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: Wind Advisory until 3 PM for the entire area. Winds could gust to 45 mph. Snow showers early, mostly before the sun rises, then clouds decrease in the afternoon with highs in the mid to upper 30s. Winds: WNW 20-30 mph
Tonight: Another cold night ahead with lows in the upper 20s Winds: W 10-15 mph
Friday: Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of some light mixed showers. Highs in the low 40s. Winds: W 10 mph.
Any traffic issues?
So far, no major traffic issues to know about this morning. Be sure to check our live traffic map here.
The top stories to know about
Closing arguments expected to begin today in trial for suspect in deadly Swan Boat Club crash
The trial for Marshella Chidester, the woman charged in the Swan Boat Club crash that killed 2 kids last year, resumes this morning with the final witnesses for the defense set to take the stand.
The prosecution rested its case on Wednesday morning and the defense is set to rest its case today.
It's alleged that Marshella Chidester was drunk at the time of the deadly crash. She claims she has a history of seizures and does not remember anything.
Chidester faces two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of operating while intoxicated causing death and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
Outside the court, Chidester's attorney, Bill Colovos, said he believes the biggest hurdle will be proving that Chidester was not drunk.
However, the prosecution says Chidester was, and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Chidester's blood-alcohol content was .18, more than twice the legal limit.
Detroit bicyclist given ticket for legally riding in street, DPD now retraining officers
A Detroit bicyclist recently caught his encounter with Detroit Police on video where he received a citation for riding his bike in the street. Detroit Police now say the bicyclist was not in the wrong, his ticket will be thrown out, and officers in the 5th Precinct will be retrained on bicycle laws.
Zac Young says he was running errands on February 2 around 2:30 p.m. when he was pulled over by Detroit Police near Mack Avenue and Conner Street. He primarily commutes by bike and typically uses the bike lane, but not that day.
“That day it was snowing and that whole week prior it was snow and ice and the bike lanes were just sheeted in ice and snow," Young said.
Young is a bicyclist advocate in the city of Detroit through the nonprofit Back Alley Bikes, focusing on community fundraising, education, and advocacy. He's aware of the laws and knows that in the city of Detroit, while it is recommended to use the bike lanes, it is still legal to ride your bike in the street. He can be heard trying to explain that to the officers in the video.
“It’s against the law to be riding in the middle of the street, in a busy street, in a turn lane when there is a bike lane provided," one officer can be heard saying in the video.
“Even though they were operating with the best intentions, it was incorrect," Detroit Police Deputy Chief Arnold Williams said about how the officers handled the encounter.
In the video, one officer can be heard saying, "The city's cracking down on it". Young can be heard asking the officer what the city is cracking down on, without ever receiving a response. We asked Deputy Chief Williams for clarification.
“The city is not cracking down on bicyclists, the city is doing the same as we always do, we’re enforcing traffic laws," he said.
Coca-Cola executive and local leader in women's empowerment goes global
Rev. Dr. Adrienne Booth Johnson worked her way to the executive suite of Coca-Cola over her 25 years in the company. This alone is a huge accomplishment for any woman, but she's much more than a corporate executive.
Climbing the corporate ladder wasn't an easy feat for Dr. Johnson. As a single mom in her teens, she had every excuse to give up, but she chose to persevere through adversity.
"I never let go of my dreams. I knew that someday I was going to be somebody. I knew someday I was going to help somebody," said Dr. Johnson.
Dr. Johnson wore many hats throughout her early life - wife, mom, corporate executive, and champion of women.
That's right, in the midst of her already hectic life, she told me she felt called to more, so she jumped on a plane to Africa. During her time over there, she discovered there was a common need among all of the villages she visited- women are in desperate need of sanitary products.
"I find out where the village is and go meet with the chief of the village or queen mother and talk to people and just find out what they need," she says. "And that's how I found out they need sanitary pads."
Rather than just giving these women sanitary pads, Dr. Johnson came up with a better idea- she founded WO YE BRA, a non-profit that creates women empowerment programs. The main focus of the programs is teaching women a skill, like sewing, and then teaching them how to leverage universal business practices like marketing, sales, customer relations, and financial literacy.
The first thing these women learned was how to sew sanitary pads.
"We give away sanitary pads, so you'll have some, but we also give away sewing machines, fabric… but most importantly, we teach them and empower them," said Dr. Johnson.
It doesn't stop with WO YE BRA. Dr. Johnson enlisted the help of a girls club at Cass Tech called Great Girls. They cut the fabric for the sanitary pads, and then Dr. Johnson takes it over to Ghana for the girls over there to sew together.
"I bought fabric, and the girls at Cass Tech cut out the fabric for the sanitary pad, and I took it to Ghana. So I thought about it and said Well, wait a minute… wouldn't it be great if the girls at Cass Tech saw the girls they actually gave the pads to… and so I did a Zoom!" she says.
