(WXYZ) — Hey, you're busy — we get it.
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 Feb. 10.
Mother and father of 2 kids who died in Detroit casino parking garage speak
It was a story that the whole country was monitoring: Two Detroit kids died of apparent hypothermia in a vehicle in a Detroit casino parking garage this week.
Our Darren Cunningham spoke to the kids' mother and father in the days after their deaths.
Darnell Currie Sr. wiped away tears while talking with me about his children, Darnell Jr. and Amelia. He recalls the distressing phone call he says he took from their mother, Tateona Williams, on Monday.
"I went to the gym. As soon as I got on a treadmill, she called saying 'can I make it to the hospital right now. They gone,'" said Darnell. "I was hoping it was a sick joke, but it wasn't."
According to Detroit police, 9-year-old Darnell Jr. And 2-year-old Amelia died while sleeping in a vehicle at the Hollywood Casino at Greektown parking garage.
Investigators say the cause appears to be hypothermia, a tragedy stemming from homelessness.
"I tried. I asked for help. Even people out of state," said Tateona Williams, the childrens' mother.
'I lived through that?' MSU shooting survivor shares his road to recovery 2 years later
Thursday evening marked the two-year anniversary of the Michigan State University school shooting.
On Feb. 12, 2023, a shooter opened fire on MSU's campus, killing three students – Brian Fraser, Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner.
The gunman also shot and forever altered the lives of five other students, including Nate Statly from Fenton.
Nate and his family have never sat down for an interview before, but they shared their story exclusively with WXYZ because, as they say, "people need to know what happens to gun violence victims after the tragedy."
"I woke up in the hospital. I had no idea what happened, and then when they told me I was like, ‘I lived through that?'" he said.
Inside Berkey Hall on the MSU campus, Nate was shot in the head. His mother, Amy told us where.
"We started calling the hospitals. They told us they did not have him at the hospital. And his roommate again told us, 'I have him on iMap at Sparrow Hospital,'" Amy said.
Now, the Statly family tells me the insurance companies want their money back.
"Both insurance companies that we have have sent us letters that they are doing subrogation," Amy said. "They want to be paid back."
"Do you think that there are things that MSU could have done better to protect its students?" I asked.
"Yeah, they could have put locks on the doors, and that guy would have never been able to get in," he said.
Since the shooting, MSU has pledged to add locks to 1,300 classrooms, as well as additional security cameras. In the U.S. in 2023, there were 82 school shootings. In 2024, a new record was set with 83.
"We all have to push for change," Tom said.
Amid adversity that would crush most, Nate continues to fight for change himself.
Exclusive interview: Detroit's next Archbishop talks about the future and the challenges he faces
Big changes are coming to the Archdiocese of Detroit as Pope Francis has named Bishop Edward Weisenburger as the next Archbishop of Detroit, taking over after Archbishop Allen Vigneron's 16-year tenure.
Weisenburger will officially take over next month. This week, he sat down exclusively with Carolyn Clifford to talk about his new appointment, his vision for the future and the challenges ahead.
"It was quite a surprise it was not on my radar," Weisenburger says of his new posting.
At 64 years old, Weisenburger is now responsible for leading 900,000 Catholics across 213 parishes—a significant challenge at a time when church attendance is declining nationwide. But he has spearheaded movement elsewhere.
"Can they grow? Of course, they can grow," he says. "Our space becomes sacred to us. So for us to be closing, I get it, it hurts, and we have to get to work."
Weisenburger isn’t new to leadership. Ordained in 1987, he’s served in Oklahoma City and, most recently, as the Bishop of Tucson since 2017, where he spearheaded growth.
And he's not afraid of controversy for the right cause - like immigration.
"They are not alone, and we stand firmly with them," he says. "The immigration system is broken, and it's important to always remind them the vast majority of people don't want to come here, they just don't want to starve to death."
DNR says avian flu widespread in Michigan wild birds, more than 300 dead birds found
As the bird flu continues to spread across the U.S., the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says it is widespread among wild birds in the state, with more than 300 dead wild birds found in five counties suspected of being killed by the virus.
Nearly 100 of those cases happened in Washtenaw County, many of them at a public Ann Arbor park.
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Mary Beth Doyle Park has lots of wildlife and paved trails that nearby residents walk often.
Joseph Igleski and Solaire Finkenstaevt-Quinn were walking in the park last month when they saw something odd.
“We were on the bridge over there and we noticed three? It was three or four dead geese that had floated down there,” they said.
Geese are commonly seen throughout the park, but not multiple dead geese all in one spot.
“I think we thought maybe they'd all eaten something that was bad and that’s what caused it," Finkenstaevt-Quinn said. "So a little concern, but more of like oh, it's probably an anomaly.”
But according to the DNR, it’s not an anomaly. Roughly 100 dead birds have been found in this area suspected to have died from highly pathogenic avian flu.
“More than fairly confident that this is what we're dealing with: high path avian influenza,” DNR Wildlife Pathologist Julie Melotti said. "Based on those test results, the clinical signs and then what we’re seeing, what we've seen in the past and what other states are seeing.”
Owner lets customer say goodbye to Chinese restaurant where he married late wife
A Chinese restaurant in Dearborn has served up a lot of memories over the years, and for one local couple, it was the backdrop for one of the most important days of their lives.
It's not your typical wedding venue, but for Lance Rosol and his late wife, Kayelea, their favorite Chinese food destination, Hong Kong Restaurant in Dearborn, was perfect for their big day back in 1991.
"We were having a little issue with trying to figure out where we could have both families get together, and we just decided, you know, this place fit our personalities. It fit us, so we're going to do it here," said Lance.
Lance says it's a unique memory he'll always share and hold onto.
"It was just a great day," he said.
The memory is even more special now after Lance lost his wife to cancer in 2021.
"So, that was very hard and it was during COVID, too ... but I was glad that I was able to be with her," he said.
And after about 40 years in the same spot in Westborn Mall on Michigan Avenue, the beloved restaurant has found a new home in Dearborn Heights.
"This restaurant's just been here for a long time, and it's a big part of my past, so when they closed, it was just bittersweet," said Lance.
But before the doors officially closed for good, the most recent owner, Xunan Mei, made sure Lance got to say goodbye.
"He's a regular customer and he comes in here so often, so we like have kind of become friends, so we talk about stories and he told me he got married in here like 30 years ago," said Xunan.
History lives on at Black Bottom with new exhibit at Detroit Historical Museum
At Lafayette Central Park, a historical market now sits, reminding people of where Black Bottom used to be. Although that neighborhood is now gone, its history lives on.
"This would have been just before they had to move to 12th street," said Marsha Philpot.
Philpot, better known as Marsha Music, says she has fond memories of her father's record shop
“It’s probably illegible because our jobs were to go over there to the record shop and write these labels on these shelves," Marsha said with a chuckle.
The small store sat the tip of Hastings Steet in what used to be known as Detroit's Black Bottom Neighborhood, from 1945 until the 1960s.
“Him owning this record shop and owning it in the place that he did, do you think that helped shape who you are today?” I asked Marsha.
Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington accused again of sexual harassment
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington was accused by a former employee of serial sexual harassment, claiming she was fired after reporting his unwanted touching, lewd comments, sexual propositions and sharing of a pornographic video.
The accuser, Regina Parks, spent six years working for the sheriff’s office, spending most of her time as a community outreach director. She says she was fired in November 2024.
“The actions, when you put them all together, are shocking for a high-level elected official who should be setting a standard for everybody that works under him," said attorney Deb Gordon, who represents Parks.
In the 21-page complaint, Parks says she was “subjected to sexual harassment on a routine basis, accusing Washington of touching or striking her buttocks, rubbing and touching her stomach and thighs over and under her clothing, and repeatedly making lewd and sexual comments about her appearance.
Reached Tuesday evening, a spokeswoman for Sheriff Washington did not immediately have a comment on the claims.
“In what is a typical legal stunt, this lawsuit was apparently filed at the end of business today," said spokeswoman Mara MacDonald. "We have not been served nor had the opportunity for a legal review. When the review is complete, there will be plenty to say.”
On the evening of February 21, 2023, according to the complaint, Washington called Parks on her cell phone.
“He said—I won’t use his exact language—but that he wanted to have sex with her,” Gordon told Channel 7’s Ross Jones. “And that was kind of scary to her, along with everything else.”
The next day, she says the sheriff called her again. This time, according to the complaint, Washington said he’d just sent staff home due to bad weather, but wanted her to come into the office.
After that, Parks says she reported Washington’s conduct to the sheriff’s chief of staff.
The following week, the lawsuit alleges, Washington called Parks into his office where he rubbed her thighs, hugged her and kissed her on the lips.
In her lawsuit, Parks says she secretly “recorded her conversation with Washington,” saying it implicated him in sexual misconduct.
Months later, in October 2023, Parks said she attended a film premiere with county officials that included Washington. In the movie theater, she says, Washington showed her video on his cell phone “of a woman performing oral sex on him.”
“She was very upset about it and she told him it was extremely inappropriate,” Gordon said. “At which point he said something along the lines of: ‘Well, you’ve got to share the love.’”
In November 2024, according to the complaint, Washington learned that Parks had secretly recorded him. That triggered a meeting with his chief of staff, according to Gordon, that led to her demise. Parks was fired from her role.
The lawsuit makes reference to a "female executive" who said Washington sexually harassed her too, saying Washington repeatedly referred to the woman as "'Baby' or 'Babe', asked her to stay in his hotel room several times, and requested that she wear certain articles of clothing that he found sexually attractive, among other behaviors."
The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Michigan’s Eastern District represents at least the fifth time a woman has accused Washington of harassment throughout his law enforcement career.
In 2016, a female sheriff’s employee filed suit against Washington, saying he repeatedly asked her for massages at work.
The county settled the case, and an unrelated claim against another sheriff’s employee, admitting no wrongdoing and paying $85,000. Washington denied the allegations.
In 2009, Washington was accused of persistently asking a female sheriff’s employee out on a date during an off-site party, even though he knew she was married.
The woman would later withdraw the complaint, saying it was no longer necessary, but standing by her allegations. She continued working for the sheriff.
The year before that, while working for the Detroit Police, a female colleague said Washington commented on her skirt, repeatedly told her she looked good and placed his hand on her leg, moving it up to her thigh.
She said Washington asked to see her panties and asked her to bend over. Washington denied everything, and an internal affairs investigation did not sustain the allegations made against him.
Washington denied all of the claims against him, insisting that they never happened.
The earliest documented complaint against Washington happened in December 2002 in a Southfield neighborhood just before midnight. Unlike the prior complaints, this one involved a former member of Washington’s family.
According to an internal affairs investigation, Southfield Police were called to a home on Avon Street at 11:16 PM after a neighbor called 911. He said he saw a man “acting suspiciously in the neighborhood.”
When police responded, they found Washington wearing a “Detroit Police Department jacket, black pants, black knit cap and black shoes.”
He told officers he was there on a jog but wasn’t wearing jogging clothes.
Southfield police “felt…Washington was lying,” according to the investigation, and called in a K-9 unit who tracked his scent to the back entrance a home where they also found a fresh footprint in the snow.
That home belonged to Washington’s ex-wife.
She would accuse him of “peeping in the windows,” according to the investigation, and told police she wanted to pursue criminal and departmental charges.
She said after the incident happened, Washington was “abusive, screaming at her and cursing.” But later on, after agreeing to give a statement to internal affairs, she never showed up for her interview.
Washington was charged internally with conduct unbecoming an officer and making a false statement. But when the case was referred for discipline, he was found not guilty. No reason was documented.
In 2022, when 7 News Detroit reported on Washington’s prior history of misconduct allegations, his campaign for sheriff dismissed the allegations as part of the political season, saying the campaign “does not respond to rumor and innuendo tossed about in a heated campaign season - particularly after they have been investigated by impartial parties as far back as nearly two decades ago, concluding there was never any cause for any actions to be taken.”
Bloomfield Township police warn about rash of road rage, including caught on video incident
A rash of road rage cases in Bloomfield Township are leading to a strong warning from police.
I’ve obtained new video of an extreme case leading to a felony charge, all unfolding in the daytime hours, putting the safety of many others at risk. It played out between the driver of a pickup and a BMW driver heading southbound on Telegraph near Maple Road.
After one cut off the other and some honking, the pickup rammed the car, all while a passenger was hanging out of the window of the truck, taunting him.
This continues for miles, with the pickup driver weaving in and out of traffic, swiping the car near 12 Mile Road, and the two then ramming one another.
Finally, the pickup throws it in reverse and rams the other driver again - part of a heated exchange that thankfully did not end with anyone getting hurt.
Heather Glowacz with Bloomfield Township Police says the concerning part is “How long it went on. The truck hit them multiple times. From the rear, pushed them then reversed them and hit them from the front of the car. All in the middle of the street while other traffic is going around them.”
