Free Republic

General Motors Co on Monday pulled the plug on the Chevrolet Volt hybrid and the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant that builds it, both examples of a costly gamble that is not paying off. GM’s widely touted factory of the future, forced on a town desperate for jobs and hailed decades later by former resident Barack Obama, is set to wind down over the next few years, leaving beleaguered Hamtramck wondering what happened. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a news conference Monday that he told GM chief executive Mary Barra Monday that “we moved thousands of people out of that neighborhood...

Jacob Sullum'sSyndicated Column Razing Objections (8/6) Crossballs Puzzle (7/30) Heavy Burden (7/22) Earlier Columns August 6, 2004 Razing Objections A court rediscovers property rights in the rubble of Poletown Jacob Sullum Just before dawn on July 14, 1981, Detroit police hooked a tow truck to the basement door of the Immaculate Conception Church on Trombly Street and tore it off its hinges. They stormed in and arrested a dozen parishioners who were making a desperate, doomed attempt to save part of their neighborhood from an assault by an unbeatable alliance of big government, big business, and big labor. This...

Michigan Supreme Court strikes down 1981 Poletown decision By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press 7/30/2004, 7:30 p.m. ET DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday redefined the power of Michigan governments to take property for development projects, overruling a landmark 1981 decision and barring Wayne County from acquiring land for a 1,300-acre project near Detroit Metropolitan Airport. On the court's final day of its term, all seven justices agreed that the earlier precedent should be overturned, though they differed on the reasons and whether the decision should be applied retroactively. Justice Robert Young, who wrote the lead opinion,...

<p>DETROIT -- In a case that could redefine the power of Michigan governments to take property for development projects, the state Supreme Court is revisiting its landmark 1981 decision that allowed the clearing of the city’s Poletown neighborhood to make way for a General Motors Corp. plant.</p>