Blogs: Author Archive

After four years in office, Dave Bing has announced that he won’t be seeking a second term as mayor of Detroit. Promising to bring stability and integrity to the job in the wake of Kwame Kilpatrick’s felonious reign, he avoided scandal but also failed to right the city’s finances and prevent the appointment of...
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As the Detroit City Council considers approving a contract with the Jones Day law firm — the law firm that Mayor Dave Bing and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr want to hire to oversee the restructuring of Detroit’s debt — we find ourselves following Alice a little further down the rabbit hole. Things seem to...
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Thomas Stephens, a progressive attorney who works for the Detroit City Council’s Research & Analysis Division, has just posted a long, scathing piece on the web site of the lefty publication CounterPunch. Titled “Detroit’s New Bankster Plutocracy,” the biting commentary, among other things, takes local mainstream media to task for failing to provide any...
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Just to make sure you don’t run afoul of any fiats issued by Detroit’s new emergency manager, Kevyn Orr has helpfully had his minions create a site where folks can go and gander at his latest orders. Two have been issued so far. The first, signed on March 25, restored the salaries of Detroit’s...
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As changes to Michigan’s medical marijuana law kicked in on Monday, the overriding question is: How will the Legislature’s alterations to the law passed by voters in 2008 affect patients? The answer it: We’re not completely sure. As with a lot of things related to the state’s medical marijuana law, these new changes could...
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Standing on the steps of Detroit’s federal courthouse, the Rev. Al Sharpton on Thursday announced that, in addition to the filing of a complaint challenging the constitutionality of Michigan’s new emergency manager law, the measure will also be vigorously opposed in the streets. Sharpton, head of the National Action Network civil rights group, pledged...
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A crowd of about 100 people gathered in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue on Monday morning to protest emergency financial manager Kevyn Orr’s first day on the job. At a press conference inside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Orr touted the need for cooperation. “I want to offer a sincere olive...
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The backlash is beginning to take shape. That there would be organized opposition to an emergency manager taking control of Detroit is something that could have been expected.  What remains to be seen now is how many people will participate in the nonviolent civil disobedience actions the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others on Friday...
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The Eclectablog site, which features progressive news and commentary, has an excellent piece linking the issues of bank wrongdoing involving foreclosures and how Wall Street is making out like a bandit because of Detroit’s financial crisis – which, at least in part, is directly linked to the foreclosure crisis. The Eclectablog story starts by...
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As far as we can tell, not a whole lot of attention is being paid to a resolution introduced by Detroit City Council member Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr. yesterday. That’s unfortunate, because the issue it attempts to address is potentially of immense significance. At stake is the ability of Detroit’s elected officials to have...
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