2024 in Michigan

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This article reviews 2023 in Michigan, including the state's office holders, performance of sports teams, a chronology of the state's top news and sports stories, and a list of notable Michigan-related deaths.

The top news stories in Michigan included: the 2024 Rochester Hills shooting; the trial and conviction of James and Jennifer Crumbley (parents of the shooter in the Oxford High School shooting); a May 7 EF2 tornado damaged 800 builings in Portage; the trial in the killing of Samantha Woll; Elissa Slotkin's victory over Mike Rogers by a narrow margin in the 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan; the release of Novi resident Paul Whelan after six years in Russian custody on espionage charges; and the renovation and grand reopening of Michigan Central Station.

Top sports stories included: the Detroit Lions NFC North championship; the Detroit Tigers' first winning season since 2016; Tarik Skubal's pitching triple crown and receipt of the AL Cy Young Award; the 2024 Ferris State Bulldogs football team winning the Division II national championship; Flint boxer Claressa Shields winning WBC, WBF, and WBO titles in a July 27 match in Detroit; and the holding of the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit.

Notable Michigan-related deaths in 2024 included Four Tops co-founder Duke Fakir; actor and Michigan native James Earl Jones; poet and civil rights activist John Sinclair; Detroit bishop Thomas Gumbleton; former Detroit Lions players Joe Schmidt, Greg Landry, and Jim Ninowski; former Detroit Tigers players Rocky Colavito, Charlie Maxwell, and Ozzie Virgil Jr.; former Detroit Red Wings player Marty Pavelich; and basketball player Earl Cureton.

Office holders

State government

Mayors of major cities

Mike Duggan

Federal office holders

Debbie Stabenow
Gary Peters

Sports

Baseball

American football

Basketball

Ice hockey

Auto racing

Other sports

Chronology

January

February

  • February 4 - The Detroit Institute of Arts opened its exhibit on black cinema.
  • February 6 - Following a trial, an Oakland County jury found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter, finding her criminaly responsible for her son's killings in the Oxford High School shooting.[14]
  • February 8 - Northville Downs, Michigan's last horse racing track, closed.
  • February 27 –

March

  • March 2 – Former president Donald Trump won all 39 delegates awarded at 13 separate Republican caucuses held in Grand Rapids.[16][17]
  • March 13 - U.S. District Judge David Lawson found the city of Flint in contempt of court for faiing to meet court-ordered mandates for replacing lead water lines.
  • March 14 - After trial, an Oakland County jury found James Crumbley, the father of the shooter in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. His wife was convicted in February. They were the first parents in American history to be held criminally responsiblle for a mass shooting carried out by their child.[18]
  • March 15 - The University of Michigan fired head basketball coach Juwan Howard.
  • March 16 - The Detroit Free Press reported on promises of non-prosecution of school officials in exchange for their testimony against the Crumbleys.
  • March 22 - Killing of Ruby Garcia - A 25-year old Michigan woman was killed by her boyfriend, an undocumented alien from Mexico. Presidential candidate Donald Trump pointed to the case as an example of "migrant crime" and claimed to have spoken to Ruby's family and learned about her contagious laughter and ability to light up a room. The family denied ever speaking to Trump.[19][20]
  • March 24 - Michigan hired Dusty May as its new basketball coach.

April

May

  • May 7 – Tornado outbreak of May 6–10, 2024: An EF2 tornado struck Portage, damaging 800 buildings including the collapse of a FedEx warehouse.[24]
  • May 12 - A Shelby Township doctor, Lawrence Sherman, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after being convicted of unlawfully prescribing more than 270,000 opioid pills with a street value of over $6.3 million.[25]
  • May 13 - The Detroit Lions signed quarterback Jared Goff to a new contract reported to pay approximately $53 million per year.
  • May 15 - The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Detroit's population grew from 631,366 in 2022 to 633,218 in 2023. It was the first time since 1957 that Detroit had an increase in population.[26]
  • May 27 – A 17-year-old Kylete Owens was killed, and six others were injured, two critically, in a late night (2:50 a.m.) incident as shots were fired indiscriminately by multiple shooters into a crowd of 50-100 young people between Rotary Park and the business district in Lansing. The victims ranged from 15 to 20 years old. Police attributed the incident to a feud between two groups.[27][28]
  • May 30 –
    • In the early morning hours, Wayne State University police, backed up by Detroit police, cleared and closed a tent encampment at Wayne State University, protesting against Israel's conduct in Gaza. Five demonstrators were arrested.[29][30] Rashida Tlaib visited the site and accused police of pulling the hijab off a student. Approximately 100 protesters gathered at the jail where the five were held, remaining until they were released in the late afternoon.[31] A similar tent encampment at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was shut down on May 21.[32]
    • The Michigan Department of Health reported a Michigan dairy worker had been diagnosed with H5N1 bird flu. It was the third human case of the disease in the United States.[33]

June

  • June 6-15 - Ford Motor Co. hosted a 10-day grand opening for Michigan Central Station in Detroit. Ford reopened the building after a six-year renovation.[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The ceremonies included a concert featuring Detroit stars Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean and Eminem.[43][44][45] The renovation also triggered a boom in the surrounding Corktown neighborhood.[46]
  • June 6 – A EF1 tornado touched down at 3:30 p.m. in Livonia, killing a two-year-old and putting his mother in the hospital. The tornado also collapsed a gas station canopy in Farmington Hills and left thousands without electricity.[47]
  • June 14 - Construction from the American and Canadian sides met in the middle as the two sides of the bridge deck were linked on the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Detroit.[48]
  • June 15 – 2024 Rochester Hills shooting: A gunman fired 36 shots from a semiautomatic handgun, reloading several times, at a splash pad in Rochester Hills. Nine people, including two young children, were injured. The shooter was an unemployed 42-year-old with a history of mental illness. He drove off after the shooting, then killed himself following a standoff with police at his mother's house.[49]
  • June 19 - Monty Williams fired as head coach of the Detroit Pistons after the team finished with the worst record in franchise history.
  • June 25 - Former Detroit Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk selected for Hockey Hall of Fame.

July

  • July 7 - Two people were killed (a 20-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man) and 19 others injured in a shooting in the early morning hours at a block party on Detroit's east side.[50] It was the worst shooting in Michigan since 2013.[51][52]
  • July 10 - President Biden awards $650 million for Michigan plants to help more electric vehicles.
  • July 18 - Following trial, a Wayne County jury acquitted Michael Jackson-Bolanso of murdeer in the Killing of Samantha Woll, a Detroit synagogue leader and policitcal activist who was stabbed to death in 2023. The jury deadlocked on charges of felony murder and home invasion and found him guilty of lying to police about his role in the death.[53]
  • July 20 - In his first rally after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump appeared with JD Vance at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids

August

  • August 1 - Michigander Paul Whelan was freed from Russian custody and began his journey home. Whelan was arrested in 2018 and charged with espionage. He had been a resident of Novi and was the head of global security for BorgWarner.[54]
  • August 6
  • Elissa Slotkin won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate with 712,791 votes (76.33%), defeating Hill Harper who received 221,053 votes (23.67%).[55]
  • Mike Rogers won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate with 555,766 votes (63.1%), defeating Justin Amash with 137,575 votes (15.64%) and Sherry O'Donnell with 106,466 votes (12.10%).[55]

September

  • September 26 - Former CFO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy William Smith, age 51, was arraigned on charges of wire fraud and money laundering for siphoning millions of dollar from the organization. The indictment was preceded by a June 24 court order freezing the Conservancy's assets.[56]
  • September 27 - With a victory over the Chicago White Sox, the Detroit Tigers clinched their first postseason appearance since 2014.

October

  • October 2 - The Detroit Tigers defeated the Houston Astros in the final game of the American League Wild Card Series.
  • October 12 - The Tigers lost Game 7 of the American League Divisional Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

November

  • November 5
  • November 13 - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he would not run for another term as mayor.
  • November 15 - William Smith, ex-CFO of Detroit Riverfront Conservancy pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and agreed to repay at least $44.3 million in restitution for his theft.
  • November 21 - Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 college football recruit in the country, flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan.
  • November 30 - Unranked Michigan upset No. 2 Ohio State, 13–10, in Columbus.[57]
  • November 30 - General Motors and Dan Gilbert said that they were considering demolition of the Renaissance Center if public funding was not made available to revamp the buildings.[58]

December

  • December 1 - Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigned.
  • December 26 - Derek Lalonde fired as the Detroit Red Wings coach.
  • December 31 - Michigan defeated Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Deaths

See also

References

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