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We know a lot happens throughout the week, and you may not catch all of our stories here at WXYZ. So we've decided to gather the most talked-about stories from the past week all in one place that you can check out during your free time over the weekend.
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Here are the big stories from the week beginning March 24.
State of Michigan again pushing to raise trash tipping fee to slow imported trash
Time is ticking for Michigan landfills. That's according to a new report from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
EGLE says if Michigan continues to dispose of trash the way we are currently, we’re on track to meet capacity at all landfills in the state in 21 years. The state says one of the issues leading us here is a significantly lower tipping fee than neighboring states, which is the price haulers pay to dump trash in Michigan.
On average, states here in the Midwest charge about $5.30 per ton while Michigan charges just 36 cents per ton, making it an attractive dumping ground for neighboring states and Canada.
"Michigan is No. 1 in the country in trash per capita in landfills, and a big reason for that is that we have a lot of trash from other states. We’ve become a bit of a trash magnet," said Phil Roos, who is the director of EGLE.
EGLE says last year, the state saw a 5.43% increase in trash over all. The state says the largest source of waste imports continues to be Canada, which accounted for 4.4 million tons in 2024, or 14.35%.
"Before my time, I've come to understand there was an active decision to make us a destination for trash. It brings in revenue. Landfills appreciate that revenue and it can have an impact, a positive impact in that way, but I don’t think it forecast the ultimate impact this is going to have on us," Roos said.
It's a part of the reason the state is once again working to raise the tipping fee. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is now proposing taking the current fee of $0.36 to $5 over the course of a few years.
The proposal has already received pushback from trash haulers and the Michigan Waste and Recycling Association, which represents them. It says in part, "This continued narrative to increase the state’s solid waste tipping fee will raise the cost of essential services provided to Michigan citizens and businesses. An increase of this magnitude would add costs to virtually every resident in the state as well as local governments, hospitals, public safety organizations, and school districts."
‘He ruined my life.’ Oxford woman out life savings after romance scammer impersonates 'NCIS' actor
An Oxford woman was scammed out of nearly $500,000, her life savings, by someone she thought she'd marry.
Sandy Selvan told us that she sold her car and her house. She gave absolutely everything to a scammer who had convinced her that they were "NCIS" actor Mark Harmon.
Selvan says she is sick to her stomach looking back on nearly a year's worth of messages.
"Just beyond devastated. He ruined my life," she said. "I would have never, ever, ever done anything to jeopardize my family for this, ever."
The 68-year-old woman from Oxford keeps to herself most days, tending to one of her adult sons who has special needs. The small family was happy, until what started last April, when Selvan got a message over Facebook.
"This person was talking to me. I didn't think it was any big deal. I just talked for a few minutes. I didn't see really any harm at that point," she said.
A relationship began generating hundreds of messages a day. The person then asked Selvan to switch over to an app Zangi, where they revealed their identity.
"He portrayed himself as Mark Harmon," she recalled.
She says the person said they were Mark Harmon, the actor and "NCIS" star.
With their identities revealed, over the course of the next 10 months, the alleged Harmon would ask how Selvan's son was. He would tell her how much he loved her and he would talk about their wedding and being together — but just one thing stood in the way.
"He had told me that he was in Italy, that he was under a contract," she said.
The fake Harmon told Selvan that his money was tied up in California; he just needed to be loaned a couple hundred thousand dollars to pay his crew off, get home and get his own money. Then he said he’d be able to come live with Selvan and her son. He said he had more than enough money to take care of them both.
Selvan started wiring who she thought was her future husband the money he said he needed.
"He shouldn’t have had any of it. I think it was like a total of 400 and some, 475," Selvan said.
That's $475,000. Selvan sold her car and her family home to get the money. She has no money left.
Michigan’s new car seat laws go into effect on April 2: here's what you need to know
Parents, mark your calendars. April 2 is when Michigan’s new car seat laws go into effect. If you break the law, you could get a ticket, but more importantly, these laws could save lives.
One big change is that children under the age of two must be in a rear-facing seat.
“Now it is a law in Michigan that they will be rear-facing two and younger. We would like them to be rear-facing for as long as possible. That maxes out the height or weight of their car seat,” said Andrea Peardon, a certified child passenger safety technician.
Once they turn 5, they can move to a booster seat using a lap and shoulder belt until they are 8, or until they reach 4-foot-9.
All children 13 and under must ride in the backseat of the car, if there is an open backseat.
There are some exceptions to these rules, including reaching the maximum weight or height allowed by the car seat’s manufacturer.
“I think the more guidelines we have as parents, the better off we are, because most of us as parents are walking around like chickens with our heads cut off, just trying to figure out what is best for our kids,” said Catania.
Young man on road to recovery after nearly dying in horrific motorcycle crash
Ten months ago, 21-year-old Cody Thomas got on his motorcycle as he loved to do, but little did he know that day would change his life forever.
"I was going home to see my mom for Mother's Day, that's about all I remember," said Thomas.
According to police, Thomas was riding along Gratiot Avenue near Carriage Way Drive in Chesterfield Township when he was hit by a pick-up truck.
"Every thought running through your head. Not knowing. They already told us on the phone that they thought he wouldn't make it," said Thomas' mother, Jennifer.
The driver who hit Thomas was charged with driving with a suspended license, causing injury. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 150 days in jail and two years' probation.
Thomas wasn't wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and suffered a traumatic brain injury. His doctors are saying he's lucky to be alive.
"Initially, he got significant amounts of treatment, including where they had to take off a piece of his skull," said Dr. Tyler Williamson from DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.
"I was almost dead. I was almost, you know, 'pinned' if this was wrestling," said Thomas.
A wrestler all through high school, it was Thomas's fighting spirit that kept him alive, and a little help from someone special — his former high school wrestling coach
Today, Thomas spends three days a week at Detroit Medical Center's Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.
When he's there, it's like he's back on the mat with his coach by his side, telling him that he can win this fight.
"I mean, it makes me so proud," said Thomas.
Mayor Duggan on redeveloping Detroit's riverfront and what comes next
Detroiters are reacting to plans to change the city's skyline with a bold transformation for the Renaissance Center.
It's a plan for redevelopment along the riverfront. Mayor Mike Duggan laid out the concept in his final State of the City on Tuesday.
The renderings show the demolition of two of the towers and the building of a 6-acre riverfront park.
Our Mike Duffy went to the riverfront to ask Detroiters how realistic the plan was to them.
“It would be great. It would be a good way to attract more tourists here and especially for the residents as well,” says Gulain Reif, who was visiting Detroit.
“Who is the public that is being envisioned and how do we expand the vision of who the public is?” as Reelaviolette Botts-Ward, whose family is from Detroit.
But, of course, we wanted to go to the source, Duggan, to get his take on the vision, as well as some reflection on his time in office and what comes next.
You can see his Q&A with our Mike Duffy here.
Decline in Canadian travel to Detroit over tariff dispute a 'significant concern' to local tourism
With tension brewing between the U.S. and Canada as a new set of tariffs is set to take effect, some Canadians say they’re boycotting their trips to the U.S., vowing to use their wallets as a means to make their voices heard.
Both the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel saw a noticeable decline in travelers last month, and some local businesses in Detroit also are noticing a decline in Canadian customers.
Before the Ottawa Senators took on the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena Thursday night, Senators fan Andrew Johnston sported a “Canada is not for sale” hat.
Johnston is originally from Ottawa but now lives in Michigan. His hat was his way of making a clear statement about the current political tension between the two countries.
“It's just a little pushback saying we’re not OK with this kind of rhetoric, the 51st state stuff,” Johnston said.
Harry’s Detroit Bar and Grill is steps from Little Caesars Arena and is a hockey pregame hot spot. Manager Cesar Ramirez says a large number of their customers are Canadian.
“We have seen a decline in our Canadian customers, just based on the numbers we take down,” Ramirez said. "When we take their numbers down, we see the area code. So we see that they’re from Canada, and we’ve just been getting a lot less Canadian numbers.”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, travel across the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel dropped 14% from January to February 2025. February 2025 was down 12% compared to February 2024.
“It's of significant concern to us,” said Claude Molinari, President and CEO of Visit Detroit. "There’s definitely a sentiment in Canada that it’s unpatriotic frankly to travel to the United States at this time.”
Smart Shopper: How one app is giving people major deals on items set to expire soon
As part of our ongoing Smart Shopper series, I'm letting you in on a smart shopper's best-kept secret, an app called Flashfood.
It's an app where participating grocery stores will list foods that are set to expire soon and put them on sale for sale for pennies on the dollar.
Dozens of stores in Michigan are on board, but there's one problem: it seems like no one knows about the app. Many people we talked to had never heard of it.
"Well, you know, Kiara, I’m not sure that’s not intentional because shoppers, they want the deal," CEO Nicholas Bertram said.
Bertram said 80,000 people are using the app in Michigan. Last year, people saved $4.4 million, but he said many people won't discuss it.
When an item goes live on the app, it's first-come-first-serve. Inside a particular Meijer location, the workers at customer service told us the people who know use the app often.
