Planetdetroit

Water shutoffs in Detroit made headlines in 2014 during the city’s financial crisis, with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department disconnecting an estimated 140,000 homes between 2013 and 2020.

A pledge to forgo campaign contributions from utilities has garnered 148 signatures from elected officials and candidates in Michigan, and organizers said there’s growing support for refusing such contributions.

Michig...

Thirty times smaller than the width of a human hair. That’s the width of a PM2.5 particle — the microscopic pollution pouring from DTE Energy’s EES Coke Battery on Zug Island near Southwest Detroit, where residents suffer asthma hospitalization rates

Ethan Bakuli reported this story while participating in USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication and Center for Health Journalism 2025 Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellowship as well as a Solutions Journalism Network accelerator program for coverage of the health impacts of seasonal climate issues in Metro Detroit.

Moisture re...

On a beautiful Detroit night with a summer breeze in the air, Planet Detroit’s 2026 Neighborhood Reporters gathered at the Old Miami to celebrate their accomplishments.

This year marked the third cohort of Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporting Lab, and it was our biggest yet. Twenty Detroit-area residents joined the program, most with no prior journalism experien...