In the news: What others are reporting

Data center developers hit pause on $1 billion Howell Township proposal 

Howell Township official expects developers to resubmit application for the $1 billion project when six-month data center moratorium ends.

The developers of a $1 billion data center in Howell Township withdrew a rezoning request for the project following months of pushback from residents concerned about the facility’s water use and impact on energy costs, among other issues.

The applicants are withdrawing the conditional rezoning application “after listening carefully to the community and giving this decision a great deal of thought,” according to a statement on the project’s Facebook page posted late Sunday. 

“We believe the right thing to do now is to honor the current moratorium, which will give the township and its residents the time needed to develop thoughtful, well-considered regulations for any future data centers,” the Facebook post said. 

The Howell Township board passed a six-month moratorium on data center developments Nov. 20. With the moratorium in place, the township could have voted on rezoning land, township attorney Christopher Patterson told Planet Detroit Monday — but the site plan for the data center couldn’t have moved forward unless the applicant requested a waiver.

The developers may return when the moratorium ends, Township Treasurer and Zoning Administrator Jonathan Hohenstein told Planet Detroit.

“‎The communication from the applicant makes it sound like once the regulations are complete, they will resubmit their application; time will tell,” Hohenstein said in a Monday email.

The Howell Township project, from developers Stantec Consulting Michigan Inc. and Randee LLC, was planned for a 1,077-acre site of largely agricultural land north of I-96, roughly 54 miles from Detroit

Read the full story by Brian Allnutt from Planet Detroit here.

These 2 Michigan shops among 50 best clothing stores in America, New York Times finds

Two Michigan spots are among the 50 best clothing stores in the country, according a search and evaluation by The New York Times. They include Coup D’état, 9301 Kercheval Ave., in Detroit and AP Shop, 14931 Lakeside Road, in Lakeside in Southwest Michigan’s Berrien County. Reporters and editors spent months evaluating over 120 clothing stores nationally based on criteria, such as inventory, customer service, ambience and location. Reporters and photographers visited all 50 stores on the list. The New York Times describes the Detroit store as “ahead of the curve.” Read the full MLive story here and the NYT story here. 

Detroit school district will send letter in support of four students detained by ICE

As four students seeking asylum in the United States remained in federal immigration custody Tuesday night (Dec. 9), dozens of community members asked Detroit school officials to do more to protect newcomers. All four of the students went to Western International High School in Southwest Detroit.

Before public comment began at the Detroit Public Schools Community District board meeting, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said the district and the board would release a statement calling for the students’ release. Vitti said the district will continue to work with advocacy groups to support the students and will distribute information to students about their rights. He said immigration officials have not attempted to enter district property.

Many at the meeting said the letter wasn’t enough. They want the district to take a harder stance against immigration enforcement. There have been at least five DPSCD students detained by ICE in the months since federal immigration enforcement ramped up in the second Trump administration.

All four students had pending court dates in asylum cases, said Christine Sauvé, manager of policy and communication at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

Mor Ba, a 19-year-old who came to the U.S. without any family from Senegal in April, graduated from Western International last month. The night before his detention, Ba filled out college applications and he planned to study mechanical engineering.

Ba is being held at the Northlake Correctional Facility in Baldwin about three and half hours north of Detroit, ICE records show. He had a pending asylum case with a court date scheduled for early next year, Ndoye said.

On Sunday, Santiago Jesus Zamora Perez, a 17-year-old in 11th grade from Venezuela, was taken into ICE custody, according to Kristen Schoettle, one of his Western International teachers.

The teen and his mother were reportedly pulled over by police in Fraser for driving under the speed limit, Sauvé said.

Zamora Perez is a star baseball player with good grades and aspirations of playing in college, according to his teachers. 

Read the full story by Hannah Dellinger of Chalkbeat here.