Detroit, MI
Top takeaways from Mayor Mike Duggan’s final State of the City address

5 facts about Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
Discover key facts about Mike Duggan, Detroit’s mayor.
Mayor Mike Duggan enchanted an energetic crowd at his final State of the City address inside the new Hudson’s Detroit skyscraper, highlighting his administration’s successes of confronting Detroit’s dire issues over the last decade while reassuring Detroiters a promising future.
Duggan distributed praises among residents, business leaders, Detroit’s clergy community and politicians for helping the city emerge out of his hardships, particularly after the city filed for municipal bankruptcy before his taking office. In his 12 years as mayor, Detroiters have witnessed ample development and building restorations, crime reduction, eliminated abandoned housing and blight and restored recreation centers. But looming neighborhood issues remain, which Duggan cited as the city’s “biggest battle” in the last 12 years.
“I thought we could bring every neighborhood back. It was started by demolishing it at rates faster than anybody in the country,” Duggan said, adding that since taking office, the city had 47,000 abandoned houses. Through a partnership with the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which sold 15,000 houses and expects to have 1,000 by the end of the year, neighborhoods are expected to improve.
Here are some takeaways from his speech:
Increased employment
Many predicted a bleak future for Detroit when the city’s unemployment rate reached nearly 20%, but Duggan attempted to maximize opportunities on the city’s vacant land. Through his tenure, several manufacturers stepped in to develop facilities on those sites, which would open up hundreds or even thousands of jobs.
These included several automotive companies and major businesses, such as Amazon, to anchor a business center at the old State Fairgrounds. Last June, Ford Motor Company restored and reopened the abandoned Michigan Central Station, a long-awaited development showcasing elaborate attention to details in its restoration.
Crime reduction
In 2014, Detroit was considered the “most violent city” as residents and police officers left. The city consistently boosted public safety by hiring more officers, providing them $10,000 in raises and advocated for Community Violence Intervention initiatives that have had a big affect on reducing neighborhood crime. Duggan said 99% of the police department’s positions are filled to date.
Duggan hailed a major drop in homicides in 2024, marking the lowest since 1969, and commended Community Violence Intervention initiatives like ShotStoppers for reducing gun violence in the city.
Growing revenues
Since taking office, Duggan was tasked with balancing the city’s budget and growing revenues. In his latest budget address, he proposed several financial boosts across multiple departments, thanks to increased revenues from more income tax collections as people have moved back to the city — reversing a decades-long decline in population — and new business have opened.
Funding homelessness initiatives to increase shelters and beds, hiring more Detroit Department of Transportation drivers and mechanics, buying new buses, and boosting public safety were among the investment priorities in his $3-billion budget proposal to Detroit City Council.
Riverfront transformation
Several investments include new parks and proposed projects, like bringing a multi-sports complex and an entertainment district to the riverfront.
The mayor highlighted transforming what would have been a condominium complex on the East Riverfront into Gabriel Richard Park, paving the path to further developments along one of Detroit’s most visited attractions. That includes Riverside Park on the west side of the riverfront, which was previously abandoned and closed, and rebuilding AB Ford Park on the east side, and Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park at West Jefferson Avenue and Rosa Parks Boulevard.
RenCen potential
Plans to partially demolish two towers surrounding the Renaissance Center, Michigan’s tallest building and an icon of Detroit’s skyline, have been a subject across the city in a proposed effort to redevelop the riverfront. General Motors moved into the building in 2000 but recently announced it would move into Hudson’s Detroit.
Businessman Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock firm and GM are partnering on a proposal to remove two of the RenCen five towers — those facing the riverfront — while the center hotel tower would remain as a hotel, the two remaining towers would be reconceived: one as an office tower and the other as apartments, which would include affordable housing units. The plan also calls for a quarter-mile park for an entertainment destination similar to Chicago’s Navy Pier. Restoring the two towers proposed for demolition could be an option, but Duggan added it would be cheaper to build entirely new housing due to the building’s layers of steel and concrete, which would require extra work to run plumbing and utilities.
Despite mixed reviews about the RenCen proposal, Duggan promised better days ahead for Detroiters.
“You’re going to have more days like we had last April,” Duggan said, referencing the 2024 NFL draft, which drew about 775,000 visitors, followed by celebrating “an even bigger event … when the (NCAA) Final Four comes to Detroit,” landing a grand applause and cheers from the audience.
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana

Detroit, MI
Tarik Skubal stung by Seattle Mariners early, and then bullpen blows up in 12-3 loss

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The Detroit Tigers didn’t get the usual pinpoint control from ace Tarik Skubal in their series opener against the Seattle Mariners.
It hardly mattered by the ninth inning, with the Mariners scoring seven runs in the frame, highlighted by a Cal Raleigh grand slam (his second of the game) to give the M’s star an MLB-leading 38 homers on the season.
But it was the Mariners’ other slugger that gave them the lead for good.
On a 1-2 count in the top of the fifth, with the Tigers already down by two, Skubal hung a changeup to Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez. The slugger did not miss, sending the pitch 440 feet from home plate beyond the Little Caesars logo in left-center field.
It ended up as the deciding blow in the Mariners’ 12-3 win over the Tigers on Friday, July 11, at Comerica Park. Skubal allowed four earned runs against the Mariners after two consecutive scoreless starts (on June 29 and July 6), a less-than-ideal way for the ace to enter the All-Star break.
“I felt like I was fighting myself all day,” Skubal said. “Couldn’t get into a rhythm, for whatever reason.”
He finished the start allowing four hits and four earned runs in five innings, striking out five batters and walking two. And in a sign of things to come, his control seemed off from the very first batter.
Skubal hit Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford with his second pitch of the game on a wayward sinker, marking the first time in his career that Skubal has hit a batter to lead off a game. He forced consecutive ground balls from Rodríguez and Raleigh, however, with the one from Raleigh an inning-ending double play to keep the Mariners off the scoreboard in the first inning.
“I put us in a hole early. And as the starting pitcher, you try to keep your team in the game as long as possible. And I just didn’t do my job today,” he said.
Skubal allowed his first run in the second inning off a triple from first baseman Donovan Solano that got by a diving Parker Meadows in center field. The hit scored second baseman Jorge Polanco from first base, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead, and it might have scored a second run had any Mariner but the slow-footed Solano hit it.
It was the first run Skubal had allowed in 18 innings, with his previous run allowed coming off a two-run home run from Athletics’ center fielder Denzel Clark on June 24.
Crawford was on the receiving end of another Skubal rarity in the third inning, drawing a one-out walk. Skubal, who entered the game with the lowest walk rate among all qualified starters (1.09 per nine innings), hadn’t walked a batter since his June 29 start against the Minnesota Twins.
Skubal’s second earned run of the game came off a two-out RBI single from Crawford in the bottom of the fifth. His next two came off one swing, the towering home run from Rodríguez on the next at-bat that made the score 4-1 in favor of Seattle.
This is the fifth loss the Tigers have recorded on a Skubal start and the first since a 1-0 loss against the Kansas City Royals on May 31. This is also the first time in 2025 the Tigers have lost a Skubal start by more than one run, and Skubal’s first loss since early April; he had won 10 consecutive decisions.
“It’s a good reminder these guys are human, and they’re going to have some of these games where they’re not at their best,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
Skubal’s next start might be at the 2025 All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta. Although American League manager Aaron Boone has not indicated who he will choose as his starting pitcher, the AL Cy Young favorite stands as a likely choice for the honor.
The four earned runs raised Skubal’s ERA from 2.02 to 2.23 on the season.
Tigers bats not quite hot enough
The Tigers offense, mostly silent through the first three innings with three total baserunners, got the first two runners on in the fourth via a Torres walk and Wenceel Pérez single. A soft flyout from Riley Greene and a strikeout from Spencer Torkelson looked like it would end the threat, especially with Zach McKinstry initially called out on strikes in what appeared to end the inning.
However, the umpires had a quick conference and determined that McKinstry’s whiff was actually a foul tip that hit the ground, allowing the inning to continue. The All-Star wasted no time with his do-over, dropping the next pitch into center field for an RBI single to tie the game at 1. Catcher Dillon Dingler reached first via a hit-by-pitch on the next at-bat to load the bases for Parker Meadows, but Meadows struck out to end the inning, ending the Tigers’ threat.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo outdueled his opponent, allowing three earned runs and six hits over five innings, striking out six Tigers.
“For a while, we didn’t put two really good at-bats together back-to-back, hardly at all. And that’s because Castillo was controlling the tempo and the timing and the barrel contact,” said Hinch.
A no-out Greene triple off Castillo in the sixth inning cut the score to 4-2, scoring Pérez from third base. Torkelson’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Greene and made it a one-run game, though Torkelson’s flyout was only a few feet away from clearing the left-center wall and tying the game.
Greene finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Pérez finished 2-for-3 with a run.
Comedy in the ninth
A bullpen relay of Tyler Holton, Carlos Hernández and Brant Hurter gave up a combined eight runs in the eighth and ninth innings, giving the Mariners a comfortable lead as the game approached its conclusion.
In a treat for those who stayed through the blowout, Tigers catcher Jake Rogers entered to pitch with one out in the ninth for his second pitching appearance of the season. His first came in a June 14 game against the Cincinnati Reds, which the Tigers lost, 11-1.
Rogers got Solano to ground out before hitting Luke Raley with a pitch in the next at-bat. He then induced third baseman Ben Williamson to line out to left to complete his first career scoreless outing.
The Tigers next face the Mariners on Saturday, July 12, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com
Detroit, MI
A ‘great’ Detroit father’s final wish gets granted — as helicopter drops money and rose petals from the sky

Making it rain one last time.
A Detroit man’s dying wish to have thousands of dollars fall from the sky by helicopter as his “last blessing” to his community was honored by his family last month.
Darrell “Plant” Thomas, a 58-year-old car wash owner in East Detroit known for his generosity, died after a battle with Alzheimer’s on June 15, and wanted to have a dramatic send–off.
At his funeral on June 27, his sons organized a helicopter to drop $5,000 and rose petals on unsuspecting mourners as they honored their father at the event held on Gratiot Avenue and Connor Street.
“This was a final expression of love from him to the community because he was a giver,” Thomas’s niece, Crystal Perry, told the Detroit Free Press.
“Yesterday was simply a farewell tribute to an Eastside legend.”
Footage from the event shows a helicopter hovering in a clear blue sky, while petals and money rain down, causing people to scream with excitement and rush to catch them on the ground.
In other videos, people are seen happily scooping up bills from the street, bending down to grab handfuls of cash as it floated across the pavement.
Traffic along the six-lane road of Gratiot Avenue came to a standstill for several minutes as funeral goers and onlookers rushed to grab some of the cash.
However, instead of turning into mayhem with people trying to fill their pockets, the crowd remained calm as they went for the money.
“Everybody got a little bit,” Lisa Knife, an employee at the nearby Airport Express Lube & Service, told the Detroit News of the surreal scene.
Knife said she didn’t rush to grab the money, but took the moment to admire how the gesture brought members of the Motor City community together.
“There was no fighting, none of that. It was really beautiful,” Knife said.
One of Thomas’s sons, Dante — better known as “Smoke” — told Fox 2 Detroit that he added some of his own cash and that the gesture was the least they could do to honor a man so beloved in his community.
“Detroit, y’all might not know who my father was, but he was a great father,” Smoke said.
“Among his community he was a legend, and he blessed everyone and that was his last blessing to everyone. That’s all it was. Many blessings to everyone and long live Plant. Long live Plant that’s it.”
The Detroit Police Department briefly closed off traffic to allow the crowd to enjoy Thomas’s final send-off safely. They were aware of the rose petals — but said they were surprised by the money.
Police said they are not investigating the incident. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation.
Thomas owned Showroom Shine Express, a business he poured his heart into for decades, and was known to many as a passionate professional race car driver with the National Hot Rod Association.
Detroit, MI
Detroit community organizations react to new violence prevention plan

The city of Detroit is taking action after a dangerous rise in shootings involving minors.
Mayor Mike Duggan and Police Chief Todd Bettison on Monday unveiled their plan to combat the recent uptick in teen violence.
They say the city is about to see a level of curfew enforcement it has never seen before. Detroit’s Community Violence Intervention organizations have been urging city leaders to take action for some time now.
One group, Denby Neighborhood Alliance, is encouraged by the five-step plan, but it says there’s more that can be done.
For the first time in weeks, there’s activity at Skinner Playfield in Detroit. Sandra Turner-Handy, the executive director of Denby Neighborhood Alliance, says that hasn’t been the case since the deadly shooting two weeks ago that left a 4-year-old and an 18-year-old dead.
Turner-Handy hopes the city’s action plan, which includes more curfew enforcement, will change things.
“After the shooting of Samir and Davian. It’s like nobody’s here. It’s empty. The park is empty,” she said. “The fact that we have something in the community that is no longer deemed safe. It hurts me.”
Pastor Maurice “Pastor Mo”Hardwick, founder of the Live in Peace, No Beef Zone movement, preaches a message of unity.
“We bumped up the police force in training. We got that. Got the right police chief. Duggan has done a great job. We now just need the citizens and the parents to be in coalition with us to save your child,” Hardwick said.
Duggan and Bettison both stressed holding parents and guardians responsible.
Hardwick prays for their success.
“Too many people are being shot, too many babies are being shot. We don’t have time to be so nice about this. We have babies going into caskets,” he said.
In the meantime, community groups like the Denby Neighborhood Alliance say there needs to be more prevention.
“We need summer activities for these kids who they need to be somewhere doing something active,” Turner-Handy said.
They’re hopeful that will bring kids and teens back to places like Skinner Playfield.
The mother of 4-year-old Samir Josiah Grubbs will hold his repast at Skinner Playfield to show the community that this is still a welcoming place for kids. That’s planned for 1-5 p.m. on Saturday.
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