What to know today 🌅
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will provide an update Wednesday on the state’s handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The briefing is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Whitmer will be joined by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson will also join Whitmer to provide an update on the upcoming general election and voting opportunities for Michiganders.
Gunman remains inside Detroit home
A standoff in a northwest Detroit home continued into Wednesday morning with the second hostage escaping when the gunman fell asleep.
Dearborn SWAT Team arrived at the scene to assist Detroit police. The hostage told officers he was afraid for his life the entire time.
The gunman, who was wanted for question in connection with a triple homicide on Helen Street earlier this summer, posted on Facebook earlier today.
“They got me out here. Cops got me surrounded. I’m going to prison ... rest of my life. It’s over with. The house is surrounded,” the man said in the video.
Feds outline sweeping plan to provide free COVID-19 vaccine
The federal government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, even as polls show a strong undercurrent of skepticism rippling across the land.
In a report to Congress and an accompanying “playbook” for states and localities, federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or possibly later this year, eventually ramping up to reach any American who wants a shot. The Pentagon is involved with the distribution of vaccines, but civilian health workers will be the ones giving shots.
Trending 📈
Hurricane Sally has made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, bringing torrential rain over a coastal storm surge that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.
The slow-moving hurricane finally came ashore with top winds of 105 mph (165 kmh), the National Hurricane Center said.
📧 Pastor faces backlash for email sent to journalist
A Macomb Township pastor is facing backlash online over an email he sent to a journalist in response to a quote attributed to the woman that was later identified as fake.
The email the Rev. Dave Muns sent to journalist Sarah Jeong was posted on Jeong’s Twitter account Tuesday afternoon. See it here.
⛪ Priest compared Black Lives Matter to 9/11 attackers in homily
The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in suburban Detroit is apologizing after a fellow priest likened Black Lives Matter to the people responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The Rev. Paul Graney’s homily Saturday created “division, anger, confusion and chaos,” the Rev. Bob McCabe of the Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn said on Facebook. Here’s the story with what he said.
🌉 Photographer climbs 151 feet to top of Ambassador Bridge
A photographer who climbed 151 feet to the very top of the highly guarded Ambassador Bridge posted photos from on top of the bridge’s sign, raising major questions about security.
The photographer said you’ll never know his name, but he’s posted images from the very top of the Brooklyn Bridge, high above New York City and on top of the Crescent City Connection Bridge in New Orleans.
He posted photos from 151 feet in the air above Detroit, at the very top of the highly guarded, supposedly secure Ambassador Bridge. He was sitting on top of the bridge’s sign.
Coronavirus in Michigan 🦠
Here’s a look at more of the data: