Detroit News this Past Week

Dan Gilbert pledged $1 billion to a new nonprofit that would redevelop, own and run the Renaissance Center and the east riverfront, as Bedrock seeks City Council approval of the project's tax breaks by Thanksgiving. Early in-person voting opens Saturday, Oct. 24, with an extra day in Detroit on Monday, Nov. 2. Activists called for the removal of Police Chief Todd Bettison and the firing of an officer who shot an 18-year-old as he ran; police said the officer believed he was armed. A council member's review of West Village bars drew pushback from a bar owner. Comments are open below.

By the Numbers

• $1 billion — Dan Gilbert's pledge to a nonprofit that would own the RenCen
• 18 — acres of public civic space in the RenCen plan
• 103,000 — absentee ballots issued to Detroit voters for Nov. 3
• 880,000+ — Meridian members sent letters ending DMC coverage, DMC says

The Weather: Mild and Mostly Dry Until a Cooler Halloween

Sunday, Oct. 25, is forecast foggy, with a high of 67° and a low of 41°. Highs then run from 62° on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to 68° on Monday, Oct. 26, and Thursday, Oct. 29, under overcast skies. Light drizzle is forecast Friday, Oct. 30, with a high of 63°, and Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, has the week's lowest high, 58°. Rain chances stay at 13% or lower every day.

The News

Gilbert pledges $1 billion so a nonprofit can own the RenCen

Dan Gilbert has pledged $1 billion to establish a new nonprofit that would redevelop, own and operate the Renaissance Center and the surrounding 35-acre east riverfront district, officials said Monday, Oct. 19. “It means that Dan will contribute $1 billion and his contribution will never be repaid,” said Jared Fleisher, CEO of Bedrock, who made the announcement. Gilbert was not there because of rehabilitation after his 2019 stroke, FOX 2 Detroit reported. The $1 billion is the same money Gilbert previously announced, not an additional investment, Fleisher said, as The Detroit News reported; the change is in who owns the project.

The not-yet-named nonprofit would be a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Under the plan, the nonprofit, not General Motors and Bedrock, would own and run a renovated RenCen, and any surplus after operating expenses, debt payments and reserves would go to the community. The Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, and Bill Emerson, former CEO of Rocket Companies, will serve on its inaugural board.

The plan calls for demolishing the 300 and 400 towers closest to the river, cutting the Marriott tower from roughly 1,300 rooms to 858, converting the 100 Tower to housing, renovating the 200 Tower as offices, and creating 18 acres of programmed public civic space, The Detroit News reported. Sources give different figures for the project: its cost is $2 billion according to The Detroit News, $2.2 billion according to ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4, and $2.24 billion according to Crain's Detroit Business, as Deadline Detroit reported. The Detroit News and WDIV put permanent jobs at 2,600; FOX 2 Detroit reported 3,000.

Fleisher said the goal is City Council approval by Thanksgiving of the community benefits agreement, a $133.81 million, 30-year Renaissance Zone, a $39.12 million, 12-year Commercial Rehabilitation Act tax break and the Transformational Brownfield Plan, so the Michigan Strategic Fund can take up the $300 million brownfield package before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's term ends. At the Neighborhood Advisory Council's tenth meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 20, the two sides were “moving closer in agreement on several millions of dollars” for affordable housing and skilled-trades labor, FOX 2 reported. Some residents there still pressed Bedrock and GM to save all the towers.

Source: The Detroit News; ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4; FOX 2 Detroit, October 19, 2026; FOX 2 Detroit, October 20, 2026; Deadline Detroit, October 20, 2026

Early voting opens; Detroit adds Monday, Nov. 2

Early in-person voting runs statewide from Saturday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 1; in Detroit, sites are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Detroit extends it through Monday, Nov. 2, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the City Clerk's Office, 2 Woodward Ave., and at 2978 W. Grand Blvd., Deadline Detroit reported. Deadline Detroit calls the Grand Boulevard site the Department of Elections in one article and the Elections Commission in another.

The Detroit Department of Elections has issued 103,000 absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election; nearly 30,000 had been returned as of Oct. 12, about twice the number at the same point in 2022. “If you have an absentee ballot, please plan to return it by Friday, October 30,” City Clerk Janice Winfrey said; ballots are accepted until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. The U.S. Department of Justice will send monitors to polling places in Detroit and six other Michigan communities on Election Day, Attorney General Dana Nessel said, The Oakland Press reported.

Source: Deadline Detroit, October 21 and 23, 2026; The Oakland Press (Michigan Advance), October 23, 2026

Activists call for Police Chief Todd Bettison's removal

Activist Jahdante Smith, his attorney Kama Patel and organizer Demeeko Williams called Tuesday, Oct. 20, outside Public Safety Headquarters for a public apology and the removal of Police Chief Todd Bettison, ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4 reported. Smith posted photos of Mayor Mary Sheffield with a former partner and alleged they were connected to real estate kickbacks; Sheffield and the city have denied the allegations. The activists say Bettison overstepped by asking Smith to take the photos down, in a call Smith recorded (he released the recording in August), and that a search warrant used to seize Smith's phone was retaliatory.

Bettison says the investigation into Smith stems from a citizen complaint, not the photos, FOX 2 Detroit reported. The Detroit Office of Inspector General and the FBI are conducting separate investigations related to allegations of public corruption and abuse of power, WDIV reported. Patel said the activists are filing a civil lawsuit against the city, Bettison and the department. The city said it does not comment on pending litigation, and the police department did not comment.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4; FOX 2 Detroit, October 20, 2026

Activists urge firing of officer who shot fleeing 18-year-old

Activists outside City Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 20, called on Chief Bettison to fire Officer David Gonzalez, who shot Alonzo Lee-Perkins, 18, on June 22 before the Ford Fireworks, the Detroit Free Press reported. Body-camera video the Free Press released shows Lee-Perkins running away with nothing visible in his hands before he was shot in the back. Lee-Perkins survived. Police said the officer believed he was armed and fired because he feared for his and others' safety; a gun was recovered at the scene.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined to charge the officer, citing “insufficient evidence to overcome the officer's rights under the laws of self defense, defense of others, and apprehending fleeing felons,” and charged Lee-Perkins with carrying a concealed weapon, felony firearm and resisting police. The activists asked her to charge the officer and drop the charges. A police administrative investigation into possible discipline is ongoing, the department said. Victoria Camille, a member of the Board of Police Commissioners, urged the department to resume releasing video of police shootings, on hold since a police union lawsuit won a temporary injunction last fall.

Source: Detroit Free Press, October 20, 2026

Council member asks city to review West Village bars

Council member Renata Miller has asked the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department to examine the concentration of bars near homes, schools, recreation centers and historic districts, and asked the Law Department and the Legislative Policy Division to get involved, Two Birds co-owner Matt Mergener told Deadline Detroit. Miller said the requests concern the Kercheval and Van Dyke corridors. The businesses named include Two Birds, the Barkside dog park bar, Our House Café/Bistro, Grandma Bob's Pizza, which has yet to open, the proposed Bar 9 sports bar, and nearby liquor stores.

Miller said her requests followed residents' questions about zoning, licensing and compliance and concerns for children and families. “That is not an accusation against any business — it is simply part of my responsibility to ensure residents' concerns are heard and that the same rules apply to everyone,” she said in a statement to Crain's Detroit Business. Two Birds co-owner Matt Mergener said Miller is trying to undermine the district. “We've been above board for six years,” he said. Miller was booed and eventually left during public comment at a Monday, Oct. 19, meeting at the Butzel Community Center, Mergener said. On Oct. 23, The Detroit News reported that a city department found the Kercheval bars meet zoning and other standards.

Source: Deadline Detroit, October 20, 2026; The Detroit News, October 23, 2026

DMC could leave Meridian's network Jan. 1

Some Meridian Health Plan members could lose in-network access to Detroit Medical Center on Jan. 1, 2027, if a contract dispute between Meridian's parent, Centene Corp., and DMC's parent, Tenet Healthcare, is not resolved, The Detroit News reported. DMC said Friday, Oct. 23, that more than 880,000 Centene/Meridian members in Michigan received termination letters, and that the change risks higher costs and disrupted care.

Meridian said it is actively negotiating and hopes to extend the partnership before the contract expires at the end of 2026. “If an agreement is not reached, Medicaid members could continue receiving specialty services, including cardiology, oncology and OB-GYN, at their existing facility,” Meridian said. Members with a Tenet primary care provider would need to choose another, or Meridian would assign one.

Source: The Detroit News, October 23, 2026

Police to step up enforcement on Puritan after boy is killed

Karon Gardner, a Paul Robeson Academy student, was struck by two cars and killed while crossing Puritan Avenue at Coyle Street on Saturday, Oct. 17, steps from his family's home. ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4 and FOX 2 Detroit's Oct. 18 report give his age as 11; FOX 2's Oct. 17 report gives 12. Both drivers stayed at the scene, police said, and police sources told WDIV the crash will likely be considered an accident; the investigation is ongoing.

Detroit police plan to step up traffic enforcement near the intersection, WDIV reported. The speed limit on Puritan is 30 mph; a WDIV speed check recorded several vehicles going at least 10 to 15 mph over it. “Please stop driving recklessly. Watch out for our kids,” said his mother, Dominique Woods.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, October 19, 2026; FOX 2 Detroit, October 17 and 18, 2026

In brief

Wilfredo Figueroa-Berrios, a former Sinai-Grace Hospital nurse, was sentenced Friday, Oct. 23, to 10 to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting a patient at the hospital in August 2025, ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4 reported. A jury convicted him Sept. 24 of third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and acquitted him on three other counts. Judge Donald Knapp imposed the sentence. He maintains he is innocent. Seven other criminal cases against him are pending; his next court date is Nov. 20.

Mayor Mary Sheffield began her “State of the Youth” school tour Friday, Oct. 23, at Detroit Edison Public School Academy, the first of 24 planned visits to Detroit Public Schools Community District and charter schools, ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4 reported.

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4; ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, October 23, 2026

What's Next

• Saturday, Oct. 24-Sunday, Nov. 1 — early in-person voting, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 30 — the clerk's recommended date to return absentee ballots
• Monday, Nov. 2 — extra early-voting day at two Detroit sites, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 3 — Election Day, polls 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 20 — next court date for Wilfredo Figueroa-Berrios
• Friday, Jan. 1, 2027 — Meridian drops DMC from its network unless a deal is reached

Metro Detroit

Wayne, Oakland voters decide Detroit museum millage Nov. 3

Voters in Wayne and Oakland counties will decide Nov. 3 on a 10-year millage for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Historical Museum and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4 reported. The Southeast Michigan Public Historical Museum Authority proposal, backed by the Yes to Our Story campaign, would levy 0.2 mills in both counties through 2035, about $30 a year per $300,000 of taxable property value.

According to the ballot proposal, the tax would raise about $12.2 million from Wayne County and $17.7 million from Oakland County in 2026. The money would pay for free admission for county residents, free tours and transportation for students and seniors, new curriculum for teachers and the care of nearly 300,000 publicly owned artifacts. The ballot language in both counties sends 15% of the revenue, after Authority administrative expenses, to other historical museums in Oakland and Wayne. The campaign says annual independent audits will show how the money is spent, and that the Wright and Detroit Historical museums have “survived by drawing down their reserves for years.”

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, October 22, 2026

Comments are open below.