Help improve Michigan by supporting essential journalism
Bridge has been producing journalism in the public interest for eight years, always with the aim of providing Michigan readers with honest, fact-driven stories on the state’s diverse people, politics, and economy. Join our member community between now and December 31 and all donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar.
Chastity Pratt covers Michigan's cities and urban affairs for Bridge. She joined the Bridge team from the Detroit Free Press after more than a decade of providing authoritative coverage of Detroit Public Schools. Chastity is on a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University for the 2019-20 school year.
Detroit Police Commission could vote in two weeks on controversial surveillance policy.
A few days before the second round of Democratic presidential debates, a new poll by the Detroit Regional Chamber shows confidence in economy and worries about tariffs.
An emotional battle over facial recognition software has come to Detroit, one of the nation’s most violent cities, amid questions over the technology’s racial bias.
Flint leaders are both hopeful and skeptical that Attorney General Dana Nessel will reboot the criminal cases and prosecute high-ranking officials
Governor signs executive order creating Census committee to better reach undercounted communities
Michigan attorney general sides with Detroit children’s lawsuit against the state. ‘There are moments in our ... history when silence in the face of abhorrent circumstances is not an option,’ Nessel says.
During the 2018 campaign for governor, Gretchen Whitmer supported a lawsuit to guarantee students’ right to literacy. Now that she’s in office, she is asking a federal appeals court to dismiss the case.
Detroiters get first crack at jobs from $2.5B plants. But the skills gap could make it harder for them to get construction jobs to build the facility.
Oakland and Wayne State universities and Henry Ford College are forgiving small debts for onetime students who re-enroll. Early efforts have shown modest success.
Michigan Business groups and even some Republicans back the Democratic governor’s plan to ease college access. But a Detroit study suggests free tuition plans are more apt to fail without extra support like counselors.
In Detroit, hundreds remain jailed even though they’ve never been convicted because they can’t afford bail. A lawsuit takes aim at 36th District Court.
For years, Wayne County was slammed over its handling of community development block grant funds. Now, the county is changing how it distributes money in hopes of steering more toward poor cities and reducing costs.
Report should wrap up this month to determine costs, logistics of resuming Amtrak service at the historic station that had become a symbol of Detroit’s decline.
Ridership is up and crashes are down for Detroit’s 3.3-mile streetcar. But on the best days, ridership is still only half of expectations.
Governor brings budget tour to Detroit, asks for help getting GOP to support 45-cent gas tax to fix roads, schools, water
Detroit’s charter commission sets sights on water affordability, housing, planning and zoning, and is sued on claims it violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.
Key metrics measuring the health of Detroit – income, home values, poverty, foreclosures – show real progress since Mike Duggan became mayor in 2013. But he also benefits from starting at one of the worst periods in the city’s history.
Mayor Mike Duggan has made neighborhood revitalization a top priority, but the city’s priorities have prompted questions of equity.
Detroit plans to hire 100 workers and raise $1.7 million to spread the word about the Census and ensure the city’s population is accurate.
Detroit gets a credit upgrade, but analysts and experts warn that a $1.4 billion school maintenance bill will explode into a crisis unless lawmakers take action.
