Today on Stateside, as Detroit tries to land a big new Fiat Chrysler assembly plant by offering tax incentives, some in the city are skeptical after past development deals failed to deliver. Plus, now that recreational marijuana is legal in Michigan, we hear what California is doing to clear past marijuana-related convictions.
Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below.
Howes: Skepticism over FCA plant deal influenced by “empty Illitch promises”
- This week, Detroit City Council's Planning and Economic Development Committee is scheduled to consider the incentives Detroit is offering Fiat Chrysler to build a new Jeep plant on the east side of the city.
- Detroit News business columnist Daniel Howes joins Stateside to discuss the backdrop for this decision: the tax breaks the Ilitches received to help build Little Caesars Arena, and how the billionaire family has, in some people's eyes, broken the development promises they made in exchange.
How Wayne State University is boosting graduation rates
- Until recently only about a quarter of Wayne State University freshman could be assured of a degree within six years. That's the worst graduation rate in the state, but the school is starting to turn things around — and fast. Michigan Radio's Bryce Huffman reports on how the school is doing that.
Michigan duo uses roots music to find connections between state’s diverse communities
- A friendship grounded in a mutual love for acoustic roots music led the Reverend Robert Jones and Matt Watroba to found a nonprofit that creates connections between diverse communities through music. Watroba and Jones join Stateside to talk about their work with the nonprofit Common Chords.
Theater Talk: A Steinbeck classic; a small-town video store, and an Irish beauty queen
- David Kiley from Encore Michigan joins Stateside to discuss some of the latest offerings from professional theater companies across the state, including The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Detroit Public Theatre, The Grapes of Wrath at the Detroit Opera House, and New Releases at the Williamston Theatre.
What Michigan can learn from California’s effort to expunge marijuana convictions
- Roughly 50,000 people in the state who have been convicted of marijuana crimes. Advocates are working hard to get those convictions cleared in our state now that recreational marijuana has been legalized. That has already started happening in California, whose voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016.
- Scott Rodd is a state government reporter for Capital Public Radio in Sacramento. He talks about the state's struggle to reach people who would be eligible to have their convictions cleared, and what Michigan can learn from California should lawmakers here decide to pass an expungement law.
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