Thursday News Hit: Construction reopens in Michigan, MGM lays off thousands, and a polar vortex arrives to freeze your weekend
Michigan's slow crawl back to normalcy will take a big step Thursday when residential and commercial construction projects can resume, following promises from the governor to further phase-in parts of the economy. Under Executive Order 2020-70, low-risk work that falls under construction, real estate, and work normally done outside is permitted to reopen as long as the proper safety measures recommended by the federal government are in place.
The loosened restrictions on May 7 represent the second measure ordered by Gretchen Whitmer as the state's COVID-19 spread continues to fall. In April, the governor relaxed rules on some nonessential businesses and allowed travel between in-state residences. The rule change came two weeks after ordering a more restrictive stay-home order that spurred statewide protests and vocal rebukes from members of the Republican Party.
In her executive order, the "partial and incremental reopening" will give health experts the chance to evaluate the cause and effect that loosened restrictions have on the state's health care system, which came dangerously close to capacity at many hospitals. In Southeast Michigan, where the bulk of the state's COVID-19 cases have been reported, Beaumont, Henry Ford Health, and Detroit Sinai Grace all saw their ventilator and PPE availability dwindle as the pandemic's surge spiked.
As residents grow eager to reenter the workforce, Whitmer has taken a gradual approach to reengage the economy. While COVID-19's new cases and death totals reported each day have fallen dramatically since peaking in early April, the governor has cited concerns of a possible second surge in cases if residents return to work too soon. The blanket ruling across the state has magnified political tensions between the Whitmer administration and GOP leadership that represent more rural and less populated parts of the state.
The site of one of the state's fastest declining case counts is in Detroit, which as seen a precipitous drop in COVID-19's presence in the city. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan attributes the progress to the resident's commitment to social distancing. However, the short term win has been paired with a stark reminder of how long of an uphill climb Detroiters face. One of the city's biggest sources of revenue, casinos, won't reopen for at least six months, Duggan said.
“It costs us about $600,000 a day," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. "I haven’t complained about it a single day. The health of our community is worth more than the revenue coming in.”
On Wednesday, MGM Grand Detroit laid off 2,600 employees. In a letter sent to the state on May 5, the senior vice president of human resources said she hoped the layoffs would be temporary, but couldn't make any promises.
"...but in light of the continuing pandemic and our extended closure, we are unable to say that the layoff may not last more than six months for at least some portion of our employees," wrote Laura Lee.
According to MGM, all employees and their unions have been notified of the layoffs and those currently enrolled in the health plan will keep their benefits until August. At that time, the casino says it will cut ties with all employees.
This is the first casino to make mass layoffs of employees in Michigan, but it's not the first major business to take the plunge. Hospitals and auto manufacturers have also furloughed or laid off thousands of employees as resources are diverted to COVID-19.
The bad news culminates with what is likely to be another grim job report Thursday. Over the last seven weeks, more than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment. In Michigan, around 25% of the workforce no longer has a job.
A different kind of hardship bubbled to the surface Wednesday afternoon after Inkster police responded to requests for a house call from family members worried about the condition of a young boy and his mother, who they hadn't heard from in days. Once inside, police made a chilling find: the 3-year-old boy was found dead with multiple stab wounds.
Hours would pass before police found his mother who was apprehended by the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team Wednesday night. Labeled as a person-of-interest in the death of 3-year-old Zion, sources told FOX 2 the boy's mom has struggled with mental illness.
"She was a good person at heart. I don't think this was intentional, personally," said Eric Graham, a family member. "And I'm hoping and praying it wasn't."
Police have made visits to the residence before, however, there had never been any allegations of abuse.
Daily Forecast
Temperatures will be warm Thursday, reaching 62 degrees. But brace for a cold Friday and slightly-less cold Saturday.
Polar vortex to bring blast of cold air and May snow to eastern US amid heatwave in the West
Oh, you thought the warm weather had finally returned to stay? Sorry, you're in Michigan, which means weather systems don't care about you think. Instead, major cities in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. will be colder than parts of Alaska as a polar vortex barrels into the lower 48 and shrinks temperatures.
It could bring record-low temperatures for mid-May.