Hundreds of people in Detroit lined up to sell their guns to police in a $20,000 buyback program Thursday. The idea is to get guns off the street, but not everyone agrees the strategy works.

About 800 guns of all kinds were turned in.

Police paid $25 for guns that weren’t in working condition and up to $100 for two or more guns that were functional.

The police department has run out of cash for today’s gun buyback program, but is issuing vouchers that will allow people to receive payment within 30 days.

Officials began exchanging cash for guns at 10 a.m. and by 1 p.m., had received more than 400 guns and paid out more than $20,000, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said.

Rabbit breeder Rob Usakowski typically spends the week before Labor Day helping his daughters show their Jersey Woolies and Holland Lops at the Michigan State Fair.

This year, he and his family are home after Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm canceled the fair, saying debt-ridden Michigan could no longer afford to subsidize it. Granholm’s decision makes Michigan the only Midwestern state and one of few nationwide without a state fair.

Despite all of Detroit’s woes, the city has always been able to boast about one thing: its nationally recognized orchestra.

But even the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is now in turmoil, with musicians and management battling over a tight budget and the union authorizing a strike to try to avoid steep pay cuts. Though the orchestra has fought hardship before, some are questioning whether it can survive at a time when the city itself is facing such economic instability.

The battle between musicians and management over a tight budget is raising fears about the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s status as a national institution.

The musicians voted Saturday to reject a 29 percent first-year pay cut and authorize a strike should contract talks fail. The union offered to take a 22 percent pay cut in the first year of a three-year agreement.

More than 1,000 documents, including some dating back to the beginning of the Nation of Islam, were found in the attic of a home in Detroit, the city where the secretive movement started 80 years ago, a lawyer said.

Attorney Gregory Reed unveiled some documents, letters and a booklet Thursday at a Detroit mosque, including a rare 1933 signature of Nation of Islam founder W.D. Fard. Reed said the well-preserved documents detail the early structure and teachings of the group founded on the ideals of black nationalism.

“Detroit: Motor City to Medical Mecca?” is the provocative title of a report released Thursday by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan research group.

Given the decline of the auto industry, Detroit appears to be hoping that health care will be able to fuel its otherwise stalled economy. Detroit has one of the highest metropolitan unemployment rates in the United States, according to the report, and the area lost more than 70,000 manufacturing jobs from 2002 to 2007.

Excellent Schools Detroit has released a report card ranking the best and worst schools in Detroit.

The group, which is made up of education, government, community, parent and philanthropic leaders, organized the data in three categories –elementary, middle and high school.

Johnny Damon is staying in Detroit.

The Tigers outfielder says he’s decided to pass up a chance to return to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox had claimed him on waivers this week, and it was up to him to approve the deal.

Damon said before Tuesday night’s game against Kansas City that he’s turned down the move.

A little rain didn’t get in the way of this year’s Woodward Dream Cruise.

Hundreds of cars motored down Woodward Avenue in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak as part of the annual ritual. The skies were cloudy, but the crowd’s spirits were higher this year now that General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler are healthier companies than last year.