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?
TODAY: Another cold start with highs reaching the low 20s in most locations. Clouds will be increasing during the day. Winds: WNW 5-10 mph.
TONIGHT: Cloudy skies with snow showers in the area. Lows will fall into the low teens. Winds: Light
THURSDAY: Cloudy skies with a few snow showers possible. Highs in the mid 20s are expected. Winds: NW 10-20 mph.
Any traffic issues?
So far, no major traffic issues to know about. Be sure to check our live traffic map here.
The top stories to know about
Officials provide update as repair work continues on 54-inch water main break in SW Detroit
Detroit city officials and Great Lakes Water Authority officials provided an update on Tuesday afternoon about a massive water main break in Southwest Detroit that left a neighborhood flooded.
The Great Lakes Water Authority said a 54-inch steel water transmission main broke early Monday morning in the area of Beard and Rowan in Southwest Detroit. It impacted between 150 and 200 homes in the neighborhood.
The break left more than five feet of standing water in some areas, but crews have been on site since Monday morning as they work to expedite water removal from the area. City officials said this was the worst water main break they had ever seen.
According to the GLWA, once the water is cleared, they can begin excavating the site and assess the damage of the pipe to determine what will be required to repair it. The authority said that they have already been in contact with the pipeline supplier to make them aware of the potential pipe needs.
Todd King with the GLWA said they have two emergency contractors on site assisting in the repairs and recovery. King said that it could take between one and two weeks to get the new pipe in place and welded.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in the Tuesday update that there are 398 houses in the emergency flood zone, and there are 83 families in hotels, totaling 296 people. Duggan said there are 72 houses without power, 190 houses with basement flooding and 174 houses with no heat.
‘A vicious cycle.’ Detroit’s 'KARENs' rescue dogs from cold, say the city must do more
We're once again seeing below-zero wind chills in metro Detroit, something that we also saw a few weeks ago.
During that time, we showed you the sad truth, that in freezing temperatures, dogs across the city are tied up with heavy chains and in some cases, dying.
However, the story doesn't end there. Many of you wanted to know how this is legal. It's not.
In January, we went out with KAREN (K9 Animal Rescue Emergency Network System) as they went around Detroit in search of dogs. We went out again with them this month, and they showed us dogs are still being chained up outside.
All year long, there are dogs illegally chained, emaciated, freezing to death. So many of you have asked, "what is going on?" and wondered how it's legal.
"It’s a vicious cycle. Here we are two weeks later, nothing has changed," Rzewnicki said.
In Detroit, it is illegal to have a dog on a steel chain, or any tether, other than a coated steel cable. It is illegal to have a dog on a tether that is not at least three times the length of the dog. It is illegal to have a dog tethered for more than three hours per day.
Yet, we were with the KARENS as they visited two dogs – one quite pregnant – illegally chained weeks after they said they called Detroit Animal Care and Control.
Rzewnicki and Melanie Thomas tell me that Detroit Animal Care and Control (DACC) informed them they did come out a few weeks ago and the owner took the dogs inside. But since then, they have checked in to see the dogs living in the same conditions.
"There’s no reason that these follow-ups are not getting done. You can’t tell me you have that many calls," Thomas said.
We took these concerns directly to Crystal Perkins, the director of Detroit's General Services department, which oversees DACC.
"This dog right here as you can see is pretty pregnant," our Sarah Michals showed her.
"I’ll have to investigate to see what happened," Perkins said.
"Does the city feel they have adequate staff to respond to these calls?" Sarah asked.
"So we do follow up. We can’t go to a house every single day, as you know, we can only go to educate," Perkins said. "We can go to educate, we can go out today, we can go out in three days and they’ve made the corrections, but who is to say they didn't revert back to their old ways?"
Suspects allegedly stole $5K in product during break-in at Pingree Detroit
The founder of Pingree Detroit, a veteran- and worker-owned business in Detroit that creates handmade footwear, accessories and pet goods, is asking for help identifying people who broke in and stole thousands over the weekend.
According to Pingree Detroit Founder Jarret Schlaff, the two men broke into the Pingree Workshop around 3 a.m. on Saturday. Feb. 15.
We're told they stole $5,000 worth of product, all of the Pingree laptops, $500 in cash and signed jerseys from the Detroit Pistons, which were given to Pingree for the Veterans on Hoops for Troops evening.
We covered Pingree in 2018 highlighting their products, which are made using upcycled auto leather.
The founder said their insurance does not cover losses because as a nonprofit business, they can only afford general liability.
