More UAW members could join strike • Single mother gifted car • Rapper tries to bring Glock switch into club

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - UAW President Shawn Fain is expecting to announce more striking plants at 10 a.m. Friday.

He set a deadline of noon Friday for the Big Three and union to make serious progress in their negotiations, or he would be calling on more workers to strike. Right now, workers at three facilities have been striking for a week. 

The union is participating in a stand-up strike, meaning that only some members are striking, but more may be added as negotiations continue.

The union initially was asking for a 46% pay raise, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay, the tier system removed, and restoration of traditional pensions for new hires, among other demands. However, the union said it is now willing to accept a pay raise percentage in the mid-30s.

Auto analyst worried UAW strike could hit 'point of no return'

If the UAW strike stretches on too long, auto experts fear it could be detrimental to the economy.

"If the strike were to ramp up, affect all three companies, company-wide then it could result in the loss of 150,000 jobs," said Marick Masters. "A four-week strike in Michigan and it could be hundreds of thousands across the country."

Masters, a Business professor at Wayne State University, also says up to $1.5 billion in personal income would be lost.

"Well the supplier base is one of the first that will be hit hardest," he said. "And for example, already now you have US Steel, which has idled a plant in Granite City, affecting over 1,400 workers. You have CIE which is a supplier, which has idled 300 workers.

"So there are ramifications in even this very short period of time."

Single mother who walks to work daily gifted a new car

A single mother who has been walking to work now has a way to get there thanks to her job and a program that helps people get cars.

Anita Green said she usually doesn't get home from work until 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. because she needs to walk home from her job at Detroit Rescue Mission.

Richard Mack, with the Wheels for Work initiative, came into Detroit Rescue Mission office with an idea.

"A few months ago Mr. Mack came to our office at Detroit Rescue Mission and said his birthday and his dad’s birthday were coming up - he would like to give, instead of receiving," said Chad Audi, with Detroit Rescue Mission.

With a large donation from Amazon, the initiative was able to gift Green with a car.

"I’m just over-excited, I don’t know what to think," Green said. "So many emotions all at one time."

Eastern Michigan University adds tech that detects firearms

Eastern Michigan University is ramping up security after the Michigan State shooting, and part of that effort includes adding cameras that can detect firearms through AI.

The Zero Eyes AI program will allow all 500 cameras on campus to auto-detect if somebody is holding a firearm or flashes one and will alert security instantly.

"We know where the individual is at, and we also have the ability to track them in and out of buildings," said EMU Police Chief Matthew Lige. "It’s incredibly important every second matters."

Lige says the system costs around $300,000 — a heavy investment that could save lives.

"My hope is we never have to use this," he said. "But if we do, this puts us in a position where we can better protect our students and staff."

Rapper busted trying to bring gun with Glock switch into club

Inkster rapper 24Lik allegedly tried to bring a gun with a Glock switch into a Detroit club early Sunday.

According to a court filing, 24Lik, whose real name is Malik Taylor, was trying to enter Truth Nightclub on Detroit's east side while concealing a pistol equipped with a switch and an extended magazine around 1 a.m. 

Glock switches convert ordinary semi-automatic pistols into fully automatic machine guns. 

When police arrived at the club, one of the officers recognized Taylor because he is allegedly a member of a violent street gang Cashgang.

Taylor was extremely intoxicated, according to the court filing, and allegedly resisted arrest. While handcuffed, he allegedly got out of a police vehicle and tried to run away.

According to court filings, he was seen flashing a gun with the switch in a music video a couple of weeks before the incident. 

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Daily Forecast

The last day of summer will sure feel like it.

What else we're watching

1. Ann Arbor police are looking for one more suspect after an armed robbery and attempted home invasion early Thursday.
2. A woman is facing charges after Southfield police said she didn't stop to help her friend when she fell out of her car. Mia Kanu died from her injuries after falling.  
3. Sterling Heights police and firefighters saved a little girl's life on Wednesday as she went into cardiac arrest during an asthma attack.
4. The now-shuttered Founders Brewing Co. location is being replaced with more craft beer, this time from Eastern Market Brewing Co. EMBC announced its newest venture, "Elephant & Co." 
5. It's the weekend! Find things to do here.

Nationwide book bans hit record levels in 2023, American Library Association reports

Book bans and attempted bans continue to hit record highs, according to the American Library Association. And the efforts now extend as much to public libraries as school-based libraries.

Through the first eight months of 2023, the ALA tracked 695 challenges to library materials and services, compared to 681 during the same time period last year, and a 20% jump in the number of "unique titles" involved to 1,915. School libraries had long been the predominant target, but in 2023 reports have been near-equally divided between schools and libraries open to the general public, the ALA announced Wednesday.

"The irony is that you had some censors who said that those who didn't want books pulled from schools could just go to the public libraries,"' says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Read more here.