(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: Partial morning sun and then it'll be brighter in the afternoon with highs in the upper 70s, to near 80°. Winds: Light.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with lows in the low to mid 50s and just a few spots in the upper 40s. Winds: Light.
Thursday: Mostly sunny with highs around 80°. Winds: E 5 mph.
The top stories to know about
Detroit police crack down on speeding drivers after string of deadly crashes on Gratiot Avenue
The Detroit Police Department is cracking down on reckless and speeding drivers on Gratiot Avenue following multiple deadly crashes in recent weeks.
Gratiot Avenue, a main corridor for Detroit, has been the site of several fatal crashes, with the most recent occurring just last weekend.
DPD conducted a targeted enforcement operation Tuesday, catching numerous speeding drivers along the problematic stretch of road.
"Last week in the city of Detroit, we had three accidents that would be classified as fatal or critical. Two of those incidents took place on Gratiot," Capt. Sedrick Dunbar of the Detroit Police Department Metropolitan Division said. “It is a very hot spot in the city of Detroit for accidents.”
Two weeks ago, two officers were injured and two sisters, ages 8 and 16, were killed on Gratiot in separate car crashes less than 24 hours apart.
Then this past weekend, the newly opened Avenue Grill Restaurant was damaged after a car struck their building.
According to city officials and police records, there have been 34 fatalities on Gratiot since 2021, and seven this year alone.
"Reckless — very. They do drive ridiculously too fast," said Sharron Crawford, a business owner on Gratiot.
Business owners like Melinda and Sharron Crawford, who have operated their shop, SLZ’S Essence of Hair & Nails, together on Gratiot for over 20 years, have had enough. Their frustration led them to spray paint a message on the front of their business: "COMMUNITY SAFETY IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY".
"The community needs to take a collective responsibility for safety because this is our community, these are our lives, this is where we shop, eat, live at, children are around, going to school, pedestrians, we all need to own safety," Melinda Crawford said.
Henry Ford Health shows off progress of new 1.2 million square foot hospital
The Detroit campus of Henry Ford Health is in the midst of a major expansion, and after one year in the making, the project is in full swing.
It's already employing hundreds of construction workers from a variety of companies.
On Tuesday, we visited the site along W. Grand Blvd. to find out what the finished product will mean for the city and how they plan to provide state-of-the-art medical services.
“We’re excited to be having such a world-class development team here," Henry Ford Health Vice President Jerry Darby said.
Darby showed us all around the new 1.2 million square foot hospital facility in the works.
“We are doubling down. It’s the right place to build our academic medical center. It’s the hub to our entire system. That’s a hundred-year-old building we’ve been operating and doing amazing things in. It’s time to create more space. All private rooms on both sides, north and south of campus," Darby said.
The hospital is set to open in 2029, part of an overall expansion worth more than $2 billion.
Darby said there will be 420 beds in the facility, and 72 will be part of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, part of a partnership with the Gilbert Family Foundation.
Some of the cutting-edge technology being used includes the ability to run on all-electric power, part of a renewable energy hub that provides heating and cooling.
Teachers, parents rally for contract resolution as Northville negotiations continue
A week into the school year, Northville Public Schools still doesn't have a contract deal with its teachers, prompting families and educators to show their support at a special school board meeting Monday night.
Supporters wore red while teachers donned black as contract negotiations between the district and the Northville Education Association stretched into their seventh month with more than a dozen meetings already held.
"We've been working with the district for seven months trying to create a success agreement," Richard Tabor said.
Tabor, president of the Northville Education Association and longtime district teacher, said the current contract expired on Aug. 23. Teachers are seeking a deal that provides fair compensation matching the cost of living.
"We're looking for a contract that matches up with the cost of living, not looking at anything that's gonna break the district," Tabor said.
The school board maintains it has already presented its final offer, which includes significant salary increases.
"Under the district's proposal, teachers would receive an average salary increase of 5.14% in '25-'26 and 4.11% in '26-'27," Lisa McIntyre said.
McIntyre serves as board president. However, about 70% of NEA members rejected this offer in August, according to Tabor.
Parents and teachers at the meeting expressed frustration with the ongoing negotiations, pointing to the district's financial position.
"You have a 32% fund balance —32. That's higher than any year than I was treasurer of the board, highest it's been in decades. You have the money, that's what it's for," Matthew Wilk said.
Superintendent RJ Webber cited the state's budget delays as an additional challenge in negotiations.
"They owed us a budget July 1. It's September 9th and we still don't have a budget," Webber said. "Definitely an obstacle. Doesn't make anyone's job easier."
