2019 has been a marathon of a news year. And it wasnt justimpeachment.

This past year, 101.9 WDET reported at a marijuana industry conventionin Detroit, on the migrant crisis at the Southern border of the U.S.,anddown the street from our Midtown studios on a racial discrimination lawsuit against Founders Brewingtaproom.

Our online audience may digest our news in different waysstreaming and reading stories at wdet.org, on NPR One, over a Google Home or Amazon Alexa or through our podcasts like MishMash and Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson, but there were some clear stories and local news events that stood out no matter themedium.

Heres our top stories, news and issues of2019.

TOP ISSUE OF2019

Eli Newman

Sandbags are stacked to precent flooding in Jefferson Chalmers, a neighborhood of Detroit that suffers from flooding due toitscanals.

In 2019, WDETs listeners and readerszeroed in on the dramatic effects of a warming planet.

This summer, WDETs Pat Batcheller reported on Great Lakes water levels reaching historic highs, after fluctuating for years, threatening homeowners alongLakeErie and Lake St. Claire with flooding and propertydamage.

Ellen Rutt

Cass Tech students painted signs with the help of artist Ellen Rutt for the Global Youth Climate Strikein2019.

Elsewhere, WDETs Eli Newman saw what flooding looks like in Jefferson-Chalmers, where residents saw water flowing into basements and homes. Residents said city officials were not doing enough to address theproblem.

My issue is blame, says Caroline Hardy-Grannum, a longtime resident of the area whose basement has about two feet of water in it. We all recognize what the canals are going to do. It has been predicted. But not what the drains are goingtodo.

For people around the world, standing up against climate change became a political moment. But others,Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson found,suffered fromecological grief brought on by wildlife loss and environmental change.

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TOP STORY OF2019

I dont want the church to go away. Its broken everybodysheart.

Mike Grobbel

WDETs Quinn Klinefelter reported on how Center Lines St. Clement Church couldface closure due to budget concerns. He attended mass one Sunday to hear what parishionersthought.

Its a beautiful church, everybodys friendly, Kelly Kannan said, her voice stained with tears. Beautiful church, I dont want the church to go away. Stay here. [The thought of it closing,]its brokeneverybodysheart.

It was one of our most-listened to and read stories of 2019, sparking discussions around architecture, faith, community and the preservation of historicspaces.

Read thestory

TOP LOCAL NEWS EVENTS OF2019

From automotive mergers to legal marijuana and budget stalemate in Lansing, WDETs airwaves wasnt short on local news to bring to our listeners. Here are the top news events and trends of 2019, as determined by our audience through page clicks, listens andshares.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has had a memorable first-term, with her signature .45-cent gas tax increase to fund road improvementsgetting caught up in budget haggling, the threat of a state shutdown, and eventually leading to her issuing nearly a billion dollars inline-item vetoes in aRepublican-passedstatebudget.

She also exercisedexecutive authority through a banof flavored-vaping productanda controversy at Wayne State University (Editors Note: WSU owns WDETslicense).

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Shiraz Ahmed / WDET

Empty shelves at a prospective medical marijuana facility in CenterLine,Mich.

Legalization of recreational marijuana may have passed at the ballot box last year, but it quickly became apparent that customers would have to wait for the industry to get setup.

Municipalities got to vote on what recreational marijuana would like in their backyard, and many turned down the offer.

But the first establishments did open up in Ann Arbor, and even medical marijuana is continuing to grow in thestate.

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Despite an anti-gerrymandering ballot measure that creates a redistricting commission to draw political mapspassing last year, the practice continues to threaten representation inMichigan.

First, a US Supreme Court decision passed down said thatfederal courts cannot intervene in partisan gerrymandering cases. The decision involved cases out of Maryland and North Carolina, but it had a major impact on a case that was waiting appealinMichigan.

Meanwhile, the redistricting commission began taking applications to serve on the board, but funding for the commission was threatened during state budgetnegotiations.

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The announcement of Fiat Chryslers merger with French automaker Peugeot turned heads around the world, but particularly here in metroDetroit.

One expert thinks the merger is representative of the future of the autoindustry.

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Jake Neher/WDET

The historic UAW strike against General Motors was one of our top news events of the year. It drew attention nationwide, and caught the glance of various Presidentialcandidates.

WDETs Laura Herberg wantedto show the human side of what a labor action looks like. She reported on what strikers do in their spare timeand spoke to workers striking outside GMs Warren Transmission Operationsfacility.

The strike ended up lasting a month and costing the state $18.5 million in lost income tax andwages.

Editors note:WDETreporters are members of the Professional and Administrative Union, Local 1979,UAW

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Of course, no listing of news events in 2019 wouldbe complete without the impeachment of President Donald Trump, only the third president to be impeached in U.S.history.

The Presidents first stop after being impeached was Battle Creek,Mich.for a plannedrally. The vote draws attention to Michigans Democratic Congressional delegation, specifically Reps. Elissa Slotkin and Haley Stevens, two red-to-blue 2018 swingdistricts.

But this story will continue in 2020, as the Senate tries Trump on the two articles ofimpeachment.

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WDET's Top Story, News and Issue of 2019 - WDET