Troy News This Week

The new Smith Middle School on Livernois Road, a 120,000-square-foot building for about 900 students and part of the Troy School District's 2022 bond, held its grand opening Oct. 12. Michigan Department of Corrections staff are raising money for the family of Troy police Lt. Josh Bowers, diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer. A judge raised bond for a Troy man charged in a fatal Bloomfield Township crash. Comments are open below.

By the Numbers

• 120,000 — square feet in the new Smith Middle School
• About $70 million — estimated construction cost of the new Smith
• About 900 — students the new Smith is built to hold
• $4,800+ — raised for Lt. Josh Bowers' family as of Oct. 16

The Weather: Mild Through Oct. 29, Then a Cool Halloween

Sunday, Oct. 25, is forecast foggy, with a high of 68° and a low of 41°. Highs then run from 59° on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to 69° on Thursday, Oct. 29, under overcast skies. Dense drizzle is forecast Friday, Oct. 30, with a high of 63°, and Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, has the week's lowest high, 55°. Rain chances stay at 13% or lower every day.

The News

New Smith Middle School opens on Livernois Road

Students, faculty and community members celebrated the grand opening of the new Smith Middle School, 5850 Livernois Road, on Oct. 12, C&G Newspapers reported. The project was part of the Troy School District's $555 million 2022 bond, with construction costs estimated at around $70 million. The district broke ground in May 2024. “Once ground broke it was a two-year build,” said Christine DiPilato, the district's assistant superintendent of secondary education.

The 120,000-square-foot building has a capacity of around 900 students and six learning communities, two for each grade. “Those teachers get to know those students well — they wrap around those students for support,” said Principal Ryan Brinks. The building “is really designed to prioritize evacuation in terms of a crisis situation,” Brinks said, with notification and alert technology and the ability to section off and lock down parts of the building.

Brinks, Superintendent Richard Machesky, the Board of Education president and Mayor Ethan Baker spoke at the opening. “Our students deserve the very best we can give them,” Machesky said.

During the 2026-27 school year, Boulan Park Middle School students are using the old Smith building, 5835 Donaldson Road, while their school is renovated; Larson Middle School students follow in 2027-28. “Once the Larson renovations are complete, the old Smith building will be demolished to make room for a football field and track for the new Smith Middle School,” district spokesperson Alison Hendry said in an email.

Source: C&G Newspapers, October 21, 2026

Community rallies around Troy police lieutenant with brain cancer

Troy police Lt. Josh Bowers, a 37-year-old U.S. Army veteran, was diagnosed Oct. 10 with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer, after a headache and confusion, The Oakland Press reported. He had surgery Oct. 13 at Corewell Health in Royal Oak and is recovering at home. “He's doing well, and his strength is starting to come back,” said Sgt. Michael Grosso, who has worked with Bowers since 2017.

Bowers served as an Army captain, leading a team that detected and disarmed improvised explosive devices. He joined Troy police as a civilian police service aide, graduated from the Macomb Community College police academy in 2017, and was promoted to sergeant in 2023 and to lieutenant in March 2026. He is a patrol leader for the afternoon shift.

Staff of the Michigan Department of Corrections, where his wife is a probation agent, organized an online fundraiser for the family. It had raised more than $4,800 as of Oct. 16. Donations can be made at supportnow.org/the-bowers-family-josh.

Source: The Oakland Press, October 21, 2026

Bond raised for Troy man charged in fatal Woodward crash

Judge Diane D’Agostini of 48th District Court raised bond from $25,000 to $100,000 for Robert Isho, 34, of Troy, who has been referred for a competency evaluation, The Oakland Press reported. Isho posted the bond. He is charged with reckless driving causing death, a charge filed nearly four months after the crash, and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors allege Isho was speeding in a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee on May 30 when he ran a red light at Woodward Avenue and Quarton Road in Bloomfield Township, striking a Camry driven by Obrian Nelson, 30, of Farmington, and a Dodge Charger driven by a 28-year-old Troy resident. Nelson died at the scene; the Charger's driver was not injured, police said. Isho's next court date has not been scheduled.

Source: The Oakland Press, October 20, 2026

Metro Detroit

Wayne, Oakland voters decide Detroit museum millage Nov. 3

Voters in Wayne and Oakland counties will decide Nov. 3 on a 10-year millage for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Historical Museum and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, ClickOnDetroit/WDIV Local 4 reported. The Southeast Michigan Public Historical Museum Authority proposal, backed by the Yes to Our Story campaign, would levy 0.2 mills in both counties through 2035, about $30 a year per $300,000 of taxable property value.

According to the ballot proposal, the tax would raise about $12.2 million from Wayne County and $17.7 million from Oakland County in 2026. The money would pay for free admission for county residents, free tours and transportation for students and seniors, new curriculum for teachers and the care of nearly 300,000 publicly owned artifacts. The ballot language in both counties sends 15% of the revenue, after Authority administrative expenses, to other historical museums in Oakland and Wayne. The campaign says annual independent audits will show how the money is spent, and that the Wright and Detroit Historical museums have “survived by drawing down their reserves for years.”

Source: ClickOnDetroit / WDIV Local 4, October 22, 2026

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