If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Many of us were collectively calling out for a fresh start at the end of 2012, which often manifests itself in the form of resolutions -- that may already be broken. But you don't need a new year to make improvements, just a fresh outlook.
Today In School Closures... Detroit is slated to close even more schools, reports CBS. Enrollment in the Motor City has dwindled from 150,000 to a projected 40,000. "A deficit elimination plan obtained by The Detroit News says the district will close 28 schools [by 2016]," CBS reports. "The closures are expected to save DPS about $13.4 million in operating expenses, but hundreds of district employees will be out of a job." The Free Press has a letter from emergency manager Roy Roberts to the district's employees: DPS has "accelerated the time line for its return to complete fiscal stability," he wrote. But Roberts hasn't said which schools will be shuttered.
I was sitting in a Manhattan movie theater waiting to see the newly Oscar-nominated Searching for Sugar Man, a documentary about the seeking and findi...
In recognition of the importance of repentance and judging others with the benefit of the doubt, I wish Delmon Young the best in Philadelphia. I don't suspect he will find himself getting in trouble again since I wholeheartedly believe he learned his lesson well.
The attitude that one neighborhood is safer than the other and that it is each community's own crime issue to be dealt within isolation. It is the muggers and thugs being told to hit the 8 mile.
Like most Detroiters, I have a special fondness for Belle Isle. I've lived close to the Detroit River since 2005, and even when I don't walk or bike on the island or enjoy the solitude, which I do fairly often, knowing that our island sanctuary is there provides respite to the soul.
Picture a Detroit full of small mistakes. What if, as an existing or would-be community developer, I could be inspired and informed on an issue that affects me and my fellow citizens?
"As times change, so must we," President Barack Obama said in his eloquent and inspiring inaugural address. In many ways, President Obama's speech was a continuation of his campaign to engage women, gays, immigrants and the middle class.
Volunteer service projects are often of the paint/fix/clean-up type. But this year's new listings of school projects across DPS on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day have a lot of good options for the breed of volunteer who has to know that when they serve, they're doing something to change the world.
Why do so many communities fail to grow in good economic times and remain durable in downturns? What are the gaps between our immediate surroundings and our ability to significantly affect them for the better?
As Detroiters, we embrace our city's non-residential stakeholders. We embrace the fact that many are rooting for us; understanding that we will never have a thriving state of Michigan, or southeast region without a vibrant city of Detroit.
There's nothing new in the need for places to grow their appeal and maintain it. Throughout history, attractive locations have acted as a magnet for people, economic activity and cultural life, which all boosted their power and attractiveness.
Detroit is known as the nation's manufacturing capital for good reason: it still has the facilities, the firms, the research institutions, the workforce, and -- of course -- the grit to justify the title. The right kind of assistance could get Motor City rolling again.
As Detroit nears the possible appointment of an emergency financial manager, it's important to note that although the current pace of change is not as rapid as necessary to extinguish this fiscal crisis, we have made progress since 2009.
We can make our neighborhoods safer. We can light our streets, clean up the blight and fix our roads. We can educate our babies.
Today, as social, economic and demographic realities emerge all over the world -- and come to a head in places like Wisconsin and Michigan and Greece -- unions are struggling to survive.
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