Rise and shine, it's Wednesday.

🎧 Sounds like: "Pictures of You," by The Cure

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 76 and a low of 52.

🚕 Situational awareness: Waymo began fully driverless operations in Detroit yesterday, removing human safety specialists for a final testing phase. Waymo still hasn't announced when Detroiters can hail a ride.

Today’s newsletter is 1,005 words — a 4-minute read.

Michigan's nationally watched U.S. Senate race pits rising progressive Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman making his second straight Senate run.

Why it matters: Michigan is one of a handful of battlegrounds that could determine control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.

Meet the candidates:

• El-Sayed, a former Detroit and Wayne County health director, narrowly defeated establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens after a bruising Democratic primary that drew more than $60 million in outside spending. He holds a medical degree but has never held a medical license in Michigan or New York, per Politico.
• Rogers, a former seven-term congressman and FBI agent, narrowly lost Michigan's 2024 Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. He previously chaired the House Intelligence Committee.

The fine print: Four other candidates also made the ballot: Libertarian Lydia Christensen, U.S. Taxpayers candidate Tim Long, Green Party candidate Douglas P. Marsh and Natural Law candidate Walter P. Kristy.

What's next: Election Day is Nov. 3. Absentee voting is underway and early voting begins by Oct. 24.

Our 1-min guide to the governor's race … Register to vote

Welcome back to our regular roundup of city policy news.

🚓 Summer crime down: Cities generally see more crime in the summer months, but Detroit managed to notably lower its rates this summer, officials touted Monday.

• Homicides of juvenile victims dropped 89% from nine last summer to one this summer, while nonfatal juvenile shootings fell 22%, overall homicides fell 25% and auto theft fell 17%.

Zoom in: Mayor Mary Sheffield and Police Chief Todd Bettison attributed the drop to their new community intervention strategy.

• Part of that plan was Occupy the Summer, which kept young people busy with basketball leagues, nighttime rec center hours, other things to do and resources if they needed help.
• Officials said the city's focus on engaging youth kept "teen takeovers" at bay.

🏗️ Filling in vacancy: Detroit is putting out a request looking for a developer to build new housing on empty land in North Corktown — which it says is ripe for development because it's near Ford's Michigan Central campus and has been chosen for federal Choice Neighborhoods assistance.

• It's the latest update in the city's new-build home saga: Sheffield wants to build 1,000 homes in the next four years, helping fill in the city's large swaths of vacant land. But new homebuilding is really expensive here in Detroit, so not many people do it (yet).
• The city is offering 1.5 acres of public land for a developer to build at least 20 for-sale housing units or homes on 16th Street by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The request leaves the type (condo, townhome, single-family home) up to the developer.

🚰 Detroiters struggling to pay water bills can apply for help as a new assistance window opens. (Outlier)

☕ Detroit native and former "The Voice" producer Lamont Leak co-owns Rent Free Haus, a new coffee shop and listening bar in Eastern Market. (BridgeDetroit)

✍️ Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch, under fire for the team's playoff drought and other organizational decisions, took to LinkedIn on Monday to address "fan frustrations" while committing to build a champion. (MLive)

📗 Axios reporter and Free Press alum Nathan Bomey has a new book coming out April 27: "Big Labor's Big Shift: Why Unions Left Democrats." (Preorder)

• Bomey previously wrote "Detroit Resurrected" about the city's bankruptcy and produced a related documentary called "Gradually, Then Suddenly."

A new business-funded nonprofit that aims to grow Detroit's population is giving money to people who pledge to move to or stay in the city.

The latest: Move Detroit announced the first 13 winners of its Make Detroit Home grants yesterday. They'll get $15,000 each.

• It's the first stage of the program — supported by billionaire Dan Gilbert — that's marketing Detroit as a live-work destination.

By the numbers: Around 6,500 people applied for the grants.

• 300 more will be awarded $1,000 each for business creation, down payments, home renovations or relocation costs.

What they're saying: "This program is data-backed and focuses resources on our city's greatest asset, our people," CEO Hilary Doe said at a press conference.

Zoom in: The recipients include local entrepreneurs and former residents returning from places like Chicago, South Carolina and St. Louis.

• One is Justin Wilson, a Detroit native returning from living in Los Angeles after attending Duke University. He's coming back with a job on the Detroit Pistons' corporate partnership team.
• Wilson's $15,000 is helping him move across the country and buy a home in Detroit.
• He said living away taught him that "what Detroit offers cannot be replicated."

If you envision tiptoeing through tulips or dancing among daffodils next spring, now is the time to get those bulbs in the ground.

Why it matters: Spring-flowering bulbs need cool soil but also enough time to establish roots before the ground freezes. Planting too early or too late can hurt their chances for a strong bloom.

Zoom in: The timing largely follows climate, according to Axios' analysis of Cooperative Extension, a nationwide network of state university-based programs that provides research-backed local advice.

• In colder states, particularly in the North, gardeners are racing against the ground freeze and generally should plant by early October.

The bottom line: It's peak bulb-planting season in these parts.

Our picks:

📬 Joe signed up for the state's permanent absentee ballot list so he'll get mailed one automatically for every election.

🍻 Annalise was happy to hang with some Axios Detroit readers last night at McShane's.

Edited by Larry Graham.