Detroit, MI
‘Resurgo,’ Detroit doc 20 years in the making, heads to Ann Arbor
Filmmaker Stephen McGee has been working on his film since he moved to Detroit in 2005.
Stephen McGee has spent so long making his Detroit documentary “Resurgo: The Rise From Within” — he’s been filming it for 20 years, and shaping it for at least the last 10 — that he’s having a hard time walking away from the project.
As the city it documents lives and breathes, so does the film, and McGee isn’t quite ready to lock in his final edit. Even after showing the film several times, he’s still tinkering with it, adding in a quote here or a few frames of footage there every time he shows it to a new audience.
“It’s hard to know when a 20-year project is done,” says McGee, who has been documenting Detroit since he moved to the city in 2005. “Each screening is a new way to see the life of this film and where it should go, or how it’s going to live.”
His next screening is Friday, when McGee shows the film at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. It will be his biggest screening yet, following late 2025 showings at the Emagine Royal Oak and the Birmingham 8, as well as a premiere at October’s Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, where “Resurgo” was awarded the festival’s Best Feature prize. He has future screenings planned in Grand Rapids (Feb. 26) and Farmington Hills (March 7).
McGee, 44, describes “Resurgo” — the title is Latin for “I rise again” — as a “visual symphony of humanity.” It covers the Motor City’s history and its rise and fall through its 2013 bankruptcy to its current state, and McGee talks to residents and civic leaders about the city’s character, resilience, spirit and resolve.
McGee, who grew up in California and moved to Detroit in 2005 when he was hired as a photographer at the Detroit Free Press, has had a front row seat to one of the city’s most stunning rehab projects: His Corktown house sits across the street from Michigan Central, and he has documented the building’s revival in an official capacity for Ford.
That perspective provides a framework for “Resurgo,” along with McGee’s personal story as a husband and father of two living inside the city. The film — which features footage of Jack White and Kid Rock, and narration by Big Sean — then dives into Detroit’s present and past, its comeback narratives and its rejection of comeback narratives.
McGee culled the film — or is still culling the film, as it were — from thousands of hours of footage and millions of photographs, with which he’s filled some 50 or 60 hard drives, he says. He drew inspiration from “Baraka,” director Ron Fricke’s 1992 documentary, which used no narration or voiceover to tell its story of humanity.
His partner on the film is Jessica Care Moore, Detroit’s poet laureate, whom he met while doing a TEDX Detroit event in 2010 and has since become a close friend and collaborator.
“‘Resurgo’ is gorgeous, it’s (McGee’s) heart on his sleeve,” says Moore, who carries a producer credit on the film. She says she appreciates McGee’s perspective as an outsider to the city, as well as his ability to listen to and observe voices inside the city and help tell their stories, hers among them.
McGee’s work is “undeniable,” Moore says. “We’re going to keep making films together, ‘Resurgo’ is just the beginning,” she says.
Since leaving the Free Press in 2007, McGee worked as a freelance photographer and videographer, and he has done projects with Ford, Dan Gilbert — McGee did Detroit’s 2017 pitch video for an Amazon headquarters in the city — and the Kresge Foundation.
At one point he says he was close to securing a seven-figure sum from a major investor to complete work on “Resurgo,” but the deal eventually fell apart.
“Having that fall through was probably one of the best things that ever happened to the movie,” McGee says. “Because if I would have had the pressure to finish a film because of a budget, this wouldn’t be the film that it is.”
As “Resurgo” began to take shape, McGee always kept the end product in mind, even if he wasn’t sure what it would resemble. “I’ve made trailers for it basically every year, because I had to tell myself that the project was real,” he says.
He then hit the edit hard in 2024 and started coming up for air with it late last year. He began submitting “Resurgo” to film festivals and showing it to local audiences, selling out several screenings.
McGee would like to take “Resurgo” on the film festival circuit and eventually secure a distribution deal.
He’s also considering touring it around the country and leading discussions after the film, since he’s had healthy Q&A sessions with audiences after each screening of the film thus far, notes from which he’s taken with him back to the editing bay. He also sees parallels with what Detroit has been through to emerging storylines in cities across the country, including his hometown in San Francisco’s Bay Area.
During a visit to Ann Arbor last week, McGee pounded the pavement and handed out flyers to passersby to get the word out about Friday’s screening. Standing on stage at the Michigan Theater, McGee gazed out at the auditorium of the historic venue, with 1,500 empty seats laid out before him.
It felt daunting, he said, and then exciting as it began to wash over him.
“It kind of feels like the film’s real,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, but now it does.”
agraham@detroitnews.com
‘Resurgo: The Rise From Within’
7 p.m. Friday
Michigan Theatre, 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor
Tickets $11.75 for adults, $9.75 for students and seniors
marqueearts.org
Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal throws vs Jahmai Jones in simulated game
Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal faces Jahmai Jones in a simulated game Monday, June 1, 2026, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Almost every Detroit Tigers hitter looks improved through three games in June, but Dillon Dinger continues to go above and beyond. He put the Tigers on his back for a sweep of one of MLB’s best teams.
The Tigers scored in each of the first four innings en route to a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, June 3, in the finale of the three-game series at Tropicana Field, sweeping the series for a three-game winning streak.
It’s the first sweep for the Tigers since April 14-16.
Dingler hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning.
Facing the Rays, Dingler hit .462 (6-for-13) with three home runs and nine RBIs across 14 plate appearances. The 27-year-old drove in four runs apiece in Monday’s opener and Wednesday’s finale.
He is hitting .241 with 14 homers and an .830 OPS in 56 games.
The Tigers improved to 25-38, while the Rays, who entered Wednesday with the best record in the American League, dropped to 36-23. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Tigers are 10½ games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
More importantly, the Tigers experienced a run-scoring breakthrough at Tropicana Field.
The offense scored 81 runs (with 18 home runs) through 28 games in May, only to score 25 runs (with 10 home runs) in the first three games in June.
On the mound
Right-hander Troy Melton struggled early on.
But he dominated throughout the middle and late innings.
The 25-year-old didn’t throw a first-pitch strike to the first eight batters he faced, and the Rays took advantage of his command issues by scoring one run apiece in a 19-pitch first inning and a 17-pitch second inning.
The result of those runs: The Rays tied the game, 1-1, on Yandy Díaz’s RBI single in the first and tied the game again, 2-2, on Cedric Mullins’ solo home run in the second.
Melton suddenly threw a first-pitch strike for the first time to Victor Mesa Jr., immediately following Mullins’s homer and Nick Fortes’ single.
He faced the minimum 21 batters after Fortes’ single, needing 14 pitches in the third inning, 10 in the fourth, eight in the fifth, six in the sixth and eight in the seventh and 12 in the eighth.
His only blemish during that stretch came on a leadoff walk to Jonathan Aranda in the third inning, losing a nine-pitch battle. He bounced back by erasing Aranda on the bases with a double play, then he struck out Richie Palacios.
Melton owns a 1.74 ERA in three starts since returning May 24 from the injured list after suffering right elbow inflammation in spring training.
At the plate
The story continues to be the offense.
It’s a small sample size, but the Tigers keep hitting in June.
The Tigers grabbed the lead in the first inning for the fourth game in a row, courtesy of Gleyber Torres’ leadoff double and Dingler’s RBI single.
Torres attacked a first-pitch cutter from right-hander Nick Martinez in his second game since returning from the injured list, recovering from a left oblique strain.
Martinez allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk with one strikeout across four innings, throwing 58 pitches. He hadn’t allowed more than two runs in his first 11 starts, entering Wednesday with a 1.62 ERA.
He now has a 2.29 ERA after his 12th start.
After taking a 1-0 lead, the Tigers made it 2-1 in the second on Jake Rogers’ home run and 3-2 in the third on Spencer Torkelson’s sacrifice fly.
The big swing occurred in the fourth inning.
Singles from Matt Vierling and Torres put two runners on for Dingler with two outs, and, with two strikes, he pulled Martinez’s middle-away cutter for a three-run home run.
It put the Tigers ahead, 6-2.
A sacrifice fly from Kerry Carpenter extended the Tigers’ lead to 7-2 in the ninth inning.
Next up: Comerica Park
The six-game road trip is in the books.
The Tigers have an off day Thursday – with another off day approaching on Monday – as they return home to Comerica Park for a three-game series against the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners, beginning Friday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet).
The probable pitchers for the series: left-hander Framber Valdez on Friday, right-hander Keider Montero on Saturday and right-hander Jack Flaherty on Sunday.
For the Mariners, All-Star right-hander Bryan Woo is scheduled to start Friday’s opener.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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More than a decade ago, a juror in a Detroit public corruption trial that ended with three men getting convicted in a $97 million bribery scheme exclaimed: “Hopefully this is the end of this nightmare … this is a whole new beginning.”
It didn’t quite go that way as the following years saw two city councilmen indictments, a dozen school principal bribery convictions, a towing scandal, as well as a toxic dirt and demolition fiasco.
And now there’s this.
In a new criminal filing in U.S. District Court, a former city official in charge of the Detroit People Mover shuttle is charged with taking $300,000 in bribes from a businessmen who reportedly billed the city for work that was never performed — all with the help of his connected associate.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, the alleged scheme involves 55-year-old Michael Anderson, a former director with the Detroit Transportation Corporation, who allegedly helped Detroit businessman Terrence Parker bill the city for nearly $305,000 in information technology work that was never performed.
Moreover, court records show, Parker’s company has no experience with IT work, but rather performs restoration work on homes damaged by storms and natural disasters. Still, the FBI says, Parker managed to submit 22 phony invoices to the DTC for IT work, including fixing computer monitors — and got paid for all of it. That’s because Anderson was approving his phony invoices from the inside, the government says, and getting money in exchange for his help.
Anderson and Parker both are charged with conspiracy and federal program theft/bribery and face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. They were released on bond following their initial appearances in U.S. District Court. Their court-appointed lawyer could not be reached for comment.
According to the complaint, Anderson, who was hired by the city in 2022, was in charge of overseeing People Mover operations until he was fired in April for conduct unrelated to the pending criminal case. Parker owns a business called Total Care Restoration (TCR), which performs restoration work on homes damaged by fire, water, windstorms, or other elements.
According to the government, Parker was billing the DTC for information technology services, even though his company has no experience in that field, nor has it ever submitted a bid proposal to the city for such work, or signed any contract with the DTC.
Still, the government alleges, between 2023-25, the DTC paid nearly $305,000 to TCR for 23 invoices it had submitted, 22 of those invoices charged for IT services.
“Anderson approved the invoices and Parker deposited the checks into TCR’s bank account. TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments before Anderson was hired as Procurement Director. Likewise, TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments after Anderson was fired as Procurement Director,” the complaint states.
According to the government, Anderson did actually procure and manage IT contracts with a number of companies while he worked for the DTC. But TCR was billing the city for work that those companies had been contracted to do.
“At least six TCR invoices listed work that was actually contracted to (another company),” an FBI agent wrote in his affidavit attached to the criminal complaint.
Also noteworthy, the FBI agent writes: “Most of TCR’s invoices contained a charge for debris removal. In my experience, debris removal is a common line item for restoration projects but not for IT work.”
According to the complaint, the FBI figured out that Parker was funneling money to Anderson by reviewing their bank records, and noticing that their deposits and withdrawals coincided. For example, on Aug. 16, 2024, Parker deposited a DTC check for $23,934 and withdrew $18,000 cash. That same day and over the next several days, Anderson made cash deposits into his account for $1,500, $1,300, $1,000, $700 and $1,850.
“There is probable cause to believe that Parker paid Anderson a portion of the money from the TCR invoices,” the FBI agent writes.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
Javier Báez hits home run in 2026 spring training with Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez talks to reporters during spring training February 27, 2026, at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Detroit Tigers shut down two of their shortstops on the injured list.
The biggest name?
Javier Báez.
The 33-year-old has been shut down from baseball activities after meeting with a specialist Monday, June 1, about the lack of progress in recovery from a right high ankle sprain, which he suffered April 28. (The Tigers also shut down Trey Sweeney, who has been sidelined with a right shoulder strain since spring training and needs further medical evaluation.)
“We’re still dissecting all the diagnoses and what’s going on with him,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Báez before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. “He’s just not progressing very quickly, and right now, rest is still part of the equation.”
The Tigers tried to start Báez’s return-to-play progression with running, hitting and fielding drills.
He still felt symptoms of the high ankle sprain.
“I’m not a doctor,” Hinch said, “but I understand it watching Javy go through a very slow process of the swelling and the bleeding and all the things that go on inside that type of sprain.”
How long until Báez returns to baseball activities?
The timeline is unknown.
He isn’t expected to need surgery, which means he should return at some point after the All-Star break in 2026.
“From what I was told, we’re on the right path and everything is going well,” Hinch said. “These are just really tricky. The path that we’re on, we’re just going to go slow. Baseball activity is going to slow down because we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the symptoms.”
Before the injury, Báez played in 24 games for the Tigers, hitting .256 with two home runs, two walks and 16 strikeouts. The injury occurred while running to first base against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, as he tried to avoid a tag with an awkward slide.
The 13-year MLB veteran’s contract with the Tigers runs until November 2027. He is in the penultimate season of a six-year, $140 million contract from December 2021.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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