News@noon: Grammy highs and lows; Flynn's future
Today is Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said he’s finished his initial review of a developer’s proposal to build the county a new criminal justice center in exchange for the site of its unfinished jail project in Greektown. Now he wants a “deeper analysis” of the plan.
Rock Ventures LLC, which is owned by billionaire Dan Gilbert, offered the county a deal last week to build a new 1,600-bed jail, a juvenile detention facility and courtrooms on an eight-acre site east of the Interstate 75 service drive between East Forest and East Warren in exchange for the 15.5 acre site at Gratiot near I-375 in the city’s Greektown district. The proposal for the Greektown site includes a soccer stadium.
Should the county accept the plan? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
Here's what else we are covering today:
Looking back on the Grammys
- The Grammys said “Hello” to Adele in a major way Sunday, and the Album of the Year trophy evaded Beyoncé once again.
- It was an evening of big triumphs and big blunders, sometimes in the same moment. There were political statements aplenty, yet the music took center stage and wasn’t overshadowed by the issues of the day. And of course, there were the outfits.
- Here are the winners and losers of the 59th annual Grammy Awards, according to music critic Adam Graham.
Remembering Mike Ilitch
- The Ilitch family has announced a public viewing and a chance to offer condolences and share memories about family patriarch Mike Ilitch, the Detroit sports and pizza icon and champion of the city who died Friday at age 87.
- Beginning at 1 p.m. Monday, the public can share memories and write condolences on a temporary public memorial site outside of Comerica Park on Woodward near the “Big Tiger.” Messages will be saved and shared with his family, according to a news release late Sunday.
- From noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, there will be a public visitation at the Fox Theatre Grand Lobby, where Ilitch will lie in repose. Ilitch and his wife, Marian, bought the historic Fox in 1987 and restored it, setting set the stage for an entertainment revival in downtown Detroit.
The future of Flynn
- Embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn’s fate as one of President Donald Trump’s senior aides is uncertain following reports that he discussed U.S. sanctions with a Russian envoy before Trump’s inauguration.
- A top White House official sidestepped repeated chances Sunday to publicly defend him. The president, who spent the weekend at his private club in Florida, has yet to comment on Flynn’s status. Nor has Vice President Mike Pence, who previously denied that Flynn had discussed sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S.
Tigers top prospects
- The Detroit Tigers prospects are viewed, nationally, as resting somewhere in the bottom one-third of big-league teams when it comes to projecting players who someday will work on baseball’s grand stage. But the team is anything but barren.
- The Detroit News Top 50 Prospects is an annual rundown of players whose talents and dossiers vary from potential All-Star to likely career farmhand. Check out the rankings here.
Wings and all-stars
- Not to rub it in, but things really aren't going great for the Red Wings right now. Other than that, here's some cool hockey news that came out today: the NHL All-Star Game is coming back to Detroit. The timing, however, isn't so concrete.
Saluting a Scout
- Many Boy Scouts struggle just to earn a few merit badges. Eagle Scouts flaunt 21. Eagle Scout Ian McKinnon of Sterling Heights passed 21 a long, long time ago.
- McKinnon, 16, recently received his 137th merit badge. That’s every one the Scouts offer. Actually, it’s more than they offer. One of his badges, computers, was discontinued in 2014.
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