Serving Metropolitan Detroit Since 1944
Serving Metropolitan Detroit Since 1944
Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 1009
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation almost 17% of African Americans do not have a bank account. Most Black neighborhoods do not have banks for two to three miles, but ATMs are never hard to find. The Black community is underserved in banking and financial literacy. Two young men are working to change that narrative and have built, Obsidian Banking. "Every time we talked it seemed to be about money, impact, things like that," says Steven Farrar partner of Obsidian Banking. Afte...
Improvements and development aimed at making the city of Ecorse a desirable place to work, live, and play are advancing steadily along says Ecorse Mayor Lamar Tidwell. In addition to new businesses which will be opening in the city in the upcoming year, the mayor is pleased to announce that the city recently received two grants from DTE Energy to update the city's park facilities. Brand new play structures are being installed this spring at city parks and improvements are planned for the city's...
Detroit, MI-As the result of a settlement agreement secured by the Sierra Club and Earthjustice in a Clean Air Act enforcement case, DTE Energy is giving a combined $2.7 million to ten community-based environmental justice projects in River Rouge, Ecorse, and the 48217 zip code aimed at improving public health and reducing environmental impacts. The projects were chosen by a five-member Community Environmental Action Committee of experts and leaders from the three communities including Sierra...
LANSING – Today, during Economic Development Week, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a total of $3 million is being awarded to fund infrastructure and public safety enhancements in 11 municipalities that will help move the municipality toward financial stability. "Today's grants will help protect public safety and enhance infrastructure in nearly a dozen communities across Michigan," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "As a former prosecutor, public safety is a core issue for me and I want f...
Westland - To ensure that Westland residents are adequately connected to needed mental health resources, the Westland Police Department has partnered Hegira Health to launch a mental health initiative led by a full time licensed master's level social worker operating out of the Department. The initiative will free up some officers to get back out on the streets to protect life and property, thus leaving in the hands of a well-trained and licensed behavioral health professional the equally...
Michigan lawmakers and pro-choice advocates were among those gathering Tuesday at courthouses, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect a person's right to an abortion. Politico obtained and released a draft majority opinion indicating that five of the nine high-court justices would vote to overturn the decision in the case Roe v. Wade. Michigan is among dozens of states with an abortion ban on the books that would become law if that happens. State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, noted...
LANSING, Mich., April 28, 2022 — Yesterday, during the Michigan House Appropriations Committee, Democrats offered several amendments that were subsequently voted down by Republicans. The amendments would have provided funding for police bias and de-escalation training, required officers to undergo annual psychological evaluations, and created a registry to track officers guilty of misconduct or improper use of force. “Too often, police officers face zero accountability for their misconduct,” said state Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit), a forme...
On April 26, President Biden used his pardon powers as President for the first time. The White House announced three pardons and the commuted sentences of 75 nonviolent drug offenders. The move by President Biden follows calls by justice reform activists to use the pardon power to correct disproportionate justice impacting minorities in the U.S. Biden's pardon list included Abraham Bolden, Sr., an 86-year-old former U.S. Secret Service agent who was the first African American to serve on a...
This is as urgent and real as it gets," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced his intentions to vote on legislation to codify the right to abortion law on Tuesday. Schumer said a vote on such legislation "is not an abstract exercise." "This is as urgent and real as it gets," Schumer pronounced. "We will vote to protect a women's right to choose, and every American is going to see which side every senator stands," he declared. The leader's action came after a leaked Supreme Court...
A prospective ballot initiative in Michigan would allow people in prison to earn time off their sentences through work training, earning a college degree or participating in anger-management or drug-treatment programs. The Good Time Initiative would mean earning credit toward completion of a person's sentence or the time until they'd be eligible for parole. Machelle Pearson was sentenced to life without parole in Michigan when she was 17. She was released in 2018 after the U.S. Supreme Court...
According to a report published this week by the American Lung Association, almost half of Americans – 137 million people – are experiencing more days of "very unhealthy" and "hazardous" air quality than in the previous two decades combined. The Lung Association's State of the Air report also revealed that 72 million people of color live in counties that received at least one failing grade for ozone and particle pollution. More than 14 million dwell in areas where health officials doled out fai...
DETROIT– Good Afternoon. We are pleased to announce plans for the upcoming 67thAnnual Detroit Branch NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner. I would also like to announce prior to the dinner we will enjoy through The Freedom Institute for Economic, Social Justice, and People Empowerment a series of events leading up to the NAACP's Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner. This is the 110th anniversary since the founding of the Detroit Branch NAACP. It was in 1912 that Detroit received its charter to operate a...
Whenever the history of racial discrimination in the United States appears to repeat itself, it produces predictable rhymes and sometimes tragic social consequences. Mark Twain, Ida B. Wells, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison all had one thing in common as visionary authors. They used their pens to offer literary critiques about America's historical inflection points concerning racism and systemic inequalities. The federal government's recent announcement that it is close to proscribing a ban on...
Missing white children receive far more media coverage than missing Black and Brown children. A fact advocates often point to when explaining the disparity in attention provided to individuals of color. But another unsettling fact has emerged with the release of the FBI's latest statistics on missing children. The federal agency noted about 346,000 children went missing in the United States in 2020, identifying 125,727 Black juveniles. In addition, the agency said 197,381 white kids went...
LANSING – Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II today joined Vision To Learn at Averill New Tech Elementary in Lansing to distribute eyeglasses to 35 students. Vision To Learn is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free eye exams and glasses to students for success in school and life. "School-based health services like Vision To Learn are a powerful tool to get students the resources they need," said Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. "By addressing common health issues like visio...
The Department of Health and Human Services said its increasing outreach to communities of color to encourage enrollment in free and low-cost health care, and the agency will address the maternal mortality crisis that disproportionately impacts Black and Native families, including by working with states to extend postpartum coverage in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security said its working to ensure that underserved communities ar...
INKSTER - Through the efforts of the Malcolm X Project in Inkster, the home where Malcolm X spent time plotting the path of his future life as a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and promotion of Islam is now designated as a national treasure. The efforts of a small group of dedicated Inkster residents led by Aaron Sims and former Inkster resident and Inkster Historian Robert Turley resulted in the designation of the home as important to the life of Malcolm X, a leader of the Black Muslim...
LANSING - Representatives Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) and Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) today announced legislation that would provide relief to customers who lose power during outages and increase accountability over utility companies’ poor performance. Supporters from the League of Conservation Voters and We the People Action Fund spoke at the event in favor of the legislation. The five bills would provide a number of protections for utility customers, including automatic bill credits when the power goes out repeatedly, escalating credits b...
Two hundred and thirty-two years, 116 justices, 108 white men, six women, 2 Black men, and 1 Latinx woman later, the United States Supreme Court finally has an African American woman serving as Associate Justice. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson earned confirmation with a 53-47 vote, breaking the glass ceiling after America's first Black woman Vice President, Kamala Harris, presided over the process to confirm her. "It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected...
Westland - Major improvements are slated for the city's crown jewel of its park system, Tattan Park. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has approved funding for two projects to enhance the existing amenities at Tattan Park. The first project involves the complete rebranding of the popular H20 Zone Splash Pad into a dinosaur themed attraction and updates to the attraction's operating system. The splash pad features are being replaced and designed by Rain Drop, based out of Ashland, Ohio....
Team work paid off. Three police personnel from River Rouge and two from Ecorse received FBI Director Certificates for their instinctive and heroic actions to safely apprehend FBI Tampa bank robber subject JOHN CHARLES ANDERSON on January 20, 2022. The officers also recovered critical evidence which led to additional federal firearms charges in the Eastern District of Michigan. River Rouge Deputy Police Chief Dasumo Mitchell stated, "It is an honor for our officers, this department and the city...
On April 4, 1968, an assassin's bullet ended the dynamic life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the age of 39. King stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, a site that's now a museum dedicated to the civil rights champion's life. James Earl Ray ultimately pleaded guilty to shooting King but later claimed he was a pawn in a more significant crime ring to kill the African American leader. On the 54th anniversary of King's death, observances took place around the nation,...
Many times small cities get overlooked when it come to big projects. The City of Ecorse has some big ideas to transform their Department of Public Works (DPW) Department and their Police Department. The goal is to be better equipped to serve the residents of Ecorse. The plan for the DPW is to build a new garage to be located at the City Hall. The project cost is just shy of $2 Million. From what has been discussed is that this project is shovel ready. The City has already completed the design...
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport's (DTW) North Terminal was renamed the Warren Cleage Evans Terminal on Monday, April 4, 2022. In June 2021, the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) Board of Directors unanimously voted to rename the North Terminal in honor of Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans. The terminal opened in 2008 to offer customers another world-class option at DTW and allowed for the retirement of the Smith and Berry terminals as passenger facilities. The North Terminal...
LANSING, – Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II today received the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) Improving Lives and Communities Award. Lt. Governor Gilchrist is the 2022 recipient of the annual award presented in partnership by the NLGA and Anthem. "I appreciate this recognition, as well as the opportunity to spread the word about Michigan's unique efforts to improve the quality of life for all residents, especially those most at-risk and in-need," said Lt. Governor Garlin...
