Detroit, MI

Detroit man fights blight in Brightmoor by building a park in honor of his mom

Published

1 year ago

August 6, 2023

Detroit man fights blight in Brightmoor by building a park in honor of his mom

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Tom O’Brien has been part of the Brightmoor neighborhood on Detroit’s west side since 1974.

“Brightmoor was a whole different game back then, a lot of blue-collar people but a great little community,” said O’Brien.

And even though Tom now lives next door in Redford, he still loves bringing his dog Connan for walks at the Etheldra Mae Williams Park.

“It’s so unique to watch a neighborhood with so much violence and crime in it to be transformed into people getting along and talking to each other,” said O’Brien.

With thousands expected to attend the 2nd annual Burgess Street Food Festival, the park’s founder and manager, Michael Williams, says the park only recently started to play an important role within the community.

“So four years ago, what was this place?” asked 7 Action News.

“Four years was effectively ruins. We had some houses that were burnt out. We had people who would come and illegally dump. We had some abandoned vehicles and stolen vehicles. Whatever you can think of was that wasn’t supposed to be here, was here,” said Williams.

Michael partnered with the Blight task force to take care of the debris. Coordinated with the housing department to demolish abandoned houses and worked with the Detroit Police Department to reduce crime in the area.

“What makes the Brightmoor community unique?” asked 7 Action News.

“Before the last eight years, I never knew about Brightmoor. I came here to look for a building suitable for building a museum. And I stumbled upon the typography you have here in Brightmoor,” said Williams.

Now the nearly 11 acre park, named after Michael’s mom, is helping the community thrive again.

“This is something that will not only honor her, but it will continue to honor or create a legacy for our family,” said Williams.

“What’s next?” asked 7 Action News.

“We are going put in a walking path, we are going to put in a bird aviary, we want to put in a reflecting pond. But we are going to make this a natural setting for lots of wildlife, and we want to make this a beautiful place for lots of people to come and enjoy,” said Williams.

For more details about the park and you can donate time and money, head to williamspark.org.

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Detroit, MI

Spotlight on the News: Inside the “red hot” Detroit Lions & the Michigan State Police

Published

6 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Spotlight on the News: Inside the “red hot” Detroit Lions & the Michigan State Police

WXYZ DETROIT — On Sunday, January 12, Spotlight on the News will look inside the Detroit Lions’ winning season with Ann Arbor fan Barry Schumer, author of I Don’t Believe It…We’re Good? The New Detroit Lions. How does he rank this year’s team as they rest up for the NFL Playoffs? We’ll also have an insightful conversation with Colonel James F. Grady II, the 20th Director of the Michigan State Police. What are his plans for growing and diversifying the MSP?

Spotlight on the News, now in its 59th season, is Michigan’s longest-running weekly news and public affairs television program. It airs every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. on WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 in Detroit, is streamed live on wxyz.com and broadcast at 11:30 a.m. on 23.1 WKAR-HD in East Lansing.

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Detroit, MI

Michigan native’s home in California destroyed in wildfire

Published

15 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Michigan native’s home in California destroyed in wildfire – CBS Detroit

Watch CBS News

As fires continue to burn across Los Angeles, the recovery process is beginning for some. One pastor lost everything to the flames, and now Michigan is stepping in to help.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers avoid arbitration with all nine eligible players for $26.76 million in 2025

Published

23 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Detroit Tigers avoid arbitration with all nine eligible players for .76 million in 2025

The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms with all nine of their arbitration eligible players.

Their salaries are locked in for the 2025 season.

Seven players signed one-year contracts before MLB’s deadline Thursday to avoid arbitration: left-hander Tarik Skubal, right-handed reliever Jason Foley, outfielder Matt Vierling, catcher Jake Rogers, right-hander Casey Mize, right-handed reliever Will Vest and right-handed reliever Beau Brieske.

The Tigers already agreed to terms in late November with two additional arbitration eligible players: infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry at $1.65 million and infielder Andy Ibáñez at $1.4 million.

Teams and arbitration-eligible players were required agree to salary figures by 1 p.m. Thursday. For those who didn’t reach an agreement, there was another deadline at 8 p.m. Thursday to exchange salary figures in preparation for an arbitration hearing to be scheduled within the next month. During the hearing, a panel of arbitrators selects either the team’s proposed salary or the player’s proposed salary.

The Tigers, under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, operate as a “file-and-trial” club, which means there would have been no further negotiations on one-year contracts after Thursday’s salary-exchange deadline.

However, the Tigers and their players will avoid arbitration hearings altogether in 2025, as all parties agreed to terms, extending the Tigers’ streak without an arbitration hearing to six years.

The most notable news from Thursday’s deadline: Skubal — the 2024 American League Cy Young winner who previously turned down a contract extension offer — settled with the Tigers at a $10.15 million salary for 2025, earning a $7.5 million raise from his $2.65 million salary in 2024.

Skubal, 28, will be eligible for salary arbitration for the third and final time after the 2025 season. He is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2026 season.

Aside from Skubal’s raise, Rogers settled at $2.64 million — up from $1.7 million last year — in his second year of arbitration and Mize settled at $2.34 million — up from $830,000 last season — in his second year of arbitration. Both Rogers and Mize, like Skubal, are set to reach free agency after the 2026 campaign.

The other six eligible players are in their first year of salary arbitration: Foley at $3.15 million, Vierling at $3.005 million, McKinstry at $1.65 million, Vest at $1.4 million, Ibáñez at $1.4 million and Brieske at $1.025 million.

Players must have at least three years of service time — or qualify for Super Two status — to be eligible for salary arbitration, then players become free agents after six years of service time. Therefore, most players are arbitration-eligible for a total of three years, but a Super Two qualifier — such as Ibáñez and Brieske — receives four years of arbitration eligibility.

In 2025, the Tigers will pay $26.76 million to nine arbitration-eligible players.

Here’s the full breakdown, listed in order of salary: Skubal ($10.15 million), Foley ($3.15 million), Vierling ($3.005 million), Rogers ($2.64 million), Mize ($2.34 million), McKinstry ($1.65 million), Vest ($1.4 million), Ibáñez ($1.4 million), Brieske ($1.025 million).

The Tigers are also on the hook for another $68.5 million to five players on free agent or longterm deals: SS Javier Báez ($25 million), RHP Alex Cobb ($15 million), 2B Gleyber Torres ($15 million), RHP Kenta Maeda ($10 million) and 1B Colt Keith ($3.5 million). The remainder of the Tigers’ 26-man roster, including players such as DH Kerry Carpenter and RHP Reese Olson, will make the league-minimum salary, set for $760,000 in 2025.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple,Spotify) ]

For now, Skubal is the fourth-highest paid player on the Tigers’ roster in 2025, trailing only Báez, Cobb and Torres. Keith, who signed a contract extension before his MLB debut, checks in at sixth on the leaderboard.

Skubal made the All-Star Game for the first time in his five-year MLB career en route to winning the Cy Young in 2024, posting an 18-4 record with a 2.39 ERA, 35 walks and 228 strikeouts across 192 innings in 31 starts. He led the AL in wins, ERA and strikeouts to secure the first AL pitching Triple Crown in a full season since 2011.

When next offseason rolls around, Skubal is all but guaranteed to surpass $15 million (and could reach $20 million) for his 2026 salary in his third and final trip through the arbitration process before free agency.

The Tigers haven’t had an arbitration hearing with a player since Michael Fulmer in 2019, with Fulmer losing to the Tigers. Before Fulmer’s case, there hadn’t been an arbitration hearing involving the Tigers since 2001.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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