Detroit, MI
Farmington, Farmington Hills push for revitalization of Grand River
Farmington — Farmington and Farmington Hills officials are pushing to continue to revitalize a key commercial corridor through both cities, with one city leader saying residents eventually won’t recognize it because it will have evolved so much.
Both cities are using a mix of tools to develop Grand River Avenue, which runs from downtown Detroit all the way to Grand Rapids. It’s the main commercial thoroughfare in downtown Farmington and also runs through Farmington Hills. City officials want to bring in more commercial development, but also make it more pedestrian-friendly.
A 2025 market study through Gibbs Planning Group showed Farmington Hills’ side of the corridor has $1.2 billion in restaurant and retail spending over the course of a year.
But the study, which Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich touched on during her State of the City address earlier this month, also indicated there’s demand for 20 new restaurants or retail businesses, and 400-500 new housing units in the corridor.
“We have the density, we have the consumer demand, and we have the traffic that can sustain the kind of investments that belong,” said Farmington Hills’ Economic Development Director Cristia Brockway.
Both cities are already making a concerted effort to revitalize Grand River Avenue east of downtown Farmington through the Grand River Corridor Improvement Authority, which was created more than a decade ago. It has focused on public projects and incentives to bring businesses, housing and landscaping to the area.
Farmington Hills’ improvement district along the corridor runs between Orchard Lake and Eight Mile roads; Farmington’s is between Mayfield and Hawthorne Streets. They’re the boundaries of the cities’ tax increment finance districts, which put money from property tax increases toward public projects.
For businesses and developers, Brockway said the city has a Housing and Urban Development grant of up to $30,000 and a Brownfield improvement grant of up to $200,000 that can assist projects. Brockway said these dollars can be used in demolition or for property owners “looking for help with their obsolete building.”
As far as public improvements go, Brockway said the city plans to bring beautification and pedestrian improvement projects valued around $250,000 to Farmington Hills City Council over the next five to eight years. Money generated from the district will pay for the projects, she said.
The city is also looking to incentivize murals in the district.
“It is going to be a continuous effort to always make this area a focus, and to make sure that when we’re adding art, we’re adding spaces, that we’re also maintaining them so things don’t look the same constantly and things don’t lose focus as far as updates,” said Brockway.
At her State of the City address, Rich said residents eventually won’t recognize Grand River.
“By the 2030s, you’re not going to recognize what the Grand River Corridor was. It will be transformed into a beautiful, vibrant, more walkable district,” she said.
On Farmington’s side, meanwhile, the city plans to collect more than $1 million from the district to put back into improvement projects. While most of the money would be spent on land acquisition, it would also be spent on a transportation study, streetscaping, a park assessment plan and gateway enhancements, said Assistant City Manager Chris Weber.
The city is especially focusing on the Farmington Junction building at 31505 Grand River for revitalization efforts.
“We are trying to spur redevelopment in the area. Obviously it’s all built up, but a lot of those areas are older commercial areas that need a refresh or need a development, a scrape and rebuild,” Weber said.
While Farmington didn’t conduct a market study for the district, Weber said “a lot of” Farmington Hills’ data would likely apply to Farmington’s district because they border each other.
Weber said the goal of the revitalization efforts is to create a “similar aesthetic” as motorists and pedestrians travel the corridor.
“We didn’t want one side of the road to look one way and another side of the road to look an entirely different way,” said Weber.
mbryan@detroitnews.com
Woman blasts local gym for allowing burkinis
A familiar face is back in front of screens after a video posted by Mellissa Carone about burkinis picked up traffic online. The full-body swimsuit is often worn by Muslim women. Carone shared on TikTok that she was canceling her membership at the Lifetime Fitness because she saw women wearing them in the pool.
(FOX 2) – A familiar face is back in front of screens after a video posted by Mellissa Carone about burkinis picked up traffic online.
The full-body swimsuit is often worn by Muslim women.
Carone shared on TikTok that she was canceling her membership at the Lifetime Fitness because she saw women wearing them in the pool.
The backstory:
Carone rose to prominence following her testimony alongside Rudy Giuliani during a Michigan State House Oversight Committee meeting and even became the inspiration for a Saturday Night Live skit.
She also ran for office before being disqualified by the Macomb County Clerk.
Big picture view:
Posting on TikTok, Carone complained about burkinis being worn at her local gym.
“Story time regarding the Muslim problem we have here in Michigan,” Carone started her post on TikTok. “It is not freedom of religion to go into a pool with an entire burka on.”
She likened the garb to a “sanitary problem.”
FOX 2 sought an additional comment from Carone, who declined to comment.
The other side:
Other members of the Lifetime Fitness were confused by Carone’s comments.
“Muslim people wash five times a day for prayers and it’s part of their religion to be clean and sanitary,” said Khaled Farhat, a Lifetime Fitness member. “I don’t understand what she means by unsanitary.”
Another member was turned off by the Carone’s stance.
“Just mind your own business and go on your way,” the
Local perspective:
According to the Lifetime Fitness website, appropriate swimming attire includes swim shirts, bikinis, tankinis, one piece, trunk shorts or long briefs.
We reached out to the company for comment, but they were not immediately available.
The Source: A TikTok post, interviews with Lifetime Fitness members, and previous reporting was cite for this story.
Michigan State is looking to the Motor City for its next commitment.
Multiple reports on Saturday indicated that the Spartans have set up an official visit with Martin Luther King (Mich.) athlete Don Spillers III. The visit to East Lansing is set for May 29-31 and will be the first in a string of official visits for Spillers. He’s also got reported trips to Illinois (June 5-7) and Louisville (June 12-14) scheduled.
Fast Facts on Spillers
Spillers, listed at 6’2″ and 195 pounds, is a 3-star recruit ranked 848th overall in the class of 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. He’s listed as an athlete on 247Sports, but as a wide receiver on Rivals. It looked like MSU and Courtney Hawkins wanted him as a receiver for a while, but safety seems to be the spot where Michigan State wants him now. That would make his position coach James Adams.
The Spartans seem to be considered in the lead right now. MSU has two expert predictions in its favor submitted on Rivals, one of which was submitted as recently as Friday. Rivals’ RPM metric has Michigan State at the very top, holding a comfortable lead at 94.2%. Besides Illinois and Louisville, Spillers’ other notable offers include Michigan, Maryland, Missouri, Pitt, and Purdue.
More Info, Potential Fit at MSU
Next weekend will not be the first time Spillers will be on campus. He visited East Lansing while spring practices were going on and also showed up at MSU a few times during the Jonathan Smith era. The retentions of both Hawkins and Adams by new head coach Pat Fitzgerald have allowed mutual interest to remain.
If Spillers ends up committing to the Spartans as a safety, he’d be the second player at the position to join the 2027 recruiting class. The first was 3-star St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.) prospect Ty’ire Clark. He committed back on April 4 and is ranked 1,280th overall in the class.
There should be room for multiple safeties in the 2027 recruiting class. Michigan State has three players at the spot whose eligibility is expected to expire after this fall: Nikai Martinez, Aveon Grose, and Michael Richard.
A few other names are also on MSU’s recruiting board. The Spartans have three predictions in their favor for Dakota (Mich.) prospect Elijah Goins. He’s ranked 973rd overall in the class of ’27 in the Rivals Industry Rankings and has a reported official visit scheduled with Michigan State for June 19-21.
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Detroit, MI
Metro Detroit veterans charity pleads for end to donation bin vandalism across metro area
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Officials with the Veterans and America First Foundation are speaking out after for their donation bins were vandalized.
The organization, based in Clinton Township, collects clothing donations through bins placed throughout metro Detroit to support veterans and others in need with clothes, food and housing.
Bins located on West Vernor Highway near Military Street in Detroit were among the latest to be hit.
Paul Dehem, director and founder of Veterans and America First Foundation, learned about the damage on Saturday after Aiman Kawas, who is in charge of servicing the bins, discovered they had been damaged.
Dehem said the vandalism occurred within a narrow window.
“It happened sometime between Wednesday and Friday,” Dehem said.
WXYZ
“It’s just disheartening,” Dehem said.
Kawas said the West Vernor Highway incident is far from isolated.
“I was disappointed, of course this is not our first time being vandalized,” Kawas said.
WXYZ
“We have lost over 70 bins to vandalism or theft, the actual bin disappears… they take it completely,” Kawas said.
Jason Beddow, director of development for Veterans and America First Foundation, said each bin costs about $1,000 to replace.
“The vets are missing out on their charity and donations from those bins and it’s just a real shame,” Beddow said.
WXYZ
Meanwhile, Dehem said he hopes those responsible will consider who is truly harmed by the destruction.
“We have a mission and it’s for the veterans,” Dehem said. “It’s not for profit, we’re just trying to make things work and help people.”
Anyone with information about who is vandalizing the bins, or surveillance video, is asked to contact Detroit police.
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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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