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Kwame Kilpatrick Found Guilty in Federal Trial

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Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty today of multiple counts of racketeering and extortion in a federal court, the Huffington Post reports.

A jury took 15 days to decide that Kilpatrick and his friend contractor Bobby Ferguson were guilty of governmental malfeasance . Kilpatrick’s 71-year-old father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was  found guilty of one tax count. They won’t be sentenced for several months

Mayor Dave Bing told the Huffington Post, “I am pleased that this long trial has ended and we can finally put this negative chapter in Detroit’s history behind us. It is time for all of us to move forward with a renewed commitment to transparency and high ethical standards in our City government.”

Kilpatrick stepped down as mayor of Detroit in 2008 after pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice related to a text message sex scandal with a former employee. He served about a year in jail for the crime and agreed to pay the city of Detroit $1 million in restitution.


Could Emergency Financial Management in Detroit Hurt Blacks?

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Mayor Bing, budget, Black Enterprise

Mayor Dave Bing (at head of the table) delivered his first budget address to City Council April 13 outlining his plan for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Detroit’s financial problems have become so great that it looks like the city is very close to having to submit to an emergency financial manager. And according to statements made to the Associated Press last week, Mayor David Bing, a former NBA player and steel supply company owner, is warming to the idea.

But, an article on MSNBC says that “if Detroit receives an Emergency Manager, more than half of the state’s black population, living in primarily urban centers, will be governed by un-elected leaders. More than 5,000 unionized city employees in Detroit—all of whom have already been working without a collective bargaining agreement since last spring—will totally lose control of contract bargaining.”

The article goes on to say that all across Michigan, emergency financial managers are “using sweeping powers to privatize public services, lay off city employees, and weaken public sector unions with little standing in their way.”

Read the entire article at MSNBC

Despite Protests, Emergency Financial Manager to Take Over Detroit

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Governor Rick Snyder appointed Kevyn Orr to the position of emergency financial manager of Detroit on Thursday, but many residents of the predominantly black city feel the appointment of an EFM will  disenfranchise them and are protesting in an effort to stop the action from going forward, the Huffington Post reports.

During Snyder’s press conference at the Cadillac Place Building, picketers from Good Jobs Now and the National Action Network voiced their opposition to the State takeover. Also, a series of traffic jam protests began last week that backed up traffic on I-75 southbound in Detroit.

Activist Stephen Boyle told the Huffington Post  that the traffic protesters are upset that state officials have ignored strong public opposition to state takeovers — Michigan voters repealed the emergency manager law Public Act 4 last November.

“We basically decided, if [the state was] not going to listen to the public, the public was going to slow down traffic,” Boyle said. “If we slow down traffic, maybe people will stop and listen for a moment, as to what’s going on. This isn’t business as usual.”

Read more about the protests at the Huffington Post.

Detroit Homeowner Threatens Potential Squatters With Gunshots

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detroit homeowners squattersIf your home is vacant in Detroit chances are someone will treat it like their home.

Nothing could me more frightening then to come home and find that someone else is cooking your food, and lounging in your area as if it was their own personal space. Vacations then seem to be out of the question without an official house sitter.

One Detroit homeowner is saying no to squatters and sending a clear message to all who would dare attempt to try him at his word.

The owner printed a sign on his front door that anyone found squatting in his home will be shot. Neighbors including some who attend the church across the street from his home think his message is unnecessary and taking it too far.

Read more at NewsOne

Detroit Woman Gets Infection from Illegal Butt Injection

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be newsA Detroit woman arranged to get a $1,100 illegal butt injection at a hotel and contracted an infection, Newsone reports.

On April 5th, Keke Onpoint went into septic shock and was admitted to the hospital, nearly dying. The silicone Onpoint was injected with was not meant for the human body.

Read more at Newsone.

Detroit Takes Top 3 Spots on Most Dangerous Neighborhoods List

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Detroit has the three  most dangerous neighborhoods in the nation, according to a study published this week  on NeighborhoodScout.com, which lists the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in America.

Four of  Detroit’s neighborhoods were ranked in the top 10.

“All four of these neighborhoods have the same problems,” author and motivational speaker Shaka Senghor told the Grio. “High levels of unemployment, drugs trafficking and easy access to guns.”

Read the whole story at the Grio

Report Paints Grim Financial Picture for City of Detroit

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(Image: MWSanders/Flicker)

A state-mandated report by the city of Detroit’s emergency manager has revealed an expected, if not predictable, set of affairs concerning the financial health of the beleaguered city, with reports saying that costs of retiree benefits take up nearly a third of the city budget, and the situation is so dire that it’s nearly impossible for the city to borrow money.

The report comes as Detroit will have a budget shortfall of $162 million. The report was completed by Washington, D.C.- based bankruptcy lawyer Kevyn D. Orr, who was appointed to the emergency post on March 25 by Mayor Dave Bing. The 40-page document has come under fire in some local circles because it does not begin to address how Orr’s office or that of the Mayor will begin to address the crisis.

Orr’s spokesman, Bill Nowling, said such a plan is in the works.

“This is a pretty comprehensive diagnosis, but it’s not a cure or management plan,” Nowling said. “That’s going to come later. We really had to get this in place so we’re not putting the cart before the horse. It gives us a platform to really start the restructuring process, now that we know what the city’s financial picture is.”

On Sunday, Mayor Bing said his office was still reviewing the report, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“However, my initial review is that the assessment by Mr. Orr of the city’s financial condition is consistent with my administration’s findings,” Bing said in a statement. “A complete and comprehensive evaluation of the manager’s report will be conducted over the next 24 hours, and any further comment will be reserved until that review is completed.”

Grandmother Witnesses Cop Kill Sleeping Girl, 7

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Aiyana Stanley-Jones

Tragic accident or willful negligence?

Mertilla Jones on Monday testified in a Detroit court that she watched a police officer shoot her sleeping 7-year-old granddaughter in the head, the Associated Press reports.

Aiyana Stanley-Jones (pictured) had just gone to sleep on the living room couch of her grandmother’s first floor apartment, when a group of armed, masked police officers swarmed in. Officer Joseph Weekley, on trial for involuntary manslaughter, has admitted mistakenly shooting the girl in 2010.

“I seen the light leave out of her eyes and the blood started gushing out her mouth and she was dead,” said the 50-year-old Jones, who sobbed through her testimony.

Weekley said his gun fired when Mertilla Jones bumped into him or grabbed it. But prosecutors are arguing that he was negligent and failed to control his weapon.

Police were looking for a murder suspect who lived on the second floor apartment of the duplex where Jones and her granddaughter were. Members of the tactical team said they were unaware there were children in Jones’ apartment.


On Brink of Bankruptcy, Detroit Stops Debt Payments, Cuts Pensions

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detroit skyline

(Image: MWSanders/Flicker)

Detroit’s state-appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, said Detroit will need to cut pay, pension and health benefits for city workers in order to conserve cash. The city has also stopped making payments on its $2 billion debt.

“Financial mismanagement, a shrinking population, a dwindling tax base and other factors over the past 45 years have brought Detroit to the brink of financial and operational ruin,” said Orr.

Orr met with the city’s creditors behind closed doors Friday. More meetings are planned with the unions representing city employees.

 

Mistrial Declared for Detroit Cop Who Killed 7 Year Old Girl

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be news Jurors have failed to reach a verdict on manslaughter charges in the trial of Joseph Weekley, a Detroit police officer, who fatally shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones during a police raid in 2010. The judge has declared a mistrial.

Weekley killed Aiyana, while leading officers on a video taped raid to find a murder suspect. He claimed he pulled the trigger during a struggle with the girl’s grandmother, but the grandmother said it didn’t happen that way and another officer testified there was no struggle over the gun.

A retrial date hasn’t been set yet.

 

With Few Options, City of Detroit Files for Bankruptcy

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A line for federal assistance in Detroit, taken in 2012. Getty Images.

The largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history was filed Thursday, ending years of angst over the fiscal health and financial future of Detroit, Mich., which led an era of booming industry and innovation, but in recent years has become a lean, unstable symbol of the state of the American economy.

One of the great American cities, Detroit’s 16-page petition was filed in its U.S. Bankruptcy Court at 211 W Fort St. In all, the city has nearly $12 billion in debt to unsecured creditors, a number that Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr wants to see slashed dramatically; it’s being reported the creditors could share a $2 billion dollar payout if the Chapter 9 filing is approved. As far as approval is concerned, several media outlets are also reporting that Gov. Rick Snyder is required to approve the filing under Michigan state law.

Large cities do not typically file for bankruptcy. Already, several labor unions and the city’s two pension funds have gathered support to sue the governor to keep him from approving the filing. Orr, the city’s emergency manager, wants to cut pensions and benefits to the city’s current and former employees, which is said to total 30,000.

“It’s relatively easy to blow off a creditor. It’s much harder when it’s people who are the fabric of your community who you’ll need going forward,” Michael Sweet, a California bankruptcy attorney told CNN Money. “You need a police force, you need a fire department. You’re saying [to them] you’re not worth what you were previously promised.”

Read more on this breaking news at the Detroit News.

Detroit Bankruptcy Turns Spotlight to Business Development

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Detroit sunset|
The City of Detroit’s filing of Chapter 9 bankruptcy may be a blessing in disguise for Detroit’s business community, according to Michigan Business and Professional Association President and CEO Jennifer Kluge.

“The business community long ago committed to re-developing the City of Detroit,” said Kluge. “With the City’s path forward is no longer in doubt; now public officials must follow the direction of the court and finally address long-simmering financial issues which means that private sector leaders can proceed with their plans knowing that the City’s financial issues are being addressed,” she continued.

Kluge pointed to a number of signs that prove businesses both large and small are committed to keeping Detroit alive:

  • Corporate Real Estate Magazine named Wayne County Economic Development as one of the nation’s top-performing economic development organizations citing 10,582 new jobs and $2.2 billion in capital investment in Detroit in 2012.
  • Detroit was chosen No. 5 on the 2012 list of fastest growing tech cities, according to tech job site Dice.com. It was No. 1 on the same list in 2011.
  • Major food retailers, Meijer and Whole Foods, are building new stores within Detroit’s boundaries — the first for any major retailer in many years.
  • State officials are moving forward with the new International Trade Crossing across the Detroit River and the M-1 Rail Streetcar project.
  • Local business leader Dan Gilbert has purchased 22 properties over the last three years through his Rock Ventures entity.
  • The renovation of historical business buildings, apartments and hotels in downtown and midtown seem to be picking up steam.

“These developments are continuing because Detroit has a lot of spunk on top of its reasonably priced talent and real estate,” Kluge declared. “From our work with thousands of businesses across the state, we know that we have great talent and an enduring spirit of entrepreneurship in the private sector that will help to ensure Detroit’s future.”

Detroit Entrepreneur Creates Luxury Hair Extensions Line

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Miranda Jade Plater
“A woman of power exudes confidence and stands out, and needs to look her best to do so,” says Miranda Jade Plater, the 23-year old founder of Limelight Extensions.

The new, luxury hair extensions brand aims to offer women of all backgrounds, from corporate powerhouses to college students, quality hair to reflect their personality and lifestyle.

Limelight Extensions’ hand-selected, Grade 5A-6A Collections - Diamond Life, Cambodian, Malaysian and Peruvian, are designed to allow women to chose exactly which hair suits their individual style. In addition to an outstanding product, Limelight Extensions is dedicated to improving women’s personal lives by working with and donating to a Detroit women’s shelter.

Detroit’s Miranda Jade Plater strived to follow in her mother’s footsteps by declaring that she would be an executive by 25. However, by the time she entered college at Bowling Green University in 2008, things changed. The economy was at an all-time low with unemployment rising everyday. So, she set out to create her own opportunity to fulfill her childhood dream of success.

“The recent recession hit my hometown of Detroit hard, which led to Detroit filing for bankruptcy, so it’s important for me to create my own destiny as an entrepreneur,” said Miranda Jade Plater, Limelight Extensions Co-Founder. “I wanted to create a company that guarantees quality hair for all women and helped me give back to my community.”

This launch is accompanied by a national sweepstakes with media partner, BlackHairMedia.com, offering one $300 lime light extensions gift certificate accessible to everyone who follows Limelight Extensions on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram between August 12th - September 13th.

City of Detroit CFO Resigns After Distasteful Trayvon Martin Comment

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jim bonsallFrom The Huffington Post

Detroit CFO, Jim Bonsall, was reported asking “if he could shoot someone in a hoodie.” The comment has prompted his resignation. The CFO had been suspended without pay during an investigation into a complaint by a subordinate.

A statement was made by the Detroit Emergency Manager about Bonsall’s resignation.

“Jim has made great improvements in how the city handles his cash and finance operations in the short time he has been here, but it is clear that new leadership is needed to continue to move the City of Detroit forward. I thank Jim for putting the needs of the City and its residents first, and for his dedicated service.”

Read more here

Lincoln Gives Back with Mike Epps and Big Sean

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Thanksgiving came early for nearly 30,000 people yesterday in Detroit.

Lincoln Motor Company teamed with some of the biggest names in the worlds of sports and entertainment in support of the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance to provide meals for those in need. Celebs gathered yesterday for the annual “All-Star Giveback: Thanksgiving Edition” at Don Bosco Hall on the city’s west side.

The annual charity event distributed more than 600 turkeys, 100 hams and other holiday dinner items to Detroit residents on a first-come, first-served basis.

Headlining the event were comedian Mike Epps, multi-platinum recording artist Big Sean and his non-profit Sean Anderson Foundation, R&B singer Dwele, and a collection of professional athletes that included former NBA stars Derrick Coleman, Willie Burton, Carlos Rogers, Rick Mahorn, and former Detroit Lions Herman Moore, Lomas Brown and Ron Rice.

“All of these entertainers and athletes understand what it’s like to grow up in households of need,” said Tarence Wheeler of The Wheeler Group, event organizer. “They’ve all enjoyed success, but none of them have forgotten. They understand the importance of utilizing their success to help others in need.”

Lincoln made a monetary donation to purchase turkeys and to benefit the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance.


New-Look Detroit Pistons, Fox Sports Detroit Tap Rapper Big Sean for New Promo [Video]

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Fox Sports Detroit and the rapper Big Sean have teamed up for a new promo for the Detroit Pistons’ 2013-2014 season. He’s just the latest rapper to partner with an NBA team in marketing efforts — most notably, Jay Z helped revamp the Brooklyn Nets, and Drake and the Toronto Raptors announced a partnership.

The Pistons are expected to be much improved this season after adding guard Brandon Jennings and forward Josh Smith.

So Much More is the twelfth track from Big Sean’s first album, Finally Famous. The track was produced by No I.D.

Big Sean’s Detroit mixtape was named Mixtape of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Released on Sept. 5, 2012, the project received well over a million downloads.

Take a look:

 

Detroit Mayor Will Fight Indictment Charges

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Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick refuses to resign and vows to fight several charges brought against him by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Kilpatrick faces eight felonies and Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff, faces seven felonies, including perjury, obstruction of justice, and misconduct in office. Worthy announced the 12-count criminal indictment Monday stating Kilpatrick and Beatty lied under oath during a whistle-blowers’ trial last summer when they denied having a romantic relationship.

The charges could signal the end of Kilpatrick’s six-year term as mayor of one of America’s largest and heavily populated black cities. Penalties for the charges range from five to 15 years in prison. A perjury conviction is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and could force Kilpatrick to resign.

Detroit’s one-time rising star and youngest elected leader said this afternoon that he was deeply disappointed but not surprised by the prosecutor’s decision, during a press conference where he read from a written statement. “This has been a very flawed process from the very beginning.” He said that he recognized that “this is the first step in a process that I believe in that is grounded in the presumption of innocence that is guaranteed to each and every American citizen by the Constitution of these United States. I look forward to complete exoneration once all the facts surrounding this matter have been brought forth.”

In the meantime, Kilpatrick said that he will remain focused on moving the city of Detroit forward with key initiatives, such as modernizing its police force, expanding the city’s workforce development department efforts to prepare citizens for jobs, and presenting the city council with an economic stimulus package.

Dan Webb, the mayor’s chief counsel, also responded during the press conference to charges that he claims he has only listened to orally (referring to Worthy’s new conference). Webb said that he was still waiting for formal charges to be put into a written complaint. But assured that the mayor is ready to proceed and is ready to go to court today for arraignment.

The County prosecutor had given Kilpatrick and Beatty 24 hours to turn themselves in. “Let me be very, very clear, this was not an investigation focused on lying about sex,” she told reporters earlier today. “This investigation was whether public dollars were used unlawfully and much, much more,” said Worthy. “President Theodore Roosevelt once said ‘no man is above the law and no man is below it. In this case we asked ‘can we charge perjury? Yes. Are there other crimes and offenses we can charge other than perjury? Yes. Should we charge? Yes.”

Sexually explicit cell phone text messages allegedly sent by Kilpatrick, 37, to Beatty, 37, contradicted statements the two gave when each denied an extramarital affair. Worthy began her investigation in January after the Detroit Free Press published excerpts of the text messages sent to Beatty’s city-issued pager in 2002 and 2003. Kilpatrick had approved a confidential settlement of the whistleblower lawsuit that cost city taxpayers $8.4 million.

Webb said that he is familiar with the evidence and based all his years of experience as a trial lawyer, he is convinced that a jury will exonerate Mayor Kilpatrick on each and every charge. “When I listen to the charges it is clear to me that every single count is based on the allegation that the mayor acted improperly in connection to the civil case. The core of this allegation is that they mayor committed perjury in the civil case.” Webb said that based on his research, he had not found a single case where the Wayne County prosecutor’s office had “ever charged anyone with the crime of perjury in a civil case; it has always been reserved for criminal cases.”

This raises the issue of ‘selective prosecution;’ something Webb intends to bring before the judge presiding over the pending trial. “Having a jury trial is critically important in this case. All the evidence needs to be heard. Let that jury speak and a make a decision.”

Referring to Detroit City Council and other officials’ suggestion the mayor resign from public office, Webb said he strongly advised his client not to take that course of action. “Today the prosecutor said that our jury system is the best system in the world. I agree with that. She also said that you have to work to make the system work. I agree with that. My client the mayor is entitled to his day in court.”

Detroit’s Battles

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The indictment of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is causing a firestorm and mixed reactions from local African American civic and political leaders. On Monday, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office charged Kilpatrick with eight felonies including perjury, obstruction of justice, and misconduct in office. Local support for Kilpatrick is mixed, says Brenda Jones, a city council member. “The mayor still has many supporters who are behind him 100%.

“It’s tearing the city apart,” says council member Kwame Kenyatta. The Detroit City Council voted 7-1 last week to call for Kilpatrick to step down even before the charges were announced, and it remains convinced that his resignation would be best for the city, Kenyatta says. Kilpatrick has said that he will not resign, but Kenyatta argues that the public spectacle created by a trial will color the nation’s perceptions of Detroit. It is not a question of whether he’s guilty or innocent. He will be dragging the city of Detroit into the national spotlight. He will be a mayor on trial as opposed to a former mayor on trial.”

The charges against Kilpatrick stem from sexually explicit text messages allegedly sent between the mayor and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty, which in turn contradicted statements the two gave under oath denying an extramarital affair during a whistle-blower trial last summer. Kilpatrick approved a confidential settlement of the whistle-blower lawsuit that reportedly cost city taxpayers more than $9 million.

“This is a horrible situation for the city of Detroit at a time when we are facing a myriad of problems with our education system, out of control crime, the loss of jobs, and rampant home foreclosures,” says Tupac A. Hunter, a Michigan state senator and assistant Democratic leader. “It is most unfortunate that the mayor and his former chief of staff have found themselves in [this] situation.” Hunter added that the legal process will dispose of this situation in due process and in due time. “In any event, I am certain that the city will survive this, and we will be able to move forward with new leadership as well as a renewed spirit.”

Political insiders say that the Kilpatrick scandal has already cost Detroit a major conference. The National Conference of Black Mayors planned to have their annual convention in Detroit, but New Orleans will now serve as the host city this May in the wake of the controversy.

But the city of Detroit may not be the only casualty when it comes to the court of public opinion. Some analysts say African American politicians across the country may be hurt by the scandal, an opinion that is particularly noteworthy in light of Sen. Barack Obama’s run for the presidency.

“The first tragedy is the criminal charges Kilpatrick faces. Without any presumption of guilt, that’s for a jury to decide,” says Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a political analyst. However, “the criminal charges feed the all too widespread and subtle racist notion that black politicians are compromised, corrupt, and ineffectual,” adds the author of The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House.

Kenyatta agrees. It’s creating a very negative image around the country as it relates to black leadership in general, young black leadership in particular,” he says. Kilpatrick, who is 37, was the youngest mayor to be elected in the city of Detroit when he first took office in 2002. He is currently the vice president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.

The damage to Kilpatrick’s career is yet another blow for the African American political landscape, Hutchinson says. The charges are a taint and a stain on the career of a young, progressive African American politician who seemed to hold so much promise to jumpstart the much-needed revitalization of the desperately lagging economy and political fortunes of Detroit,” he says. “And who seemed poised to play an energizing role nationally in black politics.

Detroit Mayor to Resign, Do Jail Time

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Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice by committing perjury and has agreed to serve four months in jail. He will also have to pay up to $1 million in restitution and serve five years’ probation.

“I lied under oath in the case of Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope versus the city of Detroit … I did so with the intent to mislead the court and jury, to impede and obstruct the disposition of justice,” Kilpatrick told a Detroit courtroom, the Free Press reports.

Kilpatrick once faced five to 15 years of prison time on eight felony counts including perjury, obstruction of justice, and misconduct in office. The plea ends an almost eight-month saga stemming from a sex scandal involving explicit text messages allegedly sent between the mayor and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty. The messages contradicted statements the two gave under oath denying an extramarital affair during a police department whistle-blower trial last summer. Kilpatrick approved a confidential settlement of a lawsuit after the trial that reportedly cost city taxpayers more than $9 million.

Amid the charges, Kilpatrick had refused to resign, even after a City Council push to do so. He has now agreed not to run for office during his probation period, according to reports.

Beatty is not included in Kilpatrick’s plea deal and will face felony charges in court next week.

In August, a Detroit judge ordered Kilpatrick to jail for violating the terms of his bond in his perjury case after making a business trip and not informing the court. According to reports, the mayor apologized to the court, telling District Court Judge Ronald Giles, “I’ve been living in an incredible state of pressure and scrutiny.” After the apology, Giles sent the mayor to jail anyway, where he spent one night.

Kilpatrick still faces two felony charges in a separate case for allegedly assaulting deputies trying to serve a subpoena last month at the home of his sister, Ayanna Michigan, according to the Free Press.

Upon Kilpatrick’s resignation, the president of the Detroit City Council, Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., will take over mayoral duties.

At the onset of his civic career in Detroit, Kilpatrick was once seen as a rising star. Deemed the “Hip-Hop Mayor,” he was the youngest elected leader in the city’s history. Citizens are reportedly hoping for a brighter future after a case that has segmented opinions and morale, and cost citizens time and money.

Unemployment Rate Hits 8.5%

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The nation’s unemployment rate soared to 8.5% in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Today’s report marks a 26-year-high, as cash strapped industries tighten payrolls in an effort to cut costs, with more than two thirds of the decrease occurring in the last five months. The unemployment rate among African Americans jumped to 13.3%, up more than four percentage points compared to the same time last year.

“The unemployment rate will continue to rise,” says Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “We don’t think it will keep rising quite as fast as the .5 percentage point leap in February, which was boosted by a large number of unemployed entrants to the labor market, but it will surely breach the 9% mark by June, and 10% seems in the cards for fall.”

New jobless claims for the week of March 28 rose to 669,000, up from the previous week’s revised figure of 657,000.

march_bls-copy

More than 663,000 jobs were slashed in March bringing the net total to 5.1 million jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007. But some industries are feeling the pain more than others, take a look.

CONSTRUCTION

(Source: Getty Images)

Construction cut 126,000 jobs with declines occurring throughout the industry. Employment in construction has fallen by 1.3 million since peaking in January 2007; nearly half of that decline occurred over the last 5 months. President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan allocates $27 billion to boost state spending on new construction projects.

RETAIL

(Source: Getty Images)

Retail shed 48,000 jobs as stores offered more “recession specials” or went out of business due to lagging consumer spending over the month. Employment in the sector has declined by an average of 44,000 jobs per month.

56904444

(Source: Getty Images)

Hard hit by a shrinking job market and the subprime mortgage fallout, many Sacramento residents hang in the balance of homelessness. Sacramento’s Tent City is an example of shantytowns popping up around the nation that harken back to those created during the Great Depression. Unemployment in Sacramento reached 10.8% in February.

doctorvisitmale_edited-1

(Source: CDC)

Continuing to buck overall trends, healthcare added 13,500 jobs.

gm_wagoner

(Source: GM)

With the U.S. auto industry barely standing, Detroit, the motor city, was sent reeling as unemployment reached 22% in February, the highest in the nation. Obama forced General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner to resign earlier this week for failing to develop a suitable restructuring plan for the company.

g20

(Source: G-20)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Obama, United Kingdom Prime Minsiter Gordon Brown, and other world leaders met in London this week for the Group of 20 (G-20) summit to discuss measures to curb fallout from the global economic crisis. President Barack Obama conceded U.S. culpability in the financial crisis. G-20 members agreed on new global rules to cap the pay and bonuses of bankers, as well as a common approach to dealing with the toxic assets on the balance sheets of the world’s bank.

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