Ken Cockrel, Jr. has been sworn in as the new mayor of Detroit, MI today as the city tries to move forward and heal the destructive shame brought about by the criminal actions of former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. After being sworn in as the city’s new mayor, Cockrel asked for hope and patience as he works to move the City of Detroit towards a more positive and productive future. Here are a couple pics of Cockrel’s swearing in ceremony at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building in Detroit, MI this morning:

Newly sworn-in Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. declared this morning after taking the oath of office that “this is our time for hope and renewal” after eight months of scandal that forced out former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. “From this moment on, the past is the past and we as a community, as a city, and as a region are moving forward,” he said. Some of the topics Cockrel addressed in the speech were Cobo Center expansion, mass transit for the region, cleanliness of the city and an environmentally friendly agenda. He also said he would fix the city’s troubled financial books. And he had a message for criminals in the city while promising to fight crime with the spirit of his late father, Kenneth Cockrel Sr., whose activist work led to the abolition of the STRESS police unit that was infamous for shooting black men. “To those of you out there who are bad actors, to those of you who are stealing gutters, air-conditioning units, and wires from our citizens and businesses, to those of you who are terrorizing our senior citizens,” he said. “We are coming after you. And we will get you.” The new mayor said he looked forward to working with new Council President Monica Conyers and the council to achieve the city’s needs. And he promised “full cooperation” with authorities in the continuing investigations of City Hall. There is a federal probe into city contracting, and it snared Cockrel’s former chief of staff who was caught on surveillance video accepting cash. Cockrel was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation from a jammed City Council auditorium that was standing-room only … Cockrel, an avid movie and television fan, confessed “I’m a geek” and quoted the famous line from “Star Trek”: “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” “I believe this is relevant because no one has ever had to assume the office of mayor under circumstances like this,” he said.

Surely the City of Detroit can benefit from the leadership of this avid Trekkie, right? I keed, I keed … this is actually the most hopeful development to happen in the City of Detroit in a very long time. Now that Kwame has been sentenced to jail and there is no hope that he can ever get his grubby hands on the governance of Detroit ever again, I am really looking forward to a better and brighter future for Detroit. I realize that Cockrel is not taking on an easy task of governing the city but I am confident that he will be able to undo some of the damage that Kwame has brought to the city.

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Thank sweet Jebus above … Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has finally decided to plead guilty to two of the criminal charges against him and is in court right now confessing his guilt in open court in Detroit, MI as I type this post. Under the terms of his plea bargain, Kilpatrick will resign his office as Mayor of the City of Detroit, pay restitution fines and will submit to jailtime:

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s tenure as mayor of Detroit is over. He just entered into a plea agreement, according to prosecutor Lisa Lindsey. The deal calls for Kilpatrick to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice by committing perjury, agreeing to serve four months in jail, pay up to $1 million in restitution, and serve five years’ probation. He also agreed not to run for office during that five-year span. The mayor will turn over his state pension to the City of Detroit, which paid $8.4 million to settle two whistle-blower lawsuits three former cops filed against the city. The mayor was charged with eight felony counts ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice after the Free Press revealed that the mayor lied on the witness stand during a police whistle-blower trial and gave misleading testimony about whether he intended to fire a deputy police chief investigating allegations of wrongdoing by members of his inner circle. Just before huddling with his attorney, a smiling Kilpatrick jousted with reporters sitting in the first row of the courtroom. He, apparently good-naturedly, told them their reports were wrong and they needed to check their sources. He did not elaborate. He also shook hands with Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff and ex-lover. Beatty has left the courtroom with her attorneys, Mayer and Jeff Morganroth, and a man believed to be her pastor. First lady Carlita Kilpatrick is in the courtroom. This is the first time she’s been in a courtroom with Beatty since the scandal started in January … In January, the newspaper published text messages Kilpatrick and his then-chief of staff Christine Beatty exchanged on city issued pagers. Worthy cited the investigation in March, when he charged Kilpatrick with eight felonies and Beatty with seven.

Earlier this week, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy had offered the mayor six months in jail. That apparently was lowered to four months by Wednesday night. At one point Wednesday afternoon, Kilpatrick met with his department directors and staff at a regular meeting. The subject of his criminal cases was raised, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a private meeting. The subject of the mayor’s leaving office came up, but Kilpatrick did not commit one way or the other and urged his top staff to remain focused, this source said. The mayor’s plea likely means Gov. Jennifer Granholm will cancel a second day of removal hearings for the mayor. The historic proceedings began Wednesday at Cadillac Place, the state office building located in the New Center, about 10 minutes from the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice where Kilpatrick entered his equally historic guilty plea … Kilpatrick is also facing two felony charges for allegedly assaulting deputies trying to serve a subpoena last month at the home of his sister, Ayanna. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox’s office is handling that case.

I cannot express my extreme happiness at this news. Honestly, with as stubborn as powerhungry as I believe Kwame Kilpatrick to be, I never thought he’d actually plea bargain his way out of this … I have always contended that as long as he is removed from office AND serves some measure of jailtime, then I would be satisfied. Under the terms of his plea bargain, he will lose his pension, will pay the City of Detroit $1 million dollars and will serve 4 months in jail — I am satisfied. Enjoy jail Kwame, may you spend your time thinking about how much you hurt the City of Detroit with your criminal actions. It is now time for my beloved Detroit City to heal from this deadly cancer that was eating away at it for so many years. I choose to see this as a happy day for Detroit, not a sad one as some believe … the future begins now.

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In a Democratic tradition that goes all the way back to the campaign of Harry S. Truman, Senator Barack Obama made an appearance in Hart Plaza right in the heart of Detroit, MI to participate and speak at the Labor Day parade which took place there. Sarah, Mark and I had planned on attending this rally in Hart Plaza to see Sen. Obama speak but because of how late Sarah’s birthday party ran the night before (and because of my tight travel schedule) we were unable to attend. Here are a few pics of Obama in my hometown of Detroit yesterday morning:

Barack Obama cut short a Labor Day speech to an expectant, fired-up crowd at Detroit’s Hart Plaza, offering prayer instead of political punches to acknowledge concerns about Hurricane Gustav. “There is a time to argue politics, and there’s a time to come together as Americans,” he said in deference to distressed and evacuated gulf coast residents and a storm that threatened great damage but lost power as it slammed into Louisiana. In his first Detroit appearance as the Democratic presidential nominee, Obama surely disappointed many in the crowd — estimated at more than 20,000 in Hart Plaza and another 10,000 just outside along Jefferson Avenue — with less than 10 minutes of remarks, although people appeared forgiving. Many had waited hours in lines that snaked around buildings to see Obama after the annual Labor Day parade. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan stirred their anticipation in speaking to the crowd before Obama arrived, comparing the event with John F. Kennedy’s Labor Day speech in Detroit during the presidential campaign of 1960. Obama apologized for his brevity and urged compassion and togetherness. He held a moment of silent prayer and asked for donations to the Red Cross. “I want all of us to remember that when we show solidarity with those folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and Texas and Alabama, that we are expressing the true spirit of the labor movement. Because the idea behind the labor movement is that you don’t walk alone, you’re not by yourself. “Each of us are vulnerable by ourselves. … But when we are unified, we come together in a more perfect union.” Still, Obama managed to serve up pro-labor sentiments, telling the crowd that he supports federal legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize. In a lighter moment, he sang a few bars of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools,” while the singer looked on from the crowd. “I’m a labor guy, I believe in the labor movement,” Obama said. “It’s important to have a president who doesn’t choke on the word union. I believe we need a Department of Labor that believes in labor.”

Never fear y’all, I am not planning on regular political coverage, I just really wanted to go to this rally and would’ve made it downtown to Hart Plaza had Sarah’s birthday fun ended at a reasonable hour ;) After the jump, check out a short video of Sen. Obama singing Chain of Fools to the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, who was in attendance at yesterday’s Detroit rally … (more…)

Very sad and shameful news out of my beloved Detroit, Michigan today. The current mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, has been sentenced to serve one night in jail after it was revealed that Kilpatrick defied the terms of his bond after being charged with perjury and obstruction of justice (the latest in a long list of crimes and misdemeanors). Even tho I have been away from the Detroit Metro area for a couple of years now, I am well aware of Kilpatrick’s shady biz and have never been a fan of his tactics or his leadership of the city. As embarrassingly shameful as it is, I am very glad to know that the judge in this case deemed it appropriate to lock up the sitting mayor and force him to endure a night in jail as part of his punishment. Here are a couple pics from court today, the second shows Kwame Kilpatrick being led away to a holding area before being transferred to his awaiting jail cell:

Judge Ronald Giles just sent Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail moments after the mayor pleaded for forgiveness and admitted he made an unauthorized trip to Windsor on city business. As of noon Kilpatrick was still at 36th District Court being processed for transfer to Wayne County Jail. “The first day you were before me, I thought I made it clear to you that this court comes first in everything,” Giles said. “I do understand that you’re under…pressure…but I have to look at how the system should be run and perceived by the public. At the beginning of this case you were given every privilege that could be given to you with regard to travel,” Giles said, adding that he later imposed restrictions after learning Kilpatrick had been abusing his privileges. “At that time I made it perfectly clear … don’t come back … ,” he said. Giles revoked Kilpatrick’s $75,000 10% bond and ordered him jailed … Giles’ jailing of Kilpatrick leaves no clear line of authority in who is running the city because there currently is no deputy mayor. Anthony Adams has temporarily relinquished his deputy mayor duties to be the interim director of the Water and Sewerage Department, and Kilpatrick said at the time of that announcement that chief of staff Kandia Milton and chief operating officer Cathy Square would divide up Adams’ deputy mayor duties. The charter provides that in the “absence or temporary disability” of the mayor that the deputy mayor is the acting mayor. Giles’ comments came after Kilpatrick told the judge he had been living under incredible pressure for the past 7 months. “I don’t believe that there is a person that’s ever been through this process that respects it more than I do,” Kilpatrick said, referring to the legal proceedings stemming from the eight felonies ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice filed against him in March. “Last week was a tremendous wake-up call to me,” he said, referring to Giles’ rebuke last month after he allegedly assaulted law enforcement officials trying to serve a subpoena … Kilpatrick admitted violating the terms of his bond by traveling to Windsor without notifying the court. He said he was sorry. “My life has been revolutionarily transformed and it’s transforming in front of the eye of these media people who don’t know me at all,” he said, referring to what he called intense scrutiny. “Your honor, I ask for your forgiveness…it will never happen again.” He said his sons were watching these proceedings because he asked them to. “I told them that I did something wrong,” he said. Kilpatrick further said he was not “frolicking” in Windsor but trying to make a deal that would let him avoid laying off more than a thousand city workers. “I apologize to the citizens as well, but mostly to you. It was never an affront to you,” he said of the trip. Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran said the mayor’s pleas rung hollow. “Now that he’s caught, he’s taking responsibility…he thought he got away with it,” Moran said.

I have always contended that Kwame Kilpatrick is a criminal and now we have the bona fide proof … a sitting mayor has been sent to jail! I really hope this serves as the FINAL WAKE UP CALL to the people of Detroit that Kilpatrick is not fit to serve as mayor of the city I love so much. I will be very surprised if he isn’t impeached and removed from office, it should’ve happened a long time ago. His laundry list of crimes and malfeasance is too long to list here … as sad as I am for the way this makes Detroit look I am very happy that someone finally held Kilpatrick accountable for something. He is an embarrassment and I hope this will be the final end of him. After the jump, watch video of Kilpatrick’s pitiful apology to the court … (more…)

Sad news out of Detroit, the demolition project to tear down the original Tiger Stadium has gotten underway. Despite the fact that a group is working feverishly to save a portion of the stadium, the bulldozers and wrecking balls have already started demolishing the famed park on the corner of Michigan Ave. and Trumball. Here are a few pics of the partially demolished stadium:

It’s a fight to the last out on whether a piece of Tiger Stadium will be saved. On Tuesday morning, as crews continued to demolish the north end of the ballpark, the board of the city’s Economic Development Corp. recommended that the entire stadium be torn down. Later in the day, the nonprofit Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy said it secured $200,000 for its preservation efforts, after The Detroit News broke the story online. The conservancy vowed to keep fighting, setting up a crucial vote at the Detroit City Council, which has final approval. The city’s EDC, a branch of the quasi-public Detroit Economic Growth Corp., is recommending to City Council that all of iconic stadium at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Street be razed and sold for scrap. EDC officials say the conservancy group has failed to come up with a solid plan to raise between $12 million and $15 million to preserve the baseball diamond, 3,000 seats and build a museum that would house Hall of Fame Broadcaster Ernie Harwell’s collection of sports memorabilia, EDC officials stated Tuesday. “Unfortunately the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy has not been able to demonstrate any commitments to funding for construction and operation or a feasible plan to obtain such commitments,” states an EDC letter sent to the City Council. The conservancy group has missed key financial deadlines during the past year, the letter points out. “There is no funding in place to take care of the building physically, or for operations,” said Scott Veldhuis, project manager of the DEGC. The conservancy also has failed to show the potential for raising money for operations at the preserved portion of the stadium, officials said. The hold-up is costing the city money, since it’s cheaper to demolish the entire stadium than to carefully dismantle it around a portion that must be retained, the letter to City Council says. The EDC wants the council to vote before its July 29 recess, which lasts until Sept. 8. “No, we don’t have the construction funding. No, we don’t have the operating budget. We are still working on that,” said S. Gary Spicer, Harwell’s attorney, and a board member of the conservancy group. But the group said it raised $200,000 from two foundations and a private donor on Tuesday after The News broke the story on the EDC recommendation to totally demolish the stadium. Harwell said the conservancy hopes to raise $400,000 in the next few days and prove that it has another $2 million secured for the first phase of the project. “It’s a sacred place and we’re going to do everything we can,” Harwell said Tuesday afternoon. But at least one council member is ready to approve the EDC’s recommendation. “Tear the thing down,” said Barbara-Rose Collins, chairwoman of the city’s planning and development committee. The hulking stadium is hurting future development in the area, she said. “There’s s no purpose you could use it for except a Dracula movie.”

This is very sad. I wasn’t aware that the demolition project had gotten underway last week … this is such sad news. I really hope that the group can raise the money to save a portion of the stadium … it’d be heartbreaking to lose it all.

[Source, Source, thanks Sarah]

Jack White, of the White Stripes and The Raconteurs, has penned a poem for his hometown of Detroit, MI and passed it along to The Detroit Free Press for publication. Over the years, Jack has been an ardent supporter of Detroit Rock City so it should come as no surprise that he would take the time to write such a lovely poem for his hometown. Here is a pic of Jack and Meg White standing in front of the famed Hotel Yorba near downtown Detroit and the full text of his poem entitled Courageous Dream’s Concern:

I have driven slow,
three miles an hour or so,
through Highland Park, Heidelberg, and the
Cass Corridor.
I’ve hopped on the Michigan,
and transferred to the Woodward,
and heard the good word blaring from an
a.m. radio.
I love the worn-through tracks of trolley
trains breaking through their
concrete vaults,
As I ride the Fort Street or the Baker,
just making my way home.

I so love your heart that burns
That in your people’s body yearns
To perpetuate,
and permeate,
the lonely dream that does encapsulate,
Your spirit, that God insulates,
With courageous dream’s concern.

Jack tells the Free Press that he wrote the poem to answer his critics who claim he has lost respect for the city. In various interviews, Jack White was quoted as saying some not-so-nice things about the evolution of the music scene in Detroit (interviews he gave after he moved away from Detroit in 2006) which some people took to mean that he had ill-feelings towards the city as a whole. In an effort to express his “feelings about the city itself, and how strong [he] believes it to be”, Jack took pen to paper and composed this poem. Personally, I think it’s an amazing poem which gives the reader a very good feel for the city. Detroiters especially can appreciate all the places that Jack mentions and I’m sure they can identify with his descriptions of those places. I simply had to post this poem so that as many people as possible can read it and hopefully get a better understanding of the city that I love so much. Detroit is my home too and I’m glad that Jack White took the time to tell the world how amazing the city really is … in his own words.

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