Stateside with Cynthia Canty

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano has hit the pause button on the project to build a new Wayne County jail in downtown Detroit.

The reason?

The still-unfinished 2,000-bed jail could cost up to $91 million over its $220 million budget. So the county is now considering cutting its considerable losses and leasing a former state prison on Mound Road on Detroit's East Side.

Crain's Detroit Business writer Bill Shea got us thinking about this sorry episode in government spending, and the word "boondoggle" came to mind.

His story in Crain's is headlined "Many dollars, little sense: Projects that seemed like good ideas at the time," and he joined us today in the studio.

Listen to the full interview above.

Bring the X-Games for 2014 to Detroit.

That's what an impassioned pair of Detroit boosters is saying to ESPN.

They've launched an all-out campaign to get the sports network to choose the Motor City over three other contenders for the summer 2014 X-Games, which are ESPN's extreme sports answer to the Olympics.

Kevin Krease and Garret Koehler are the ones responsible for this bid to win over ESPN.

The two joined us in the studio to talk about their campaign.

Listen to the full interview above.

On today's show: Boondoggles.

We took a look back at some of Michigan's sorriest episodes in government spending.

And, we spoke with the members of the duo Midnight Faces, a Grand Rapids band taking a new approach to music from the '80's.

And, Dr. Amanda Lotz joined us in the studio to discuss the future of television now that services such as Netflix have become increasingly popular.

Also, a campaign has started to bring the summer 2014 X-Games to Detroit. We spoke with the guys responsible for starting the campaign about why they think Detroit should be chosen to host the event.

First on the show, with school out for the summer, state officials are already looking for ways to get more students to show up for classes in the fall. The state Department of Human Services wants to expand pilot programs that put more social workers in schools with high truancy rates.

At the same time, DHS has a new statewide policy that threatens to take away welfare benefits from families with kids who persistently miss school.

But, critics say that still means too few families are getting the support they need to avoid losing their cash assistance.

Michigan Public Radio's Jake Neher gave us the full report.

Close your eyes for a moment and think about America in 1962. What images come to mind?

Chances are, those images, whether furniture, architecture, or cars, have roots right here in Michigan.

A major exhibition that's begun at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills explores Michigan's major role in what America looked like in the mid-20th Century. And much of that design is linked to Cranbrook. It's called "Modern Michigan: Design that Shaped America."

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to check-in with Detroit News business columnist Daniel Howes.

The theme for today's conversation seems to be: the Day of Reckoning is at hand.

Tomorrow, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is going make a pitch to 150 representatives and creditors to try to win concessions from them. The pitch could very well be the precursor to the city filing Chapter Nine bankruptcy.

Daniel Howes joined us to discuss the issue.

Listen to the full interview above.