Here at 7 News Detroit, we want to make sure you start your day off on the right foot, informed about weather, traffic, the latest news and more. That's why we have the 7 Morning Digest, where we'll get you out the door informed and ready to go.
What's the weather for today?
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Sanilac and St. Clair counties as lake effect snow will move through the area today. Light snow will continue for metro Detroit with totals of 1" to 3" depending on where you are.
Temps will drop overnight into Saturday morning with lows near 20 degrees, and highs will only get into the mid 20s. Wind chills will be colder.
Closer to Christmas, we'll see temps bouncing back and even climbing above average with snow & rain possible.
Any traffic issues?
No major traffic issues to know about this morning, and our live drive cam showed that most roads were just wet this morning. Check it out in the video above.
The top stories to know about
Michigan House adjourns until New Year's Eve as state reps speak out on lame-duck session
Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett wanted to focus on legislation putting $400 million toward Detroit Public Schools Community District debt and bills on criminal justice reform. Instead, she claims Democrats wanted her to vote for bills that have not been vetted.
“Everything that was on the agenda in the House is dead,” is how Rep. Laurie Pohutsky summed up their agenda as the lame-duck session waddled to a close.
They were holding out hope that Whitsett, a fellow Democrat, would help them move legislation forward when she arrived in Lansing on Thursday. She had been missing in action the past few sessions, saying she would not attend unless the bills she prioritized were taken up.
On Thursday, alongside Republican Minority Leader Matt Hall, Whitsett explained why last-minute deals to get her on board with Democrats fell through.
“I want all my colleagues to know this wasn’t me,” Whitsett said. “He would not negotiate, the speaker, would not negotiate in good faith.”
"The truth of the matter is where we had a moment of just doing the procedural things, we had Republican colleagues including the Speaker-elect (Hall) just obstruct the entire way,” Rep. Abraham Aiyash responded.
House Speaker Joe Tate issued a Call of the House, directing House Sergeants at Arms to bring absent members including Whitsett and the GOP who walked out last week to the chamber on its final scheduled session day of the year.
Moments later, Democrats adjourned until New Year’s Eve without a quorum and without taking up any bills.
Walled Lake Northern High School students bring giant toy drop to elementary kids
Walled Lake Northern High School students collected over 5,000 presents for students at Allendale Elementary School. They say they feel every student deserves a good Christmas.
After 10 years of collecting gifts for elementary schools around the area, the drive for Allendale on Thursday broke the record for their largest collection yet. Over 900 boxes were filled with six items each: three to fulfill the students' needs along with three of their wishes.
"It's really cool seeing the looks on all the kids' faces and how surprised they are and appreciative they are of all of this." said Jesse Berman, senior and student council president at Walled Lake Northern High School.
The high school students enlisted the help of their community to gather items and wrap presents.
The generosity of the students holds a deeper meaning in the hearts of Melvindale police officers. The 8-year-old brother of Officer Mohamed Said, who was killed in the line of duty in July, was one of the kids at school who received presents.
Said is survived by his two younger brothers.
"I was wishing my brother was here to see all of this because that's why he wanted to do (it) for his whole life. And that's why he was doing (it) when he was being a police officer," Said's other brother Ahmed said.
As all the kids opened their presents, Ahmed Said and officers said that this act of kindness made the entire community's holiday a little brighter.
"By seeing these gifts, it reminded me of him. He would have been here — he was here. He would have been happy," said Ahmed Said.
David Montgomery will avoid surgery for MCL injury & hopes to return for playoffs
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery is hoping to rehab his MCL injury and return in time for the playoffs instead of getting season-ending surgery. That's according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Rapoport reported that after consulting experts over the past few days, Montgomery decided to rehab the injury.
Earlier this week, head coach Dan Campbell said the team was in a holding pattern and that was positive news.
The Lions placed defensive tackle Alim McNeill, cornerback Carlton Davis and special teams ace Khalil Dorsey on injured reserve on Tuesday, putting an NFL-high 21 players on IR.
