Thursday, January 22nd, 2026
Good morning! Welcome to The Mitten, where we provide you a 5-minute rundown of all things Michigan every morning at 5 a.m., directly in your inbox!
A cozy new $17 million luxury event venue is in the works in Bloomfield Township, with concept photos now available. Check out the photos here and read more in Around the Mitten!
Bloomscape is Michigan’s homegrown plant company, and they've cracked the code on delivering gorgeous, fully-grown plants straight from their Muskegon greenhouse to your door—read more on today’s featured brand below!
Detroit 15/26° ❄️ | Grand Rapids 16/27° ❄️ | Warren 15/26° ❄️ | Sterling Heights 15/26° ❄️ | Ann Arbor 14/26° ❄️ | Lansing 12/25° ❄️ | Dearborn 15/26° ❄️ | Livonia 14/26° ❄️ | Troy 15/26° ❄️ | Flint 11/24° 🌨️ | Saginaw 10/23° 🌨️ | Marquette 10/20° 🌨️ | Traverse City 13/21° 🌨️ | Cadillac 12/20° 🌨️ | Mackinac Island 15/23° 🌨️
Cherry Capital Airport Eyes $120 Million Expansion
Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport (TVC) is set to add a new $120 million terminal after a record 935,816 passengers visited the airport last year, a 19 percent increase over the previous record of 787,114.
The airport will break ground on the new “Gates to the Future” terminal in April, which will add five new gates, expanded hold rooms, an enhanced security checkpoint, and other passenger-focused upgrades.
The new terminal is expected to be complete in 2028. You can see concept photos of the expansion here.
Extreme Cold Temperatures Hit Michigan
Northern Michigan will be the first part of the state to see dangerously cold wind chill numbers, with the western half of the U.P. bracing for wind chill numbers to hit as low as 35 below zero late tonight.
Nearly all of Mid and Southeast Michigan is also under an extreme cold weather watch beginning tonight through Saturday morning, with wind chills as low as 25 below zero possible beginning Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
West Michigan is expected to see wind chills as low as 15 below zero, with frigid temperatures are expected to last statewide through Saturday morning
The NWS warns that exposed skin can incur frostibite in as little as 30 minutes in the projected conditions. You can see a statewide temperature map for tonight here.
Detroit Native Set to Referee in Super Bowl
Motor City native Shawn Smith earned the bid to be a Super Bowl referee this year, the NFL announced.
Smith, a 1994 Ferris State graduate, has been an NFL referee for 11 years after officiating high school, Division II, and Division I football in the Big Ten.
Smith’s appointment by the NFL will mark just the second time over the past eight Super Bowls that the NFL has assigned a referee to the game who as never handled a Super Bowl before.
You can read more on Smith’s story here.
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Around the Mitten
Statewide: Several Michigan restaurants were named as James Beard Award semifinalists, a national award for fine hospitality. (See Nominations)
Genesee County: Kroger’s first new Michigan location since 2017 is set to open its doors today in Fenton. (See Photos)
Detroit: Prominent chef Zack Sklar announced plans to bring a luxury event venue to Bloomfield Township. (See Photos)
Sterling Heights: The city council voted 7-0 to approve a program that will use drones as first responders. (More)
Marquette: The Noquemanon Ski Marathon announced its Junior Noque and Adaptive Races are canceled on Friday due to frigid temperatures. (More)
Grand Traverse County: United We Smile, a free dental clinic for veterans, announced it would be closing down permanently. More)
Portage: The new Raising Canes location on Westnedge Avenue announced a grand opening date of February 17th. (More)
Sports
The Red Wings took down the Maple Leafs in a goalie’s duel, winning 2-1 on an overtime goal from Captain Dylan Larkin. (See Highlights)
Jalen Duren’s double-double propelled the Pistons past the Pelicans by a score of 112-104. (See Box Score)
Michigan transfer portal commit and former No. 1 running back in Texas Taylor Tatum announced a position change to safety on defense. (More)
Baseball America ranked four Tigers prospects in the top 100, and two in the top ten. (See List)
Michigan Enterprise
Ann Arbor was ranked the No. 1 city in Michigan for “main street” business confidence in 2026, and No. 43 nationally. (See Study)
Corewell Health announced plans to expand the Butterworth Hospital campus with a new 621,000 square-foot emergency department. (More)
Hyperscale data center developer Verrus will make its case to residents at South Lyon East High School today. (More)
Previous Results
Should children be allowed to swear?
Yes - 2%
No - 98%
Our most skewed result of all time leaves me wondering, why did 2 percent say yes? Some no answers:
Answer: No, “Parents-all adults should not either!!!!!!!”
Answer: No, “That comes with age. Children need to know better words to use as they grow up. ”
Answer: No, “It’s disgusting and disrespectful!”
Thank you for reading Thursday’s edition of The Mitten! We hope you enjoyed today’s stories. We always welcome any reader feedback by simply responding to this email.