This week on One Detroit: 

Local couple helps revitalize Southwest Detroit area where they grew up

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation estimates there are 900,000 small businesses in Michigan. AGI Construction in Southwest Detroit, founded and owned by business and life partners Luis Ali and Tanya Saldivar-Ali, is one of them. Since the company was created in 2008, they have been taking part in the revitalization of Southwest Detroit where they grew up, working on churches, schools and other small businesses in the area.

Together, they have renovated the cafeteria in the basement of Cristo Rey High School and a historic church that closed and is now home to First Latin American Baptist Church, a historic congregation itself. More recently, AGI opened its Design Build Green Hub in the Hubbard Richard neighborhood, a program that trains Southwest Detroiters in the building trades and contracting business.

Elsewhere in Southwest Detroit, along West Vernor Highway, there’s a new mixed-use development going up that will pass through the heart of these communities. It’s not an AGI project, but Saldivar-Ali said it’s an important milestone.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, One Detroit’s Bill Kubota visits Southwest Detroit, which is known for its history and culture. He talks with Luis Ali and Tanya Saldivar-Ali about the area’s history and how new developments are revitalizing life and business in the area. 

Detroit Opera Artistic Director Yuval Sharon continues to push opera’s boundaries with 2024-2025 season

Yuval Sharon and the Detroit Opera are shaking up the opera scene in Detroit. The Opera’s 2024-2025 season offers a diverse lineup from traditional opera to a work that follows the wrongful conviction of five teenagers.

The season begins Oct. 19 with Verdi’s “La Traviata,” a love story updated with a 20th-century setting. George Frideric Handel’s “Rinaldo,” directed by Louisa Proske, will be front and center in late February and early March. “Rinaldo” will feature Detroit Opera’s conductor Roberto Kalb as he leads the orchestra in this production.

Sharon is back in the mix as director during the production of Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” next April. It’s a new production where artificial intelligence takes the story into the future. In May, composer Anthony Davis returns to Detroit with “The Central Park Five” to wrap up the season. It tells the true story of five African American and Latino teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of assaulting a white female jogger in Central Park.

One Detroit contributor Cecelia Sharpe of 90.9 WRCJ talks with Sharon about the 2024-2025 Detroit Opera season. Watch the full, extended interview here. 

OPINION | Political Contributors discuss 2024 Vice Presidential Debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz

OPINION | The two vice presidential candidates faced off this week during their only scheduled debate before the election. Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, met onstage with just over a month to go in the 2024 presidential race. Both are trying to win over voters in swing states, including Michigan, ahead of a tight presidential election.

One Detroit contributors Stephen Henderson, host of “American Black Journal,” Nolan Finley from The Detroit News, and Zoe Clark, Political Director of Michigan Public, discuss the debate and share their thoughts.

Things to do in Detroit this weekend: October 4, 2024  

The first weekend of October brings a variety of arts and cultural programming to the region, including Soirée on the Greenway in Detroit, the Big Country Fest in Frankenmuth, and the Smooth Jazz Fall Fest at the Fox Theatre. The musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations” also returns to Detroit Plus, enjoy the fall season with Octobernight in Monroe County and Harvest Happening in Waterford. See what else is coming up in and around Detroit this weekend on “One Detroit Weekend.”