A Detroiter filed a class-action lawsuit against Wayne County on Thursday, claiming officials foreclosed on her home, sold it at less than half the market value, and then pocketed the proceeds.
Philip L. Ellison, an attorney at Hemlock-based Outside Legal Counsel, and others filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. Eastern District Court on behalf of Tonya Bowles, who lost her East State property to foreclosure in 2017.
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The Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved a contract supporting facial recognition in Detroit, even after a vast majority of public comments were in opposition to the measure.
The measure, approved by a 6-3 vote, approves spending $219,984 to cover costs associated with upgrades and maintenance. The council’s vote was preceded by a morning protest and an hour of public comment from residents opposing facial recognition, arguing the technology is “racist.”
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The Michigan Strategic Fund has agreed to subsidize a major portion of a proposed $19.7 million redevelopment of the former Lincoln Motor Co. headquarters in the Northwest Goldberg neighborhood of Detroit.
More than half of those funds will derive from public taxpayer assistance, including a $5 million state grant, $2.7 million in additional tax transfers, and another $3.4 million in tax breaks.
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Election integrity advocates believe something fishy is going on in Wayne County with absentee ballots, and they say Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is undermining the security of the process there and across Michigan.
Glen Sitek of the Election Integrity Fund provided an exclusive statement to The Michigan Star.
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The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) voted Wednesday to authorize a strike if an agreement can’t be reached over COVID-19 concerns.
The vote, with 91 percent in favor, authorizes DFT leadership to call a strike if the union and the Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD) don’t reach an agreement.
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Amazon plans to create 3,500 new tech and corporate jobs in six cities nationwide, the company announced Tuesday.
Most of the company’s new hires will be located in Amazon’s New York office with the rest being added in Dallas, Detroit, Denver, Phoenix and San Diego, according to a press release. Amazon also announced plans to expand the six offices to accommodate the new hires.
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The state of Michigan Thursday announced a plan to explore the viability of developing a 40-mile corridor for connected and autonomous vehicles between Downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor.
The state selected Cavnue, a subsidiary of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) that partners with Alphabet, Google’s parent company, to develop the project.
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As the automotive industry fills the demand for electric cars, the country – and the world – will need thousands more plug-in charging stations for vehicles powered by batteries alone. And because they’re being asked to invest before that demand arrives, automakers and charging companies are struggling to raise the numbers.
Currently electric vehicles make up only about 1.3% of total new vehicle sales in the U.S., according to the Edmunds.com auto site. Electrics are much bigger in other countries, accounting for 2.6% of global new vehicle sales last year, the International Energy Agency says. There are now 26,000 electric vehicle charging stations open to the public in the U.S., with more than 84,000 plugs.
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Detroit Police Chief James Craig credited the city’s success in remaining peaceful during nationwide protests and riots with having a city that has stood together and a police force that refuses to give up “the ground to the radicals.”
In an appearance on Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday, Craig told Carlson that “we don’t retreat here in Detroit.”
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The City of Detroit is seeking photos of those who lost their lives to the coronavirus to display as part of a city memorial event.
Detroit will host Detroit Memorial Day on August 31 to honor city residents who died because of COVID-19, Mayor Mike Duggan announced earlier this month. The city plans to install large photo boards with the submitted pictures along a route on Belle Isle.
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President Trump on Monday threatened to send federal law enforcement into several cities, including Detroit, in order to quell continuing unrest there.
Trump recently sent federal law enforcement to Portland to break up protesters, who had approached a federal courthouse and set a fire outside of it, according to The Detroit News. He said that the federal officers had done “a fantastic job in a very short time.”
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A bust of Christopher Columbus in downtown Detroit was removed by order of the Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Monday.
The 110-year-old statue is currently in storage, according to the Detroit Free Press.
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After a relatively peaceful day of protests Saturday, the Detroit Police Department declared an increasingly agitated and violent crowd of roughly 250 people an unlawful assembly when they refused to leave the downtown Detroit area on the second night of unrest following the controversial death of George Floyd.
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Michigan Democrats plan to censure the state lawmaker who “broke protocol” by thanking President Trump for recommending hydroxychloroquine. State Rep. Karen Whitsett (pictured right) earlier this month credited the controversial drug for saving her life after she had battled the deadly coronavirus for weeks.
Elected Democrats “do not belong to themselves,” explained Jonathan Kinloch, the chairman of the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Organization (pictured left).
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Sunday that bankruptcy is not an option for Michigan in response to comments last week from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Whitmer appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday. Stephanopoulos asked her if default was on the table for Michigan.
“No, and it’s outrageous for Senator McConnell to even suggest that,” Whitmer said. “But that’s what the matter is. Our general fund budget when adjusted for the inflation is the same size it was during – when Richard Nixon was our president. We have been incredibly smart stewards and we have not made some of the investments I think we should have as a state because of this artificially low number that we’ve been working with.”
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A Democrat state representative from Detroit, Michigan, who has been battling the coronavirus for weeks, is crediting hydroxychloroquine for saving her life, the Detroit Free Press reported on Monday. State Rep. Karen Whitset thanked President Trump – even as the corporate media continued to criticize him for touting an “unproven” drug—because she would not have asked for it unless he had brought it up.
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The Michigan National Guard is helping Detroit prepare additional space to care for COVID-19 patients.
About 20 members of the Michigan National Guard will help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) form a Federal Medical Station (FMS) at TCF Center in Detroit from Tuesday through today.
Those members will manage inventory to prepare for the care of those with COVID-19.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden lost his temper Tuesday after a Detroit auto worker accused him of “actively trying to end our Second Amendment rights.”
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Former United Auto Workers President Gary Jones was charged with embezzlement, racketeering, and tax evasion Thursday in a massive FBI probe that has brought down several of the union’s top leaders.
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A new Michigan poll predicts former Vice President Joe Biden will emerge victorious over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in Michigan’s Democratic primary.
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The city of Detroit announced the inauguration of its new Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship (ACE) with former Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley as its director.
Riley and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan officially declared the new joint public-private government initiative at a Thursday press event.
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) spoke this week at an event hosted by the Young Democratic Socialists of America at Wayne State University.
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The architect of a Detroit-based drug ring described by many former customers as the “McDonald’s for drugs” was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison last Friday.
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The Coalition for Property Tax Justice filed a federal class-action lawsuit claiming the city of Detroit, Wayne County, and state officials “eviscerated” every homeowners’ due process rights by denying them the ability to appeal inflated property taxes.
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The Michigan Democratic Party’s Black Caucus endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic Party, at least according to Biden’s campaign.
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The overtaxation scandal in Detroit underscores the importance of giving President Trump four more years in the White House, lest the tax-and-spend Democrats drown working Americans in a flood of new taxes.
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Detroit overtaxed homeowners more than $600 million because it didn’t reevaluate property values after the Great Recession until 2017.
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A new survey of Michigan voters found that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s approval rating has dropped by more than seven percentage points since June.
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The Iraqi Consulate General in Detroit held a memorial event for Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the leader of a designated terrorist organization who was killed last week in a U.S. airstrike.
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A public interest law firm sued the City of Detroit Wednesday for failing to clean dead and duplicate registrants from its voter rolls.
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) told her constituents Tuesday night that Democratic lawmakers are looking for ways to arrest White House officials who don’t comply with congressional subpoenas.
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Michigan native David Goode launched one of the country’s most successful snow and water ski companies in 1975 when he was just 19 years old. He was a member of the U.S. downhill ski team at the time, but his career was sidetracked by an ankle injury.
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The United Auto Workers announced Sunday that local union leaders from across the country voted to go on strike after its collective bargaining agreement with General Motors expired Saturday night.
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President Donald Trump has revived America’s economy, and warned against electing a Democrat in 2020, Vice President Mike Pence said Monday during an appearance in Detroit.
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Lawrence M. Ludlow, who holds a master’s degree in Medieval Studies and has taught in the Detroit and Gross Pointe areas, recently wrote an article on his experience of returning to the classroom.
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CNN hosted the second round of Democratic debates, which kicked of Tuesday night and will continue Wednesday night in Detroit, Michigan.
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by Tyler Arnold Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is applying for up to $160 million in tax incentives from the state of Michigan to help offset some of the costs of the company’s planned investment in Detroit. “We are excited to make a multi-billion-dollar investment that will create thousands of good-paying, union jobs, both in the construction of the new plant and, of course, in its operation for many years to come,” Kevin Frazier, corporate communications manager for Fiat, said in an email. “We know, and generations of Detroiters know, that an automotive assembly plant has the potential to make the city and its neighborhoods more vibrant places for families and individuals to live and work,” he said. Under the plan, Fiat says it will invest $2.5 billion in the Detroit area, which the company expects will create about 5,000 jobs. Fiat has requested the tax incentives to assist with the two largest investments – modernizing existing plants to build Jeeps and the Dodge Durango. The company will spend $1.6 billion on converting the two Mack Avenue Engine Complex plants into assembly plants for the next generation Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Jeep SUV as well as plug-in hybrid models.…
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On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to One America News Networks Neil McCabe about the success of the We Build the Wall rally last week in both Cincinnati and Detroit. Further on in the discussion, they chatted about the overall passion and emotion displayed at the rally’s, the MAGA All-Stars that comprise the rallies, and the potential of where they may visit next. Leahy: Neil good morning. McCabe: Michael how are you? Leahy: Morning, thanks so much for joining us. So, the big news Neil is you were the moderator of the Build the Wall event in Cincinnati last week. We reported on that. Our own Anthony Gowkowski was there. And then you also were the moderator of the Build the wall event in Detroit. Now tell us about those two events. McCabe: Yeah Michael, so what happens is that We Build the Wall scheduled these events and basically the idea is you know there is tremendous publicity when the founder, Brian Kolfage raised more than $20 million to build the wall…
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Minnesota Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) recently introduced a bill that would expand the criminal definition of female genital mutilation (FGM), but zero Democratic House colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors. Under current Minnesota law, it is illegal for doctors to perform FGM, but there are no penalties in place for parents who subject their children to the gruesome procedure, a press release from Franson’s office explains. “The threat of female genital mutilation remains a very serious issue facing our state,” Franson said. “We need to send a clear message to parents that there are consequences for this practice. I will always stand up for the safety of little girls, and will keep working to put an end to this abusive practice and punish parents who subject their daughters to these often life-threatening horrors.” This is Franson’s second go at passing an FGM-related bill. During the 2017 session, her bill passed the House in a 124-4 vote, but never even received a hearing in the Senate, which Republicans have yet to explain. Franson’s new bill, House File (HF) 373, would expand the criminal definition of FGM in Minnesota to make any “parent, guardian, or other person legally responsible or charged with…
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More than 100 employees in the Detroit Public Schools Community District make salaries that exceed $100,000 per year, even though the district consistently ranks among the lowest performing schools. According to data obtained by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 110 employees of the Detroit school district make six figure salaries, including at least one teacher and two police officers. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti (pictured, center) topped the list with an annual salary of $294,999 in the 2017-28 fiscal year. Coming in second was Luis Solano, the school district’s chief operating officer, who makes an annual salary of $183,750, while Deputy Superintendent Iranetta Wright brings in $182,692 annually. Chalkbeat reported in 2017 that all sixteen employees in Vitti’s inner circle are making well over $100,000 annually. As Michigan Capitol Confidential reports, the one teacher on the list, who teaches seventh and eighth grade, made a salary of $100,057 in the 2017-18 fiscal year. The outlet points out that there are numerous ways for teachers to pick up extra compensation, such as merit pay or agreeing to lead various school functions, which are included in the salary figures. They also found that this teacher, with a base pay of $84,505 annually, brought…
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