Macomb County, Michigan

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said at a Detroit Regional Chamber event that he isn't opposed to data centers broadly, but objects to deals he sees as lopsided, where companies receive large tax incentives while offering communities comparatively little in return. Evans recently vetoed tax incentives and a community benefits agreement for a proposed Google data center in Van Buren Township, citing a rushed process; county commissioners later overrode his veto.

Oakland County's Dave Coulter and Macomb County's Mark Hackel, appearing alongside Evans, said developers have failed to clearly communicate community benefits and often require nondisclosure agreements that limit public input. Coulter also warned of a potential saturation point leaving communities with vacant facilities. Clinton Township recently enacted a temporary moratorium on new data centers.

Macomb County, Michigan voters will decide in November whether to approve a new five-year property tax to fund public transportation. The proposal would establish a 0.94-mill levy running from 2027 through 2031, costing the owner of a home with a $50,000 taxable value about $47 a year. It would replace the county's current 0.95-mill transportation tax, approved for 2022 through 2026, which is set to expire at the end of this year.

If approved, the millage is projected to raise roughly $39.2 million in its first year, supporting the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) along with local transit services run by participating cities, townships and villages, which would each receive 12.5% of funds collected within their borders. The money helps fund transportation access for older adults, people with disabilities and the general public. If voters reject the measure, the existing millage will lapse after 2026, putting continued funding for SMART and other local transit services in Macomb County at risk.

The Chaldean Community Foundation hosted its Fall Community Job Fair in Sterling Heights, Michigan, drawing nearly 50 companies and organizations, including AT&T, Utica Community Schools and the Detroit Zoo. The two-hour event, held twice yearly since 2022, connects job seekers directly with employers in a fast-paced, face-to-face format organizers compare to "speed dating."

Foundation career services manager Elias Kattoula said growing participation from both employers and job seekers signals a vibrant local job market, though no single industry has dominated interest this year. The fair is open to all area residents, not just immigrants or refugees, though the foundation continues offering acculturation and career support to bilingual and newly arrived job seekers as needed.

The event coincides with Macomb County's broader economic shift from traditional manufacturing toward more technical "new collar" jobs in engineering, software development and skilled fabrication. County data show a labor force of roughly 453,745 with a 5.18% unemployment rate, and about 60% of jobs now classified as white collar.

A 41-year-old Detroit man, Zarick Lamont Johnson, was arraigned Tuesday on charges including open murder after allegedly running over a man with his van at the County Line Flea Market in Warren, Michigan. Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said the attack followed a dispute over a power washer between Johnson and brothers Mirhad and Senad Cehic, both of Detroit.

Authorities say Johnson struck Mirhad Cehic, 59, twice with his 2004 Chevrolet Express van on Saturday, Sept. 26. Emergency responders treated Cehic at the scene before he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Johnson is also accused of physically assaulting Senad Cehic.

Johnson was arraigned before Macomb County District Judge Suzanne Faunce on charges of first-degree murder, assault and battery, and felony commission with a motor vehicle. First-degree murder carries a punishment of life without parole. Lucido called the incident "a terrible situation," noting that a dispute should never end with a life lost.

A Warren, Michigan man who taught at the Warren Consolidated School of Performing Arts in Sterling Heights since 2017 is facing more than a dozen felony charges across two counties. Mark Sharrow, 37, was first charged in Roscommon County with six felonies, including first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, after prosecutors say he sexually assaulted a teenager between April and September 2025 in Denton, near Houghton Lake. An arrest warrant was issued Aug. 12, and a subsequent search of his Warren home on Aug. 18 turned up sexually explicit videos of minors on his phone, along with methamphetamine and LSD.

That search led to additional charges in Macomb County, including five counts each of possessing child sexually abusive material and using a computer to commit a crime, plus drug possession counts. On Sept. 14 he was charged with three more counts of criminal sexual conduct. Sharrow, held on a $1 million bond, faces a possible life sentence on the top charge. The school district says he was placed on administrative leave and is cooperating with investigators. He is presumed innocent, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Macomb County, Michigan, is moving forward with a five-year, $6.79 million contract with Tyler Technologies to shift its emergency dispatch and records management systems to a cloud-based platform. The county's Records and Public Safety Committee voted 12-0 on Sept. 17 to send the agreement to the full Board of Commissioners for final approval. Tyler Technologies has been the county's vendor for computer-aided dispatch and records systems since 2015; the current contract expires Dec. 31.

Under the new deal, Tyler will host infrastructure, handle maintenance, updates, data storage and support, replacing the county's physical servers. Sterling Heights will retire its local servers and join the shared records system, while Warren Police and Fire Dispatch will join the county's dispatch platform. The Sheriff's Office will cover about $2.1 million of the cost, with other agencies reimbursing the remaining $4.7 million based on usage.

Some Michigan Republican officials and candidates are voicing concern about their party's prospects in the November election, citing surging gas and diesel prices linked to the war in Iran and signs of flagging GOP voter enthusiasm. Former state Rep. Pam Hornberger called the fight to keep the state House majority a "huge struggle" and said Republicans have little chance of flipping a key state Senate seat in suburban Detroit. A Marquette County GOP chairman described local volunteer enthusiasm as at "all time lows," and a former 5th District GOP chairman estimated a fifth of Trump's base may sit out the election or vote Democratic.

Republicans currently hold a narrow 58-52 state House majority, while Democrats control the state Senate 20-18. GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers has proposed suspending fuel taxes to ease costs. Other Republicans, including Rep. Mark Tisdel and former Rep. Rocky Raczkowski, offered more mixed assessments, acknowledging a difficult political environment tied to affordability concerns and the desire among voters for checks on unified Republican control in Washington.

Opposition to Flock automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras continues to spread as more governments restrict or drop the technology over privacy and misuse concerns. The Texas Department of Transportation has suspended approvals for new Flock cameras on state roadways, following an August order from Gov. Greg Abbott halting state agency funding for the devices. Texas joins Florida, which revoked permits for the cameras on state road rights-of-way after Gov. Ron DeSantis warned against creating a "digital AI surveillance state."

Locally, Half Moon Bay, California, will let its camera pilot expire rather than renew it, following El Cerrito's earlier removal in the East Bay; a San Jose officer's alleged misuse of the system to track a domestic violence victim was cited as a factor. Eastpointe, Michigan, ended its contract after separate employee misuse, and a Deer Park, Texas detective was recently suspended for hundreds of unauthorized searches. Coopertown, Tennessee, has now also terminated its Flock contract after public pushback, despite the police chief's defense of the cameras' limited tracking capability. Flock has issued new privacy guidelines to detect suspicious activity, while President Trump has voiced support for the cameras even as GOP officials remain divided and some police say losing access has slowed investigations.