Detroit, MI
VP Kamala Harris touts domestic EV initiatives in Detroit – WDET 101.9 FM
With the economy a key issue in the ongoing presidential campaigns and Michigan an electoral swing state, the major party contenders and their surrogates are repeatedly touting their policy initiatives to voters in the Wolverine state.
That includes Vice President Kamala Harris, who is on what the White House calls an “Economic Opportunity Tour” of states nationwide.
Harris told a packed house at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History that the Biden Administration is increasing its investment in one of its signature goals, increasing domestic electric vehicle supply chains.
Critics like former President Donald Trump regularly complain the push for electric vehicles will cost U.S. autoworkers their jobs and force consumers into buying less-expensive EVs made by Chinese manufacturers.
But Harris says the Biden Administration is providing more than $100 million specifically to help re-tool U.S. factories and train workers in electric vehicle technology.
“This investment will help to keep our auto supply chains here in America,” Harris said. “(That) strengthens America’s economy overall and (will) keep those jobs here in Detroit.”
Trump warns of decaying economy, vows to “save” auto industry at Michigan rally »
Energy Secretary and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm added that the Biden Administration has targeted infrastructure funds to help ensure there are enough charging stations for those driving an electric vehicle.
The result, Granholm predicted, will be a supply chain that delivers profits for small business owners in Michigan and avoids any reliance on China.
“We’re pulling that back. In Michigan you’re seeing all of these battery suppliers creating all of the components of that battery pack being made inside of Michigan. It’s super exciting. And that means more good-paying jobs,” Granholm said.
President Biden talks electric vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show »
Harris also used her visit to the majority-African American city of Detroit to try and firm-up support in the Black community.
The Vice President told the crowd at the Wright Museum that the current White House has the backs of Black voters. She said the Biden Administration is aiding African Americans in everything from building wealth and good credit scores to forgiving student loan debt.
“Since taking office we have seen record Black small business growth,” Harris said. “We have created more than 2.5 million new jobs for black workers. And since 2019, Black wealth is up 60 percent. President Biden and I are clear: These are not only our accomplishments, they are yours.”
While Detroit remains a Democratic bastion, Michigan is still a political battleground, part of the so-called “Blue Wall” of midwestern states Biden likely needs to win to retain the White House.
Michigan is commanding attention from both major presidential contenders. Trump held a rally at an airport hangar in Saginaw County last week and is scheduled to headline a conservative organization’s upcoming convention in Detroit. Biden is set to address the Detroit branch of the NAACP on May 19.
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Detroit, MI
Man arrested for concealing gun in baby stroller
STATE POLICE SAY THEY FOUND THIS DRACO WRAPPED IN A T-SHIRT IN OREGON TOWNSHIP.
TROOPERS SAY THEY WERE RESPONDING TO A CALL ABOUT A POSSIBLE ROBBERY – WHEN THEY SAW THE SUSPECT FROM FLINT – WALKING AROUND WITH AMMO IN HIS POCKET.
HE WAS ARRESTED FOR CARRYING A CONCEALED WEAPON – AND HAVING THE GUN WHILE INTOXICATED.
Detroit, MI
14-year-old boy shot in chest during Detroit teen takeover testifies in court
A Detroit teenager charged in connection with a shooting involving a 14-year-old boy was back in court on Monday for a preliminary exam.
Ramon Smith, 17, is charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon, and three counts of felony firearm.
Smith, who will be tried as an adult, is accused of shooting 14-year-old Tabaun Clark in the chest during a teen takeover in Detroit on May 17 near Farmer Street.
On Monday, Clark testified in court.
“How many shots did you hear?” an attorney asked Clark.
“Two before I felt something,” Clark said.
“Where did you feel something?”
“In my chest.”
Officials allege Smith got into a fight with a group, took out a gun and fired multiple shots, striking Clark, who was in the crowd, before running off.
“Were you bleeding?” an attorney asked Clark.
“Yes,” Clark replied.
“Did you realize you had been shot?”
“Yes,” Clark said.
“What was going through your mind at that point?” the attorney asked.
“Try to keep breathin(g),” said Clark.
Detective Serena DeJonge with the Detroit Police Department also took the stand, reading written responses from the defendant once in custody, who describes what he says played out the night of the shooting.
According to DeJonge, the defendant said “a gun fell, so I grabbed it and put it in my book bag.” After the fight, DeJonge said the defendant claimed that as he was walking away, the group followed him. DeJonge said the defendant reported seeing “one of them reaching,” and he pulled his gun out of his bag and fired shots at the group.
Evidence revealed in court alleges the defendant fired six shots instead of three.
Judge Patricia Jefferson said there’s enough probable cause to go to trial. The case is now bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court.
Smith is due back in court on June 15. He remains at the juvenile detention facility.
Detroit, MI
Detroit’s Inbolt Launches Vision-enabled Robot Programming
Inbolt, the Detroit-based robot intelligence company, is launching two new capabilities that complete the company’s AI vision model for robot guidance: Inbolt Robot Programming and an expanded Inbolt Robot Control.
Both technologies will debut at the Automate 2026 trade show at Chicago’s McCormick Place from June 22-25.
“Robot deployment still takes weeks because the digital twin never matches the real factory floor, engineers hand-tune every trajectory during commissioning,” says Rudy Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Inbolt. “With Robot Programming, the Vision Model, and Robot Control on a single platform, that gap closes.
“Engineers build the program from the CAD, our vision model locates the real part, and the robot executes the planned path. One platform from perception to motion, on the robots manufacturers already own. That’s AI perception built for the factory floor.”
With Robot Programming and Robot Control, Inbolt says it covers the full path from virtual commissioning to adaptive robot motion control, for stationary and moving-line applications.
Until now, the company says, deploying a robot on a factory floor took weeks as engineers carefully build digital twins of the production line, then spent the commissioning window touching up trajectories point by point because the virtual environment never fully matches reality. If the robot is anchored 2mm off, or parts arrive in unrepeatable positions, every path gets re-taught and tuned by hand.
With the latest release of Inbolt Robot Programming, the programming capability inside Inbolt Studio removes that step entirely. Engineers build the program directly on the CAD model, in the part’s own reference frame. At runtime, the Inbolt Vision Model locates the real part and adjusts the robot’s motion to execute the planned path exactly.
“No teach pendant. No iterative tuning. No separate workflow for moving lines,” says Cohen. “Weeks of commissioning now works in one shot. The digital twin and the factory floor are the same thing.”
The CAD-based release is available for FANUC, Universal Robots, and Yaskawa on dynamic (moving line) applications, with broader brand coverage on the roadmap. Two of Inbolt’s four Automate 2026 booth demonstrations will run it live, so visitors can watch the system go from CAD to executable robot motion in front of them.
“Automate in Chicago is where we plant our flag in the U.S.,” says Albane Dersy, co-founder and COO of Inbolt. “Four live demos, two product launches, a deep integration with FANUC and NVIDIA on the show floor, and a panel on the future of physical AI. Our U.S. footprint has expanded across Stellantis, GM, and Toyota plants this year, our team has doubled, and the U.S. contingent doubles again by year-end.”
Inbolt’s second product release is an expansion of Robot Control, the real-time robot motion execution component of the platform, now running natively on Yaskawa, joining FANUC, KUKA, ABB, Universal Robots, and Comau.
Robot Control streams corrected joint commands directly into the robot’s servo loop at native control frequency, closing the loop between what the vision model sees and how the robot moves. The Yaskawa expansion brings Inbolt’s native robot brand coverage to six, giving manufacturers a single intelligence layer for real-time execution across the brands they already own.
Inbolt also has released updates to the Inbolt Vision Model with improved global part localization models. The model now tracks a wider variety of parts, and the Inbolt Studio dashboard exposes part position, detection status, and live performance tests for each use case. Robotics engineers can troubleshoot and evaluate Inbolt’s performance on their specific station inside Inbolt Studio.
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