(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 Dec. 9.
Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield looks to be city's first female mayor
On Tuesday, Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield officially announced her candidacy for the mayor of city of Detroit.
At a packed union hall Tuesday, Sheffield, who has been on the Detroit City Council since 2014 representing District 5, made her candidacy for mayor official with musical performances and speeches from city and faith leaders including Judge Greg Mathis and Detroit vs. Everybody founder Tommey Walker.
If elected, Sheffield would be the first woman to represent the city as mayor. It's something some Detroiters are excited about.
"It doesn’t matter male or female, Mayor Sheffield, she has the skill set, she has the tools," We Run 313 co-founder Lance Woods said.
We asked Sheffield how she plans to pave her own path after working with Duggan for years.
"I think that a lot of people know that my work is my work," she said. "The affordable housing that I've done, the responsible contracting, the neighborhood improvement fund were all initiatives that I was passionate about and I was able to approve."
Servers, bartenders pack Michigan Capitol to 'save the tipping system'
Restaurant servers and bartenders packed the Michigan state Capitol on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to amend a new law set to take effect in February. They say the law eliminates the tipping system.
Servers and bartenders make an hourly wage and heavily depend on tips. The new law is designed to increase those hourly wages until it equals minimum wage.
Servers and bartenders are concerned customers will stop tipping.
7 News Detroit spoke with Keyonna Caston, who's a server at Red Robin.
"My tips are at stake. My livelihood, my life, my well-being, the way I take care of myself, the way I take care of my family is at stake," she explained.
Workers are also concerned that restaurants will pass the cost onto the customer.
"All of my money, all of my bills, everything I'm saving for and working for all comes from tips and if I lose that, I lose the ability to pay for my future," Jordynn Robinson, a hostess at Peppermill in Standale, said.
Breaking Free: A five-part deep dive on domestic violence
All week long on 7 News Detroit, Anchor Carolyn Clifford took a deep dive into domestic violence in a series we called "Breaking Free."
It came after she did weekly check-ins with local police chiefs, where she was told that domestic violence is still the No. 1 crime in just about every community.
During the month of December with the holiday season and new year approaching, domestic violence calls go through the roof.
We went behind closed doors to tackle five key elements in the series:
- How does it start?
- Planning an exit strategy
- The way forward
- Redemption for male abusers
- The generational effect on children
You can watch all of her videos on our Breaking Free page.
MDOT looking to reduce flooding on I-94 with new technology
The Michigan Department of Transportation is proposing a drainage tunnel on Detroit's east side right under I-94 to help accommodate heavier storm events and provide additional storage for stormwater. The area has a history of flooding with heavy rain.
Johnte Withers has lived near I-94 in Detroit for three years. He says when it rains, it pours and it floods.
“It’s pretty bad. Those days when it’s that bad, I sometimes call off work 'cause I don’t like risking my vehicle just for a day’s pay," he said.
In 2021, Southeast Michigan saw historic flooding of I-94 and in turn, flooding of cities like Detroit and Gross Pointe.
To help alleviate the burden of flooding on I-94, MDOT is proposing a drainage tunnel.
The approximately $170 million project in partnership with the Great Lakes Water Authority, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and others would potentially reduce I-94 flooding by 82%. The project would be funded by transportation funds.
As Amazon ensures packages get to customers, here's how to avoid porch pirates
Over the next couple of weeks as Christmas gets closer, an estimated 130,000 packages a day will go in and out of the Amazon Delivery Center in Canton.
Behind the scenes, employees and Amazon partners worked together to keep the process moving in what’s referred to as the “final mile” on Wednesday.
The journey of an Amazon package has several steps and the delivery station is the last mile of the ordering process.
“Just maintaining the constant balance of flow,” site lead Erika Keeling said. During a high-volume event such as what we call 'peak,' we double and increase our flow and capacity.”
Packages start on a semitruck early in the morning where they are unloaded and then taken into the facility to be sorted and scanned. Packages are then placed in designated areas for driver associates to locate , scan and load onto their trucks.
Thomas Suchowolec, who drives for an Amazon delivery partner, says he always pays attention to the details in the drivers note from customers. Keeling has some suggestions for making sure the package is delivered successfully.
- Amazon’s Map Tracking showing delivery window and location
- Utilizing an Amazon locker near you
- Asking the driver to use hidden drop-off locations to keep them out of view
- Sharing tracking with a friend or neighbor
- Key In-Garage Delivery
Michigan reports 1,500+ whopping cough cases, up from 110 in 2023
Veronica McNally from West Bloomfield has made it her life's work to talk about vaccines and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.
She told 7 News Detroit that she and her husband decided to do so on the car ride to their daughter Francesca Marie's funeral in 2012. Their 3-month-old died battling whooping cough.
"This disease hit Francesca like a Mack truck," McNally said. "There was no medical intervention that was possible. She had the best care available — there was no medical intervention that was possible that was going to save her life."
McNally bares her soul and shares her heartbreak to advocate for vaccines. She did so Thursday as the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has seen over 1,500 cases of whooping cough this year. That's more than 13 times what they saw in 2023, when the state saw 110 cases.
"Pertussis cases in general are up across the country," said Ryan Malosh, director of the Division of Immunizations at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Medical leaders across the state are aware of the concerning trend.
Malosh said it comes as whooping cough vaccines are being administered 3% less than in January of 2020, and as two-thirds of whooping cough patients either never had the vaccine or haven't received it in the past five years.
Some victims of Orion Township condo explosion still looking for pets that ran away
Since the explosion on November 19th, Drake Falconer has spent most of his days searching the surrounding area for his cats, still missing, Fergus and Ambrose.
“It’s kind of, I guess, a survival tactic just to keep from sitting here and dreading everything every time we come around," Falconer said. “That’s my wife and I's first pets together. They’re family. They’re not just animals that you toss by the wayside. These are part of our lives, and it’s a big hole in our heart that’s missing when we don’t see them every day.”
Chloe Bennett also lost her home in the explosion, and, like Falconer, she is most focused on finding her black cat, Salem. She says firefighters told her he jumped out of the rubble.
“Something you don’t think about it is, like, it’s even hard to just get dressed in the morning because you don’t know what you have," Bennett said. “I’m staying hopeful through everything, but it’s like one letdown after the other.”
If you remember, a cat was found one day after the explosion. We got the reunion between Ross Flore and his cat Snicker on camera.
It turns out Snicker was not okay. Flore said she suffered severe neurological damage in the blast and had to be put down.
“At least she died in my arms and not in the condo," Flore said. “I’m not one that I let loose with my emotions. I usually pretty much hold it in check but that was my little girl.”
