(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?
Today: Partly to mostly sunny with a chance of showers and storms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s. Winds: NNE 5-10 mph.
Tonight: Lingering showers and storms possible. Lows in the mid to upper 60s. Winds: Light.
Thursday: Morning rain with a thunder chance as well. Then there will be gradual clearing from north to south in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 70 to low. Winds: N 5-10 mph.
The top stories to know about
Parental fines increased, curfew violations decriminalized by city of Detroit
Detroit City Council voted to amend an ordinance that regulates curfew violations.
Under the updated ordinance, parental fines increased, however, they’ve been decriminalized. It passed 7 to 1.
Detroit City Councilman Coleman Young II sponsored the amended curfew ordinance.
“We cannot be a thriving city and have 4-year-olds' blood shed in the street,” Young said.
He and Police Chief Todd Bettison emphasized the updated ordinance decriminalizes the violation. That means parents won’t have to serve jail time if their kids are caught out after curfew and parents are given a choice.
The chief said they won’t have to pay the fine if they choose to take courses instead. Under the new, amended ordinance, the fine is now $250 for a first offense. It was $75. A second offense is $500.
“Today, tomorrow, the fees will actually increase and that’s for leverage purposes. I was talking to a couple judges and they say the fees are too low — that a parent will choose not to take the services. They’ll say, ‘I’ll just pay the ticket.’ But if it’s $250 it’s like, ‘Ok, I’ll go to that parent responsibility course,’” Bettison said.
Young said, “To go through the classes, get the mental health therapy that they need, get the training they need, get the resources, access that they need to be able to become not only prepared parents but also become better and more productive members of society.”
“And to get these kids off the street, and we’re not looking at 4-year-olds being gunned down by 17- and 18-year-olds in the city of Detroit. That cannot stand,” he added.
Prior to the vote to approve the changes, a spirited discussion took place amongst council members and other community leaders.
'A duty to protect.' Hear from the armed bystander who confronted Traverse City mass stabbing suspect
The armed bystander who confronted the suspect in a mass stabbing at a Traverse City Walmart over the weekend spoke to Good Morning America.
The stabbing injured 11 people, and video from outside the Walmart showed Derrick Perry holding the suspect at gunpoint with the help of other bystanders.
On Good Morning America, Perry, who is a married father of three, talked about the ordeal.
"I didn't think of anything other than trying to get him away from people and get him isolated and get him to put the knife down and just to kind of focus on me instead of everyone that was yelling and screaming in the background," Perry said to GMA.
The victims in the stabbing ranged in age from 29 to 84, and Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said it appears it was a random act.
Perry told GMA he was checking out at the store when he heard a commotion.
"A lady was screaming for her son, and all the employees and patrons were clamoring, trying to run in different directions," Perry said.
Gille ran outside to the parking lot, where he was later surrounded by Perry and others.
"Unfortunately, it was kind of a mob mentality and some very disturbing things were being said about how to deal with the situation. I had to block all that out and focus on him, because I ultimately wanted him to put the knife down and back away until law enforcement got there," Perry said. "I did not see myself as any judge, jury or executioner. I just wanted everyone to be safe."
GMA asked Perry if the suspect said anything to him.
"I can see in his eyes that he was wild-eyed and he did not look in his right mind. He was saying, 'they told me to do it. They told me to do it. Call 911,'" Perry said.
Oakland County road commissioner accused of making threats, wasting millions
For more than a decade, the Road Commission for Oakland County has been saving for a new building that would finally bring most of its staff together on one campus.
But after spending millions of dollars to start the project, some road commission employees say county politics put the brakes on their plans and wasted your tax dollars.
The Road Commission for Oakland County is a separate entity from county government except for one thing: the Oakland County Commission appoints the three road commissioners who oversee the agency in charge of county roads.
Road commission employees tell the 7 Investigators one of those recent appointments has caused a lot of political drama, resulting in allegations of threats of violence, money wasted and interference from the highest levels of the county.
Road Commission for Oakland County employees say their sole mission is safety.
“We all worked hard to make the roads better, which they are in Oakland County. And to save lives,” said former Road Commissioner Ron Fowkes.
The road commission is responsible for maintaining more than 2,700 miles of county roads and about 1500 traffic signals. Fowkes said they pride themselves on Oakland County’s fatality rate being half the state and national average.
The three political appointees in charge of the agency are responsible for the commission’s $178 million budget. Fowkes said that’s why during his 12 years on the road commission, they carefully set aside millions of dollars for a new headquarters building on the same campus as their main operations center in Waterford.
“To bring everybody under one roof,” said Fowkes.
Road Commission officials said the new $43 million headquarters would improve efficiency by consolidating about 200 employees spread between three aging buildings across the county. They also said it would cost less than renovating their existing buildings.
“We have to buy a lot of property for right-of-way. Well, after a year or two, the utilities are moved and all the work is done, you can sell that property and that's where the majority of it went,” said Fowkes.
“So you guys pinched your pennies and saved over the years to put money in this building fund?” asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“Yes,” said Fowkes. “The county was aware of it for 12 years.”
Last August, commissioners voted to hire a contractor and they broke ground on the new site in the fall.
Road commission records showed the agency did not use gas tax funds or money earmarked for roads for the project. A spokesman said they also secured a $5 million federal grant to upgrade their Traffic Operations Center, but now employees say that grant and the entire project are in jeopardy.
Road Commission officials said the building plans started to hit red lights in January when road commissioner political appointees shuffled.
Last August, commissioners voted to hire a contractor and they broke ground on the new site in the fall.
Road commission records showed the agency did not use gas tax funds or money earmarked for roads for the project. A spokesman said they also secured a $5 million federal grant to upgrade their Traffic Operations Center, but now employees say that grant and the entire project are in jeopardy.
Road Commission officials said the building plans started to hit red lights in January when road commissioner political appointees shuffled.
The next month, meeting minutes showed Woodward told the road commissioners that the county supports “a moratorium on the construction currently in progress of the new administration building," and Esshaki made a motion to suspend the work, a delay that records show cost taxpayers more than $2 million.
Meeting minutes show Commissioner Esshaki later suggested the road commission should look at moving to the county’s Executive Office Building, which will be vacant when the county offices move to downtown Pontiac in 2027 as part of a $174 million project.
But according to engineering records, renovating that property for the road commission’s specialized needs would cost more than the new headquarters building: $55 million.
While not every road commission employee supported the idea of a new headquarters, many employees told us they were furious with what they call the county’s interference with a separate agency.
“I pray to God the county does not move forward on taking us over,” said Mary Gillis during an Oakland County Commission meeting in April.
“I just wanted to voice my frustration at the lack of transparency which is going on between this board and the road commission. We experienced an undeniable interference from this board,” said Stephen Guerra at the April Oakland County Commission meeting.
“In my 35 years, I've never seen anything like this. You guys are taking this — like a power trip. It’s sad,” said Road Commission Foreman Walter Mersino Jr. about the new road commissioner's plans.
Mersino says he has worked at the road commission for 35 years. He’s one of many long-time employees who spoke out during public comment at some of those recent public meetings, questioning Road Commissioner Esshaki about why he supported cancelling the plans for the new building.
“You said the road commission’s doing things underhandedly, but you guys are doing things underhandedly. You weren't even part of this building. And all of a sudden you come in, and now this building is being suspended? Who's pulling your strings?” asked Mersino.
Mersino said when he was on a job site in Bloomfield Township in June, the foreman and a coworker got a surprise visit from Commissioner Esshaki.
“He goes 'why don't you talk to me now, it's just me and you. You don't have your crowd behind you now,'” said Merisno.
Mersino said he tried not to engage with the road commissioner and tried to back up his work truck to leave.
“So then I proceeded to start to back up, and he says, ‘that's right. Leave little girl.’ So I stopped and said, ‘don't talk to me like that.’ And that's when he says, ‘this guy [the coworker] can leave, and me and you can go behind those trees and handle this.’ I said ‘I'm not going do that ... and he just kept picking, picking. So I started to leave again. He said the same thing. 'That's right, leave little girl,'" said Mersino.
Mersino did leave — and then filed a police report and an incident report with the road commission.
"I just felt threatened for my job. That's how I felt. I felt threatened. Like this guy is trying to take my 35 years and flush it down the toilet," he said.
Mersino said he believes Esshaki’s actions violate the Road Commission’s Violence in the Workplace Policy, which states the commission “will not tolerate any threat, direct or implied… which creates an intimidating, offensive or hostile work environment.” The road commission is investigating the incident.
The 7 Investigators caught up with the road commissioner at a public meeting to ask him about the allegations that he wanted to fight the road commission employee.
"I’d like to know if you’d like to respond to that? Why did you call him a little girl?" asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
"Just remember there’s two sides to the story ... I have no comment now, thank you," said Esshaki.
Esshaki later told us he did not threaten the employee, but did not comment beyond that. He refused our repeated requests to do an interview. After Commissioner Nancy Quarles resigned in late May, that left just Esshaki and Road Commission Chair Eric McPherson to vote on the building deal. They both voted to cancel it even though millions had already been spent.
McPherson had previously voted in support of the building. He declind to respond to our questions about why he changed his vote.
It was a decision that angered many former and current employees.
"I told them that they were violating their oath of office ... because you get sworn in just like the President of the United States, because you're handling people's money and you're dealing with people's lives... They have no idea what they're doing, they're clueless," said Fowkes.
Meanwhile, County Commission Chair Dave Woodward told the 7 Investigators he questioned the fiscal responsibility of the road commission building a new headquarters with all of the road funding needs the county has, but it's not clear why this is all happening now.
County records showed Woodward and two other commissioners formed a committee to study the road commission’s operations back in 2022, and road commission employees say the new building was discussed during Woodward's committee meetings.
