Detroit, MI
Whitmer budget seeks $26M to upgrade Selfridge infrastructure
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget proposal this week will recommend spending $26 million to upgrade “critical” infrastructure at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, according to her office.
The purpose is in part to attract new flying missions and aircraft to the base, “recognizing the $30 billion that it contributes to the state’s economy and more than 116,000 jobs it supports,” Whitmer’s office said in a summary.
The administration didn’t detail what infrastructure would be enhanced at the base, but the investment would build on Whitmer’s commitment to spend $100 million to upgrade facilities at Selfridge as the state seeks a follow-on mission to replace the aging A-10s that will start to be retired in 2026.
Last year, then-secretary of the U.S. Air Force Frank Kendall said Selfridge would “potentially” be considered for a future fighter mission to replace the base’s A-10 aircraft, “but at the current time we don’t have an option to do that.”
Kendall at the time noted the decision announced a year ago to base a squadron of 12 KC-46A Pegasus refueling tankers at the Selfridge base in Harrison Township was in part because of the planned divestiture of the A-10 fighters. Selfridge also is home to eight aging KC-135 Stratotankers, which are also slated to be retired.
Kendall added that the next-generation crewless or unmanned “collaborative” aircraft (CCA) that the Air Force is acquiring is a possibility for Selfridge.
Peters, who serves on the Senate Armed Services panel, has also emphasized the possibility of the Air Force employing KC-46s as a “command and control node” for future CCA aircraft.
The Air Force in January 2024 said Selfridge is the “preferred location” to host a KC-46A squadron, pending the results of a planned environmental impact analysis this year. The KC-46As are projected to start arriving in 2029.
Air Force officials have projected that jobs will still be lost in the retirement of the A-10s at Selfridge, which are expected to begin divestment in 2026.
That retirement process would occur incrementally through 2029 and could result in the net loss of approximately 300 part-time personnel positions and about 25 full-time jobs, accounting for the KC-46A jobs that will be added, the Air Force said.
Bipartisan members of Congress have said they continue to push defense officials for a follow-on fighter mission to replace the A-10s, but that depends on the availability of aircraft such as the F-35 or F-15EX.
Peters last week said he plans to press President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Air Force, Troy Meink, on a fighter mission. “And every mission we can get,” Peters said. “We’re just well-positioned for lots of missions.”
Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have proposed hypersonics testing among the new missions that could come to Selfridge. A study is underway examining whether the base or a site nearby would be suitable for a facility for hypersonics and extreme environment testing. The study is being conducted by LIFT, the Detroit-based high-tech manufacturing research institute in Corktown.
Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, whose district includes the base, has also floated an AH-64E Apache helicopter mission for Selfridge. James, a pilot, flew AH-64s in Iraq.
The annual defense policy bill adopted in December authorized the creation of a new center to coordinate northern border security at Selfridge. The bill used language proposed in a separate bill by Peters and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
mburke@detroitnews.com
Jaelen Reaves is well-prepared to study vocal music starting this fall at Oakland University.
And the reason why will be on display this week at Detroit’s Fox Theatre.
“An Evening of Fine Arts,” a free show taking place on Wednesday, May 6, is the Detroit Public Schools Community District’s 57th showcase of performing and visual arts. Some 760 students from 14 schools will take part in the presentation, which includes 27 stage performances and 26 works on display in the Fox’s Grand Lobby.
And for students such as Reaves, who attends the Detroit School of Arts, it’s a chance to take a step towards a career on a stage that’s hosted showbusiness legends they’ve looked up to.
“It’s like, wow, because I know people like Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan and so many others have performed there,” says Reaves, 18, a vocal soprano who will perform with the DSA Lady Achievers and Concert Choir on Wednesday. “The fact that they sang on that stage and I’m about to sing on that stage is crazy. Just going to the Fox to see (a performance) is a privilege; for me to be performing on that stage is really an honor.
“The fact I have the opportunity to showcase my talent and what we represent here (at DSA). If I was in another school, I would never have had this opportunity. I definitely don’t take it for granted.”
Other performances during the night will come from the district’s harp and vocal ensemble, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and is the oldest such program in the country, and a selection of choirs, jazz bands, orchestras and theater programs.
“(The evening) spotlights the voices of our students in the highest visual and performing arts programs, district-wide,” says Andrew McGuire, deputy executive director of fine and performing arts for DPSCD. “When our students are stepping on the stage, they’re not only stepping into a legacy, they’re also stepping into the future as performers — as actors, as singers and all of that.”
The evening also demonstrates DCSPD’s continuing commitment to arts education at a time when many districts nationwide have severely limited or completely curtailed similar curriculum.
“We have a whole-child commitment,” McGuire explains, “which has meant the rebuilding and revitalization of fine and performing arts (education) district-wide. And DSA is not the only space where artists exist. All 106 schools have fine and performing arts, with most schools having two or more (programs) in them. It’s really exciting that in an age when there’s so much talk about pulling back, restricting and cutting, that’s not in our narrative at DPSCD. We’re proud of that.”
Reaves is certainly emblematic of the district’s effectiveness. Raised in an artistic family, as well as singing in church, she became interested in classical singing, but plans to study a broad array of styles at Oakland. “I just want to be a solo performer who has every single (style) under my belt,” she says. “I don’t want to just sing one type of genre. I would love to go around the world singing all types of things
“I know that singing, for me, is not a hobby. It’s something that’s in my blood. I can’t do anything but sing every day. So I want to make the best of it.”
The Detroit Public Schools Community District’s “An Evening of Fine Arts” takes place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Admission is free, but tickets are required. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
The Paramore frontwoman appears to be mapping out tour dates behind her 2025 solo album, ‘Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.’
Hayley Williams will soon have a date with Detroit.
The Paramore frontwoman’s website was updated Saturday with a list of cities underneath the header, “cu_soon.jpg.”
Detroit was one of 28 cities listed on the itinerary, along with Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Raleigh and Los Angeles, and a handful of South American cities.
Over the course of the last week, Williams, 37, has been slowly rolling out dates on her latest solo tour, which comes on the heels of her 2025 solo album “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.” An earlier round of touring behind the project did not include a Detroit date.
The singer’s last local visit came when Paramore played Little Caesars Arena in June 2023.
agraham@detroitnews.com
What is the PWHL playoff format?
USAT’s Sam Cardona-Norberg breaks down all the rules you need to know for the start of the 2026 PWHL Playoffs.
Sports Seriously
Is a professional women’s hockey team coming to Detroit?
The answer is not fully clear yet, but the buzz for Hockeytown to get a Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) team very soon is real.
Denise Ilitch, who’s family owns the Detroit Red Wings, the Tigers and Little Caesars Arena (her brother Christopher Ilitch runs the day-to-day operations), predicted the PWHL was coming to Detroit earlier this year.
“I believe we’ll be getting a team in Detroit soon, which really excites me,” Ilitch said on her “Denise Ilitch Show” podcast on March 31.
Ilitch also serves on the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan and has been a strong advocate for a U-M women’s hockey team in recent years.
Media reports from the New York Times and The Hockey News also indicate that Detroit may be next in line for an expansion team, after the league added two teams last month in Seattle and Vancouver. The league is looking to 2-4 teams by 2026-27.
The PWHL has made tour stops to Detroit four times in the last three years and some of the best women’s hockey players in the nation are from Michigan, including Megan Keller, who was the hero for Team USA women’s hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
During the 2023-24 season, 13,736 hockey fans set an attendance record at the time for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States.
The PWHL, which celebrated its first season in 2023-24, has gained extra interest since the 2026 Winter Olympics.
If Detroit got a PWHL team, some fans hope that could push the University of Michigan and Michigan State University to eventually add Division I women’s hockey programs.
The league’s last appearance in Detroit on March 28, 2026, featured a 3-1 Montreal Victoire win over the New York Sirens in front of 15,938 fans at Little Caesars Arena.
The Free Press reached out to officials with the city of Detroit, but they did not immediately provide comment.
Free Press reporter Helene St. James contributed reporting.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
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