The for real big ballers and
shot callers came out to
Manhood in Southfield
for a delicious open house,
where at the door, the
fellas were greeted by a
sexy female model dipped
entirely in chocolate. Yumm!
About a hundred guys (and a
few daring girls) showed up
at the man spa, and were
treated to tasty hors d
'oeuvres, champagne, beer,
wine and soft drinks. There
was a very sexy lingerie
show, and several guests
indulged in some of the spas
lighter services, including
manicures, facials and
mustache trims. Detroit
Piston Rasheed Wallace
was in the house, and so was
D.C. (Derrick Coleman),
whose wife Gina owns
the women’s spa, The Green
Room, on the lower level of
the Manhood structure.
Gia Marable, the sassy,
sexy owner of Manhood stood
behind a counter looking
very pleased with the
evenings turnout.
Esthetically, the spa is
beautiful, comfortable, and
sexy with a very relaxing
atmosphere. We haven't had
a chance to try any of the
services just yet. As soon
as we do, we'll clue you in,
but they offer everything
from full body massages to
eyebrow trimming. Prices
can run anywhere from $15 to
about $300.
For the first time in
more than a decade, it appeared that nearly half
of the next Detroit City Council will be made up
of new members.
With 52% of the
precincts reporting, four newcomers -- Monica
Conyers, wife of Congressman John Conyers,
Communication Workers of America Local 4004
union leader Brenda Jones, Wayne County
Commissioner Kwame Kenyatta and Motown artist
Martha Reeves -- seemed likely to join the
nine-member body.
The council also
appeared headed toward a new leadership team
with the son and widow of legendary radical
lawyer Kenneth Cockrel at its helm.
Kenneth Cockrel Jr. led
with 10% of the vote , while Sheila Cockrel was
second with 8% of the vote. If those places
hold, they would become the council president
and president pro tem, respectively.
"We worked hard, we ran
a very aggressive race ... it looks like it paid
off," Kenneth Cockrel Jr. said Tuesday night.
"Now, I'm ready to get to work."
The other incumbents
likely to be re-elected were JoAnn Watson,
Barbara-Rose Collins and Alberta Tinsley-Talabi.
Council President
Maryann Mahaffey was in the last spot with 3% of
voters choosing her. Voters had been urged not
to vote for her, even though her name was on the
ballot, because she is retiring at the end of
the year. Councilman Alonzo Bates was 17th with
3.1% of the vote.
On Tuesday, as
Detroiters cast ballots for the City Council,
many said they wanted a change on the often
contentious legislative body.
"I tried to stay away
from the incumbents and the challengers I knew,
I voted for them," said R.C. Smith, 44, who
voted at Cannon Recreation Center on the east
side.
Matthew Caruso, 18, who
attends Dearborn Heights Annapolis High, a
school of choice, was voting in his first
election.
He had what his mother
described as his crib sheet of council
candidates he did research on for a school
government class.
Asked who he voted for,
he recited their names in alphabetical order:
"Barnes, Bates, Butler, Collins, Conyers, Davis,
Dearing, Jones, and Kenty."
Other voters said they
wanted a little more action and a lot less drama
from the City Council.
"We need people who can
get along and work together," said Ray Gilmore,
44, a Detroit police officer who lives in the
university district. "I think we need a change
on City Council."
Gilmore said the only
incumbent he voted for was Councilwoman Sheila
Cockrel.
Others skipped voting
for perennial favorite Mahaffey and the
embattled Bates, who came in 16th out of 18 in
the primary. He is under federal investigation
into hiring practices in his office.
"Alonzo Bates, I
wouldn't think twice about voting for him. I
know I didn't vote for him," said Jerome Hall,
45, of the west side. He said he did not like
the way Bates dodged questions from the media.
"Say something, tell a lie, don't say no
comment."
But some like Juanita
Davis, 57, still cast an appreciation vote for
Mahaffey, despite her retirement.
"I'll always vote for
her," Davis said.
Moet Freeman
hendrix loses mayor race election to
kwame kilpatrick karen dumas upfront and
jackie currie losesctar Imperial champagne in Atlanta.
Lobster tail in Chi
Character matters in an
elected official. Personal
integrity, a strong sense of
propriety, a genuine respect
for the people's money are
prerequisite attributes for
holding public office.
These traits must be weighed
even before assessing a
candidate's policies and
positions. We considered
personal qualities in
endorsing Freman Hendrix
for mayor of Detroit in the
Aug. 2 primary.
We
believe Hendrix has the
strength of character to
lift from this city the fog
of suspicion and distrust
that has led to a general
pessimism and tainted the
administration of Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick and helped
stall the city's recovery.
In
addition, we believe Hendrix
presents the disciplined
approach needed to bring
Detroit back from the brink
of financial ruin. He offers
a plan to restructure
Detroit to serve a shrinking
population, and to halt the
30-year decline by making
the city a better place to
live and do business.
Hendrix, deputy mayor under
former Mayor Dennis Archer
in the 1990s, is
experienced, mature and
capable.
He
has excellent relations with
the business community and
with regional leaders, is
well-liked by city employees
and has lived in Detroit
long enough to understand
the challenges facing its
residents.
Kilpatrick's missteps
Four years ago, we endorsed
Kwame Kilpatrick as mayor,
seeing him as the torch
carrier for a new generation
of Detroiters who would
revive the city with youth
and energy.
Kilpatrick has dropped that
torch. While he brought in
some very bright minds to
help run the city, he also
surrounded himself with old
buddies who too often
embarrassed his
administration.
Detroit continues to lose
population at the rate of
about 1,000 residents a
month. Most of those who are
leaving are the middle-class
families that are vital to
the city's survival.
Kilpatrick waited too long
to begin restructuring
Detroit government,
including the downsizing of
the work force.
Financially, Detroit is much
worse off than when
Kilpatrick took over the
city, and it is flirting
with the very real
possibility of receivership
if unions don't accept pay
and benefit concessions now
on the table.
The
police department is under
Justice Department
oversight, and the housing
department just last week
was taken over by the
federal Housing and Urban
Development department.
Not
all of this is Kilpatrick's
fault. He took over a tough
job. And he has made some
progress in right-sizing the
city, bringing some new
development downtown, and
encouraging housing starts.
But
not enough. And certainly
not enough to make up for
his personal missteps,
mostly involving his
appetite for the high life.
Those have been
well-documented and don't
need to be chronicled here.
It's enough to say that the
national headlines made by
Kwame Kilpatrick too often
involved personal escapades.
That hurt Detroit's already
tattered image. And
Kilpatrick was tone-deaf to
the damage caused by his
behavior. He has not learned
from his mistakes.
Hendrix's promise
Freeman Hendrix has put some
solid ideas on the table. He
recognizes that restoring
Detroit will be a deliberate
process, and will start with
fixing systems.
He
promises to bring efficiency
to the police department,
streamline permitting, cut
property taxes and focus on
core services.
He
has been straightforward
with the employee unions who
support his candidacy about
the need to cut the city's
payroll.
Hendrix also will rebuild
strained relations with
suburban leaders, and he
will seek regional solutions
to some of Detroit's
problems, including such
things as asking the
Huron-Clinton Metropark
Authority to help with Belle
Isle.
He
pledges to bring sound
business practices to the
city, to run an open
government and to listen to
all those with ideas for
fixing Detroit.
Freman Hendrix offers the
promise of a mature and
above-board administration,
which is exactly what
Detroit needs.
cago. Limos in
Washington, D.C.
Kilpatrick's Tab
Detroit
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's
city-issued credit card has
logged more than 78 meals at
local restaurants and
establishments across the
country during his first 33
months in office. The city
provided the Free Press with
detailed receipts for only a
handful of the meals. It is not
clear who or how many people
dined on the city's card.
Here is
a sampling of the some of the
larger charges:
2002
Jan. 25:
$283.24 at Danny's Grand Sea
Palace, New York City
April 3:
$237.48 at the Beach Grill, St.
Clair Shores
April 14:
$211.68 at the Cheesecake
Factory, Las Vegas
April 26:
$239.79 at Opus One, Detroit
Dec. 8:,
$258.39 at Ruth's Chris Steak
House, New York City
2003
Feb. 16:
$167.96 at Charley's Crab, Grand
Rapids
July 16:
$257.15 at the Ivy, Los Angeles
Aug. 7:
$228.37 at McCormick & Schmick's,
Washington, D.C.
Sept. 25:
$456.47 at the Capital Grille,
Washington, D.C.
2004
June 10:
$196.22 at Emeril's, Miami Beach
As
Detroit eliminated thousands of jobs,
struggled with exploding pension and
health care costs and became a city on
the brink of receivership, Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick charged more than $210,000 to
his city-issued credit card in less than
three years on the job, city records
show.
The tab for
taxpayers started climbing a week after
Kilpatrick took office in January 2002,
with a $196 charge at Tom's Oyster Bar
in Detroit. Although the mayor's
city-issued credit card has picked up
the bill at many local eateries --
including a $1,285 charge at Sweet
Georgia Brown -- some of the largest
have come on the road.
Kilpatrick
spent more than $600 on Jan. 23, 2002,
at two upscale hotspots while attending
the U.S. Conference of Mayors' winter
meeting in Washington, D.C.
Records show he
charged $319 at Ozio Restaurant &
Lounge, a chic Art Deco cigar and
martini bar that caters to celebrities.
Earlier that day he charged $292 at the
Capital Grille, a swanky restaurant that
boasts that it "isn't just the place to
be seen, it's the place to be seen
having a fabulous time." In addition to
its panoramic view of the U.S. Capitol
and wine list with more than 800 labels,
its Web site asks customers to "remind
yourself why you work so hard."
Kilpatrick is
unique among the Detroit area's top
public officials, who told the Free
Press they do not have government-issued
credit cards.
Spokesman
Howard Hughey said Kilpatrick's charges
for meals "are a direct reflection of
his efforts to bring public and private
investment opportunities to Detroit.
"Indicative of
a first-term mayor, he took the
necessary time to meet with several
individuals and companies who would help
in his efforts to grow Detroit."
It is difficult
to tell on what and on whom Kilpatrick
spent the money, though the bulk of it
went for hotel rooms and airline tickets
for him and his staff. There are many
receipts missing from the records.
Earlier this year, city Auditor General
Joseph Harris found that $16,527 in
expenses did not have supporting
documentation.
There are just
a handful of detailed receipts. Two
instances in which Kilpatrick provided
such receipts for meals showed that
alcohol had been charged to the city's
credit card in an apparent violation of
city policy.
Kilpatrick's
predecessor, Dennis Archer, said Monday
that he never billed taxpayers for
alcohol and routinely provided detailed
receipts listing the names of his staff
who ate with him on the city's credit
card. Archer said he did not stick
taxpayers with the bill for any meal
over about $40, instead using his money
or campaign funds, or tapping a
nonprofit fund local corporations set up
to promote Detroit.
"The city
really had no funds to entertain
anybody," said Archer, whose eight years
in office included some of the most
prosperous times in recent Detroit
history.
Still, Archer
said: "I just wanted to avoid the
appearance of conflict. ... I just did
not view that I could walk into a town
hall meeting and justify buying
alcoholic beverages at taxpayers'
expense."
Officials in
the city's law and finance departments
told the Free Press they could not find
records detailing Archer's use of his
city-issued credit card.
Kilpatrick,
whose salary was $176,176 before he said
he would cut it by 10 percent to help
close a projected $230-million gap in
the city's $1.6-billion general fund
budget, is the only city employee who is
issued a credit card. A city finance
manager, Mike Lane, said he believed
mayors have been issued a credit card
since the 1970s.
The Free Press
requested Kilpatrick's credit card
records nearly a year ago under the
Michigan Freedom of Information Act. The
law gives government officials up to
three weeks to produce documents.
Nevertheless, the newspaper did not
receive any records until last month.
Gov. Jennifer
Granholm does not have a state-issued
credit card and can receive no more than
$44 a day for meals when she's out of
state, said Bridget Medina, a state
spokeswoman.
Oakland County
Executive L. Brooks Patterson said
Monday he has not billed the county for
a meal in the last three years, except
for during a November trade mission to
Germany. The whole trip cost taxpayers
just over $3,000. He said he pays for
meals using campaign funds or a
nonprofit group established to promote
Oakland County.
Wayne County
Executive Robert Ficano receives a $28
per diem for meals when traveling, said
his spokeswoman, Sharon Banks. Macomb
County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman
Nancy White, like all county employees,
receives $31 a day for meals while
traveling, said county spokesman Phil
Frame.
Employees are
not required to provide receipts or
details to get the money, he said,
adding that many elected officials also
raise money to cover expenses.
Detroit city
workers traveling on official business
receive a per diem of $4 for breakfast
and $9.20 for lunch. Lane, the finance
official, said he has not seen a dinner
per diem approved in three years.
Kilpatrick's
credit card records show that, on at
least one occasion, he had a champagne
budget.
Literally.
On March 31,
2002, records show a bottle of Moet &
Chandon Nectar Imperial champagne, four
Malibu Rum drinks and three shots of
Chambord liqueur were charged to
Kilpatrick's city credit card at
Justin's Restaurant & Bar in Atlanta.
The bar tab far
exceeded the cost of the barbecue
shrimp, egg rolls and fritters on the
$194 bill from the restaurant owned by
hip-hop music impresario Sean (P. Diddy)
Combs.
Lane said
paying for the alcohol was an oversight.
It is not clear
why the mayor was in Atlanta.
Kilpatrick's
credit card shows 78 charges for meals
both at home and on the road from when
he took office in January 2002 through
September 2004, the most recent records
available. The number of meals does not
include room service during hotel stays.
Some
information has been deleted from the
records, such as the names of police
bodyguards who traveled with the mayor
and a handful of expenses Kilpatrick has
reimbursed. The Free Press requested
documentation for the mayor's
reimbursements.
Besides the
meal at Justin's, another detailed meal
receipt turned over to the newspaper
shows a $296 tab from Bob Chinn's Crab
House in Chicago on Feb. 21, 2003. It
was not clear why Kilpatrick was in
Chicago, where he visited for less than
a day.
The bill, which
appears to cover several entrees,
includes two orders of crab legs at
$39.95 each, a $32.95 charge for an
8-ounce lobster tail, two beers and a
tumbler of Glenlivet scotch.
Hughey said he
has never seen the mayor drink alcohol.
The records
also show that the mayor, on at least
four occasions, has used his city credit
card to rent limousines.
Metro Detroit´s Sexiest
Will be Reealed in an All-New Magazine Titled ´Metro
Exposure´
DETROIT, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/
--
DETROIT, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/
-- A one of a kind full color glossy magazine is about
to hit the newsstands ... and it's called Metro Exposure
(ME).
Metro Exposure magazine will
feature a variety of cross cultural voices, offering
exciting, yet compelling articles that will illustrate
the hottest sights, sounds, events and people of our
city today, and beyond. You can expect the latest in
arts and entertainment, fashion, design trends, in-depth
features, travel, business and food articles. Metro
Exposure promises to fill a void and cater to audiences
other Detroit magazines have left behind. The magazine
will be published twice quarterly, beginning with eight
issues, per year.
Metro Exposure's debut December
2004 issue will be filled with fabulous features,
including the inside scoop on the 20 sexiest people in
Metro Detroit that includes people like Bob "The
Bachelor" Guiney, Monica Del Signore, owner of Bacco
Ristorante in Southfield, Shelly Golden, wife of D.O.C.
owner Richard Golden, and recently retired Detroit Lion,
Robert Porcher. Also gracing the pages of the first
issue will be an in-depth story on how businesses in
Detroit are feeling the effects of no hockey in "Hockeytown,"
as well as a profile story on the success behind the
Andiamo Italian restaurants. Offering insight is the "If
I knew then what I know now" feature with December's
issue including quotes from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and
Attorney Geoffrey Fieger.
Recognizing the need to
premiere a cross-cultural magazine in Metro Detroit are
owners Art Danou, of West Bloomfield, Marvin Glenn, and
Art Gappi, both of Birmingham. Emin Kadi, of Royal Oak,
is the creative director, who also happens to be the
publisher of internationally renowned, Clear magazine.
Chuck Bennett was named Editor-in-Chief, bringing his
thirty plus years of newspaper and magazine experience
to Metro Exposure magazine.
Metro Exposure will hit
newsstands on December 13, 2004, with a complimentary
issue. Area Border's stores, fine dining restaurants,
clubs and upscale hotels in and around metro Detroit
will be carrying Metro Exposure. The magazine will then
sell for $3.95 beginning with the February 2005 edition.
The magazine will target the 25-55 year old male/female
audience for readership, with average household incomes
of $100,000 a year.
Metro Exposure (ME) magazine
will premiere at an invitation only gala set for Friday,
December 10, 2004, from 6 until 10 p.m. at Erhard BMW of
Farmington Hills located at 38700 Grand River Avenue.
Metro Exposure
CONTACT: Mort Meisner of Mort
Meisner Associates, +1-248-545-2222, for
Metro Exposure
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A pretrial in Southfield this
morning for Tommy Hearns the seven-time world-boxing
champion charged with assaulting his 13-year-old son
was adjourned until Jan. 26.
Hearns attorney, Michael Smith, told 46th District
Court Judge Shelia Johnson that the defense was still
waiting to see evidence from the Oakland County
Prosecutors Office, including photographs of the
teenager taken after the alleged assault.
Hearns, 47, of Southfield, is charged with misdemeanor
assault and battery and faces a maximum sentence of up
to 93 days in jail.
Neither Smith nor Hearns would comment after the
hearing. The boy was not present.
Southfield police said the incident occurred after an
argument between Hearns and his son at their home on the
20500 block of Norwood turned physical on Jan. 1, with
the teen suffering a swollen eye and cut on his chin.
There have been conflicting accounts of the incident,
however, from Southfield Chief of Police Joseph Thomas
Jr. and Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca.
Gorcyca told the Free Press this week that Thomas, who
said the teen is partly at fault for being disobedient
and provoking his father, is not telling the whole truth
about what Southfield detectives found at Hearns home
the night of the incident.
Thomas also said Hearns hit his son with an open hand,
but Gorcyca said he assaulted him with a closed fist.
Gorcyca also told the Free Press that police reports
indicate the teen was defending his mother, who called
police to the home.
Friday morning, Assistant Prosecutor Keri Middleditch
said there are limits to how parents can discipline
their children and this was far beyond the scope of
reasonable.
Though she said she has not seen the photographs of the
teenager, Middleditch said that because he was charged
with assault, Hearns hands are considered to have b
EWING, N.J. - Wayne Gretzky's ife and about a half-dozen NHL players placed bets — but not on hockey — with a nationwide sports gambling ring financed by
Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet, authorities said Tuesday.
Gretzky, hockey's greatest player, is in his first season coaching the Coyotes and is a part-owner of the team.
Actress-wife Janet Jones was among those implicated, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because no bettors have been publicly identified.
State police Col. Rick Fuentes said an investigation into the New Jersey-based ring discovered the processing of more than 1,000 wagers, exceeding $1.7 million, on professional and college sports, mostly football and basketball.
The developments came at a sensitive time for the NHL, which is trying to win back fans after a season-long lockout and just days before many of its best players will showcase their talent at the Turin Olympics.
Tocchet was served with a criminal complaint Monday and was expected to travel from his Arizona home to answer charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy, Fuentes said.
"It's not a hockey-related issue, it's a football thing. And at this time I can't comment any further," Tocchet said after the Coyotes practiced Tuesday.
Gretzky said Tocchet would be on the bench for Tuesday night's home game against Chicago, and it would be "business as usual."
"Everyone in the world is innocent until proven guilty," Gretzky said. "He's a great guy and a good friend. He's just going through a tough time right now, obviously, and we've got to let it run its course. It's a situation that's obviously a concern for the organization at this point."
Gretzky did not comment about his wife, and did not return a call from the AP.
Tocchet acknowledged that a New Jersey state trooper arrested in connection with the gambling ring case is his friend. Tocchet said he would cooperate with the investigation but didn't answer when asked if he'd surrender to authorities.
"We understand that Mr. Tocchet's conduct in no way involved betting on hockey," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. "And, while betting on football or other sports may be the pervasive issue, it in no way justifies poor judgment or otherwise alleged inappropriate conduct."
Authorities said Tocchet and state police Trooper James Harney were partners in the operation, with the ex-NHL forward providing the financing.
"Tocchet received illegal sports bets from wagers and funneled money back to New Jersey," Fuentes said.
Tocchet, one of three associate coaches on the Coyotes' staff, took over the head coaching duties for 10 days in December while Gretzky was with his dying mother.
The 41-year-old Tocchet played 18 years with six teams, including three seasons with the Coyotes from 1997-00. He is one of only two players in NHL history to collect 400 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.
Tocchet was a fan favorite during his two stints with the Flyers (1984-92, 2000-02). Flyers star center Peter Forsberg on Tuesday described Tocchet as "a good guy, a funny guy."
"I think everybody is surprised," Forsberg said. "It's definitely not good for the sport to hear something like that."
Flyers forward Simon Gagne played briefly with Tocchet in Philadelphia and called him "one of the best guys I knew."
Harney, 40, was arrested Monday and has been suspended from the force. The eight-year police veteran was charged in an arrest warrant with official misconduct, promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy. Another man accused of taking bets is James Ulmer, 40, who was charged with promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy.
Both men were free after posting 10 percent of their bail. Harney had $100,000 bail; Ulmer had $50,000 bail. The two men were expected to be arraigned in state Superior Court in Burlington County within two weeks.
Craig Mitnick, a lawyer representing Harney, said his client hadn't decided whether to contest the charges in court.
The police investigation into the ring started in October 2005 after authorities received a tip on Harney's sports wagering from his Marlton home, and taking phone calls during his patrol job based out of the agency's Moorestown station, Fuentes said.
Fuentes did not disclose the bettors' names and said charges against more individuals were possible. He described one of them as a "movie celebrity."
The gambling ring had a connection with organized crime in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, Fuentes said.
Starting Monday night, authorities seized property from Harney and Ulmer. State police seized $27,000 in currency, "voluminous" amounts of sports betting information and bank accounts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, Fuentes said.
A search of Harney's house recovered more than $250,000 worth of Rolex watches and nine plasma-screen televisions, including two from his bathroom.
In 1,144 NHL regular-season games, Tocchet had 440 goals, 512 assists and 2,972 penalty minutes with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Phoenix. Tocchet won a Stanley Cup with the
Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 and appeared in the Stanley Cup finals with Philadelphia in 1987. He appeared in four NHL All-Star Games: 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993.
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Trendy new magazine is seeking
upscale reader across metro Detroit
December 7, 2004
BY JULIE HINDSFREE
PRESS STAFF WRITER
From the front door of the Metro
Exposure office in Detroit, you can see a convenience store,
a smattering of "for lease" signs and a stream of cars
whizzing by on Gratiot.
Step inside, where the walls are
painted a trendy ripe red. At a long conference table sits a
quartet of men -- two African-American, two Chaldean -- who
see a lot more.
They're wearing smartly tailored
suits and ties and talking about creating a magazine that
appeals to hip, affluent readers in the Detroit area. They
say the other magazines in the region are more homogenous,
more tuned specifically to the suburbs of Oakland County.
They want their baby, Metro
Exposure, which arrives at newsstands Monday, to be
different. Most of all, they want it to be a multicultural
experience.
"It's not something we set out to
do as much as it's who we are," says editor in chief Chuck
Bennett. "We'll talk about and embrace all cultures, races
and sexual preferences. If it's something fun, entertaining
and newsworthy, we'll include it."
Those in the magazine business know
it's a roller-coaster cycle of soars and slumps. It's hard
to compete in a crowded marketplace, harder still to launch
a title that will last for the long haul.
But right now, city and regional
magazines are a booming business. "It is a hot, hot market,"
says Jim Dowden of the Los Angeles-based City and Regional
Magazine Association, a group that has
seen its membership
nearly triple since the early 1990s.
Why? A big reason is that regional
magazines are aimed at people with plenty of disposable
income. At a time when luxury goods and services are selling
well, they're a way for high-end restaurants, jewelers,
cosmetic surgeons, interior designers and even health-care
providers to reach the portion of the community that's
affluent.
Toss in the post-9/11 nesting trend
that's keeping people close to home, the glut of media
choices on the Web and cable television and you have a
situation where local advertisers are less enamored of
mass-market anything and more interested in reaching the
moneyed niche.
In metro Detroit, the magazine
market has peaked and plummeted and revived, all in the past
20 years. Some readers still remember the splashy magazine
war in the 1980s between Detroit Monthly and Metropolitan
Detroit, two titles that slugged it out and, eventually,
fizzled out.
Since debuting in the mid-1990s,
Hour Detroit has emerged as probably the best-known regional
magazine in town by producing a slick, thick publication
that draws praise from Detroit media watchers. Although it
covers suburban doings extensively, it also focuses on the
city and its unique style.
According to figures from a 2004
ABC circulation audit posted on the City and Regional
Magazine Association Web site, Hour Detroit has a
circulation of 45,000. Another study posted on the site puts
the readership's average household income at $142,000.
Subscriptions for the monthly magazine are $17.95 a year.
"For what people want in a city
magazine, Hour gives you a lot of it," says Ed Nakfoor, a
Birmingham-based retail consultant. "It's got great
photographers, great writers."
There's also Style magazine, which
is distributed free to 60,000 targeted households in Oakland
County and sold on newsstands for $3.95 and by subscription
for $14.95 annually. It's aimed at a sophisticated, upscale
market in what publisher Arthur Horwitz calls "one of the
most upscale counties in the country."
Style, which will celebrate its
20th anniversary in 2005, is published six times a year by
Detroit Jewish News. It started out as a product received by
Jewish News subscribers, then expanded and became more
secular in 1989. The magazine's focus is on home, fashion,
entertaining and local personalities. "It's a publication
that's welcomed into many of the most upscale and
influential households in the metro Detroit area," says
Horwitz.
New to the scene is Signature
magazine, a free publication distributed to 32,000
households and targeted to four ZIP codes in Birmingham,
Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township: 48009, 48301,
48302 and 48304. It's produced by Third Street Publications,
which is part of Detroit Newspapers, the company that
handles business and circulation for the Free Press and
Detroit News (although there are no journalists from either
newspaper working on Third Street publications).
Although it looks and feels to the
touch like a city magazine, Signature might be best
described as a micro-regional. "What makes it sort of unique
from Hour or Style is that it's very intensely local," says
general manager Alan Lenhoff. "Ideally, the people who
receive it will pick it up and know two or three people in
every issue."
Now comes Metro Exposure from three
entrepreneurs: Art Danou, 31, of West Bloomfield, a real
estate investor; Marvin Glenn, 34, of Birmingham, a real
estate investor who's now working on the magazine full time;
and Art Gappi, 33 of Birmingham, who owns an automotive
collision business in Detroit. Danou and Gappi are Chaldean.
Glenn is African American.
Their goal is to produce eight
issues for 2005 and move ultimately to 12 issues a year.
They plan to distribute the December issue free to 50,000
households and businesses in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb
counties. They'll also offer a $17.95 annual subscription in
the December issue and hope to send the February issue to a
mix of subscribers and targeted households. Each issue,
they'll try another ZIP code, says Glenn, to gradually
introduce themselves to different areas. Their target
audience is men and women 25 to 55 with average household
incomes of $100,000 or more.
Starting in February, newsstand
issues will sell for $3.95.
Chuck Bennett, who covers society
for the Detroit News and has a gossipy Detroit online
magazine, the Real Scoop (
www.the-real-scoop.com),
will oversee the editorial side. Emin Kadi of Royal Oak, who
publishes the edgy fashion and style Clear magazine, is the
creative director.
The debut cover story is about the
20 sexiest people in Detroit, a multi-culti list that
includes singer Karen Newman, model Lai Ying, Channel 4
anchor Rhonda Walker, former "Bachelor" star Bob Guiney,
gallery owner Kevin Hansen and Motown recording artist Kem.
Another story on the theme of
wisdom asks people like Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and attorney
Geoffrey Fieger what they'd do differently if they knew then
what they know now.
Bennett says the magazine's niche
will be filling the void that he perceives in other local
magazines. "There is more than just Oakland County. A lot of
publications seem to make everything focused on that. We
tend to disagree. While we'll cover Oakland County, there'll
be lots of other things, lots of Grosse Pointe things,
Detroit things, Wayne and Macomb things."
But Bennett does admit that Metro
Exposure's multi-culti mix will emphasize one color: green.
The first issue features ads from tony businesses like
Jaguar of Troy and Jules R. Schubot jewelers. The
invitation-only launch party on Friday will be at Erhard BMW
of Farmington Hills
"We are a little snobby," Bennett
says with a smile. "Even though we accept quite a few things
cross-culturally, we do strive to project a certain upscale
image."
Glenn says he joined forces with
Danou and Gappi to start a magazine because he wanted to "be
part of the revolution that's taking place in Detroit" and
do something that unites the different social circles in
metro Detroit's melting pot.
"This is something you have to have
a passion for," says Glenn of the volatile magazine
marketplace. "You have to swim, drown, swim, drown. We know
that making money is somewhere down the line."
Can a region like metro Detroit
sustain several general lifestyle magazines at once? "It's a
real challenge," says Dowden of the City and Regional
Magazine Association. "There's got to be something that
makes you stand out because jewelers are not going to
advertise everywhere. They make choices, just like readers
do. So do hospitals and restaurants and spas."
Advertisers say they've noticed the
magazine market is becoming more packed.
"I'm getting inundated. It's
amazing," says Buzz Wachler, owner of David Wachler & Sons
jeweler in Birmingham, who has ads in Hour Detroit, Style
and Signature.
In Wachler's opinion, Detroit could
use another magazine -- maybe.
"If it's not repetitious, there's
always room," he says. "If it's the same thing or just
running the same type of articles, I don't think it would
work. A little bit different concept, maybe, would."
Where in the world was Carlita
Kilpatrick?
When Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
spoke to the citizens and media of Detroit last week with the
Manoogian Mansion behind him, his father, his sister and her
children stood quietly and attentively within view of the
cameras.
But at a moment when her husband faced
public scrutiny at full bore, Carlita Kilpatrick was vividly
absent.
Mayor Kilpatrick said he expressly
asked her not to attend. "The mayor doesn't want to politicize
his family," Jamaine Dickens, the mayor's spokesman, explained.
"He wanted it to be just him and the citizens of the city."
Dickens said those family members who did attend came without
the mayor's knowledge.
But, ultimately, the mansion backdrop
conveyed a mixed message: Did it stand for home and family? Or
was it being used as symbol of the mayor's openness in
confronting untrue allegations about events that supposedly
occurred inside?
The solo mayoral appearance would have
made perfect visual and emotional sense at a City Hall news
conference. But the Manoogian Mansion is the family's residence,
a home rather than an office.
The photo-op image was jarringly
incomplete, like a stage set of a living room with the couches
removed. And it raised questions about whether Mrs. Kilpatrick
stayed away because her husband asked her to -- or because she
chose to.
The American political landscape is
littered with marital wreckage, and with the imagery of
political wives standing by their beleaguered husbands, in
various states of distress. The wifely expressions -- mute,
pained, supportive, vague, even adoring like Nancy Reagan's
famous gaze -- are a stock feature of difficult moments in
political life.
Pat Nixon was an icon of wifely
steadfastness. Hillary Clinton waxed and then waned in signs of
public marital affection.
But last week's mayoral appearance
forestalled any specific speculation. And Mrs. Kilpatrick is not
offering public comment beyond the secrets of her turkey
chowder.
On Sunday morning, Fox2 Weekend News
broadcast a five-minute cooking session with Carlita Kilpatrick,
in which she chatted pleasantly while preparing a smoked turkey
chowder adapted from a Patti LaBelle cookbook.
In the awkwardness of its timing, the
segment was reminiscent of an earlier one: Martha Stewart's
on-air confrontation on the CBS Early Show last year, just as
news broke of an investigation into a Stewart stock deal.
Spurning the interviewer, Stewart insisted that she wanted to
"focus on my salad."
"We're going to talk about chowder,"
Kilpatrick said Sunday, agreeably, on Fox2 News. And so she did,
as reporter Charles Pugh said "a lot has changed since"
Kilpatrick first agreed to do the cooking segment a month ago.
Relaxed and efficient, her choice of
recipes seemed to suggest that nothing was seriously amiss. "I
must say, this is the mayor's absolute favorite dish," she
pointed o
Rumored Hollywood Downlow Brothers
"We're done with it ... we're moving
on," she said, of the controversy. "We're working on the
progress of the city."
"Put the broth in, the onions, the
carrots ... and let it cook and boil," she said, offering a
recipe poetically apt for the simmering nature of political
controversy.
Mayor changes Detroit bus plan
Some
overnight service to remain; 7 routes to be cut
March 16, 2005
BY MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
In the face of a mounting public
outcry, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick reversed course
Tuesday on eliminating all 24-hour bus service as part of
the city's plan to solve its fiscal crisis.
Instead, the mayor said
the city will maintain overnight service on eight of the 14
routes that currently run 24 hours a day. The other six
lines will not run between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
The city will eliminate seven
routes altogether, instead of the eight previously proposed,
and change the routes on three other lines. The changes take
effect April 23. It is estimated they will save the city up
to $22 million a year.
But the changes will mean longer
waits for the system's 110,000 daily riders, many of whom
already complain of waiting for up to two hours for a bus.
In some cases, the cuts will increase the time between
scheduled buses to an hour.
Kilpatrick said the longer waits
will ensure reliability of service because it will give bus
drivers more time to make their stops.
Riders and some City Council
members were skeptical Tuesday.
"We've been hearing that for 12
years," Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel told city officials
Tuesday during a hearing.
Alecia Audrey Becks, a Detroiter
who doesn't own a car, said she has to rely on a transit
system that is already "pretty horrible."
"There is zero reliability," Becks
said. "You have no idea when a bus is coming."
The administration faced public
outrage in January when officials announced the proposed
cuts, the details of which were outlined on the
transportation department's Web site and summarized in
booklets handed out to riders during public meetings.
In February, more than 500 riders
and city workers jammed a City Council hearing to protest
the cuts, leading the council to pass a resolution calling
on the administration to restore service. Many said they
would lose their jobs because they would not be able to get
to work.
"I believe that hearing had a lot
to do with the shift, whether we get credit for it or not,"
said Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, who introduced the
resolution.
This is not the first time the
mayor announced changes in the city's troubled busThe
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system,
only to back off later. Last year, the mayor announced 112
layoffs in the department, but later quietly rehired 30
workers. City officials said they had to rehire the workers
because they had no one to
The
group standing near the third-floor escalator at
Neiman Marcus carefully studied former Oakland
Raider Derrick Walker and his wife, WDIV-TV
(Channel 4) personality Rhonda Walker, as they
arrived at the fifth annual Celebrity Stylemaker
event.
Some in
the group were betting that Walker would win the
evening's Best Dressed Man competition, and he
did. It was his second win in the five-year
history of this popular event, which is the
brainchild of former Detroit Lion Robert Porcher.
In addition to the
best-dressed competition, the Dec. 2 party
included amazing hors d'oeuvres such as lobster
parfait and New Zealand lamb chops prepared by
Zodiac Chef James Oppat; trendy cocktails,
including purple and red martinis; a hot and
sexy fashion show featuring some of Neiman
Marcus' top designers; and an auction that
offered Super Bowl party packages and Super Bowl
game tickets.
Newlyweds Larry and
Christine Wisne, just back home from their
November wedding in Carmel, Calif., were the
evening's hosts, and for the third year, Rhonda
Walker served as emcee.
An estimated 200
people, many professional athletes, paid $300
(VIP) and $200 (Patron) for this fundraiser
benefiting the Porcher Cancer Relief Fund.
The charity was founded
in 2001 to ease the financial burden placed upon
families whose children are receiving treatment
at the University of Michigan Comprehensive
Cancer Center, subsidizing their hotel
accommodations, air and ground transportation,
household expenses, wigs and prosthetics.
What's coming up
clean the buses
The mayor, 33, a
man raised on a diet of Run-D.M.C. and L.L.
Cool J,Up
Front with
KarenDumas" WEEKDAYS 10am-2pm
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KarenDumas”, Monday-Friday, 10AM-2PM. sat down with the Free Press on
Tuesday as the city heads into a busy
musical stretch: Saturday's Hip Hop Summit
and next week's Movement techno music
festival. While conceding that in recent
years, "the rap thing kind of got away from
me," Kilpatrick revealed a mastery of urban
music history that would impress most
hip-hop heads. And he readily acknowledged a
reality often overlooked by other Michigan
power players: that behind the automobile,
music is Detroit's second-most identifiable
export.
While music
devotees across the world consider Detroit a
musical powerhouse -- a city whose rich
heritage is enhanced by recent ambassadors
like Eminem and the White Stripes -- the
mayor said he's intent to use city hall to
further cement Detroit's musical identity.
Among his plans: pushing forward on the
long-discussed Motown Center on Woodward --
a proposed arts center and museum complex in
the theater district.
Motown associate
Suzanne DePasse was in town last week to
continue negotiations on the project, he
said.
Kilpatrick presents
himself as serious about this stuff: He's
convinced that music and arts are as vital
to Detroit's renaissance as any corporate
coups or stadium. But that "hip-hop mayor"
thing . . . he chuckled when he recalled the
moment he got stuck with the sobriquet.
"It's definitely
been a benefit nationally," Kilpatrick said.
"It's engaged people from Bill Maher" the
comedian "to senators to congresspeople to
the president of the United States, who say,
'Who is this hip-hop mayor guy?'Chris Rock,
a lot of those people around the country in
all walks of life. It's been a positive."
But Kilpatrick also
knows that in his hometown, where political
sniping is a time-tested sport, the hip-hop
persona can create a liability. For the top
official in a major metropolis, keeping it
real, as the hip-hop mantra goes, can also
mean keeping a political land mine at your
side.
In Detroit, the
mayor said, "it's increasingly been used as
a negative. Because the hip-hop generation,
still, is a generation to mainstream America
that is lost, that are not organized, that
are not thinking people. And unfortunately,
people use that to put on me, to allude to
something negative."
ABOUT THE
MAYOR
Kwame M. Kilpatrick
Mayor, City of Detroit
Since taking office in 2002
as the youngest mayor of any
major U.S. city, Kwame M.
Kilpatrick has led
tremendous growth in the
city
of Detroit including the
biggest housing and
commercial construction boom
in 50 years, the largest
road and infrastructure
improvement program in
decades, and a $2-billion
overhaul of Detroit’s
riverfront. After decades
of decline, Detroit is
experiencing a revival
thanks to Mayor Kilpatrick’s
leadership that has been
recognized by media
including the New York
Times, USA Today, the Los
Angeles Times, and the
Financial Times of London.
Growing Detroit
To spur Detroit’s growth and
build stronger neighborhoods,
Mayor Kilpatrick has
dramatically streamlined the
economic development process
while forming groundbreaking
partnerships with the
private sector and community
organizations. In just
three years,
the results have been
impressive. The City
currently has
more than
7,400 housing starts
in the pipeline including
the unprecedented Far
Eastside project, which
envisions a neighborhood
with 3,000 homes.
The development of downtown
housing is also gaining wide
attention. In January 2005
the New York Times noted,
“There have been signs of a
downtown revival over the
last few years, with one of
the most remarkable changes
being the creation of
residential lofts.” At the
same time, 23 new
restaurants have opened
downtown in the past three
years, and Mayor Kilpatrick
has brokered seven hotel
deals including the
renovation of the historic
Book-Cadillac Hotel.
On Detroit’s riverfront,
Mayor Kilpatrick is
championing historic
progress as ground was
finally broken in 2003 on
the $2-billion
redevelopment project that
will include businesses,
retail, residential units
and a state park. Detroit’s
growth is being noticed
around the world and across
the country. Said USA
Today: “The truth is the
Motor City is really on the
road to recovery – as a
major American metropolis,
business center, and
cultural and entertainment
mecca.”
Spirit of Detroit
While growing Detroit, Mayor
Kilpatrick has inspired a
record number of citizens to
join in the City’s rebirth.
Through several volunteer
initiatives including
Angels’ Night and Motor City
Makeover, Mayor Kilpatrick
has mobilized
more than
200,000 volunteers to help
create stronger, safer and
cleaner neighborhoods.
Building on this new spirit
of volunteerism and
community, Detroiters
rallied together and
persevered through the
largest blackout in our
nation’s history. The
Washington Post said Mayor
Kilpatrick “shined in the
blackout” as he provided
leadership to citizens and
guided the emergency
response. He was later
summoned to testify on
Capitol Hill about Detroit’s
preparedness and how the
City’s response was so
effective.
Kids,
Cops, Clean
Throughout his
administration Mayor
Kilpatrick has always
remained focused on Kids,
Cops, Clean – the three
building blocks essential to
growing Detroit into a
city
where children and families
can grow and flourish.
Kids:
Recognizing the importance
after-school programming in
childhood development and
thriving communities, Mayor
Kilpatrick – a former public
school teacher – created
Mayor’s Time, a
comprehensive network of
after-school programs. In
just under two years,
Detroit after-school
participation has more than
doubled to almost 39%.
Mayor Kilpatrick’s
commitment to children is
also evidenced by the
reduction of Detroit’s Head
Start vacancies from 20% to
2% in the last two years.
He has also developed, in
partnership with the Intel
Corporation, four computer
clubhouses – the first of
their kind in Detroit –
which opened new windows of
opportunity for Detroit
children.
Cops:
Creating a safe, secure
city
for children and families
has been a top priority of
Mayor Kilpatrick – and every
year of his administration
the results have been
impressive. Under the
leadership of Chief Ella
Bully-Cummings the Detroit
Police Department drove
crime down 10% in 2004 – the
third straight year the
crime rate has dropped.
Also during the Kilpatrick
Administration, the number
of homicides in Detroit has
dropped to the lowest levels
in three decades. The
Mayor’s commitment to public
safety is also evident in
the Fire Department, which
has reduced the number of
fatal fires by 30%, and in
the area of homeland
security,
where Mayor Kilpatrick’s
10-point preparation plan
has helped secure more than
$25 million in federal
funds.
Clean:
To create a cleaner
community, Mayor Kilpatrick
has led several initiatives
including the distribution
of thousands of new litter
containers, the streamlining
of refuse and bulk trash
collection, a 7-10 day
grass-cutting cycle for
Detroit’s 391 parks, and the
paving of
more than 200 miles
of roads in the
city
of Detroit. In 2005, Mayor
Kilpatrick launched what may
be the biggest initiative in
recent history to keep the
city
clean. He created the
Department of Administrative
Hearings (DAH) to address
blight violations that have
been overlooked by criminal
courts for decades. The DAH
has the authority to deal
with violations quickly and
hand down stiff penalties.
History
Prior to his election as
mayor in 2001, Kilpatrick
was the first
African-American in the
history of Michigan to lead
any party in the State
Legislature.
Serving as leader of the
Democratic Caucus,
Kilpatrick was praised
across the state for his
ability to form coalitions
to get things done. In
1998, as a state
representative, he played a
key role in designing the
$675 million Clean Michigan
Initiative, successfully
earmarking 60 percent of the
funds for Detroit for
brownfield redevelopment,
waterfront redevelopment and
local park development.
Kilpatrick also secured $7
million to address the
problem of lead poisoning,
which affects more children
in Detroit than in the rest
of Michigan combined. In
addition, Kilpatrick
shepherded the passage of
new laws to make schools
safer, expand health care
benefits for retirees,
protect the environment,
and
strengthen personal
protection orders.He
also forged a
bipartisan coalition to
preserve $45 million for
hospitals that serve
low-income patients.
A lifelong resident of
Detroit, Kilpatrick attended
Pelham Middle School and
Cass Technical High School.
He graduated with honors,
earning a bachelor of
science degree in political
science as well as his
teacher certification from
Florida A&M University,
where he also was captain of
the football team. Prior to
his election as a state
representative, Mayor
Kilpatrick was a middle
school teacher in Detroit.
He earned his juris
doctorate degree from the
Detroit College of Law.
Mayor Kilpatrick and his
wife,
Carlita,
have twin
9-year old boys,
Jelani and Jalil,
and a 3-year
old son,
Jonas.
The irony is that
Kilpatrick doesn't listen to much rap
anymore. Pumping from his CD player this
week was progressive Detroit R&B artist
Dwele
After a
contentious mayoral campaign marked by inflammatory
city-versus-suburb rhetoric, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
used his inauguration speech at the Fox Theatre on
Thursday to urge the region to unite, end blatant
race-based bickering and replace negativity with
"love."
"We're all in
this together," Kilpatrick said to loud,
intermittent applause, reaching out to Wayne,
Oakland and Macomb counties as well as city
residents. "All of us are Detroiters. No matter
where you live, whether it's Allen Park or Oak Park,
you're from Detroit. Here in Detroit, we're mired in
the issue of black and white. This obsession with
race and turf is literally killing us."
Kilpatrick boomed with his
hallmark enthusiasm and optimism, often stirring the
crowd with oratory calling for unity. He said the
city suffers from self-loathing, and as such is its
own worst enemy.
"We need to start with our
own attitude adjustment here in our town. We don't
like ourselves, and we project that onto the world."
"What he said about the
different counties coming together, I think that's
very important," agreed Detroiter Neva Chavous, 82,
who was among those in the Fox audience.
"We need to reach out to
the suburbs, so they can come into the city without
fear. People have fear, and I think it's a
miscommunication," said Stan Osborne, 52. Osborne
attended one of the mayor's four receptions at
Detroit recreational centers that followed the
swearing-in ceremony. Senior citizens and supporters
turned out at the centers to hear the mayor speak
and for entertainment and food.
Kilpatrick told them the
Super Bowl to be held downtown in early February is
"an opportunity to change the image of Detroit," he
said.
"This is our shot," the
mayor said. "When people come here, they're going to
see a new Detroit, invigorated with spirit and
energy."
"We are already a great
city," Kilpatrick said. "Be proud of that greatness.
We are a city of love, of Detroit love. Today is a
time for transformation, a time for change."
The mayor also warned
residents that further cutbacks in some city
services will be needed to cure the city's ongoing
fiscal crisis and reiterated to city workers that
Detroit can no longer afford their pensions and
fringe benefits.
'Love' was the theme
He pledged a total redesign
of city government, beginning with the
recommendations later this year of a group of civic
and business leaders who are helping plan ways to
cut costs without drastically cutting vital
services.
Overall, however, "love"
was the theme of the inauguration. The word was
posted on a large screen behind the stage as well as
on the event's program booklet. Kilpatrick provided
a litany of things to love about Detroit: coneys and
chili fries at 2 a.m., Faygo and Better Made potato
chips, the Detroit Institute of Arts and "cheering
the Detroit Pistons even though they play in Auburn
Hills."
"Even going to the Lions
game, full of hope, full of love, week after week --
that's Detroit Love," he said.
It was a sharp turnabout
from campaign rhetoric from the mayor and his
supporters that often rang with anti-suburban
messages, such as when the mayor insinuated during
one of the debates that suburban kids use more drugs
than Detroit kids. Many of the mayor's top
supporters, such as the Rev. Wendell Anthony of the
NAACP, suggested that the mayor's challenger, Freman
Hendrix, was part of a white suburban conspiracy
with the media to take over Detroit.
Yet inauguration day was
all about conciliation and friendship. Gov. Jennifer
Granholm echoed the mayor's theme and called for the
uniting of Michigan's fractional communities. She
said she was committed to Detroit and its citizens
during tough economic times.
"We will not be successful,
any of us, unless we are all of us working
together," Granholm said. "We in Michigan must
support this mayor and this city. When he succeeds,
the entire state is the winner. This mayor is
visionary and he is impatient and he will demand
results. That is what this city needs and what this
state needs."
The governor's relationship
with the mayor has been very tense over the past
couple of years. Matters came to a head when the two
leaders found themselves on opposite sides of the
racino-expansion issue, which Granholm supported and
Kilpatrick opposed because the gaming facilities
would cut into revenue Detroit gets from existing
casinos.
Granholm shows support
But Thursday, Granholm sent
a message of friendship to the mayor, and the two
hugged on stage. Granholm, who will need Detroit's
support in her re-election bid this year, said
Detroiters who backed Kilpatrick's opponent,
Hendrix, as well as out-state Michiganians, should
back the mayor and the city.
"Everyone, put down your
swords and pick up your plowshares," Granholm said.
"There's too much work to do to throw rocks at each
other."
The governor also commended
the mayor for "giving people who are usually unseen
and forgotten a reason to believe their
participation could make a difference," referring to
the thousands voters who had rarely, if ever, voted
in the past but turned out to vote for Kilpatrick.
The mayor's message
resonated with many in the Fox Theatre audience.
"It was very inspirational,
very soulful. He penetrates something deeper than
most politicians," said Marcellus Oree, 34, a real
estate developer from Grosse Pointe. "It feels like
something's going to happen. I don't know if it
will, but it feels like it. I don't live in the city
"
"But you do, that's what he
said," interrupted R&B artist Sam Turner. "We are
all from the city. Us working with the suburbs,
that's key. From now on, it's not Birmingham, it's
not Grosse Pointe. We're all one."
The community center
receptions replaced the weeklong parties Kilpatrick
held after his first inauguration. Simeon Hill, who
works on community development at LaSalle Bank,
applauded the low-key festivities.
"I like the fact that he's
doing this instead of holding a gala ball," said
Hill, at the Kemeny Recreation Center rally in
southwest Detroit.
As for second-term
priorities, he said the city needs low-income
housing.
"We're building some
wonderful upscale housing, but I'm sure most of the
people in the city of Detroit can't afford it," Hill
said. Also, safer schools are needed, he said.
We really have to wonder whats the
next chapter in the How Stella Got Her Grove Back Saga.
As I read about how her young husband came out of the
closset I had to ask were there signs that she missed. Or
were they covered up by having a young good looking husband
on her arm.
So is there blame in all of this yes.
95% on him .. guys if you are gay tell the women up front.
The down low is not a good place
5% for her. Keep your eyes open. All that shines is not
gold..
