. Ramadan is the month when it is believed that the Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad.

Ash Wednesday observed

Today is Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting and reflection that signals the start of Lent, the season of repentance, reflection and self-denial for Catholics and many other Christians. Worshippers attend church today and receive ashes, commonly spread in the shape of a cross on the forehead to remind them that life is short and that they should focus on things of the spirit.