I’m en route to Netroots Nation but had to pull off to blog THIS: A whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a former top aide to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing this morning alleges that the mayor had plans to be named emergency manager for the city and Detroit Public Schools, dissolving the city council and the school board. ~SNIP~ Collins said in […]

A friend of a friend, Sara Haile-Mariam, an an independent consultant who makes occasional appearances on news shows to talk politics, made this video after learning about the travesty that happened at the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit. It’s pretty powerful stuff. Yup, they arrested and handcuffed pregnant teenage girls because they were trying to save their school. Absolutely amazing. […]

Over 80 bus drivers in Detroit got the “flu” today so they could join the We Are the People protest rally happening at the Capitol building in Lansing. Extra delays of 30 minutes or more for city bus riders will be the norm today after more than 80 Detroit Department of Transportation drivers called in sick to join protests in […]

At the 2011 Michigan Democratic Convention this past Saturday, attendees got to watch their party leadership punch itself in the face with not just their right hand, but also their left. State Party Chairman Mark Brewer faced a challenge to his seat from only one other candidate, Detroit TV producer Ron Scott. I sat in on the 8:30 a.m. (ugh) […]

Not content to kick Detroit while it was down, disgraced former Detorit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is now kicking the rest of us Michiganders in the teeth. To wit: Taxpayers to foot bill for Kilpatrick’s defenseDetroit — Clad in an inmate’s uniform and leg irons, a noticeably thinner Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded poverty Tuesday when charged in federal court with 19 counts […]

The uber-conservative Thomas More Law Center out of Ann Arbor has asked a federal court to force the Detroit-area SMART transportation authority to run ads on their buses that are seen as anti-Islam. The Thomas More Law Center, a conservative legal group, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on Thursday that asks a federal judge to side with […]

Yup, the ole stimulus package is an utter failure. Just look at how it’s failing in Michigan: Washington — A light rail plan along Woodward to connect downtown Detroit with the New Center area will get a $25 million infusion of federal money, officials briefed on the matter told The Detroit News. The federal funds — to be announced today […]

As reported by Devilstower on the front page of the Daily Kos a couple of days ago, the Teabaggers were ready to hit the ground protestin’ at the Detroit Auto Show. Ready to protest bailing out the auto industry. You know, the one that employs 60% of Michigan workers? Well, they were outnumbered by some union folks who showed up […]

Cross-posted at Blogging For Michigan. As I sit here in frigid Michigan this morning, I’m contemplating the state of our state. And pondering if we are, perhaps, a bellwether for the rest of the country, particularly in terms of Democrats and our political future. It’s a mixed bag in Michigan, to be sure. As I blogged about last week, there’s […]

Lots of good news coming out of Michigan this week in the area of electric vehicle manufacture. First, today marks the first day of production for GM’s lithium-ion battery pack at its Brownstown Pack Assembly Plant. “This is an important milestone for GM — and a critical step in bringing the Chevrolet Volt to market,” GM CEO and Chairman Ed […]

From the Recommended List at Daily Kos. Something happened in Detroit on Wednesday this week that flew beneath the radar of many Americans. Nearly 35,000 Detroiters converged on Cobo Hall to get one of the 5,000 applications for federal aid to people in poverty. Via the Detroit News: They came by foot, wheelchair, bicycle and car. About six left by […]