The Bonstelle Theatre's "Our Town" is included in the list of college productions that are considered to be the best to see this year in the Detroit. The Thornton Wilder play will be running through Oct. 20.

Wayne State University says researchers, union members, activists and students will attend this month's North American Labor History Conference at the Detroit campus. The 35th annual conference takes place Oct. 24-26 at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center. It features addresses, book talks, panel and round table discussions, and other events related to a variety of topics under the theme of "Geographies of Labor." The university says there will be screenings of the movies "Harvest of Empire" and "American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs." There also will be a guided tour of the Detroit Institute of Arts' Diego Rivera murals.

Technology reporter Matt Roush launched his fall Tech Tour at Wayne State University, the first of several stops at Michigan's public universities statewide visiting tech transfer offices and observing research efforts. Roush spoke with Joan Dunbar, vice president of technology commercialization, who says that the university has established a postdoctoral fellows program to groom people who are "the next generation of entrepreneurial scientists." Roush also made stops at the School of Medicine and College of Engineering.

At least 146,000 Michiganders - and possibly thousands more - with health coverage purchased directly from insurers now are learning their polices will end Dec. 31 because they don't meet the minimum requirements of the federal health care act. Under the law, each policy must cover essential benefits in 10 categories. Instead of beefing up these policies, insurers are opting to drop them, advising consumers to consider other policies that are now available either from the insurers directly or through the Michigan Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as the state exchange. The policies that are ending were often less expensive on the individual market because they provided limited benefits and were sold to healthier consumers. Customers will pay more, but they also will get more coverage now, noted Gail Jensen Summers, an economics professor at Wayne State University, who specializes in health insurance policy and costs.

Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theatre opens its 2013-2014 season with the Thornton Wilder classic "Our Town," which depicts everyday life in the fictional turn-of-the-century town Grover's Corners. Actors Gaia Klotz, as Mrs. Gibbs, Katelyn Foster as Mrs. Webb, and Artistic Director Michael Barnes talked about the play with Craig Fahle.

It's a harsh sentence. That's the opinion of Wayne State University law professor and former prosecutor Peter Henning, who says he does expect in an appeal in the case of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick - ordered to spend up to 28 years in a federal prison. "This is the kind of sentence that you see for homicides, major drug dealing," said Henning. "So, it says that this is as harmful - perhaps even more harmful - than those types of crimes." Will other government officials see this as a warning? "Certainly there's a lesson in there. Whether it will be learned by public officials is another issue," Henning said. "If someone wants to be corrupt, and thinks that they can get away with it, they're going to believe that they're smarter or better than the former mayor, or anyone else that is convicted."

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, along with former Detroit Mayor Dennis W. Archer, announced at a news conference that the Dennis W. Archer Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation has distributed $1 million in scholarships. Archer established permanent endowments at the Community Foundation to support community development and youth activities and scholarships. To date, more than $1 million has gone nearly 200 minority students in Detroit and Cassopolis, Mich., Archer's hometown, to help them attend Wayne State University and his alma mater, Western Michigan University. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson, Western Michigan University President John M. Dunn, Cassopolis Public Schools Superintendent Tracy D. Hertsel and recipients of the scholarship were in attendance at the press conference.

Graduates of Michigan's University Research Corridor (URC) - made up of Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University - start or acquire businesses at double the national average rate among college graduates. They were also 1.5 times as successful as the average U.S. business owner at keeping those start-ups and acquisitions operating in the past five years. Jeff Mason, executive director of URC, says the three universities are doing more every year to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among faculty, students, and alumni, "both because they see the demand from students, but also believe that it's the right thing to do," he says. In related news, a Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert for their work developing the theory of what is known as the Higgs field, which gives elementary particles mass. A team of Wayne State University researchers played a significant role in the experimental aspects of the discovery.

Peggi Tabor is a Society of Active Retirees member, a Farmington Hills-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with Wayne State University created to mentally and socially engage seniors. Tabor said that since joining the organization roughly six years ago as a volunteer faculty member, she became a student and was hooked on SOAR. "There are so many interesting classes to take. There is something for everybody. It is really a lovely atmosphere. I think it is like college, like I always wanted it to be." The 20-year-old organization grew after its first fall semester with about 20 courses; the organization now boasts nearly 80 spring and fall courses, with roughly 800 members enrolled. In addition to courses ranging from archaeology, art, film, psychology, science and sports, the organization has a book club, hosts film festivals and special events, and offers field trips. SOAR is headquartered at the Wayne State University-Oakland Center.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences today announced the Nobel Prize in physics to theorists Peter Higgs and Francois Englert to recognize their work developing the theory of what is now known as the Higgs field, which gives elementary particles mass. Scientists estimate that visible matter makes up no more than four percent of the total mass of the universe, and the long-sought Higgs boson particle could be a bridge to understanding the 96 percent that remains obscured. A team of Wayne State University researchers led by Paul Karchin, Ph.D., and Robert Harr, Ph.D., professors of physics, are members of the CMS experiment who played a significant role in the experimental aspects of the discovery. Alexey Petrov, Ph.D., professor of physics and Gil Paz, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics, are particle theorists who studied theoretical aspects related to properties of standard and non-standard Higgs bosons. The Higgs boson at CERN was the culmination of decades of effort by scientists around the world. The Wayne State team helped ensure the 24/7 operation of the experiment and analyzing data at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, and on Wayne State's campus.

Students in 28 schools across Michigan have been selected to participate in the 2013-2014 Building Healthy Communities program to establish healthy lifestyles among school children and create healthy school environments, the partnership of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Michigan Fitness Foundation, United Dairy Industry of Michigan, University of Michigan and Wayne State University recently announced. St. Thomas the Apostle School in Ann Arbor has been selected as one of the 28 schools across Michigan to participate in the program, designed to reduce childhood obesity and its long-term health risks. "Wayne State University is excited to work with leaders in nutrition and healthy lifestyles to help the next generation of Michiganders make healthy choices a priority in their classrooms and throughout schools," said Dr. Nate McCaughtry, director for the Center for School Health at Wayne State University.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson was a guest on "The Craig Fahle Show" exploring a variety of topics including research, technology transfer and community involvement with Midtown Detroit.

A feature story about Midtown discusses the resurgence of an area encompassing two square miles which includes Wayne State University, Arts Center, North Cass, Medical Center, Cass Park district, Brush Park, New Center and TechTown. Regarding safety, Wayne State University Police Chief Anthony Holt says since he started CompStat meetings in 2008, the area has seen a "steady decline" in crime, with the reduction percentage approaching 50 percent.

Dr. David Rosenberg, chair of Psychiatry and The Miriam L. Hamburger Endowed Chair of Child Psychiatry and professor of Psychiatry in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, provided information on mental health issues that may have led to the Oct. 3, 2013 tragedy in Washington, D.C. with Miriam Carey. According to Rosenberg, mental health issues are an epidemic in our society. Post-partum conditions are not uncommonly associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "At Wayne State University, we have mobile crisis teams to help keep patients out of the ER and hospital, determine when it is most necessary, and equally important, after hospitalization, ensure that treatment is maintained so that tragedies such as this one are prevented," said Rosenberg.

Lance Gable, professor of public health law at Wayne State University, participated in a "Flash Point" discussion about the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act.

John Mogk, a Wayne State University law professor who studies land use and ran for mayor in 1977, comments in a story about Detroit's storied history of ups and downs over the last six decades. During a boom time from 1945 to 1960, car companies built 33 plants in the metropolitan Detroit area, but none were located in Detroit. The city had no space because of the population explosion and was landlocked since its last annexation in 1926. "(There was) no room to rejuvenate the manufacturing base on a single-story platform," said Mogk.

The Southeast Michigan Purchasing Management Index slipped to 59.9 in September from August's reading of 60.2. However, the three month average of 57.7 still provides strong evidence of an expanding economy, economists said. "September marks the third consecutive month of increased economic activity throughout Southeast Michigan," said Nitin Paranjpe, a supply chain faculty member at Wayne State's School of Business Administration who interpreted this month's results. "Contributing to the drop in September's PMI was a reduction in production by about four points to 64.6 from 68.5 in August, and employment which fell about five points to 54.2 for the month."

Former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer talked with Craig Fahle about his scholarship, bankruptcy, and more. Archer's scholarship organization, The Dennis W. Archer Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation, has distributed over $1 million to minority students in southeast Michigan. A majority of the scholarship recipients attend Archer's alma maters Wayne State University and Western Michigan University.

The deadline for registering to vote in November's general elections is Monday. But even in this age of the internet, voters in Michigan must fill out a paper form to register. The Dean of Wayne State University's law school Jocelyn Benson told WDET's Quinn Klinefelter not being able to register on-line causes headaches for both voters and elections officials.

Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson - in his first university-wide address - praised his new university but also recommended ways it can improve. Wilson, who took over as president of WSU 62 days ago, also outlined an ambitious vision for the school. Tim Michael, 23, a senior at WSU, listened to the speech online and liked what he heard. "I think he did good saying what was good about us, but also saying what we needed to get better at," Michael said. "I think we really need to work at helping people graduate. I hope he really focuses on that."