I know it's Thursday, but....
"A year after bankruptcy filing, progress in Detroit; Vote results due on depth of cuts" by Corey Williams | Associated Press July 21, 2014
If you ignore the water shutoff, that is.
Related: I Know You Are Thirsting For This Post About Detroit
Drink deeply, readers.
DETROIT — Detroit neighborhoods are being relit, its vacant homes are being sold off or torn down, its public transportation is cleaner and more often on schedule, and the city has renegotiated some burdensome union contracts.
In the little more than a year since state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr made Detroit the largest US city to seek bankruptcy protection, it has experienced a wide range of improvements that will factor into Judge Steven Rhodes’s decisions during next month’s bankruptcy trial.
A piece of the bankruptcy puzzle could fall into place Monday, with the expected release of the results of a vote by creditors, including more than 30,000 retired and current city workers, on whether to accept millions of dollars in cuts.
When Orr filed for bankruptcy, Detroit’s debt then was estimated at $18 billion, and its revenue streams were too small to keep up with basic city services.
Since then, the city has installed at least 10,000 new streetlights. It is also going after absentee landlords, threatening to take and sell or demolish vacant houses that violate city codes. Eight houses awarded to the city’s Land Bank are being put up for auction. Belle Isle, the city’s most popular public park, has been put under state control and received a much-needed cleaning.
‘‘Things are being done now that weren’t being done,’’ said Detroit barber DeAngelo Smith. ‘‘I wouldn’t say it would have been as fast if the bankruptcy hadn’t been filed.’’
Some of the most dramatic changes were designed to save the city money and did not need to wait for the August bankruptcy confirmation trial.
Orr has frozen some benefits for participants in the city’s two pension systems and ended the city’s defined contribution plan. Additionally, the city no longer provides health insurance to retirees.
Deals were reached with unions and retirees on a hybrid pension plan in which current, non-uniformed workers will contribute 4 percent of their salary toward benefits. Current police and firefighters will contribute 6 percent. New police and fire department hires will chip in 8 percent of their base salary.
A coalition of 33 municipal unions, representing about 5,500 workers, also has banged out a 5-year contract after nine months of negotiations with the city. It calls for wage increases of 5 percent this year and 2.5 percent increases later.
‘‘We’re going to show what we’ve done to date, but also show more of what we need to do,’’ Orr spokesman Bill Nowling said, referring to the bankruptcy trial before Rhodes.
The bankruptcy and fear of what could happen during the trial have steered many of the decisions, according to bankruptcy expert Doug Bernstein. ‘‘Some people will ask, ‘What are my options? If I don’t get it resolved, then my option is I get to fight everything and maybe I win and maybe I don’t,’ ’’ he said.
It has helped Detroit that Orr and his small army of lawyers and consultants are overseeing the bankruptcy, which allows Mayor Mike Duggan to figure out what needs to be improved on the street level, Bernstein added.
What’s going on are improvements and a shifting of services to fit a population of about 700,000, rather than the 1.8 million Detroit was built to hold. ‘‘For so long. . . nobody wanted to change it. They just wanted to kick the can down the road,’’ Bernstein said. ‘‘Now, we’ve tackled it head-on.’’
Still, Ed McNeil, an official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said things are not so rosy in Detroit, because city jobs are being outsourced in the name of savings.
He points to job cuts in the Water Department, the hiring of outside contractors by the Public Lighting Authority, and the use of private companies to haul trash.
‘‘It’s a smoke screen,’’ McNeil said. ‘‘The only people who got better are the profiteers and the privateers.’’
Last week, the Detroit Institute of Arts said it had collected pledges for about 80 percent of the $100 million it promised toward an effort to prevent the sale of Detroit art and soften cuts to municipal retirees during the city’s bankruptcy.
The institute announced nearly $27 million in new donations and grants from prominent businesses, including $10 million from billionaire Roger Penske and his Penske Corp.
Other donations announced Wednesday include $5 million from Detroit-based utility DTE Energy, and $5 million from Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures.
The savior of the city!
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It's a rich person's paper through and through.
"No arrests in slaying of 11-year-old Chicago girl" Associated Press July 21, 2014
CHICAGO — Police searched on Sunday for the killer of an 11-year-old girl who was hit by a stray bullet fired into her friend’s home during a slumber party on Friday.
Related: Israel's Ground Assault in Gaza Continues
A police spokeswoman, Janel Sedevic, said Sunday afternoon that no one has been arrested. He declined to say if there were suspects.
Investigators believe the shooter was aiming at a rival in a gang dispute....
Shamiya Adams was one of four people killed by guns in Chicago since Friday night, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Thirty-two others were wounded.
The girl’s great-grandmother, Lourene Miller, said Sunday her family did all it could to protect the little girl, yet must now make plans to bury her....
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"Lawmaker’s aide in D.C. denies guilt in gun case" Associated Press July 21, 2014
PHILADELPHIA — A US representative’s press secretary has pleaded not guilty to a weapons charge after Capitol Police accused him of carrying a gun into a federal office building in Washington.
A lawyer for Ryan Shucard said he entered the plea Saturday in D.C. Superior Court. His lawyer, Jason Kalafat, called the gun incident unintentional.
Shucard is the press secretary for Representative Tom Marino, a Republican. He was released on his own recognizance.
Capitol Police say Shucard set off a metal detector Friday morning while entering the Cannon House Office building with a handgun and magazine.
Shucard was charged with carrying a pistol outside a home or business, which is a felony.
Shucard has worked since May for Marino, who represents northeastern Pennsylvania.
Bill Tighe, the congressman’s chief of staff, said Shucard has been placed on unpaid leave.
Shucard previously worked for Joseph Lieberman, former senator and independent of Connecticut.
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Amazing how the assholes screaming loudest about gun-control are packing themselves.
"NYC mayor draws crowds in Rome" New York Times July 21, 2014
NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio began his vacation in Rome with a news conference Sunday.
Moments after clearing customs and collecting his luggage in the morning, an unshaven de Blasio emerged outside the Fiumicino Airport in Rome to face a gaggle of American reporters and gawking Italians eager for a selfie with the New York dignitary.
Later, de Blasio took in a view of the Roman Forum from the Rome mayor’s balcony. After meeting Mayor Ignazio Marino, de Blasio said he ‘‘found a new brother’’ and recalled the strong ties between Rome and New York.
Earlier, the de Blasio family toured the Capitoline Museums and stopped by a cafe on Piazza Navona for a granita al caffe — an iced coffee drink popular on hot summer days.
At his airport press conference, the mayor said eight hours in a coach-class seat had been surprisingly comfortable, his 6-foot-6 frame aside.
“I give our European competitors at Airbus credit,” the mayor said, but his long-limbed teenage son, Dante, standing behind him, seemed to disagree, silently and strenuously shaking his head.
I'm shaking my head that this shit was considered newsworthy.
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Also see: Docking This Post
Sorry if I ignored your big city.
