(WXYZ) — Here at 7 News Detroit, we want to make sure you start your day off on the right foot, informed about weather, traffic, the latest news and more. That's why we have the 7 Morning Digest, where we'll get you out the door informed and ready to go.
What's the weather for today?
Air quality will likely becoming "unhealthy" at times today, so limit time outside, especially if you have an respiratory illnesses. Aside from the smoke, skies will be mostly sunny with highs in the upper 80s.
Sunshine continues Tuesday with highs peaking in the low 90s.
Storm chances return Wednesday through Friday. High temperatures continue into the mid to upper 80s
The top stories to know about
Wife speaks after 28-year-old husband, father and innocent bystander killed in Roseville Police chase
There are a lot of questions this morning, following yet another police chase that has resulted in the death of an innocent driver.
According to his wife, 28-year-old Alex Habib was t-boned by a car that was being pursued by Roseville Police. Habib was a devoted husband and father of two.
The chase reportedly happened in the Chesterfield, Clinton Township area, but ended when the suspect hit Habib at 11 Mile and Van Dyke in Warren on Saturday morning.
Roseville Police aren't really saying anything right now. We have been reaching out to find out what happened here over the weekend and are still waiting to get many of those unanswered questions about how this crash happened.
Habib's wife, Danielle, described him as a loving father of two young children — a 1-year-old daughter and a 3-month-old son. He worked two jobs to provide for the family, including as a server at Jim Brady's in Royal Oak, where he was set to work a double that day. That's likely why his wife says he was up — he was trying to make time to go to the gym.
"I wish that they would, you know, find an alternative way to track these people down," Danielle told us on Sunday night. "Alex was an innocent bystander. He left behind multiple, you know, people that loved him and cared about him, and he was, he was innocent, you know, he was just doing what, you know, moving about his day and, you know, he was killed. Over, you know, something that could have been avoided."
Since the crash, donations have been pouring in to support the young family left behind. If you'd like to help, the family has started a GoFundMe that you can donate to at this link.
Local broker speaks on ways metro Detroiters can save on their car insurance
If you groan every time you have to pay your monthly car insurance bill, you're not alone.
A necessity for most Michigan drivers, some people are wondering why their car insurance payments keep going up.
"For this one specifically, $300," said young driver Kesean Brown, referring to his car.
Brown tells me he's been paying just over $300 in insurance for his 2015 Jeep Renegade, significantly more than a few years ago. And he says he's been paying even more for another car in his household.
“For a two-person household, I feel like it should be lower because when you add more cars to your insurance, it gets more and more, and especially when you get into an accident, it gets significantly raised up a lot," Brown said.
Factors like age, location, and driving record can all impact insurance rates, according to the State of Michigan's website.
Brown tells me he hasn't been in an accident recently, though, and his driving record is clean.
So, why are his insurance rates and others in the state and across the country going up?
Insurance broker Bryan Ede says there are several reasons, including increased claim payouts, more risky driving, and rising vehicle repair costs.
“A vehicle is much more expensive to repair today than it was 10, 15, 20 years ago. Almost every vehicle has cameras and sensors; it used to be only luxury cars had these options," Ede said.
Since January 2020, the cost of car insurance has risen 56 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Detroit residents take action after storm leaves fallen tree branches blocking neighborhood street
In Southwest Detroit, residents took matters into their own hands when tree branches fell and blocked a portion of Pearl Street.
"We said let's just do it, and we chopped it up with a machete and jumped on it and got it out of the road here to the side," Jessica Miller-Ramirez said.
Miller-Ramirez, who has lived in Southwest Detroit for 15 years, was among the neighbors who helped clear the debris from Pearl Street.
"It was literally an inch away from the car right there so if it would have cracked anymore it would have went into that car so we just wanted to make sure it was safe for everybody," Miller-Ramirez said.
She notified the City of Detroit about the fallen tree but wanted to ensure the area was cleared quickly for safety reasons.
"There's a lot of kids and a lot of elderly on this block and there's actually people who have major medical issues on this block that if an ambulance needed to come, they couldn't get through," Miller-Ramirez said.
