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Early voting for the August 6th primary election begins on Saturday across Michigan. WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert has this report.
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Affordable housing continues to be an issue in Washtenaw County. In Ypsilanti Township, Habitat for Humanity has built 275 new, affordable homes over the past 30 years. After a period in which it focused on renovating existing homes, it is returning to new construction with two new projects in the township. Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley CEO Sarah Stanton checks in with Rylee Barnsdale to give an update on current and future plans to create more affordable housing.
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Residents of Ypsilanti Township will be able to get rid of old documents on Saturday to help prevent identity theft. We hear more from WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert.
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According to the FBI, in 2023, cybercrimes cost Michiganders over $203 million. Ypsilanti Township is hosting a meeting Thursday to show residents some simple ways to protect themselves from cyberthreats. WEMU's Kevin Meerschaert has more.
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After years of false starts, Washtenaw County is closing in on building a new Community and Recreation Center on the site of the old Cheney Elementary School. WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert reports.
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A recent study by the University of Michigan shows Washtenaw County has one of the highest median income levels in the state. But as WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert reports, that's only part of the story.
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Ypsilanti Township is continuing legal action against a local, interstate materials hauling company. Last summer, a massive pile of a black, coal-like substance appeared on the property owned by OKD Transport. Since then, nearby testing has turned up toxic carcinogens. The property owner says independent testing has proven the substance to be non-hazardous. WEMU's David Fair talked with Ypsilanti Township attorney Douglas Winters about the ongoing issues and concerns.
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Though the residents of the West Willow neighborhood in Ypsilanti Township are predominantly people of color, a document affecting about 196 homes on a parcel in the neighborhood is still on the books that bans anyone who isn't white from living there. In an effort to change that, the New West Willow Neighborhood Association (NWWNA) has partnered with the Justice InDeed project at the University of Michigan Law School's Civil Rights Litigation Initiative to repeal the race-restrictive covenant covering that plat of land. Concentrate Media’s Rylee Barnsdale discusses the work being done to repeal this document with NWWNA president JoAnn McCollum.
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Original Moxie started off as a hair care line out of owner Rachel Blistein’s home. Now, it is part of a the aptly-named “Beauty Block” at the Ridge Center on Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti Township. Its three businesses support and collaborate with one another and have bigger plans on the horizon with another woman-owned business planning to move in soon. Find out more when Rachel Blistein from Original Moxie joins Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale for this week's "On the Ground Ypsi."
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Getting an education as an adult can be challenging and costly. But for the last 25 years in Washtenaw County, the organization “Adult Transitions” has been helping adults get their GED, take English as a Second Language classes, and much more. WEMU's Josh Hakala and Concentrate Media's Rylee Barnsdale talk about this path to education with Bonnie Truhn, the program director of Adult Transitions.