Before his record release show, Detroit singer James Linck speaks with WDET's Travis Wright about his debut album "Fortress of Solitude."

This week the Detroit Lions began their first serious action since the recent NFL draft, holding a week of mandatory workouts.

In the last census, approximately two out of three Michigan communities lost residents. To change that trend, Governor Snyder hopes Washington will consider what he calls “Urban Pioneer Visas” as it works to overhaul immigration law. The Governor says the special visas will help attract foreign residents to Michigan cities hit particularly hard by population loss. Governor Snyder tells WDET’s Travis Wright that population loss has an incredible impact on the state.

Just behind the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Detroit’s Midtown neighborhood, a newly built ranch home —white with blue shudders and charcoal shingles — recently rolled between a swath of green sod and a newly painted sky blue wall. The scene is complete. A slice of suburb in the city. But what is this scene? WDET’s Travis Wright brings us a story on one of Detroit’s most interesting homes.

Created by Detroit natives Allison Kriger and Ellen Schneider, Vote Detroit is a non-partisan initiative aimed at raising awareness and increasing civic participation amongst city residents.

As he was prepping for his show at the The Magic Bag in Ferndale, Charles Bradley told WDET's Travis Wright that he lives for the stage, where his soul is most at ease.

Veteran newsman Bob Wheelock is the executive director of Al Jazeera America. He tells WDET’s Travis Wright that metro-Detroit’s significant Arab-American population had nothing to do with the decision to place a bureau here.

After more than a decade of decline, the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, in Detroit’s Capitol Park, is seeing significant growth. And now, thanks to a successful crowd-sourcing campaign, the very structure is poised for overdue renewal.

The Detroit Food Policy Council is hosting a conference this weekend called “What’s On Your Plate” where topics such as sourcing local food, nutrition education, and Detroit’s recently passed urban agriculture ordinance will be discussed at Focus Hope.

The world’s most famous skateboarder is supporting a unique skate park in Detroit. The Ride It Sculpture Park, a non-profit and community-based skate-boarding project, is receiving a $30-thousand dollar grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation.

Business leaders in Detroit – led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert – are unveiling a new plan to refresh a portion of the city’s Woodward corridor.

A coalition of unions and activist groups is filing a federal lawsuit challenging Michigan’s emergency manager law.

The U.S. Supreme court heard arguments on same-sex marriage this week, including arguments for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act from 1996. David Garcia is director of Affirmations, a LGBT center in metro Detroit. He tells WDET's Travis Wright that evidence suggests support for gay marriage is growing across the country, and that the Supreme Court hearings mark an unprecedented moment for the gay community nationwide.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is announcing a new state commission to combat human trafficking.

He tells WDET’s Travis Wright that it’s one of the fastest growing crimes in the state.

Moody's says if Detroit is headed for bankruptcy, Wayne and Oakland county won't be impacted by the so-called contagion effect.

Representatives of the Detroit City Council made their official pitch today to stop the state from appointing an emergency financial manager for the city.

Jeffery Stoltman is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Wayne State University and follows trends in the advertising industry. He tells WDET’s Travis Wright that ad agency Campbell Ewald's relocation is indicative of a trend in creative business moving to the city’s core.

Governor Rick Snyder held a town hall meeting in Detroit today to announce that the city is facing an unprecedented financial crisis. The state could appoint an Emergency Financial Manager within the month to address the ongoing cash problems. WDET’s Laura Weber-Davis attended the meeting at Wayne State. She spoke with WDET’s Travis Wright about the Governor’s announcement.

Pontiac’s Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel tells WDET’s Travis Wright that transitioning to the position presents a unique set of challenges.

A state review team finds that Detroit is in a financial emergency that city officials cannot fix on their own.

For the first time since 1992, when the Fab Five dominated college basketball, the University of Michigan Wolverines have the number one team in the nation. And in just a few weeks, they’ll face their rival Michigan State Spartans, who are still ranked in the Top 15, nationally.

The federal government is giving tens of millions of dollars to Detroit for a new inner-city rail line.

This Martin Luther King Day, the University Musical Society attempts to see whether music can celebrate a city with a special evening of performances paying tribute to Detroit’s musical legacy. The house band is jazz super-trio D-3, comprised of Robert Hurst on bass, Karriem Riggins on drums, and Geri Allen on piano. Allen tells WDET’s Travis Wright that when it comes to Detroiters carrying on the legacy of jazz and innovating the genre, she’s far from alone.

Officials in Detroit say the city saw a roughly 12 percent increase in criminal homicides 2012 compared to the year before. Experts say the 386 homicides means Detroit has one of the highest murder rates of any of the nation’s 20 largest cities.

Mayor Dave Bing says his administration is aggressively going after revenue owed to Detroit

President Obama carried his campaign to rally public support for having the wealthiest Americans pay higher tax rates to Michigan today.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says there is a chance the city’s elected officials can stave-off a state takeover of the city's finances.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says the city faces a $30 million budget shortfall in December in large part because the City Council rejected a contract the state required before it would release bond monies to the city.

There’s been a surprising development in the ongoing federal corruption trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. One of Kilpatrick’s co-defendants is accepting a plea deal.

After controversial redistricting across the state, Michigan's congressional races have been hotly contested this election season. Take the newly redrawn Ninth district, for instance. Long-time representative Sander Levin is chairman of the Congressional Ways and Means Committee. He last represented the 12th District but is now running for re-election against Republican challenger Don Volaric and Libertarian candidate Jim Fulner in the new Ninth.

Immigration is not only playing a pivotal role in this presidential election, but also in the re-shaping of this very city. A new book titled Green Card Stories looks at the true tales of 50 recent immigrants to the United States. Two immigration lawyers who collaborated on the book will lead a panel discussion on immigration tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Westin Book-Cadillac hotel in Detroit. They spoke with WDET's Travis Wright.

The U.S. Transportation Secretary says a regional transit authority for Metro Detroit is very close to completion – but the Michigan legislature has to approve the plan before the federal government will help fund it.

It’s been 37 years since the ex-boss of the Teamsters Union, Jimmy Hoffa, went missing. His fate is the stuff of local legend and mob movie scripts. For WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter, a new tip on Hoffa’s whereabouts hits close, maybe a bit too close, to home.

Ethan Daniel Davidson celebrates his first record in seven years, “Silvertooth,” on September 15. Davidson toured the globe, non-stop, for six years. During that time he recorded seven records, giving away about 55-thousand CDs, all for free. Then life got in the way. He fell in love and got married, experienced the loss of his father, and became a father himself. For most of the past decade, though, he didn’t – couldn’t, he says – even pick up a guitar. But he tells WDET’s Travis Wright that about a year and a half ago, all of that changed.

Detroit’s Belle Isle will become a state park under an agreement reached between Mayor Dave Bing and Governor Rick Snyder.

Jury selection is underway in the federal corruption trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Army Corps of Engineers meteorologist Keith Kompoltowicz talks with WDET’s Travis Wright about drastically low water levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Vice President Joe Biden stopped at Detroit’s Renaissance High School as he completed a two-day campaign swing through Michigan and Minnesota.

The Knight Foundation’s Vice President of Arts, Dennis Scholl, says on-going pop-up performances they call 'Random Acts of Culture' are meant to remind us that symphonic music and dance is socially essential. They celebrate their 1,000 so-called 'Random Act of Kindness' in Detroit at the world headquarters of Compuware.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled today that a referendum challenging the state’s emergency manager law is legal and can be placed before voters on the November ballot.

WDET's Laura Weber-Davis speaks with WDET's All Things Considered host Travis Wright about the collaborative effort between the state and the city to make schools neighborhood hubs.

Mark Brewer, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, claims GOP Senatorial Candidate Clark Durant's non-profit is a sham created to illegally funnel more than a million dollars to the politician and his daughter.

Randy Heckman is a recently retired pastor from Grand Rapids running for U-S Senate against fellow republicans Pete Hoekstra and Clark Durant in the upcoming primary on August 7th.

Johnny Headband are a bold band, deceptively smart and danceable. One writer said they sound like Ween meshed with Prince at his sexiest.

Belle Isle Debacle Cont'd

Sarah Early is chair of the non-profit Belle Isle Conservancy. She tells WDET’s Travis Wright that a long-term lease of Belle Isle to the state is in the works, and adds she’s disappointed by council’s vote today to ask Mayor Bing to maintain ownership of the park.

An Ingham County judge has refused to reconsider an earlier ruling that Detroit’s top city lawyer does not have standing to challenge the consent agreement between the city and the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to rule on whether President Obama’s signature legislative achievement – the Affordable Care Act reforming the nation’s health care system – is constitutional. As the High Court ruling looms ever closer, its shadow is falling over the presidential campaign across the nation – and here in Michigan.

Governor Rick Snyder gathered with high level officials from the US and Canadian governments – and heard Canada’s Prime Minister – Stephen Harper – say words that have been fought over for years…

Multiple sources are reporting that Governor Rick Snyder has reached a deal with Canadian officials to build a long-awaited second bridge crossing between Detroit and Windsor.

Detroit-based artist Matt Eaton is the curator of the Red Bull House of Art, which celebrates its grand opening with a show and party on Thursday, May 24 in Detroit's Eastern market. He speaks with WDET's Travis Wright

The Detroit City Council is debating a proposal by the Bing Administration to convert the city Health Department into a new health institute.

Two Detroit business tycoons are making big moves.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne announced the company will support the M-1 Woodward Avenue light-rail project by committing three million dollars over five years to sponsor one of the stations along the 3.3-mile route from downtown Detroit to New Center.

He made the promise to real estate mogul and Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, a principal supporter of the M-1 project. Returning the favor, Gilbert said he’d take on a leadership role with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, of which Marchionne is the fund-raising chair. Dollar, dollar bills ya'll.

This all went down just before Chrysler inked a deal to lease two floors of space and move 70 people downtown to the former Dime Building, which Gilbert scooped up during last summer's real estate pillaging. It's been renamed the Chrysler House.

Tony Molinaro handles public affairs for the Federal Aviation Administration. He tells WDET’s Travis Wright that $9.7 million in federal grants to Coleman A. Young International come with assurances that, in effect, protect the site from becoming anything but an airport.

WDET's Laura Weber give us an overview of the State's Financial Review meeting that took place this afternoon.

Governor Rick Snyder told a crowd of more than 100 at a Detroit town hall meeting he has no intention of “taking over” the city.

The Detroit City Council has approved a request by the Bing Administration to borrow $137 million dollars to help the city remain afloat financially.

The state of Michigan has officially declared a financial crisis exists in Detroit, and is preparing to assume some control over the city’s finances.

A state financial review board faces a deadline Monday to recommend a plan for keeping Detroit from bankruptcy.

The prosecution has rested its case in the federal trail of members of a Michigan militia charged with trying to overthrow the government.

Do you bike roads, ramps, or through wooded trails? No matter your mode, Tree Fort Bikes presents the first annual Detroit Bike City show and bike swap. It's organizers liken it to the Auto Show -- but for YOU. It goes down this Saturday from 10 am to six pm at Cobo Center. $8. Kids under 12 get in for free!

Delbert Brown, former director of the Coleman A. Young International Airport, tells WDET’s Travis Wright he supports privatizing the airport under the proposed consent decree sent down by the state to Detroit city officials this week.

Travis Wright talks with rapper Leaf Erikson, the hosts of An Evening With Titus, a tribute to Slum Village rapper Baatin going down tonight (3-14-12) at the Magic Stick.

Officials in financially-troubled Detroit are weighing a deal that would give the state of Michigan significant control over the city.

Al Garrett is president of the Detroit chapter of the American federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union. He opposes the proposed consent agreement for the city of Detroit.

WDET's Support The Arts (STAR) program tells the stories of non-profits arts and culture organizations in metro Detroit. This time, we learn about the more than century old Pewabic Pottery.

Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romeny and Rick Santorum are stumping across Michigan a day before the state’s primary. And WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter found that another GOP contender is ramping-up HIS campaign with stops in Detroit and elsewhere in the state.

Mitt Romney told a crowd of business leaders in Detroit today (Fri.) that he is the only Republican candidate who can defeat President Obama.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum told a crowd of business leaders in Detroit he has a plan that will revitalize the nation’s manufacturing base.

The son of legendary jazz singer Mel Torme is on his way to Metro Detroit. Steve Torme will perform Saturday night in Taylor.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing tweeted today that the city has reached a tentative agreement with unions representing city workers.

President Obama is threatening to steer federal aid away from colleges and universities that don’t clamp-down on rising tuition costs.

The state is appointing an Emergency Manager over the finances of the Highland Park Schools.

Governor Rick Snyder told the annual meeting of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau that people in the state – including the tourism industry – need to be more “relentlessly positive.”

The so-called “Big Four” political leaders in Metro Detroit – the Mayor of Detroit, and the executives of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties – agree that it will be a disaster for the entire region if Michigan’s largest city goes bankrupt.

The North American International Auto Show opened today.

Plans for a light rail line along Detroit’s Woodward Avenue are still alive roughly a month after officials announced that the city could not sustain the cost of the project.

Detroit’s police chief is disputing recent reports that the city plans to shut down police precincts at four in the afternoon.

A Wayne County Judge has held the owner of the Ambassador Bridge in contempt of court for failing to complete the 230-million dollar Gateway Project in Southwest Detroit.

The Wayne County Airport Authority Board voted today to fire CEO Turkia Mullin who has been under fire for a severance payment she received after leaving a county job. WDET's Travis Wright talked to Noah Ovshinsky about the latest developments in this still unfolding story.