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Rural Michiganders face housing, broadband and workforce challenges, report says ⋆ Michigan Advance

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Rural Michiganders face housing, broadband and workforce challenges, report says ⋆ Michigan Advance


The Michigan Office of Rural Prosperity (ORP) has released the Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity, a 71-page report that details challenges that rural communities across Michigan face and strategies to help address them.

The ORP, under the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), was founded in 2022 as the Office of Rural Development. It was later renamed the Office of Rural Prosperity in 2023.

The office was created as a response to the unique needs that rural communities have and the challenges they face around issues like housing, broadband, infrastructure, economic development and health care access, ORP Director Sarah Lucas said. 

Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity map

“The Office of Rural Prosperity is one of just a handful of state offices that are focused on rural prosperity. There’s about six of us in the country and not many states have a comprehensive strategy like this, targeted specifically at rural communities,” Lucas said. “It is very unique and I think it’s a really important opportunity for the state to kind of come together around the needs that rural communities are experiencing.”

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According to the Roadmap of Rural Prosperity released last month, rural Michigan is home to 20% of the state’s population and makes up nearly 94% of the state’s land area. 

Rural Michigan encompasses Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes, more than 1,400 local governments, and 70 counties considered rural or mostly rural,” the report reads. “With over two-thirds of school districts and 21 colleges and universities located in rural areas of the state, rural Michigan is instrumental in preparing the future workforce.”

The roadmap aims to provide an understanding of rural needs and priorities and help guide local, regional and state leaders in “advancing collaborative and collective action to achieve prosperity across rural Michigan,” according to a press release from the LEO. The ORP defines rural prosperity as “resilient, connected rural residents, communities, and natural environments.”

Lucas said the idea for the roadmap started after hearing consistent concerns among rural community members. She said the ORP thought it would be beneficial if there was an understanding of how policy, programs and resources might impact some of the issues that were being discussed.

Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity map

“I would say that the listening process began in April of 2022 and we’ve never really stopped that,” Lucas said. “That’s really a major function of our office is to be closely engaged with rural communities so that we understand what they’re experiencing and then making sure that our partners within state government and outside of state government have a shared understanding of what those experiences are.”

The ORP received input from rural residents and community leaders through several different engagement efforts, including a listening tour that reached 58 counties, a 2023 statewide survey that got 2,489 responses, rural leadership summits, local and regional discussions and topic-based roundtables.

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According to the roadmap, those who responded to the 2023 Rural Priorities and Perspectives Survey said the biggest challenges facing the rural community over the next 10 years are: increasing housing opportunities, attracting a larger working-age population, changes to the cost of living, managing population growth and development and retaining workforce. 

Housing is the most cited critical issue facing rural communities statewide, followed by workforce challenges, the roadmap states. 

The seven strategies the roadmap presents to help address these issues are:

  • Growing and diversifying the workforce across sectors.
  • Improving individual health and economic well-being.
  • Supporting local and regional capacity to deliver services.
  • Expanding quality and attainable housing opportunities.
  • Building and maintaining resilient infrastructure.
  • Enhancing regionally driven and place-based economic development efforts.
  • Protecting and conserving natural assets.

Now that the roadmap is published, the ORP will be using it as a way to “frame conversations,” Lucas said. She said this is an opportunity to share resources and “best practices” so that communities trying to implement the ideas outlined in the report have the support and connections to be successful. 

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“We’ll be actually talking to a lot of groups over the next several months about the roadmap and how it might look in terms of local and regional initiatives, in terms of statewide initiatives,” she said. “It’s really going to be, in some senses, a conversation starter and a vehicle through which we can collaborate with other agencies and with other kinds of partners, both within and outside the state of Michigan.” 

So far, people have said the roadmap reflects the experiences they’ve had living and working in rural Michigan, Lucas said. 

“Even in the last couple weeks, since it’s been released, there’s already just been a lot of really great opportunities that have come out of it to integrate it into local, regional and statewide action,” she said. 

Michigan Roadmap to Rural Prosperity_Report FINAL



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Birmingham police say massive pool party should have been shut down sooner

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Birmingham police say massive pool party should have been shut down sooner


Police in Birmingham, Michigan, say officers should have shut down a massive pool party in a residential neighborhood sooner last weekend. 

More than 100 people showed up for a party in the 300 block of Westchester Way on June 13, when city officials say a private residential pool was rented out to a third party, violating zoning regulations.

“While officers shut the party down and issued multiple citations, the department acknowledges the party should have been shut down earlier,” said Birmingham police Chief Scott Grewe in a social media post. “Protecting public safety and preserving the quality of life in Birmingham neighborhoods remain top priorities. Should an event require intervention in the future, there will be police supervision to ensure the orderly and safe dispersal of attendees.

Homeowners on Westchester Way told CBS News Detroit that the street was filled with cars and some intoxicated partygoers.

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“Women, I don’t even know if they were wearing anything, thong bikinis on top of vehicles, twerking,” said homeowner Brian Homer.

Birmingham police confirmed the individual who rented the backyard over the weekend was a promoter. Police say the homeowner and the person who rented the pool were among those who received citations. 

Residents told CBS News Detroit that the house has been hosting parties for years and that its pool is listed on Swimply for rent.

“This isn’t the first time; this has been ongoing. This is just the first time he got caught,” said a resident who shares a fence with the homeowner who is renting their pool.

During a Birmingham City Commission meeting Monday night, Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller said that the city had failed in this case. 

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Homeowners who spoke with CBS News Detroit said they are concerned about their safety, given that the neighborhood is filled with children.

In April, three men were arrested and later charged in connection with a shooting at a short-term rental in the 1400 block of East Lincoln Street. According to police, a party was advertised at the rental home, and three 18-year-old men drove up to the property, where other teens were gathering, when an argument ultimately led to a shooting. 

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Skateboarding legend conquers California, revisits Michigan roots

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Skateboarding legend conquers California, revisits Michigan roots


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Warren — Skateboarders flew through the air at Macomb County’s Eckstein Skatepark, launching off concrete ramps as spectators looked on from the surrounding rows of vendor tents.

Punk rock music from a band on the Creative Grind Fest stage echoed across the park as veteran skateboarders — and a legend in the sport — stood alongside the youngest, offering help and encouragement. Among them was 4-year-old Nikky Bukobich, who said the first thing he learned on a skateboard was “to fall.”

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Bill Danforth, a Grosse Pointe South High School graduate, surveyed the scene. With buzzed silver hair, limited edition Danforth Vans sneakers and a white T-shirt, the 60-year-old skateboarding trailblazer talked with fans and signed boards.

“Young skateboarders are the future of the sport, and will be able to carry it on long after we are not,” Danforth told The Detroit News. “You’re never done with skateboarding. But after we slow down, they got to keep that tradition going.”

Danforth returned to Metro Detroit last weekend as one of the newest inductees into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, making appearances at Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf — which Danforth credits with keeping skateboarding alive in Michigan — and Warren’s Creative Grind Fest. As the skateboarding industry continues to grow, Danforth’s induction offers a look back at the figures who helped shape the sport’s early years.

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Grosse Pointe meets California

Danforth was drawn to skateboarding as a Grosse Pointe youth when he realized it allowed him to express his creativity like no other sport did.  

“I played organized sports when I was a kid. I played hockey, I played baseball, I played golf,” he said. “Skateboarding was unique, and it had no rules. We created our own groove.” 

Danforth started skating wherever he could: “Most of it was at schoolyards or loading docks. This is before we were even building ramps.”

Then, in 1978, Detroit’s Endless Summer Skatepark opened in Roseville and Danforth began competing through the Great Lakes Skateboarding Association. These competitions drew attention to Danforth and other Midwest skaters from some of the largest industry groups on the West Coast, earning Danforth a sponsorship from Madrid Skateboards. 

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“We started getting recognized by California,” Danforth said. “All of a sudden we were sponsored by California companies — we’re getting free skateboards, we’re getting free wheels and we’re getting free components.” 

‘Style is faster, more charged’

Art director and brand manager for Madrid Skateboards, Eagle Barber, said that Danforth stood out from others in the way he skated.  

“His style is faster, it’s more charged. He was never an apprehensive, laid-back skater,” Barber said. “He was always going faster and bigger, and he had a very certain air of intimidation about him.”  

Michigan professional skateboarder Garold Vallie, a close friend, added that Danforth was known for skating anything and everything.

“He could skate big halfpipes, but he could skate street,” Vallie said. “He could skate anything. He had his own style, and people gravitated towards that.”

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Jerry Shirts, a skater and artist selling his spraypainted road signs at the festival, had often been inspired by Danforth’s tricks on the board, he said: “He was a big influence on me when I first started skating. I had seen him in the mags and such, and then realized he was from Michigan, so he was my favorite local skater. I copied all his tricks.”

Danforth was also unique simply for being a Michiganian. Todd Huber, founder and CEO of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, said Danforth emerged from a region rarely associated with professional skateboarding. 

“He wasn’t from California, and California kind of got the spotlight. He was from Detroit, no spotlight was on him,” Huber said. “He was cut from a different cloth, and he did things differently.” 

Growing up in Michigan forced skaters like Danforth to be resourceful: “We had to fight a lot of issues just to be a skateboarder in Michigan. Nothing was given to us; we earned it out of our own blood, sweat and tears. We were skateboarders without attitudes in the Midwest. California was a bunch of attitudes with skateboards.” 

‘The American Nomad’

The same determination that helped Danforth break into the sport also took him far beyond Michigan. Danforth flew, drove and hitchhiked across the world, skating any terrain he could find and earning him the nickname “The American Nomad.”

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His journeys included a trip to Tahiti in the 1980s. Intended as a skateboarding clinic and demonstration tour, the trip turned into what Danforth called an unexpected adventure when political unrest erupted on the island. Danforth evacuated before continuing his travels through New Zealand and Australia.

Stories like these helped make him one of skateboarding’s most recognizable figures during the 1980s. 

“He had the number one-selling board in the United Kingdom. He had one of the number one-selling boards in America,” said George Leichtweis, founder of Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf. “And he would go anywhere with anybody in skating, and that’s a level of respect to the core of skateboarding.” 

Memorabilia, renewed demand

Today, one of Danforth’s signature boards is part of the Smithsonian’s collection, alongside a copy of “Street Survival,” an instructional VHS video starring Danforth that helped teach a generation of skateboarders. 

“He was definitely a really influential skater of the ’80s,” said Jane Rogers, a curator with the Smithsonian. “His board had a lot of cool elements — the graphic and the way the board was shaped. The circle of skulls definitely represents that time.”  

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Madrid Skateboards recently reissued several of his signature boards as part of a limited-edition collection. Only 200 of each design were produced, and the company said Danforth’s boards were the strongest sellers in its Gold Reissue Series.

Danforth has his own board company, American Nomad, where boards cost upwards of $95. Reissues or originals of Danforth’s signature boards can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars, according to industry experts.

Such demand was visible during Creative Grind Fest. There, the Modern Skate & Surf tent reported strong interest in Danforth’s Hall of Fame commemorative deck, selling for $119, and his Madrid Misfit reissue boards, priced at $84.

“A big percentage of people are buying these things for the collectability aspect of it,” Barber said. 

For many collectors, the boards represent more than a piece of equipment, skateboarding industry expert Iain Borden said: To some extent, people are buying back the youth that they had.

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“A lot of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s who can’t skate anymore, they’ve got injuries, they’re too heavy, they’re out of practice, but they still have this relationship to skateboarding that’s been a central part of their life. Board collecting is a way of keeping up that relationship.”

‘People can relate to Bill’

Danforth’s influence isn’t measured solely by the value of his memorabilia. Those who know him often point to his impact off the board as his most lasting contribution.

Danforth has spent decades mentoring younger skaters and supporting Native American skateboarding programs and Michigan skateparks, saying it is important to “share our knowledge with everybody”.

“People love Bill because people can relate to Bill,” said Creative Grind Fest organizer Bridget Harrington Renteria. “He’s great with kids, and he’ll talk to anybody. He’s got time for everybody.”

Among those eager to meet Danforth was 9-year-old Junior Wilie, whose admiration for the skateboarding pioneer was evident. With a photo of Danforth hanging on his bedroom wall, Wilie was excited to get his skateboard signed by him and other Michigan professionals. Wilie toted his skateboard around the park, darting in and out of vendor tents with his parents to find the perfect items.

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Wilie wasn’t the only one eager to attend. Miguel Lynn rode his skateboard down into the concrete bowl before accelerating back up and over the rim. Lynn, who has been skateboarding for more than 20 years, said he was excited to learn Danforth would be attending the festival.

“He’s awesome. I look up to that guy,” Lynn said. “He’s been skating for so long, being that old, being able to skate, it’s amazing.”

Vallie was among the skateboarders mentored by Danforth. What began with drawing pictures of Danforth in class as a child eventually led to years of skateboarding and traveling alongside him.

“I think the term legend gets thrown around too much,” Vallie said. “But I do think he embodies every part of what that word encompasses — not only from his skateboarding accomplishments, but bringing skateboarding back to Michigan and helping kids.” 

atisch@detroitnews.com

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Detroit Bar Misses James Beard Award, Leaving MI Without Any Winners

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Detroit Bar Misses James Beard Award, Leaving MI Without Any Winners


Chartreuse Kitchen and Cocktails is best known for its farm-to-table American cuisine. It has earned numerous accolades, including Yelp’s No. 1 Detroit restaurant in 2017 and 2018.

Freya, known for its prix fixe tasting menus typically served with wine, has also earned high praise, including a spot in the New York Times’ most exciting restaurants list.

The 20 chefs will headline events in their hometowns as part of the foundation’s Taste America culinary tour, which begins Sept. 16 in New Orleans and continues in cities across the country through March 2027.

The foundation said the chefs were selected not only for culinary talent but also for their work beyond the kitchen, including efforts such as supporting sustainable agriculture, investing in restaurant teams, elevating quality ingredients and advocating for a stronger food system.

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Chefs in Houston, New York, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles and New Orleans are among the 20 to watch.





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