(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?
An Air Quality Advisory has been issued for all of Southeast Michigan for Thursday. Pollutants are expected to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range Wednesday and Thursday with some locations reaching the Unhealthy range.
Today: Morning rain with a soggy start. Skies will gradually clear from north to south in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 70s. Winds: NE 10-20 mph.
Tonight: The rain will clear out with clearing skies and cooler temps in the upper 50s. Winds: NE 5-10 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny with drier air. Highs in the mid 70s. Winds: NE 5-15 mph.
The top stories to know about
Mom turns in 13-year-old son after vehicle thefts, said she hopes this is a wake-up call
Two local kids were arrested after being accused of stealing cars from a Waterford business over the weekend — and for one of them, this isn't their first rodeo.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard is commending the mother of one of the suspects for turning him in.
The stolen vehicles have since been recovered, and that mother tells 7 News Detroit her son is a troubled teen, but she’s doing all she can to keep him off the streets.
The 12-year-old and 13-year-old allegedly broke into a landscaping business and used the company's trucks they're accused of stealing, to break open the gate to drive out.
Part of the incident was captured on surveillance video.
"My cousin started blowing up my phone, and she said 'open your screen, look at your screen' and that’s when I witnessed the videos," said Destini Ghee.
And to Destini's surprise, there was her 13-year-old son — alongside a 12-year-old stealing work trucks from Elowsky Lawn Services in Waterford on Sunday. She says he’s been in trouble before, but not to this extent.
"I’m hoping that him knowing that this could have cost him his life, this could potentially cost him his freedom, his whole childhood," she said.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says the boys stole three Chevy Silverados, two of which had trailers attached. All of it was valued at $90,000.
Sheriff Bouchard says the 12-year-old suspect was arrested before for stealing seven vehicles from local businesses, even selling at least one of them for a mere $30.
"It’s sad, but hopefully this, now, second encounter will help get us a better path for this young man going forward. I mean, real life is not Grand Theft Auto," said Sheriff Bouchard.
Destini turned her son in to authorities Tuesday after seeing him on surveillance footage posted on social media. Destini says the teen made a confession of sorts after the truck thefts on Sunday, saying he needed to go to Children's Village — Oakland County’s juvenile detention center. At the time, Destini had no idea what he was suspected of doing.
"He just said, 'I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have been doing and I need to go get help,'" she said.
She said she is hoping that this will be his wake-up call.
"We tried numerous ... things ... to try to get him on the right path," said Destini. "I used to tell him, 'no, I’d rather see you alive than dead, and getting you locked up, I know, is going to save your life,'" said Destini.
The 12-year-old boy arrested on charges of stealing seven cars last month had his hearing Wednesday afternoon.
Destini’s son has a hearing set for the second week of August.
Walgreens employee prevents woman from falling for scam in Farmington Hills
It started like any other shift for Cody Moore, until he noticed some odd behavior from one of his regular customers, and stepped in to save her from being scammed out of hundreds of dollars.
“They always target the older people who don't have anybody," Cody said.
Cody is a shift lead at Walgreens in Farmington Hills. He tells me he noticed something not quite right with one of their regulars.
“She was buying some gift cards for $500, which I thought was weird because I've never seen her buy gift cards," Cody said.
He said he noticed an unsaved number out of California calling the woman repeatedly. This raised some red flags for Cody.
“So I asked her was that the number who she was getting these gift cards for and she said, yeah, so I informed her that it was obviously a scam and not to answer that,” Cody said.
Becky Ulcinski was in line behind the elderly woman while this was all going down. She says the relief on the woman's face was obvious.
“She said, 'thank you so much. You're a good person. I have been worried about this all day, and you're right, it is a scam now that I think it through, no bank is gonna want Target gift cards,'" Becky said.
“She said she had second thoughts, but I guess those people can be kind of convincing sometimes," Cody said.
Becky says seeing Cody trust his instincts and go out of his way to help the woman made her proud of her community.
“He could have just said, 'this isn't my problem,' ring them up and sent her on her way," Becky said. "And the fact that he recognized the scam and said, I'm not, we're not going to be a part of this, we're stopping this right here was just so wonderful to see.”
PeacePlayers Friendship Games brings global youth together in Detroit
A week-long celebration of basketball and culture has descended upon Detroit as the city hosts the PeacePlayers Friendship Games, uniting youth from around the world through sports.
Since 2001, the international peace-building non-profit PeacePlayers has used sport and movement to unite divided communities that have experienced conflict.
"We have sites in the Middle East, in Israel, in Northern Ireland, South Africa," said Jasmine Cooper, director of PeacePlayers Detroit.
In the U.S., PeacePlayers also has sites in cities like Detroit, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The Friendship Games brings youth from around the world to one location for a week of cultural exchange, leadership training, and basketball — and this year it's in the Motor City.
"Being able to elevate this and put it on a platform that no other city could really do like Detroit is just so meaningful and so important to the city," said Chris Economeas, Pistons Senior Director of Community and Social Responsibility.
The Friendship Games include an opening and closing ceremony, a basketball tournament, and children will even get to meet Detroit Piston Ron Holland.
Wednesday was "Detroit Day" at Wayne State University, where dozens of Metro Detroit middle schoolers got to interact and play games with PeacePlayers participants from international sites.
"Hopefully it'll change their perspectives and spark their interest and recognize that the world is beautiful and people that are different are also beautiful as well," said Cooper.
A teen from South Africa says visiting Detroit — his first trip to the U.S. — has been an eye-opener.
"It feels like home, it feels like I'm back home, but then there's these key differences like the cars you see around, driving on a different side of the road," said Lebogang Keti, with PeacePlayers South Africa.
