Free Republic

An attorney for the Mayor says the process server refused to leave the property when the mayor asked, so the process server was, "gently escorted off the porch by the Mayor."

The roughest way to learn to swim is to be thrown in the deep end of the pool, and have to dog-paddle your way to the side if you want to keep breathing. My parents never did that to me, I know only one person who actually experienced that. But, metaphorically? Now that’s another matter. This column is about Clarence Thomas, Paul Carre, the University of Detroit, and the Boy Scout Motto. Begin with Clarence Thomas. I have just finished reading his autobiography, My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir. It is a gripping tale that would be utterly unbelievable, except that...

Where the Fans Once Roared, Demolition Crews Now Have Their Day By NICK BUNKLEYNew York TimesJuly 19, 2008 DETROIT — The wake began as soon as bulldozers punched throughthe wall behind Section 501. All month, carfuls of mourners havebeen arriving steadily on an otherwise desolate street in theshadow of the 96-year-old ballpark. Most have digital cameras dangling from their wrists and a D, inOld English lettering, on their shirts. The more prepared pull step ladders from the backs of their vehicles; others climb ontothe roofs of their cars to peer over the eight-foot-tall fenceshrouding workers inside. Across Trumbull Avenue, Greg...

An Action News investigation is raising questions tonight about whether Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pulled some strings to help a well-connected defendant avoid a trial. It’s a story of a preacher, a prostitute and the mayor—and some say it’s also more evidence of how some people accused of wrongdoing can seem to simply avoid facing the music in the city of Detroit these days under Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Could growing fresh vegetables help save crumbling inner cities around the world and tackle hunger? ___ That is the ambitious aim of a charity called Urban Farming, which has its headquarters in Detroit, the capital of the US's wilting car industry. The idea is very simple: turn wasteland into free vegetable gardens and feed the poor people who live nearby. Motown has lost more than a million residents since its heyday in the 1950s and it is common to see downtown residential streets with just a few houses left standing. Taja Sevelle saw the hundreds of hectares of vacant land...

The Detroit campaign office of Presidential hopeful Barack Obama was targeted by thieves.

In my last enduring image of Fanchon Stinger, she was flat on her back. It was last week and the perky FOX2 Morning co-anchor was tightening her abs on camera with a fitness expert, one of those fluffy, get-bikini-ready-for-summer feature segments that separate morning newscasts from the somber evening reports. Turns out the vision was symbolic, since Stinger is now truly down, and could be out. The most flamboyantly named news personality in our market has herself been stung: suspended indefinitely by Detroit's FOX affiliate due to her alleged association with developer Rayford Jackson, a central figure in the latest...

DETROIT, July 5 (UPI) -- Muslims in the Detroit area are upset that neither of the presumptive major party presidential nominees has made an effort to reach out to them. The area has one of the largest and most visible Muslim communities in the United States. In recent campaigns, candidates have addressed meetings or met with local religious leaders, The Detroit News reports. "Any candidate should address the issues of American society, not a particular religion," said Dr. Abdul Raheman Nakadar, a retired cardiologist who publishes The Muslim Observer. "But when you ask a certain group for support, then you...

Our reporting partners at the Detroit News are reporting that the FBI has electronic surveillance that links Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers to the Synagro scandal. The evidence reportedly proves that Conyers received either a payment or payments in connection with the city-approved sludge contract.

The mayor today denied any involvement in the Detroit City Council scandal involving a multimillion dollar waste contract before he has been accused of anything. Kilpatrick, through one of his lawyers, sent a letter to WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) Monday threatening to sue if the station aired reports saying the mayor was a proponent of a sludge recycling contract with Synagro Technologies Inc. "Mayor Kilpatrick had no involvement whatsoever in this contract,” Attorney Jim Parkman III wrote in the letter to WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) that was obtained today by the Free Press. “Mayor Kilpatrick has never been questioned by the FBI...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Why is General Motors still in the Dow? GM (GM, Fortune 500) may still be the biggest of the Big Three. But it's getting more and more difficult to justify keeping GM in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an exclusive list of what's supposed to be the 30 leaders in the U.S. markets and economy. GM confirmed on Monday that it is looking into selling its Hummer brand of monstrously-sized vehicles. And in a major sign of desperation, it also announced that it would offer six-year, zero-percent loans for 2008 models until the end of June...

In an effort to cut costs, the partnership that oversees the joint business and advertising operations of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News is seeking 150 volunteers to accept buyouts by July 18. The 150 positions represent about 7 percent of the total staff of the two publications and the partnership. The Detroit Media Partnership also will halt publication of the 11 Free Press weekly community sections and Twist, the Free Press Sunday supplement aimed at women, by early August, said Susie Ellwood, the partnership’s executive vice president and general manager. “The environment in which newspapers operate continues...

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick suffered two defeats before City Council today when a committee rejected his plan to sell the Detroit Windsor tunnel and Members indicated they would fight using city money to pay the mayor's lawyers.

Austin Hill, host of 630 WMAL's "The Evening Show" in Washington, DC will discuss this issue -- completely ignored by the MSM -- tonight during the show, which runs from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET http://www.630wmal.com/article.asp?id=632848 Listen Live! Don't Miss It! Call Austin during the show at 888 630 9625

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate. The campaign has apologized to the women, all Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally. "This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who added that the volunteers were acting...

Big Al does Motown with Obama PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito Oscar-winning, Nobel Prize sharing documentarian and one time Vice President Al Gore will do Motown with Sen. Barack Obama at the "Joe" (Detroit's Joe Louis Arena) tonight. Subject? Change that works for you. Gore finally endorsed the Illinois Senator today via an e-mail to supporters: "Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change...

DETROIT (AP/WXYZ) - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will be conspicuously absent when Barack Obama makes his first campaign stop in the city since effectively wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination. The embattled mayor, facing criminal charges and public scrutiny in an embarrassing text-messaging sex scandal, has decided not to attend Monday night's rally at Joe Louis Arena.

Ted Nugent outlines the keys to leading a good life in America Ted Nugent Gather around, high school and college graduates, and listen good -- real good. What I am about to tell you will help you immensely throughout the rest of your lives if you commit to practicing Uncle Ted's proven modus operandi for a quality of life. Work Nobody owes you a thing. Everything you will get out of life will be based solely on what you put into it. As humorist Mark Twain said, "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes...

Police are searching for the thieves who stole a statue of Jesus from the wall of a church on Detroit's East Side. CHERYL CHODUN REPORTS IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT

LANSING, Mich. - After his preacher problems, Barack Obama doesn't need another association with a charismatic, radioactive public figure. Still, Kwame Kilpatrick, the tarnished mayor of Detroit, is a hard man to avoid completely. That places the Democratic presidential candidate in a bit of a dilemma when he campaigns in Michigan this week and later in the race. Obama meets voters Monday in Troy, a Detroit suburb, just when his party needs to ease wounds from its internal fight over the renegade Michigan primary. The party's rules committee decided Saturday to seat the state's delegates at the convention but hold...

The married mayor also signed off on a confidentiality agreement that hid from the Detroit City Council the role those text messages played in an exorbitant $8.4 million settlement of a whistle-blowers' lawsuit by former police officers. The scandal has led the City Council to ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a fellow Democrat, to remove Kilpatrick from office for misconduct. The council accuses the mayor of violating provisions in the city charter as part of the whistle-blowers' settlement. The nine-member council also is expected to begin forfeiture of office proceedings against the mayor in about two weeks.

A day after a judge lashed out upon learning Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had skipped a court hearing and taken a trip to Texas, the mayor tells WXYZ the uproar "had nothing to do with me."

DETROIT- Attorneys for Kwame Kilpatrick are catching a judge's anger after the Detroit mayor missed a hearing in 36th District Court. Judge Ronald Giles complained Tuesday about Kilpatrick's absence and the short notice given of a weekend trip to Texas. Tuesday's hearing was on a motion filed by defense attorneys. Kilpatrick informed the court Saturday that he was flying to Texas on city business that night. His bond allows travel outside the state, but Giles has said the mayor is to attend hearings. Kilpatrick and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty face a Sept. 22 preliminary examination on perjury and...

Lansing, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office will review a City Council request to remove Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office, the governor's staff said Tuesday. Kilpatrick already faces perjury and other criminal charges involving a whistle-blowers' lawsuit settlement, and Granholm has said she wants the criminal process to play out. But that could last months, leading the council to ask the governor to remove Kilpatrick. State law allows the governor to remove an elected official from office for a number of reasons, including when an officeholder has been guilty of official misconduct. The 10-page petition and the supporting...

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Keynote Speaker for International Detroit Black Expo (IDBE) Buy Black Weekend II Ecumenical Prayer Service DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright will be the keynote speaker for the International Detroit Black Expo (IDBE) Buy Black Weekend II Ecumenical Prayer Service. The service will be held at the Fellowship Chapel in Detroit on Wednesday, June 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. This awe-inspiring ceremony, hosted by metro Detroit’s faith-based leaders, will be an evening to promote unity and harmony within the African-American community. Dr. Wright is the Senior Pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in...

The Detroit City Council Tuesday will officially ask Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. Last week, council members voted 5-4 to begin forfeiture of office proceedings against Kilpatrick. On a separate 5-4 vote, they approved asking Granholm to terminate Kilpatrick's hold on the mayor's office. A third vote -- to censure the mayor -- passed on a 7-2 vote.

Imagine living in a city with the country's highest violent-crime rate and second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker, you need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up toxic-waste sites than just about any other metropolitan area.

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2008 – The support Chrysler LLC offers the military is “an investment in freedom,” the company’s chief executive officer said today. Bob Nardelli, Chrysler chairman and CEO, talks with Marian Watt of Operation Quiet Comfort on May 16, 2008. Nardelli was at the Pentagon to talk with senior defense officials regarding his company's military-support initiatives. He visited representatives of some 38 troop-support groups who were participating in the 4th Annual America Supports You Salute to Our Military Men and Women. Defense Department photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Bob Nardelli, Chrysler’s top official,...

Sen. Barack Obama, the leading Democratic candidate for his party's nomination, is very fond of telling receptive audiences the story about how last May he walked right into the automotive lion's den of Detroit and told those industrialists they were going to have to shape up, change the way they do things and start making more fuel-efficient vehicles to protect our environment. "And I have to say," the straight-talking Obama tells his chuckling followers, "that when I delivered that speech, the room got really quiet. [Laughter] Nobody clapped." Well, in honor of Obama's return campaign visit back to Michigan this...

What would Michelle Obama do if she were called sweetie? WWMD? TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito A tip of the hat to Ben Smith over at Politico for reporting that Sen. Barack Obama referred to a female reporter in Detroit as "sweetie" when answering her question. Actually, when not answering her question. Kind of makes you wonder how wife Michelle would feel if she were referred to as "sweetie"?

Indianapolis, IN. The American Basketball Association (ABA) today announced the addition of the Detroit Zafir (Arabic for Victorious) which will begin play this fall. The team will feature players from the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait et al) and will play in the North Central Division. According to Joe Newman, ABA CEO, "We are very pleased and excited about this new team and know that it will add much to the league. Detroit has one of the nation's largest Middle Eastern populations, basketball is very popular and well played, and we expect this team to be very...

The City Council put aside more than three months of internal bickering and hand-wringing, narrowly approving efforts that take the first step toward removing popular Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who faces perjury and other charges related to explicit text messages sent to a former aide.

Detroit City Council Votes to Begin Removal Process of Mayor Kilpatrick. In a 5 to 4 vote, however one Council Women thinks the Mayor may be making overtures in regards to resigning

The Detroit City Council has taken the first step toward removing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick over a scandal involving explicit text messages to his former aide. The council's 5-4 vote Tuesday begins a process aimed at removing Kilpatrick. Council members also voted to ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove the mayor and voted to publicly censure him. . . . The mayor's office has said the council's actions are politically motivated. . . . Prosecutors have charged the two with perjury and obstruction of justice.

General Motors Headquarters, Detroit(DETROIT) - General Motors Corp. says it has bought its previously leased headquarters in downtown Detroit's towering Renaissance Center for $626 million. GM revealed the May 1 purchase in a filing Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. GM says it paid $626 million cash for the headquarters and $200 million cash for two office properties in nearby Pontiac, Mich. GM moved its headquarters from Detroit's Midtown neighborhood to the Renaissance Center in 1996 and has spent tens of millions of dollars on improvements to the complex, which includes Detroit's tallest building.

DETROIT, May 5, 2008 – Patriotism was in full gear at the Chrysler headquarters today, as hundreds gathered inside the star-spangled atrium of the automaker’s main hub to honor America’s men and women in uniform. Robert Nardelli, chairman and chief executive officer of Chrysler, signs a 5-Star Military Support Agreement on May 5, 2008, in Auburn Hills, Mich., pledging the automaker's commitment to continue supporting employees who are called into active military service. Defense Department photo by John J. Kruzel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. On the tiered floors of the glass-enclosed plaza here, employees hung over railings...

A few weeks ago, Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, wife of Congressman and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), erupted at Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. over some inconsequential, uninteresting slight, calling him "Shrek" and incoherently mumbling about his lack of "respect." David Freddoso links to this Detroit News video in which an unrepentant Mrs. Conyers attempts to justify her disgraceful behavior to a room full of pre-teen girls. Watch as Conyers gets worked—and I mean worked—by a delightful, clever, poised eighth grade girl named Kierra Bell:

DETROIT, May 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A funeral Mass burial for eighteen unborn babies will be offered this Saturday, May 3, by Bishop John Quinn of Detroit.  The remains of their bodies were discovered in dumpsters at the Woman Care abortion clinic on Southfield Road in Lathrup Village, Michigan which is operated by abortionist Alberto Hodari. Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, called upon all of the nation's Catholic priests today to offer a Mass within the next few days for the "Hodari babies."  The pro-life group Citizens for a Pro-life Society headed by Monica Migliorino...

13-year-old girl who boldly told councilwoman to act her age shows off media savvy by refusing to comment further. Charlie LeDuff / The Detroit News Detroit News is on the no-post list Link to printable version

I didn’t laugh out loud until she said, “You have to know your boundaries,” but it’s the line at the end that really brings down the house. Note to young Kierra, righteous in her irritation: Her grasp of boundaries isn’t Mrs. Conyers’s strong suit.

My column last weekend, "What I'd do as president," received more responses than any other column I've written to date. In that piece, I believe I struck a poignant chord with the American people, as well as with people as far away as Brazil, China, Israel, Africa, Australia and other lands. Therefore, I will continue this theme and apply it to Detroit, the city of my birth. What would I do if I were mayor of Detroit?

DETROIT -- Newly released text messages in the City Hall scandal surrounding Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick show that the mayor had handpicked and promoted the head of Internal Affairs, the guy who would be in charge of investigating him if corruption charges ever surfaced.

A judge on Tuesday allowed the release of raunchy text messages that a lawyer allegedly used to get Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to shell out $8 million in city money to make a police whistle-blower lawsuit go away.

Please read the article from the link. Also check out the blocked from the Freerepublic postings at the Detroit News and The Freep.

On the heels of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's speech last night in Detroit, the happiest person in the country has to be Hillary Clinton. The Wright speech, over a half hour chock full of total buffoonery, is the best thing that could have happened for Hillary. Meanwhile, one can picture Barack Obama with hands over his face as Wright spouted nonsense about left and right brains along with poor impressions of JFK and LBJ along with his imitation of the Florida A&M marching band. For most of us it was high comedy laughing AT Wright but for Obama it must...

Jeremiah Wright speaking live now. Fascinating. You can also get it live streaming from CNN

He (Mayor Kilpatrick) habitually used city funds like his personal bank – running up $200,000 in spa treatments and champagne, for example, early in his term. The mayor reimbursed the city for about $9,000 after the scandal broke, claiming that the rest of the charges reflected legitimate city business. The city at the time was cutting police officers, and even auditors, to plug a $250 million budget deficit. But the latest, most spectacular scandal had its genesis at a party that supposedly took place in the mayoral mansion to celebrate Mr. Kilpatrick's election, shortly after he took office. The allegation...

The Detroit Police Department has suspended all firearms investigations conducted by its crime lab and ordered it to undergo an independent audit.

Detroit has earned another dubious honor, the second place on Forbes magazine's list for the worst cities in the United States for jobs.

Kilpatrick told the crowd: "I'm not being whupped by the devil, I am being punished by my God. I know that my disobedience put me in the situation I am in."