(WXYZ) — Hey, you're busy — we get it.
We know a lot happens throughout the week, and you may not catch all of our stories here at WXYZ. So we've decided to gather the most talked-about stories from the past week all in one place that you can check out during your free time over the weekend.
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Here are the big stories from the week beginning July 28.
'I was not a spy.' 1 year after release from Russia, Paul Whelan details his time in captivity
Friday, Aug. 1 marks one year since Paul Whelan has been free. After being accused of espionage and spending more than five years behind bars in Russia, the Michigan native said his return home has been bittersweet.
Upon his release, it was hailed as a major diplomatic achievement, especially since he was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian labor camp. But, he said, getting back to a normal life has been difficult to say the least.
Our Carolyn Clifford sat down with Whelan in Manchester, where he now lives with his parents, and is trying to reclaim his former life.
"I’m in my hotel room, one of my friends is with me, we’re getting ready to go to the wedding," he said.
That's when he said 20 officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the new KGB in Russia, lined the hallways and stormed his room.
"FSB comes into my room where I am violently arrested. 'Mr Whelan, you’re under arrest for espionage,' and so I said, 'I haven’t committed espionage.' 'Well, we think you have,'" Whelan said.
Whelan said his long-overdue return to Michigan felt like a gut punch. After 20 days of evaluation in Texas, he had to find his own way home.
"I came home to no home. My house was gone, no job, cars were gone, and finances had been used over the years to store things and pay attorneys," he said.
Whelan says he’s been denied unemployment, health insurance and at 55, although he’s highly qualified, his six-year work gap puts him out of the running for many jobs.
"There's a stigma from being in prison, even though I was wrongfully held, I was still in prison," he said.
Whelan says he joined the military to give back after America gave his family so much as immigrants. Now he’s back home with his aging parents in Manchester who escaped Germany during World War II.
Michigan woman shares decade-long battle with Lyme disease after Justin Timberlake reveals diagnosis
A Michigan woman is sharing her struggle with Lyme disease after pop star Justin Timberlake revealed his own diagnosis with the tick-borne illness, which he described as "relentlessly debilitating" on social media Thursday.
Annette Jackson, 37, has been battling Lyme disease for over 10 years and says finding a diagnosis was an exhausting journey that took dozens of medical consultations.
"Throughout this journey, it has been tough," Jackson said.
Jackson traces her health problems back to 2015 when she was bitten by a tick while visiting a park in southeastern Michigan.
"I was in the Clinton River, at a park here and I got bit and the symptoms started after," Jackson said. "It was a struggle every day to fight, mentally, emotionally, a lot of depression, a lot of anxiety."
For years, Jackson struggled without knowing what was causing her symptoms, consulting with numerous medical professionals who often misdiagnosed her condition.
"I've probably seen over 100 doctors in the past nine years," Jackson said.
The challenge with Lyme disease is that its symptoms can mimic other conditions, making diagnosis difficult.
"So, doctors normally think it's anxiety disorders or OCD or depression. A lot of the times, Lyme disease does present as psychiatric symptoms," Jackson said.
Dr. Jonathan Swetech, a family medicine physician in Clinton Township, finally diagnosed Jackson's condition in 2020 and explains that advanced Lyme disease can affect multiple body systems.
"Usually what people with the advanced forms of it have are bad joint pain, chronic pains, their nervous system doesn't work right, all kinds of psychiatric issues. Cardiac issues, too, seem to be pretty common. Just stuff just doesn't work right," Swetech said.
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.”
'An honor': Detroit couple provides safe rides to teen who witnessed bus shooting
In a show of community support, a Detroit couple has stepped up to help a local teen who witnessed a city bus shooting by providing her with free rides to school.
High school senior Ashyira Kenney says she is thankful for the Kendrick family, total strangers who stepped in to give her more than a safe ride — they gave her the courage to finish summer school.
"It makes me feel good that I've got somebody on my side to help me to get back and fourth from school," Kenney said.
Kenney is looking forward to her senior year at Chandler Park Academy High School in Harper Woods. But earlier this month, on her way home from summer classes, her peaceful world was turned upside down when she witnessed a shooting on a Detroit Department of Transportation bus, leaving the 17-year-old scared to get back on a city bus.
"Whenever something goes down in the community that affects our young people, we want to follow up to make sure it doesn't affect their quality of life," said Bishop Daryl Harris, project manager of Cease Fire Detroit.
Harris asked members of his church if they could help Kenney prosper.
"We thought we would step in and see how we can keep her coming to school," Harris said.
"We're just glad that we can step in and add some support," said Shawn Kendrick.
"We just want to make sure she has the chance to do whatever she needs to do to graduate," Krystina Kendrick said.
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 among council members and other community leaders.
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.
