Police officers and fire fighters got attention in August for distributing flyers at Tigers’ games, warning fans to “enter Detroit at your own peril.” Their anger at cuts necessitated by a shrinking tax base might well be directed at their own Police and Fire Pension Fund. The fund is out to further decimate neighborhoods by ousting a group of homeowners who never directly borrowed from them. ...

Weeks after voters rejected police and fire millage renewals, Benton Harbor Emergency Financial Manager Joseph Harris has announced a “special assessment” to fund the city’s public safety expenses. ...

Michigan Board of Canvassers certified Proposal 1 Nov. 26, making the repeal of Public Act 4 official. The law, which gave unchecked powers to emergency managers over fiscally-challenged cities and school districts had been suspended since Aug. 8 when the Board of Canvassers, following an Appeals Court order, approved petitions to place the law on the November ballot. ...

State Rep. Fred Durhal, D-Detroit, announced his candidacy for mayor, Nov. 26, at Detroit’s Unity Baptist Church. Durhal currently represents the 6th District of Michigan, which includes parts of Detroit’s west side and southwest side. ...

The holiday season has begun — Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the New Year. What does this time of year mean to you? ...

A team of citizens and supporters from across Michigan and from as far as New York City gathered Nov. 20 to erect the first solar-powered streetlight in Highland Park. ...

What kind of city will Detroit become? That is the fundamental question underlying the struggles swirling through the City Council chambers. It is the question that has been brewing, sometimes boiling over, in public opposition to much of the direction dictated by the state, the foundation-government elite and Mayor Dave Bing. ...

Nearly 400 Detroiters showed up at City Council Nov. 20 for the last formal session of the year, some arriving as early as 7 a.m. for the 10 a.m. council meeting. Public comment, beginning at 10:30, lasted late into the afternoon. Citizens “begged” and “pleaded” with Council to vote down three critical measures: The purchase agreement with Hantz Farms, where CEO John Hantz would acquire 1,900 parcels of cit ...

The Republican offensive, the reenactment of Public Act 4 (PA4), the Emergency Manager Law has begun. Lawmakers are poised to act with drafts of legislation for revised emergency manager (EM) laws along with a municipal bankruptcy authorization. The bills are crafted in opposition to voters who support local control rather than rule by a state-imposed all-powerful emergency manager. ...

Hantz Farms is close to purchasing 1,956 vacant lots from the city of Detroit for $600,000. But many are concerned with how the company would handle the 170-acre parcel. The land would be used for forestry development by Hantz Woodlands, a division of Hantz Farm. John Hantz is the CEO of Hantz Group. Detroit City Council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee expressed myriad concerns at a Nov. 8 mee ...