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MI Right to Vote, one of the many ballot proposals in November

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The MI Right to Vote initiative may appear on the ballot in Michigan as an initiated Constitutional  Amendment on November 8, 2022. The ballot initiative would establish these voting provisions in the state’s Declaration of Rights: a right to drop off an absentee ballot at a drop box 40 days prior to an election, a right to obtain an unsolicited absentee ballot application and a right to vote in person with a photo ID, signed affidavit, or matching voter registration signatures. The initiative needs 425,059 signatures by July 11, 2022 to appear on the ballot. 


Delorian Warren explains why he is collecting signatures for his ballot proposal, the Right to Vote Initiative. Fred Green, the co-founder of MI Right to Vote, said, “Our petitions have passed the regulatory hurdles; they have received the approval as to form and of the summaries by the Board of State Canvassers. You will see our circulors out and about, chasing signatures so we can get on the 2022 ballot.  We are making presentations to every group that will have us.”

Green said he attributes the proposal’s success to the determination of its creators.

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Shooting in Troy leads to school lockdowns and rekindles conversations about Oxford High

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Troy High School

On March 1 at 11:12 a.m., Troy police received a call from a 39-year-old woman saying she had been shot by her 52-year-old husband who had fled their house after shooting her. The incident provoked surrounding schools, Hamilton Elementary School and Troy High School to go into a lockdown. The March 1 lockdown released similar emotions from the November 30, Oxford High School shooting for Troy High School students. “Prior to the lockdown, I had heard around school that there had been a threat at Oxford and that something went down but there hadn’t been news yet,” said Troy High School senior, Mia Simone. “I remember going to my sixth hour English class and someone had the local news playing on their phone that had the news of the shooting and we didn’t do our lesson in English because we all needed a moment to breathe.”

After the November 30 incident at Oxford High School, surrounding Oakland County schools took a variety of different measures to address student concerns over school safety, including Troy Athens High School, which shut down classes for Thursday and Friday following the shooting.

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Q&A: Oakland County Ombudsman, Madonna Van Fossen, celebrates a new way to move around the city of Troy

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Oakland County Ombudsman, Madonna Van Fossen, comments on the year anniversary of SMART FLEX program. SMART FLEX, a pilot program launched by SMART Transportation in March of 2021, celebrated earlier this month its first year. This new program, powered by VIA, a third party company, is a program designed to assist in mobility around major Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties. Oakland County Ombudsman, Madonna Van Fossen, explained in an interview that the program has been extremely popular and successful despite recent issues with elements such as national labor shortages and rising gas prices. Here is an overview of her comments, at times edited for brevity and clarity.

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Q&A w/ YouTuber Brooke Didas

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Michigan based YouTube personality shares insight into life as a full time content creator. Spartan Newsroom reporter Lilly Swanson spoke with Youtube personality Brooke Didas for Career Conversations. Brooke Didas, the 21-year-old full-time Youtube personality talks about the trials and tribulations that come with putting your life out for the world to see as your day-to-day job. “I feel lucky that I don’t get too much hate,” said Didas. “It’s a win-lose kind of thing.

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Troy City Council votes on approach to proclamations 

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Troy’s City Council voted on whether the city would waive the rules of procedure for city council’s rule on proclamations and congratulatory certificates to construct a proclamation to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian American community in Troy. “Vote on Resolution to Waive the Rules of Procedure for the City Council, Rule Number Eight Proclamations and Congratulatory Certificates,” stated the proclamation submitted by Council Member Chamberlain Creanga. 

“One of the reasons you do proclamations is to have something nice and easy, often lighthearted, like a couple that’s been married 75 years to get the meeting started,” said Mark Miller, Troy city manager at the meeting. “There have also been months though that we had five proclamations, maybe too many for the length of the meeting. From my standpoint, which is a non-political, administrative standpoint, my desire is for our meetings to be as quick and as reasonable and effective as possible.”

The beginning of the conversation centered the issue of using city resources to manage proclamation submssions as part of the difficulty with proclamations. Other issues such as a lack of expertise in some areas of submitted topics was another major issue presented.

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Troy DDA Zone revamps main road

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The Downtown Development Authority, a group made up of the stakeholders who have property in the DDA Zone on Big Beaver Road, are working with the city and OHM, a community advancement firm to upgrade the five miles of Big Beaver Road considered the vibrant center of Troy.

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Detroit and Troy Welcome NCAA Men’s Wrestling Tournament  

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This March, Metro Detroit is preparing to host 330 NCAA Division 1 wrestlers as well as a large fan base to Little Caesars Arena located in downtown Detroit

This tournament — the first NCAA competition since the beginning of the pandemic — is estimated to have more than a $10 million economic impact on the region according to the Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau.