The Detroit Public Schools Community District had 50,000 students enrolled on the first day of school, but it may take home visits to get all of them in the classroom.
Olivia Lewis
Olivia Lewis is a reporter and editor for BridgeDetroit. A former Gannett news reporter, she covered social justice and opportunity for the Battle Creek Enquirer before transitioning to the Indianapolis Star to cover Hamilton County. Her byline has appeared in the Houston Chronicle and the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia, among other publications. Lewis joined the BridgeDetroit team following a stint in the charitable sector. You can reach her at 313-432-8320 or at olewis@bridgedetroit.com.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Built to keep Black from white: The story behind Detroit’s 'Wailing Wall'
Eighty years after a segregation wall rose in Detroit, America remains divided. That’s not an accident.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Reimbursement remains unclear for Detroit’s flood victims
Two weeks after Detroit’s heavy summer rain flooded thousands of homes, residents are still cleaning up debris and filing claims to restore their property. With high insurance premiums and low coverage, Detroiters are relying on FEMA for assistance.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Detroiters demand solutions after massive flooding
Nearly 6 inches of rain inundated Detroit’s water and sewage systems last weekend, causing basements to flood in residential and commercial properties across the city. As residents continue to clean the debris and file insurance claims, they say quick, Band-Aid fixes are unacceptable.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Federal help may be on the way for Detroit’s budding weed industry
A proposed bill at the federal level would allow banking institutions to accept funds from cannabis-related businesses. So far, it has bipartisan support, and stakeholders say the legislation would create greater access to the industry for budding Detroit entrepreneurs.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Michigan advocates for vaccine equity, but it’s unclear whether it’s delivering
Detroit and Michigan officials understand the importance of racial equity in distribution of the COVID vaccine, but the state currently lacks the infrastructure to achieve it. Detroit, however, is one of the few places in the state to track vaccinations by race.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Inside Detroit’s election: Black women’s stories of the count and the mayhem
Hear firsthand accounts from the battlefield as told by five Detroit election workers who sought to protect the city’s vote and clapped back at pro-Trump activists who cried fraud and tried to derail the count.
Posted inMichigan Government
Post-election, Detroit braces for legal challenges to its results
As President Donald Trump questions the integrity of Michigan’s elections, the focus of the race swings to Detroit, which has had its share of vote challenges. Controversies already are arising with the city’s count.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Once a state hotspot, Detroit has one of the lowest rates of coronavirus in Michigan
Once a COVID hotspot, Detroit lost 1,300 people to the virus. The city and its residents fought back and say limited interactions, face masks and frequent hand-washing make the difference. Detroit now has one of the lowest rates in the state.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Amid racial reckoning, activists press Whitmer for environmental justice
A deepening debate in the nation on systemic racial inequities has inspired Michigan activities to seize this societal moment to achieve reforms for communities of color that too often bare the burden of pollution in their communities.