Stateside: Future of sports arenas; privatizing mental health care; public funding of private school

Today on Stateside, after just 31 years of use, the Palace of Auburn Hills is being demolished to make way for a mixed-use office park. Plus, an emergency room physician explains why there needs to be more research on how marijuana affects the mind and the body.

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

Pistons beat reporter says Bill Davidson likely would be upset to see The Palace demolished

• The Palace of Auburn Hills — the former home of the Detroit Pistons and countless star-studded concerts — will be demolished this fall to make way for a mixed-use office park. Rod Beard has covered the Detroit Pistons for The Detroit News. He talks about how public tax dollars have played a role in the construction of stadiums like Comerica Park and Ford Field and what the phenomenon of sports teams and their owners constantly chasing after newer, bigger arenas means for the lifespans of these facilities.

State Supreme Court to weigh in on public money going to private schools

• The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to consider taking on a case that could change the rules regarding whether any public money can go to private and parochial schools in the state. The court invited arguments on what exactly the state constitution says about this question. Michigan Public Radio’s State Capitol bureau chief Rick Pluta breaks down the different perspectives on this topic and what kinds of questions will be raised if the court does decide to hear the case.

Theater Talk: Summer theater in full swing in Saugatuck, Augusta and Coldwater

•  Now that we’re in the full swing of summer theater, David Kiley of Encore Michigan has a list of productions coming to a stage near you. He talks about "In The Heights" at Mason Street Warehouse in Saugatuck, "Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, and "Crazy For You" at the Encore Musical Theatre in Dexter. 

In this new era of legal cannabis, a doctor's warning

• Now that Michigan has legalized recreational marijuana, physicians are warning users about the lack of research that’s been done into how exactly cannabis affects the brain and the body. Christopher Blazes is an addiction psychiatrist and emergency room physician at the University of Michigan. He explains why he advises potential users to wait until more studies are conducted before taking advantage of cannabis’s new legal status.

Rives Township residents rally in opposition to huge proposed natural gas plant

• Residents of Rives Township, a rural area north of Jackson known for its horse farms, are fighting to prevent Novi Energy from building an 1800-megawatt gas power plant in their town. The group “Citizens to Keep Rives Rural” has said that they’ve had to push their own elected leaders to try to fend off this massive plant. Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton, who went to the township’s planning commission meeting on Monday, tells us what she heard. 

Private health plans say transparency is key to making any changes to public mental health system

• Who should be in charge of treating Michigan residents with serious, chronic mental illness? That's the controversial question at the center of a years-long effort to improve mental health care. At stake is who ultimately controls the state's $2.6 billion Medicaid mental health system. Private health plans have been arguing that they're best poised to integrate physical and mental health care and deliver better outcomes at a lower cost than the public system. But some advocates say that health plans haven’t done enough to justify privatizing a mental health system that serves some 300,000 Michiganders. Dominick Pallone, executive director of the Michigan Association of Health Plans, gives us his perspective on this issue. 

Grosse Pointe plans to close two schools, sparking questions of racial targeting

• The Grosse Pointe school board voted to close down two elementary schools last night, including the district’s only majority-black school in Harper Woods. That’s after the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MCDR) urged the district to slow down and take issues impacting its students of color into account. The district cited declining enrollment, state funding, and transportation issues as some of the reasons behind the closure. Michigan Radio’s Sarah Cwiek tells us more.      

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