A LETTER FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE
THU · NOV 5 · 2026
Michigan went blue top to bottom, Jack Campbell says his legs are back, and we finally got an explanation out of the Ham Palace.
AROUND
It was a sweep, top to bottom. Jocelyn Benson beat John James for governor by about 11 points, Abdul El-Sayed won the Senate race and becomes the first Muslim American ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and Democrats retook the state Legislature. Benson is already out with her first pledge: no middle-class tax increases.
Detroit's ballot questions all passed. The zoo millage renewed easily, the museum millage passed for the first time ever and sets up free admission at the Wright Museum and the Detroit Historical Museum, and Proposal 2, the campaign finance limits, passed Tuesday and was in court by Wednesday. The people love that zoo, loudly.
Hamtramck finally has a mayor, a year after the election: Wayne County certified Muhith Mahmood's 12-vote win this week and he gets sworn in Sunday, and ClickOnDetroit has the whole saga, all 37 disputed ballots of it. In Highland Park, community builder Shamayim "Mama Shu" Harris beat the incumbent by 27 votes, with a recount on the way.
Jack Campbell released a statement Wednesday: full movement in his lower body, progress in his upper body, and real optimism. There is still no diagnosis and no timeline, and the whole city is reading every word. We put together exactly what the statement says and does not say, including why the legs coming back first is the pattern the specialists watch. The top of the thread is people admitting they cried with relief.
Calvin Johnson says the Lions always had the talent but you can't win a Super Bowl on a budget, and that Stafford winning one right after leaving proved his point. The people have been passing the quote around all week. If you want the full run of how this franchise treated its best player, his story is the one to read.
A commuter who is not from Detroit went to r/Detroit this week demanding an explanation of the Ham Palace, the glazed-ham spot on Davison with a full parking lot at 7 in the morning, and the people delivered: it is shift change at the plants, it has been there forever, and it is exactly what it looks like. We wrote the whole thing up: the hours, the ham, and what is left of Detroit's old ham-house tradition.
UP
The Pistons fell to 6-2 with Wednesday's 112-106 loss to Philadelphia at Little Caesars Arena. They host the Lakers Sunday.
The Campus Martius Christmas tree arrived Wednesday, and holiday season is officially on.
ET the Hip Hop Preacher, who spent years homeless in this city as a kid, told Mel Robbins a 52-day challenge took him from 242 pounds to 219. "The day you see 242 is the day 219 comes alive." We wrote up how the challenge actually works, and the full conversation lives at ListenerReader.
The tributes keep coming for Juan Atkins: WDET aired a full-hour tribute this week, and Apple Music's tribute streams November 12. The people are still sharing how he changed music.
ON
THU 5 The Red Wings host the Golden Knights at 7 at Little Caesars Arena tonight.
FRI 6 It cools off into the weekend with no snow in sight; the first measurable snow usually lands between November 16 and 21 (Detroit News).
SAT 7 Michigan State plays Michigan at Michigan Stadium at 7:30, streaming on Peacock (click here for the schedule).
SUN 8 The Lions are in Miami at 1 on CBS (click here for the schedule), and the Pistons host the Lakers at 6.
WENT ON
On this day in 1945, six weeks into the job, Henry Ford II sold Fordlandia, his grandfather's failed utopian rubber town in the Amazon, back to Brazil for about $250,000. The company had put roughly $20 million into it. The Motor City has been swinging big ever since.
See you Monday.
DETROIT.CO
Everything here links to where we found it: local reporting, city records and what neighbors are posting. Corrections welcome.