Stateside: Ilitches’ broken promises; infant mortality in rural, urban MI; first UM cannabis class

Today on Stateside, the Illitch family promised big development around Little Caesars Arena and secured $340 million in taxpayer funding for that arena. But two years later those promises haven't been kept. Plus, we hear from two women who are fighting to lower Michigan's maternal and infant mortality rates. 

Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below.

Finley: Ilitches’ development promises were just a “mirage” 

• Today in the Detroit News, there’s a pretty blunt headline: "Ilitch vision for downtown District was a mirage"
• Joining Stateside is Detroit News editorial page editor, Nolan Finley, to give his take on the much ballyhooed promises from the Ilitch family for "The District Detroit,” the spin-off development that was to blossom around its Little Caesars Arena.

State Senate corrections' budget moves to floor with controversial immigration provision

• Michigan's GOP lawmakers are trying another tactic to curb sanctuary policies. Senate Republicans have written a provision into the budget for the State Corrections Department that punishes counties with policies, which limit law enforcement from cooperating with federal officials on immigration issues. The penalty would come down to counties losing jail reimbursement. A state Senate subcommittee passed its version of the Michigan Department of Corrections budget on Wednesday.
• Republican Senator Tom Barrett of Potterville chairs the subcommittee. He declined our interview request but told our Capitol reporter Cheyna Roth on Tuesday that, while the Corrections Department calls this  a bad idea he wants to move forward with the provision.
• Chris Gautz, from the Michigan Department of Corrections joins Stateside to talk about the corrections department view of this provision. 

UM’s first course on cannabis aims to fill gaps in scholarship, research 

• Ten states have now said yes to recreational marijuana, and 33 states have legalized medical marijuana. Michigan, of course, is one of the ten to vote yes. As the weed momentum builds, there's a need for schools to develop courses that are focused on cannabis along with a need for scholarship and research.
• Thanks to a professor at the University of Michigan's College of Pharmacy, that's already happening. Gus Rosania is now teaching PharmSci 420, the University of Michigan's first course on cannabis. Rosania joins Stateside to discuss cannabis research and what prompted him to offer the class. 

Howes: After clunky start, Ford CEO Hackett is asking the right questions

• Remember Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare, where the lightning-fast hare ultimately loses the race to the tortoise who just kept plodding along?
• Detroit News business columnist Daniel Howes joins Stateside to discuss how he thinks we might be seeing an auto version of the tortoise and the hare shaping up.

How Michigan’s urban, rural communities are trying to reduce infant mortality disparities

• For every 1,000 babies born in Michigan, nearly seven will not live to their first birthday. That rate is more than double for African American and Native American babies. As part of its new effort to move the needle on infant mortality, Michigan is tailoring solutions to different communities.
• Today, we talk with two women addressing the challenge of infant mortality in very different parts of the state. Leseliey Welch is a Senior Public Health Lecturer at Wayne State University and consultant, currently leading the development team for Birth Detroit, a women’s wellness and birth center. Bethany Brown is a Certified Nurse Midwife and Assistant Director of Nursing  at Central Michigan University. She's part of the state's regional infant mortality task force for parts of central Michigan.