🌞 Ahh, the start of another week. Good morning!

⛅ Today's weather: Patchy fog then mostly sunny with a high of 67 and a low of 46.

Today’s newsletter is 1,033 words — a 4-minute read.

Detroit wants developers to submit ideas for new construction along the historic but somewhat vacant Oakland Avenue corridor.

Why it matters: The city's request for proposals is the latest step in years of planning to revive the historically important corridor.

State of play: The Housing and Revitalization Department wants to choose a developer for four vacant, publicly owned lots along Oakland, between Bethune and Custer streets — not too far from East Grand Boulevard.

• The new construction should help make Oakland more walkable and vibrant. If there's housing, it should include affordable units.
• Once the developer closes on the property, which has an asking price of $65,000, they need to start construction within 180 days.

Zoom out: The city has positioned Oakland Avenue in the North End as a destination for business and cultural revitalization for years.

• In its neighborhood-based planning efforts, the city has taken feedback from residents who want to see it thrive again while celebrating its history.

Flashback: Oakland Avenue was lined with popular music venues, bars and shops that drew Black patrons and performers around the 1940s-80s.

• Nightclubs there like Phelps Lounge hosted national acts such as James Brown, The Temptations and Gladys Knight & The Pips.
• They were a "hub for Black musical innovation" and "the heart of Detroit's blues and jazz scene," the city wrote.

Context: Oakland is now lined with empty buildings and vacant land. But it also hosts open businesses, apartments, churches, homes and public art.

• The North End is home to generations displaced from Black Bottom after it was destroyed in the name of urban renewal.
• In recent years, the neighborhood has seen significant new construction, along with urban farms and investment from community-led nonprofits.

What they're saying: "The North End is at the dawn of a new, important era," Jerry Ann Hebron of Oakland Avenue Urban Farm told the Michigan Chronicle.

Tens of thousands of Michigan families are applying early for Trump Accounts, a new federal investment program for babies.

Why it matters: The program, which offers $1,000 to eligible babies, is meant to give American children a financial head start.

Driving the news: The program went live in July, but the Treasury Department earlier this month announced it had automatically established accounts for eligible children nationwide.

• Parents must still claim the accounts to manage them, allow contributions and receive the $1,000 federal payment.

By the numbers: Michigan had 170,000 forms processed as of July 30, about 9% of eligible children in the state.

• That's more than the national rate of 7.6%.

How it works: U.S.-citizen children born between 2025 and 2028 qualify for the one-time government contribution, which is invested in the stock market.

• Families and employers can add more money, but first parents have to verify their identities and relationship to their children.

The fine print: Robinhood, the online investing platform, is the federal program's trustee and brokerage provider.

• Robinhood's privacy policy says it collects information including Social Security numbers, dates of birth and government IDs, and can extract facial biometric data from submitted images to "detect/prevent fraud."
• The company says it doesn't sell Trump Accounts information or use it for advertising, but certain information can be shared with Treasury and service providers.
• The accounts are subject to federal financial privacy protections.

Context: Many Michigan cities also offer cash assistance for pregnant mothers and infants through nonprofit program Rx Kids. Rx Kids is meant more for early-life stability than long-term use.

✅ Detroit City Council Member Renata Miller's controversial inquiry into the licensing status of bars and restaurants along Kercheval Avenue ended after the city informed her that the businesses are in compliance. (BridgeDetroit)

🐘 President Trump rallied for Republican gubernatorial candidate John James and U.S. Senate hopeful Mike Rogers yesterday in Port Huron, also joined by rapper Nicki Minaj.

• He defended the war against Iran, saying gas prices are a "small price to pay for taking a nuclear weapon away from maniacs." (Detroit News)

🫏 Former President Barack Obama joined U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson and others in a rally for Democrats at Cass Tech in Detroit on Saturday.

• He said this election is "our last, best chance" to reign in the Trump administration, calling the president corrupt and incompetent. (Free Press)

🗳️ Detroit set a record for first-day early voting on Saturday, with 2,305 Detroiters casting a ballot. (Fox 2)

🏈 The Lions defeated the Packers 20-17 yesterday evening in their season's first NFC North matchup. (Free Press)

If Google Trends matches reality, prepare to be faced with hordes of girls in blue dresses, bugs and clones of the King of Pop this Saturday.

Zoom in: Frightgeist shares the most-searched Halloween costumes on Google by region every year.

Southeast Michigan's top Halloween get-ups for 2026 are:

1. Alice in Wonderland
2. Ladybug
3. Firefighter
4. Michael Jackson
5. Nightwing (from DC Universe)

Context: We're not quite sure why Alice in Wonderland is making such a splash. However, this year's "Michael" biopic release — which highlighted Motown Records — makes a good case for Michael Jackson being near the top of the list.

Zoom out: The national trending list is topped by Buddy the Unicorn and followed by the viral fidget toy NeeDoh, Nikki from "Obsession," Agamemnon from "The Odyssey" and Lily Lovebraids from "Poppy Playtime."

Artwork on display at the Mug café in Detroit's Piety Hill neighborhood features family subjects and brightly colored paper cranes.

Context: The Detroit-based artist Yvette Rock was born in Suriname and has a master's in painting from U of M, according to a bio displayed near the paintings.

• Rock's work explores "place as something living and continually changing" — one that also holds onto memories and histories, according to her website.
• She emphasizes layering in her work, like with the cranes, and works in multiple mediums: painting, photography and objects.

Our picks:

🗓️ Joe is out of the office.

🥲 Annalise went thrifting, but was unsuccessful. Next time she'll score that perfect sweater vest.

Edited by Larry Graham.