Thought Portal

At least one in five people who have had COVID-19 will develop what is known as “long COVID,” characterized by signs, symptoms, and conditions that continue or well after a COVID-19 infection. According to officials, Detroit has the second highest rate of long COVID in the nation, with over 25% of adults who had COVID-19 reporting long-term symptoms.

In response, a new no-cost mobile health unit is working to provide metro Detroiters with screening for the condition, intending to gather research on long COVID’s effects and bridge the gap to healthcare access in marginalized communities.

On Friday, March 15, declared Long COVID Awareness Day, Michigan Speaker of the House Joe Tate, Michigan Rep. Tyrone Carter, health experts, and community members gathered for an event highlighting the first-of-its-kind CT chest screening program.

The unit was created about a year ago through a partnership between Moderna, Team Wellness Center, People.Health, and other local community organizations.

“Some of our locations service some of the most vulnerable communities in the whole state,” Dani Hourani, Director of Team Wellness Center, said. “It’s very important for us that we are able to bring them resources that they otherwise would not have.”

So far, the screenings have not only helped the impact of long COVID but also been able to detect non-COVID-related illnesses including cancer. Plus, the team has connected patients with further care and testing when needed.

“Whether you’re in Detroit or rural areas, bringing healthcare access directly to the community and partnering with organizations that have that trust with community members is critical,” Tate said at the Friday event. “We still have more work to do to make sure that we lessen the impact of COVID on this community.”

Anyone over 18 who has had COVID-19 and is still experiencing difficulty breathing or other symptoms is encouraged to get scanned. People can fill out a form at People.Health to schedule an appointment.

An updated vaccine formulated to protect against new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 will be available starting next week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) said Thursday.

The news comes as COVID cases have ticked upwards in the U.S. in recent weeks, and days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the new vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. MDHHS recommends the vaccination for everyone 6 months and older, regardless if they were previously vaccinated.

A local chef who has cultivated a big following on social media is getting ready to release his debut cookbook.

Jon Kung’s Kung Food: Chinese American Recipes from a Third Culture Kitchen is set to be released on Halloween.

According to a press release, “third culture” refers to Kung’s upbringing across three countries. The 39-year-old was born in Los Angeles, raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, and now lives in Detroit.

“Pulling from Jon’s Chinese background, American and Canadian upbringing, as well as the foods he cooks and enjoys working as a chef in Detroit, Kung Food features over 100 recipes that are not limited by physical borders or rules of authenticity but are resourceful, inventive and re-examine what Chinese American food is today,” the press release says.

A graduate of Eastern Michigan University and University of Detroit Mercy, Kung had experience working in Detroit restaurants like Standby and the former Gold Cash Gold. While his plans to cook Chinese American food in an Eastern Market pop-up called Kung Food Market Studio were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he kept momentum going by publishing videos on his @jonkung TikTok account, including a recipe using Faygo orange soda to make a Detroit take on orange chicken. Faygo Orange Chicken is one of the recipes featured in the book.

An anime fan, Kung partnered with Funimation in 2021 for a ramen recipe series based on characters from the hit series Naruto.

Kung has since earned more than 1.7 million followers on TikTok, and also has a strong presence on Twitter (65,400 followers), where he describes himself as a “Farmer Jack era Detroiter.” He also co-hosts a podcast with his friend, the drag queen Kim Chi, called 1 For The Table.

On. Dec. 1, the Supreme Court heard opening arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Reproductive Health, a Mississippi case that challenges Roe v. Wade. With its conservative majority, the Supreme Court’s decision could lead to abortion being banned or heavily regulated in much of the country. In Michigan, a reversal of Roe v. Wade would automatically reinstate a 1931 law that criminalizes abortion as manslaughter — one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country.

But the website shareabortionpill.info offers an interesting work-around. On Dec. 15, the Food and Drug Administration lifted restrictions on abortion pill access, allowing them to be received by mail — part of a general trend toward telehealth amid the pandemic. For $150, anyone can order abortion pills from shareabortionpill.info to be mailed directly to them, with financial aid available from organizations like the National Network of Abortion Funds. The pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, are safe and effective, and are the same as the ones abortion clinics offer for medically induced abortions, typically offered up to 11 weeks of a pregancy. (After 11 weeks, clinics typically require a surgical abortion, though people have used the pills beyond that date. If abortion becomes illegal in Michigan, people would have to go to another state where it’s legal, or another country like Canada.)

The drinking water in 39 communities in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties have 10 or more contaminants that exceed EWG standards. Hazel Park, Dearborn Heights, St. Clair Shores, Roseville, Waterford Township, Melvindale, and Woodhaven have the most, with 13 contaminants above EWG limits.

In many metro Detroit communities, there are three contaminants that exceed EWG’s limits by more than 100 times. They are byproducts of the disinfection process.

Metro Detroit communities also have drinking water that has high levels of trihalomethanes, which are a chemical byproduct of chlorine that is added to the water to disinfect it. Sterling Heights, Hazel Park, Allen Park, and Woodhaven each have more than 200 times the amount of trihalomethanes that EWG deems safe.

Clean water advocates have been calling for federal funding to help cash-strapped utilities undergo infrastructure changes that would be needed to comply with higher standards. But EWG scientists say the EPA is more worried about adding to the financial burden on utilities than ensuring tap water is safe.

“The utilities are the ones who have to take those costs and additional treatments into consideration,” Evans says. “The burden tends to fall on the community and the utility. It’s a tangled web that creates an ineffective regulatory process.”

Scientists recommend filters for tap water, but even that is not enough to prevent many of the contaminants from causing health problems, they say. What’s needed are standards that don’t require filters and additional costs to the consumers.

“We don’t want safe drinking water to be a privilege,” Evans says. “We are pushing for broader changes.”

          Craig used the opportunity to level wild, baseless conspiracy theories in the style of Donald Trump, including saying that the Department of Natural Resources, which runs the state park, purposefully chose not to protect him, and said that he believed that the protesters were paid to be there.  

          “The DNR knew about the potential for protests yesterday, I’m told. ... They indicated they were going to come and move the protesters back," Craig told The Detroit News. “That never happened. So it makes me wonder if it was by design.”  

          After his speech, a journalist with WDET reportedly pressed him on how he knew the protesters were paid and who paid them.  

          “I don’t know, but I gotta believe,” Craig replied. When the reporter pressed him further, he replied, “I feel good about it, I feel like they were paid. I don’t have any hard evidence but—”  

          “Is that how you operate as an officer then?” the reporter asked. “You don't have any hard evidence but…”  

          Yikes!  

The protesters and reporters were simply exercising their First Amendment rights during a nationwide protest movement. DPD could have rerouted traffic around the protesters. Instead, they threw them in jail on bond — during the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Michigan's prisons particularly hard. Several class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of Michigan prisoners, alleging that unsafe conditions in correctional facilities amid the pandemic is a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishments.                                        

A similar scene between cops and protesters played out on Sunday night, when Deputy Chief Todd Bettison kneeled with protesters while trying to negotiate with them.                                        

Within minutes, DPD fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bang grenades on the crowd after they said someone threw something at them, arresting dozens.                                        

Like the people who participated in the "blackout" social media campaign, Craig and Bettison appear to have good intentions. Craig attempted to get ahead of the brewing unrest by becoming the first major-city police chief to call for Chauvin's arrest and calling Floyd's killing "a murder."

Back in 1941, Rosa Gragg, the president of the Detroit Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, as well as other members of the association, collected their funds to purchase the house located at 326 E. Ferry Street to serve as the group’s headquarters. The home was located on the corner of Ferry and Brush streets, and the group came to learn that the property’s deed included a restriction that blocked Black people from owning it. However, rather than giving up, the group simply moved the home’s front door to the side of the house located on Brush Street, where no such stipulation existed. The quick thinking allowed the association to continue to thrive in the space, where it still conducts business to this day.

...In 2017, police in Michigan seized more than $13 million in property from drug dealers under the state's civil forfeiture laws, according to the state's latest report.

... It's unclear what impact the ruling will have on Detroit Mayor Duggan's initiative to seize the homes of drug dealers and negligent owners. The Detroit Police Department, which has long been criticized for relying on forfeitures for revenue, didn't respond to Metro Times request for comment.