(WXYZ) — Hey, you're busy — we get it.
We know a lot happens throughout the week, and you may not catch all of our stories here at WXYZ. So we've decided to gather the most talked-about stories from the past week all in one place that you can check out during your free time over the weekend.
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Here are the buzz-worthy stories from the week beginning Jan. 6.
2025 Detroit Auto Show: Everything you need to know about its return to January
The Detroit Auto Show is back and returning to its January dates after the COVID-19 pandemic and the show in the fall.
Full coverage: 2025 Detroit Auto Show from Channel 7
The show opens to the public on Saturday, Jan. 11 and will run through Sunday, Jan. 19.
Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time at the Detroit Auto Show website. They cost $20 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for kids.
There will be four indoor tracks that give visitors the chance to do a ride-along inside some of the industry’s hottest vehicles.
The Ford Bronco Built Wild Track, Camp Jeep experiential activation, Powering Michigan EV Experience track, and the new Detroit Grand Prix-themed track will be open to attendees.
Organizers announced that the show will feature a roster of 22 auto brands across segments.
Prominent music producer from metro Detroit describes devastation of LA wildfires
Prominent music producer and composer from metro Detroit Hilton Wright says the wildfires that have been raging across the Los Angeles area have devastated communities, completely burning down his son's elementary school and over 1,000 other structures.
The Pacific Palisades fire is now described as the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.
Tens of thousands have been forced from their homes. In just days, multiple fired have formed from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena. Thousands of firefighters are working around the clock.
“Right now as far as containment, we’re not making very much progress. We’re still making sure that we get everyone’s lives, the people out of the way," Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua said.
Wright is a Southfield and Farmington Hills native. He's lived in Los Angeles for 12 years now, working as a music producer on shows like "black-ish" and with artists like Big Sean.
Wright lives in the Mid-City neighborhood, about a half hour drive from Palisades. However, his 5-year-old son Trey attends Palisades Charter Elementary School. On Tuesday, his son was in class, but when Wright turned on the news, he saw what was happening and heard the evacuation warnings. He drove as fast as he could to pick his son up.
"And as I'm driving, as I approached to turn to get to high school, those planes that drop the water out of the sky were hovering above and I saw them drop the water out," he said. "To see it happen right above my head was just like something else."
Lions home playoff games to bring in $20M - $40M for the city, here's where those dollars will go
The Detroit Lions' success, is all of Detroit's success.
"The Lions win last night was so enormous," said Claude Molinari, Visit Detroit's President & CEO.
As the number one seed in the NFC Playoffs, the Detroit Lions have now secured at least one, maybe two home playoff games.
According to Molinari, that means millions for the city.
"A Lions normal home game is worth about $10 million to the region, a playoff game on primetime would be worth $20 million, and the idea that we could host two playoff games would be enormous for our region," said Molinari.
He said that the 2024 Lions home playoff games brought in $40 million for the city, they now hope to see the same this January.
As far as where all those dollars go? Hotels, restaurants, Lyft drivers, local stagehands, and merchandise shops.
According to Molinari, all of this excitement has already led to future Detroit event bookings from companies across the world.
Scary realistic 'jury duty' phone scams on the rise in Oakland County, here's what they sound like
Birmingham resident Kelsey Hogan said that she always thought of phone scams as something people less up to date with technology fall for, that is, until she got a voicemail Monday from a caller claiming to be an Oakland County Sheriff Deputy.
"They got me scared to the point of losing the ability to really think clearly about what was happening," said Hogan.
The voicemail was from a 248 number and said they were calling from the Oakland County Civil Citations Unit and to call them back immediately.
When Hogan did, she said they had prompts that mimicked the Sheriff's Departments, and a man claiming to be a deputy answered.
"He said, 'Okay, this is regarding a missed jury duty situation,'" shared Hogan.
The caller knew her name, address, and personal information.
He said that because she missed jury duty, she needed to come to the sheriff's department immediately.
Hogan recounted, "He's like ‘ma’am, ma’am, ma’am, let me tell you something.’ And this is where it got scary. He’s like, ‘I’m calling because I want to keep this matter in the civil courts. If we move over to the criminal courts, what’s going to happen is officers will come to your house today, and they will detain you for no less than 72 hours.'"
To keep that from happening, the caller said Hogan needed to get out $9,000 cash to pay a fine that would be refunded once she got to the sheriff's department to straighten things out.
However, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told 7 News Detroit that, recently, there has been a big uptick in this scam, and many people have fallen victim.
Howell Nature Center raises $140K since financial woes, looks to successful 2025
It has been a tumultuous few months for the Howell Nature Center. A financially strenuous 2024 made them close programs and let go of staff, but after a flood of generous donations, they are reopening programs and are looking forward to a successful 2025.
In November, we reported how due to the rising cost of supplies and the dramatic decrease in donations, the nature center had to close their rehabilitation clinic, which provides critical medical services to injured wild animals.
Because the center is a nonprofit, they do not receive financial aid from the local, state or federal level. Their biggest source of revenue is school field trips, however donations are how they get by.
Because of the financial strain, their wildlife rehabilitation clinic remained closed for about a month.
“Turning animals away is not anything that anyone ever wants to do," Howell Nature Center veterinarian Genevieve Cornwall said.
After our story aired, in just a few days the center raised over $90,000. By the end of the year, they raised approximately $140,000.
"Super excited about what 2025 has in store for us. I think we’re all ready for a much, much needed great year and I think this is going to be the one," Howell Nature Center CEO Tina Bruce said.
The center is now back to taking in new patients and helping injured wildlife.
Cameras roll as Canton police take down foreign national suspected of scamming elderly woman
Canton Police body cameras were rolling as a fraud suspect sought to scam an 84-year-old woman of $25,000 on December 17. That was after he and another man allegedly conned her out of another $40,000 just days before. Needless to say, the plot did not go as planned.
“It’s sad. You’ve got an elderly person who worked really hard their whole lives. To have their earnings taken from them is really terrible,” said Erin Downs.
Downs and Laura Hahn are the victim’s daughters. They monitor her accounts and were stunned to find three large withdrawals for a total of $65,000 in December.
“We contacted our mom and questioned why that had happened, and she told us we knew that wasn’t right. We contacted the local police department,” Downs said.
Investigators say a scammer cold-called the woman, pretending to be a senior fraud officer at her bank.
“They’re very convincing,” said Captain Joseph Bialy of the Canton Police Department. “They convinced the victim that there was an error in her account, and because of that error, she owed them money.”
That second suspect, who has not yet been caught, told the woman his assistant would collect the money from her home.
Li Biao, a Chinese national who police say is in the country illegally, was that bag man. He collected $40,000 from the woman on two separate occasions.
Canton Police entered the picture after the suspected scammers set up a third pickup for another $25,000. Officers waited at the woman’s home on the day of the exchange. When Biao arrived and got the money in hand, they sprang into action.
“It was nice to see a collaborative effort from the police department resulting in positive outcomes placing somebody in custody, especially with the circumstances surrounding this incident where an elderly victim was taken advantage of for quite a bit a sum of money,” said Captain Bialy. “So, for the Canton Police Department to get her back some of that money or at least stop the loss of money was very satisfying for us.”
Biao is facing a pair of felony charges for fraud and obstructing police. Downs and Hahn are hoping no one else experiences what their mother did.
Wayne Co. official charged after pulling gun during husband's brawl over soda
The director of Wayne County’s parks division has been suspended and charged following a gas station fight involving her husband and a can of soda.
Alicia Bradford has been suspended without pay from her $146,000 a year county job after the Oakland County Prosecutor’s office charged her and husband with assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm.
The charges stem from a fight between her husband, Larry Bradford, and another man that began just after midnight on New Year’s Day at a BP gas station in Farmington Hills. Surveillance video shows Larry Bradford standing at the counter, trying to buy a can of Mountain Dew.
Bradford can be heard expressing concern that a clerk is charging him tax on the $1.99 soda. In fact, he was being charged a 10-cent bottle deposit fee.
After Bradford and the clerk argue back and forth, another customer standing behind Bradford chimes in, telling him that the clerk has “proof right there on the receipt.”
Bradford tells the man that the argument is “none of your business,” prompting the customer to hurl an expletive, later clenching his fists at his side.
Quickly, according to Farmington Hills police, the two began fighting.
“Larry then engages towards and pushes (the customer) in his throat with his left hand twice,” a Farmington Hills police officer wrote in a report.
“A physical struggle ensued. They are both seen pushing and pulling each other into merchandise racks, knocking various products onto the floor as they struggle.”
At one point, Bradford can be seen using the can of Mountain Dew to strike the other customer, police said.
Larry Bradford would leave the store but return seconds later holding a 9mm handgun that appeared pointed at the customer, according to police, that officers later determined was loaded.
Bradford can then be heard ordering the man to “get on your knees” and apologize. The man does.
Shortly after that, Alicia Bradford is seen entering the gas station, holding her own pistol.
Bradford asked if her husband had been robbed by the man, then said she saw the customer shove her husband out of the gas station.
When the customer tries get stand up from his kneeling position, Alicia Bradford can be heard saying: “No, you’re going to stay down there. You’re going to stay down there” while still holding her gun.
Later, according to Farmington Hills Police, Larry Bradford can be heard shouting: “I should kill you,” and his wife then said: “I could do something to you.”
Alicia Bradford called Farmington Hills police but when officers arrived, it was Bradford and her husband who they arrested.
The Oakland County prosecutor later charged both with assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm. Wayne County Executive Warren Evans suspended Bradford without pay and declined to provide a comment when reached by 7 News Detroit.
It’s not Bradford’s first brush with controversy while working for the county.
Back in 2019, 7 News Detroit revealed how Bradford got into trouble after her stepdaughter collected more than $10,000 in county contracts from her own department.
Bradford said she had disclosed their relationship informally, but the county executive suspended Bradford for 15 days.
“It was an error on my part, and I encountered the repercussions from that,” Bradford said at the time. “And so we’ve moved on.”
Reached by phone Tuesday, Alicia Bradford declined to comment on her criminal case. Both she and her husband were given a $50,000 personal bond and are next due in court January 13.
Alisha Bell, the chair of the Wayne County Commission, was surprised to learn of Bradford's charges.
"This is very uncharacteristic of the Alicia I know," she said in a text message. "She's always been very professional and a hard worker in our parks department."
