A struggle for authority over Detroit Public Schools (DPS) ensues amid court hearings, misinformation and budget issues, making it unclear to some who is actually running the district. During a DPS board meeting Dec. 13, President LaMar Lemmons reaffirmed the body’s authority over the state’s largest school district. Lemmons vowed to clean up the district’s top-heavy administration and address issues relate ...

What are your plans for the holiday season? ...

A federal grant may be a piece of the solution to the state’s doctor shortage. Chris Allen, chief executive officer of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority, said $21 million of a $231 million federal grant was allocated to fund 85 new primary care positions in internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology and geriatrics. “Using the emergency room for primary care ...

If anyone doubted whether December 2012 would hail the end of the world as we know it, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, the Republican-controlled state legislature and the Democrats running the city of Detroit delivered the proof on the eve of 12-12-12. On that fateful evening, despite clear indications from the public only a month before, officials holding the public trust cashed in their 30 pieces of silver and ...

This is a sacred time shrouded in sadness. This is usually a season to celebrate family ties and wishes for peace. But this week the holiday season was disrupted by the senseless massacre of 27 people. Twenty of them were small children. ...

Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx (Ray) stars with Kerri Washington and Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino’s spaghetti western/’70s Blaxploitation film “Django Unchained.” Foxx plays Django, an ex-slave turned bounty hunter hired to go after the man (DiCaprio) who purchased his wife (Washington). Samuel L. Jackson also stars. “Django” opens in theaters Dec. 25. ...

Nearly 500 citizens stood in the blistering cold outside East Lake Baptist Church Dec. 10 to attend a public hearing held by City Council to share their views on the largest speculative land sale in Detroit history. Most opposed the sale of more than 1,500 parcels of city-owned land to Hantz Woodlands. Citizens referred to the sale as a “land grab” and held signs that read “No to Hantz Woodlands land grab” ...

The Michigan House and Senate have passed bill that will make Michigan a “right to work” state. Unfortunately, most citizens are unaware of what “right to work” means or the implications of such a law. To begin, the term “right to work” (RTW) is a misnomer. RTW has nothing to do with the right of a person to seek and accept gainful employment. ...

By a 5-4 vote Dec. 11, City Council approved a $300,000 contract with law firm Miller Canfield. Mayor Dave Bing says Miller Canfield is necessary in the effort to gain financial stability for the city. Some Council members had reservations. Members opposing the contract cite a possible conflict of interest as Miller Canfield was involved in drafting the state’s emergency manager law. ...

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, after he — along with Council members Saunteel Jenkins, James Tate, Gary Brown and Charles Pugh — voted to approve the ill-conceived Hantz land sale proposal, he was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying, “a ‘no’ vote would have sent the message to the world that Detroit isn’t really serious about urban agriculture.” ...