Strife in Plymouth over video threatening Black students, F-16 exercises in Wayne County, a joint with a seed
WEDNESDAY NEWS HIT - A troubling video has struck a nerve amongst African Americans in the Plymouth Canton community.
The recording appears to show a white high school student threatening to shoot and lynch African-Americans---while calling them a number of racial slurs.
Plymouth Canton Community Schools Superintendent Monica Merritt addressed the video during a board meeting and in a letter to parents and students Monday night, saying, "We do not condone or tolerate reprehensible acts of this nature."
"I am not able to give details, there is not an active threat I will say, at our school at this moment," Merritt said Tuesday night.
Students say the video first surfaced in early March — and later was reshared on social media.
"I can’t even tell you in the past few days since this video has been released how many times I have been called the n-word," said student Andy Gusway to the school board. "When we don’t have swift action after these events, this spreads even further."
Students and parents gave the school board an earful at Tuesday night’s meeting. Many asked if the student from the video in question was disciplined and how Black students are supposed to feel safe at school.
"This has red flags all over it," said parent Leslie Neal. "I don’t want this type of student around my child who was so ... able to say whatever they want, about killing people who look like me."
Students say there’s been other racist incidents within the district. Jacob Jackson says so much, so they’ve become numb to it.
"It's not surprising. This has happened countless times and that’s why it has happened countless times because the same thing happens over and over,"Jackson said. "And then we get used to things like this, and we get desensitized to things like this."
Merritt said in her letter:
"When this matter was initially brought to the attention of the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park Administration, it was investigated immediately and addressed with the students involved. We will not, under any circumstances, ignore these matters and will continue to work to eliminate these harmful and destructive behaviors and beliefs."
The Canton Police Department says they are investigating the matter and will send the findings of the investigation to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office once they’re finished.
F-16 exercises over southern Wayne County startle residents
Ohio Air National Guard nighttime training exercises this week startled some southern Wayne County residents who weren't ready for the loud noises that come with passing fighter jets. While the 180th Fighter Wing announced on its Facebook on this Monday that it would be conducting night flying April 11-14, residents who weren't aware sounded off on the post.
"It would have been nice if we had a warning here in southern Wayne County Michigan. People are a little freaked out with everything going on in the world," read one comment. "My family was scared as well and didn’t know what was happening," said another.
In response, the 180th Fighter Wing said it tries to let people know ahead of time through social media and news outlets, "but not everyone gets the message." "The best way to find out about these is to follow our social media pages, where we usually post about it beforehand, and share it with your friends," read the reply.
The 180th Fighter Wing said that it was unable to guarantee any specific flight path the jets might take since they don't release specific training locations ahead of time. The training locations and flight paths can also vary depending on the weather. The jets that were flying were F-16s. The reason for the exercise taking place at night is so crews "stay ready for any world-wide contingency."
Royal Oak Planning Commission approves demolition of Main Art Theatre
The Royal Oak City Planning Commission recommended demolishing the area's historic Main Art Theater. A 4-2 vote passed late Tuesday night. The earliest that plans could be finalized for the building's future could come as early as May 9. If demolished, what would replace the 81-year-old building is still up in the air.
However, the city has floated potential plans of a mixed-use development with residential and commercial properties. The city planning commission meeting drew a lot of opposition to the plans. The vote came after more than 90 minutes of comments. Some in the community aren't yet ready to say goodbye to the landmark.
But because the building is privately owned, there's not much the city or its residents can really do about the owners' plans. The building hasn't been a productive source of funding or fun for almost a year, following its closure in June 2021.
The owners have said they want to knock down the building and have a five-story development take its place. As is standard, the commission's vote is only a recommendation and any further action will need to be taken by the city council.
Michigan housing market: What to expect during peak homebuying season
The housing market in Michigan is still hot as the peak home buying season approaches. In the past 90 days, mortgage rates have jumped to their highest numbers in more than a decade, but the market hasn't slowed. "One of my most recent listings, we had about 258 showings in the course of 72 hours. It’s been crazy," said Paul Wolfert, a realtor with Century 21 Row.
"It used to be where we could go out and tour homes with somebody. We would have 5-10 homes to go see. Now, it’s just one home. It’s just one house in a neighborhood to sale, and there’s a line of cars waiting to see what you have." A recent survey from Bankrate found that one in five Americans are looking to buy a house, and many of those people are millennials.
Many of those millennials are using technology and their cell phones to shop for homes, which speeds up the process. But as people flock to homes, the prices have soared, rising 20-25% over the past three years.
In March 2020, home purchases reached $27 billion. In March 2022? It was $36 billion. But while May through July is considered the peak season, its the past three months that have all registered in the mid-30 billions.
Pre-rolled joints contain seeds for planting wildflowers
You can smoke weed and help the bees. Golden Shores Cannabis Co. uses biodegradable beeswax tips on its pre-rolls that have a wildflower seed inside. When you're done smoking, the tip will begin a new life as a flower.
"So, as soon as you're done smoking it, you throw it in the grass and it'll plant a flower," said Jeff Dotson, the president of Golden Shores. "It's a very hearty plant, so it'll grow almost in any kind of soil."
It's the only Michigan company to have the wildflower seed tips. "There's so much waste within our industry. We're trying to stop how much waste there is, so with this eco-friendly tip it's going to help change that stigma," said Jimmie Caudill, the director of sales at The REEF in Detroit.
The REEF is one of several locations around the state that sell Golden Shores' products. Use the Golden Shores finder here.
What else we're watching
- Neighborhood officers from the Detroit Police Department's 12th Precinct will be assisting with blight removal around a senior citizen's home this morning. The individual was cited for a blight violation but is unable to manage upkeep.
- Advocates of increased access to solar power sounded off against utility companies and a Monroe lawmaker they say has prevented the adjustment of a 1% cap on residential solar power Tuesday night. A bipartisan-sponsored bill would adjust the cap, but according to the Michigan Environmental Council, Rep. Joseph Bellino has held up the bill's consideration in committee.
- Extreme weather season is beginning to kick into gear following reports of dozens injured and multiple homes destroyed in Texas following a tornado.
- Greenfield Village will reopen this weekend, with a special Friday access day for members of the Henry Ford museum. Greenfield Village will also open with its first new addition in 20 years with the historic Detroit Central Market.
- More than a hundred Michigan residents are expected at a rally in Lansing Wednesday around noon, where faith leaders and gun safety advocates will push the legislature to act on gun violence prevention.
Live on FOX 2
Daily Forecast
It'll be 70 degrees and sunny in the morning before on and off showers take over in the afternoon. There is a marginal risk of severe weather later tonight that includes a potential rumble of thunder and high winds.
Elon Musk allegedly broke law while buying Twitter stock, claims lawsuit
Elon Musk’s huge Twitter investment took a new twist Tuesday with the filing of a lawsuit alleging that the colorful billionaire illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.
The complaint in New York federal court accuses Musk of violating a regulatory deadline to reveal he had accumulated a stake of at least 5%. Instead, according to the complaint, Musk didn’t disclose his position in Twitter until he’d almost doubled his stake to more than 9%. That strategy, the lawsuit alleges, hurt less wealthy investors who sold shares in the San Francisco company in the nearly two weeks before Musk acknowledged holding a major stake.
Musk’s regulatory filings show that he bought a little more than 620,000 shares at $36.83 apiece on Jan. 31 and then continued to accumulate more shares on nearly every single trading day through April 1. Musk, best known as CEO of the electric car maker Tesla, held 73.1 million Twitter shares as of the most recent count Monday. That represents a 9.1% stake in Twitter.
The lawsuit alleges that by March 14, Musk’s stake in Twitter had reached a 5% threshold that required him to publicly disclose his holdings under U.S. securities law by March 24. Musk didn’t make the required disclosure until April 4.