Continue Reading...

Once again, the search was futile.

"Certainly, we're disappointed," Detroit FBI chief Robert Foley told reporters Wednesday as federal and local authorities wrapped up another excavation that failed to turn up anything that could be linked to Hoffa, who has been missing since 1975.

Many people interested in the mystery assume Hoffa ran afoul of the mob and was whacked.

"Right now the case remains open," Foley said. "At this point, if we do get logical leads and enough probable cause that warrant the resources to do an investigation, then we'll continue to do so."

The latest search for Hoffa's remains was prompted by a tip from reputed ex-Mafia captain Tony Zerilli. About 40 FBI agents searched a small field surrounded by trees and a gravel road in Oakland Township. With the aid of a backhoe, they spent about 10 hours in the field Monday and another 10 Tuesday before calling it quits about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Continue Reading...

The battle over the future of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection is still only a theoretical one, but that hasn’t stopped high-profile people throughout the state from taking sides. The latest entrant into the fray is Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who says the art cannot be sold to help cover the costs of Detroit’s bankruptcy.

Schuette released a 22-page opinion on Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reports, along with a statement that echoes the argument of DIA Director Graham Beale:

Continue Reading...

The national press has duly documented this most recent drama, how Governor Snyder appointed Kevyn Orr as the Emergency Financial Manager to studiously go through the city’s books and find a way to stave off bankruptcy. Orr is like some old man in a ramshackle rooming house desperately digging through every drawer to find change for the fare as the sound of the last bus barreling down the street shakes the whole stucture. It isn’t pretty.

Continue Reading...

USA Today reported:

Jones [the deceased's grandmother], 50, testified that she was on the couch May 16, 2010, with 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in the front room of her home on Detroit's east side.

The girl's head was closest to the door, and Jones' head was on the other end of the couch when she began hearing "a lot of commotion."

The front window broke, she heard officers yell "police," and the door was kicked open. It all happened simultaneously, she said.

Then she heard a boom and Jones said she rolled onto floor.

She was on her stomach on the floor looking at the front door and saw police rushing in, she testified.

"As soon as they came in, the gun was just pointed right there at Aiyana's head," she said.

Then an officer pulled the trigger.

"I seen the light leave out of her eyes, and the blood started gushing out her mouth and she was dead," Jones said.

Continue Reading...

Earlier this week there was a brief spark of hope that the Michigan Legislature would swiftly pass a bill to try and prevent a potential sale of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) collection. That spark has been put out, at least for now, by both the State House of Representatives and Governor Rick Snyder.

Although the state Senate has moved quickly on the bill sponsored by Republican Senator Randy Richardville, the House of Representatives is insisting on going on summer break first. A spokesman said the House wouldn’t consider the bill until the fall, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Even worse, though, is the article’s statement from Governor Rick Snyder, also a Republican, about the situation regarding the city and its beloved museum:

Continue Reading...

On May 24 the news broke that Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, was considering whether the city could or should sell off the art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts(DIA) to help pay back its debts. In the roughly week and a half since then, loud reactions have been heard from many corners of the art world, as well as writers in various media outlets and Michigan politicians themselves. The reactions pretty much range from “this is a bad idea” to “this is a terrible idea.”

For his part — and not surprisingly — DIA Director Graham Beal told the New York Times that he didn’t think the museum’s collection really could be sold, since it’s held in the public trust:

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

An eighth-grade student at Davidson Middle School in Southgate committed suicide in the building Thursday morning.

The school was put on lock down and parents were asked to come pick up their students at about 9:15 a.m. School will remain closed Friday.

HuffPo Detroit reported that "the student died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, reportedly in a bathroom, at the Southgate school early Thursday morning" and had reportedly left a note.

Continue Reading...

Jurors convicted Kilpatrick of a raft of crimes, including a racketeering conspiracy charge. He was portrayed during a five-month trial as an unscrupulous politician who took bribes, rigged contracts and lived far beyond his means while in office until fall 2008.

Prosecutors said Kilpatrick ran a "private profit machine" out of Detroit's City Hall. The government presented evidence to show he got a share of the spoils after ensuring that Ferguson's excavating company was awarded millions in work from the water department.

Business owners said they were forced to hire Ferguson as a subcontractor or risk losing city contracts. Separately, fundraiser Emma Bell said she gave Kilpatrick more than $200,000 as his personal cut of political donations, pulling cash from her bra during private meetings. A high-ranking aide, Derrick Miller, told jurors that he often was the middle man, passing bribes from others.

Internal Revenue Service agents said Kilpatrick spent $840,000 beyond his mayoral salary.

Continue Reading...

There are other stories that are harder to see. An empty, boarded-up house might represent someone who has moved on, a symbol of the abandonment this city has seen as thousands of people have, over time, moved out beyond the city limits.

But that emptiness might indicate another history.

Continue Reading...

The Oakland County sheriff's department says workers at a McDonald's in Pontiac spotted the 40-year-old man Saturday in the drive-thru.

Sheriff's deputies responded and took the Pontiac man into custody. He was being held at the Oakland County Jail pending charges.

The robbery happened Oct. 5.

Continue Reading...

The so-called “leadership” of cash-strapped Detroit has a message for President Obama: We voted for you, so bail us out.

It’s sad, but true. In fact, just this past week Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson was quoted as saying: “Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president and there ought to be a quid pro quo and you ought to exercise leadership on that. Of course, not just that, but why not?"

He then quotes Ronald Reagan on how dependency leads to dictatorship and then monarchy. And if you make it to the end of the email Akin has just one more thing to add:

P.S. – We still have a little ground to make up on our campaign debt retirement. I would be incredibly appreciative if you could click here to donate $5 or more today.

Continue Reading...

The mayor of Lansing, Mich., where General Motors opened two new auto plants during the 2000s, Bernero startled Lego-haired Fox anchorman Gregg Jarrett with a rant questioning why the United Auto Workers -- including Bernero’s father, an octogenarian GM retiree -- were asked to sacrifice wages and benefits while Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers received billions in TARP money.

“I gotta say, in all honesty, I was a little offended by your question, ‘Have the unions given up enough? Has the working man given up enough?’” Bernero shouted, before Jarrett even asked him a question. “My question is, ‘Has Wall Street given up enough, for the billions they have taken?’ I gotta tell ya, I am sick and tired of the double standard: one standard for Washington and Wall Street, another standard for the working people in this country. It always comes down to, in order to be more competitive, we gotta take it out of the hide of the working person.”

Continue Reading...

Kilpatrick, who was forced out of office in a different scandal in 2008, is accused of collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, kickbacks and other favors. His father, Bernard, is a co-defendant in yet another sordid turn for what once was one of Detroit's most powerful political families.

The 100-page indictment describes Kwame Kilpatrick muscling contractors, rewarding pals and repeatedly reaping illegal benefits — cash, travel, golf, even yoga — while running an ailing city that struggled more than most during the economic downturn.

Opening statements are set for Friday after U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds rejected a request by defense lawyers to move the trial to another city.

"What is extraordinary here is just the volume of evidence, the breadth of the indictment," said David Steingold, a defense attorney not involved in the case. "I can't speak to it, but it looks as though they're just trying to overwhelm Mr. Kilpatrick. They're trying to throw so much mud at him."

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

More about the film

Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century — the Great Migration of African-Americans escaping Jim Crow, the rise of manufacturing and the middle class, the love affair with automobiles, the flowering of the American dream, and now the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos.

Continue Reading...