Hallelujah All photos by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog As I wrote back January (has it been that long?), the Detroit City Council set itself up to be the punchline of a bad joke when it rejected an offer by the State of Michigan to make the fabulous Belle Isle our state’s newest state park. However, in his best […]

#SaveTheArt Earlier this month, in the dark of night, a giant dragon sidled its way up to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). It belched out a giant plume of flame which ignited a gas-soaked sign on the front lawn of the museum which spelled out the phrase #SaveTheArt. The scene was the artistic creation of Detroit artist Ryan C. […]

The cavalry is coming! The cavalry is coming! [Image by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog] The Obama adminstration will be in Detroit today and bring with them $300 million in new federal and private investments, much of which is designed to eradicate blight and foster an environment of rehabilitation. The delegation is led by chief White House economic adviser, […]

Sometimes ya just gotta laugh The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has put together a website that tells the story of Detroit’s financial crisis. While most of what your read these days is peril and gloom and desperation, AFSCME has taken a more light-hearted approach, telling the story using humorous animated GIFs. It’s called “GIFtroit” and, […]

Treating people with this level of disdain will lead to no good end [Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog] Last week on Wednesday, September 11th, during a 90+ degree heat wave and just two days after an escaped prisoner terrorized the city, Detroit Chief Compliance Officer Gary Brown intentionally and without notice cut power to major buildings in […]

Doing well by doing good This story refutes absolutely everything corporatists and companies whose business model requires the lowest labor costs possible want you to believe. According to them, there is no way fast food joints can succeed, turn a profit, and grow if they are forced to pay their workers a living wage. “Nobody will pay for burgers that […]

Pay no attention to the hypocrite behind the curtain [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] Last Friday the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union issued subpoenas for Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, Michigan treasurer Andy Dillon, and “transformation manager” Richard Baird, compelling their testimony regarding the Snyder administration’s […]

What Detroit needs is an actual expert Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog. The following is a guest post by Roger Kerson and is Part 2 of a 2-part series. You can read Part 1 HERE. Roger is a Michigan-based media consultant for labor unions, environmental group and non-profit organizations. He was director of public relations at the […]

There’s more to see in Detroit than meets the eye Eclectagraphic by Anne C. Savage The following is a guest post by Roger Kerson and is Part 1 of a 2-part series. Roger is a Michigan-based media consultant for labor unions, environmental group and non-profit organizations. He was director of public relations at the United Auto Workers during the GM […]

There are two sides to this story Earlier this month, the Detroit News printed an op-ed from an anti-union corporatist group known as the Franklin Center. This Koch brothers’ funded group is nothing more than a propaganda arm of the corporate-funded effort to destroy unions, stop the regulation of corporations whenever possible, and to pass laws that benefit corporate profits […]

What the…? Updated below. The day after Detroit’s mayoral primary, pundits everywhere were astonished at his write-in campaign victory. According official tallies immediately after the election, Duggan got an amazing 44,395 write-in votes. Today, however, according to the Detroit News, the Board of Canvassers declared his opponent, Sheriff Benny Napoleon, the victor. According to the News’ reporting, Napoleon’s vote count […]