Garden City fire displaces dozens, judge dismisses charges against Detroit will breathe, a missing WWII knife

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - An apartment fire in Garden City has displaced dozens of residents after it burned all three floors early Thursday morning.

So far, nobody was hurt as a result of the blaze.

The area fire chief said smoke had completely permeated through the building and fire had gotten under the floors, an indication that things started on the first floor. 

"We had to evacuate because conditions deteriorated rapidly and we just had a breach again," said Garden City Fire Lt. Daniel Neault.

The fire began Wednesday night at the Bentley Square Apartments and firefighters spend hours of the night and morning battling the blaze. 

Images of the building as the sun rose showed the extent of the damage, with boarded-up windows on every floor where the fire was present.

The Red Cross has been in contact with the residents and has helped them find temporary places to stay. 

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Detroit gun club steps up with firearm safety education

Derek Binford knows exactly where the line is when it comes to gun ownership and gun safety. "Yeah, I have a right as a Second Amendment citizen to carry a firearm, but those things that come along with that, can change my life, (my) kids lives," he said.

Binford, who is part of the Black Bottom Gun Club, which is a local chapter of the National African-American Gun Owner Association, saw fit to address unnecessary gun violence Wednesday by hitting the Detroit streets with gun locks and firearm safety brochures.

"We're going to have a boots on the ground effort this Saturday, March 13th in the dot neighborhoods Six Mile and Lahser," Binford said. "We're going to make an impact. We've got to make a change and this change has to come from actual action."

Black Bottom Gun Club's interest in promoting gun safety follows a violent day in Detroit after two children were hurt by firearms in accidental shootings.

Judge dismisses charges against Detroit Will Breathe activists

A judge on Wednesday dismissed claims by Detroit that activists who regularly protested after the death of George Floyd had conspired to commit disorderly conduct and obstruct police officers.

The city offered no evidence of a conspiracy to commit illegal acts by members of Detroit Will Breathe, U.S. District Judge Laurie Michelson said.

Members of the group may have used "occasional strident and passionate language" in organizing protests, the judge said, but Detroit’s claims fall short of meeting the elements of a civil conspiracy.

Protests against excessive force by police occurred regularly in Detroit after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. The city did not experience the violence and property damage seen in other U.S. cities, but protesters said police used tear gas, pepper spray, chokeholds and rubber bullets against them.

Man accidentally sells grandfather's World War II knife

For Brian Bethke, the trench knife used by his grandfather in World War II, the one wielded by a man who flew historic missions in the campaign against Germany, is less a piece of history than a family heirloom.

"It's really the only thing I have of my grandpa," he said. Much of what he learned about Duane Elroy Bethke, the lead bombardier of a thousand planes who passed away in 2014, came after they began clearing out his old things. 

Then, mistakenly, the knife was sold at a yard sale for $20 in Pinckney. It was sold on March 4, and now Brian would like to find the knife and get it back.

"We are just asking if anyone knew about it or if the guy who has it wants, we'll buy it back from him, we'll pay him more than what he bought it for," he said. "Just because it's an heirloom and something we want to keep in the family."

The case of the mysterious flash drive comes to an end

Last year, a flash drive full of old photos with some nostalgic significance arrived in the Detroit Reuse Mission Ministries mailbox last year. 

They depict happy moments and smiling faces from years ago. A viewer who saw the initial story on the missing photos recognized one of the individuals taken nearly four decades ago and made a post on an Alma Alumni Facebook page.

Their owner was Scott Harrison, who said he took a lot of photos for the yearbook when he was in high school. His mom initially discovered them in February of last year and Harrison mailed the images to a relative of one of the photo's subjects. But instead, they got lost and ended up with the rescue mission.

"They were really thrilled. It was kind of a nostalgic reunion," he said after saying he returned the photos to their rightful owner. "We all had a laugh about it. It was a nice story in the middle of all this chaos that is the pandemic."

2020 was Michigan's deadliest year

The death rate in Michigan rose 18% from 2019, making 2020 the state's deadliest year ever. 

The largest annual percentage jump on record surpassed the 15.6% increase in 1918 due to the Spanish Flu pandemic. COVID-19 forced the death rate spike.

About 115,300 people died in total in Michigan last year, which is up from 97,800 in 2019. The 16,000 people that died from the virus added to the toll. The deadliest months were April and December, which were two chokepoints for surges last year. 

So far, about 21% of the state is fully or partially vaccinated, which is progress the state hopes to build on in the coming months.

What else we're watching

1. Detroit police say a Tesla crashed into a semi-truck and wedging itself underneath the trailer early this morning. Both the driver and passenger are in critical condition.
2.  Does your Detroit neighborhood need a speed hump? The city is trying to install 4,500 traffic bumps to make traveling through the city safer. You can request one on the city's website.
3. More construction work will close a major highway this weekend. MDOT says it will be demolishing the Cadillac Avenue overpass and will close I-94 between I-75 and Conner Avenue starting Friday night. 
4. Food advocates at the city of Detroit and Wayne State will announce the Great Grocer Project at 9 a.m. today. It's a community-based food operation
5. Meijer is donating 1,000 turkeys to help families in need of food through a partnership with Detroit PAL.

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Daily Forecast

The weather will stay warm but carry more wind and some rain today in the early afternoon. The outlook for the following week shows little chance of the warm stretch breaking.

A year ago today, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic — essentially marking the start of a new era.

At the time, few could foresee the long road ahead or the many ways in which they would suffer. Over the course of the next 12 months, millions of people would die or become so sick they required hospitalization, and national economies would be devastated by public lockdowns and record unemployment.

The pandemic would disrupt the lives of nearly everyone on the planet, causing loneliness and isolation for many. 

On the same day the virus was characterized as a pandemic, the NBA canceled the rest of its season and actor Tom Hanks said he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had both tested positive for the virus. Italy closed shops and restaurants after locking down in the face of 10,000 reported infections.