The Shirt Box today announced the Farmington Hills-based retailer, in partnership with Heart 2 Hart Detroit (H2HD) is still in need of donations of new and gently used shoes and boots. The partnership has generated a donation of more than 500 pairs of shoes in the first three weeks of the campaign, though the high demand for footwear continues. The program will extend through the month of May.      

           Launched in 2013, “Soles for the City,” encourages the donation of new and gently used shoes and boots to be distributed to homeless individuals living within the city of Detroit. Among the items supplied through organizations such as Heart 2 Hart Detroit, donations of food and clothing remain in constant demand, but shoes and boots are often overlooked creating an overwhelming need among Detroit’s homeless population.

            “The community support since the program’s inception has been unbelievable,” said co-owner Ron Elkus.  “Unfortunately, the demand is great right now and shoes aren’t as commonly donated as canned foods or used clothing.”

            Heart 2 Hart Detroit will coordinate distribution of the shoes to men, women and children in need. The organization was established to address the needs of homeless individuals living in the Detroit Metropolitan area. Deliveries of clothing, shoes, packed lunches and toiletries are made three times a week to Hart Plaza and the surrounding area and shelters.

            Donations can be made at The Shirt Box, 32500 Northwestern Highway in Farmington Hills.

About The Shirt Box

Celebrating more than 30 years, The Shirt Box has been the store-of-choice for men’s fashions. Trendsetters will find an extensive merchandise assortment of men’s furnishings, corporate casual wear and business wardrobe classics. Men’s footwear, accessories and gifts round out the assortment.  The shop is located at 32500 Northwestern Hwy.  Farmington Hills, MI 48334, (248) 851-6770. Visit The Shirt Box on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirt-Box/200715706615769 or on Twitter @TheShirtBox.

Former Detroit mayor and four-term City Council member Ken Cockrel, Jr., who has served Detroit with honor and distinction has announced that he will not seek reelection in this November’s municipal elections, according to a release from Cockrel’s office. After 18 years of continuous public service, Cockrel said that it is time for him to refocus. “I feel the time is right for me to seek new challenges, new opportunities and new ways to help Detroit,” Cockrel said. Cockrel was first elected to City Council in November 1997 after serving for three years on the Wayne County Commission.

He was reelected in 2001 and again in 2005 when he became City Council president. His current term began in January of 2009. During his more than 15 years on the council he has passed and fought for laws ensuring that Detroit’s contractors are paid timely, stiffer zoning regulations of liquor stores, pawn shops and group homes, and expanded city job opportunities for ex-felons. Cockrel became mayor in September 2008 following the resignation Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Though he did not win election to the post in the May 2009 special election to fill the seat, he had a significant impact during his brief time as mayor.

As mayor, Cockrel restored people’s trust and faith in city government. Successful efforts included negotiating the creation of the regional authority that now operates and is expanding Cobo Hall and avoiding city bankruptcy after a credit rating downgrade impacted a municipal credit swap agreement. He also led an effort to put police back in neighborhoods by opening several new police mini-stations, reopening the 10th Precinct, and facilitating the creation of Detroit’s first mobile precinct to support major events and community-based policing.

Cockrel is also the founder and chair of the Detroit City Council Green Task Force and has championed a sustainable agenda for the City of Detroit. He has passed both anti-idling and green purchasing ordinances and spearheaded the adoption of Detroit’s Non-Motorized Plan, which thus far has produced 62 miles of bike lanes in the city. Also while mayor, he created an Office of Energy and Sustainability and launched a curbside recycling pilot project that continues to this day. A cum laude graduate of Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Print Journalism, Cockrel is a former reporter for the Detroit Free Press, the Grand Rapids Press and the Cincinnati Inquirer.

He is also a former columnist for The Metro Times. Cockrel is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Michigan Political Leadership Program at Michigan State University as well as the Program for State and Local Government Officials at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In fall 2011 he earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Irish-American University in Dublin, Ireland. He is currently chair of the City Council’s Committee on Budget, Finance, and Audit and the vice chair of the Committee on Planning and Economic Development.

He also serves as a board member of the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy, the Detroit Jazz Fest, and Tour Detroit. In addition he is a member of the advisory boards for Bridging Communities and ACLU Michigan. Ken Cockrel, Jr. and his wife, Kimberly, have two sons, Kenneth III and Kyle Vincent, and three daughters, Kennedy Victoria, Kendal Imani and Kayla Lanette. Cockrel said that though he will be leaving the City Council table, he intends to remain active in neighborhood, civic and political affairs.

“I’m not going anywhere. I will definitely remain a staple on the Detroit scene,” he said. “I truly believe that Detroit’s best days are ahead of it and I’m eager to be a part of it.

Today, April 26, 2013, 4:00 pm
E 3rd St & Water St, Rochester, MI | Get Directions »

MI Earth Day Fest is the premier, biggest Earth Day event in Michigan, and with 50,000 expected, one of the largest on the planet. Featuring exhibits, products, presentations, entertainment, food and family fun, MI Earth Day Fest will highlight environmental issues and solutions through education, innovation and longterm sustainability strategies. Admission is free. Visit www.miEDF.org.

Virgin America's New In-Flight Flirting App

Traveling alone? A Virgin America flight, might be your best airline choice. The airline's new in-flight entertainment system allows passengers to pinpoint their next love interest with Virgin's digital seat map, browse the menu and have a drink, snack or meal sent over.

Passengers can also follow up with a text through the seat-to-seat messaging system. Virgin launched the service this week to mark the start of its Los Angeles to Las Vegas service, but it's available on all of its U.S. flights.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson introduced the new feature in a video:

In an unprecedented move, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing pulled petitions for a mayoral campaign as the May 14 deadline approaches without filling in the petition box that stipulates a run a for reelection this afternoon at the second floor of the Coleman A. Young Building in the City Clerk's Office.

If Bing decides to run for another term, his inclusion will shake up the race and make the field of candidates, including former Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan and Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, more competitive.

Bing has been mum about his reelection prospects for a while, until this afternoon when his office issued a brief statement indicating press availability at the clerk's office.

"I have not obtained signatures. I've been in contact with citizens. The window is obviously open. I've said for several months that I've not made my mind yet. That is still true. The first step of the process is picking up signatures," Bing told a gathering of journalists.

Bing will need 500 signatures submitted to City Clerk Janice Winfrey's Office by May 14, the cutoff date to submit signatures for a mayoral run.

"When I make the decision to win then I'm in it to win it. This is a huge decision for anybody who is going to run," Bing said. "If I'm going to go another four years I've got to make sure I touch base with all the people."

If he jumps in the race as the incumbent, Bing said he will declare that he's running to continue to fix Detroit noting, "We've made some positive things happen."

In an era of an Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) overseeing Detroit, some critics have dismissed the mayor's race as having less significance because the EFM, Kevin Orr, potentially could be in charge of the city beyond the stipulated18 months he's required to stay.

 "I accept the fact that the emergency manager is here and has the final say. I'm going to work with that team. I'm a team player," Bing said. "It's about fixing the city. We've got a lot of people that need help. The goal has to be about fixing the city. It's not going to be an easy decision."

Bing said continuing to fight the emergency manager is counterproductive because "I think the city is better off working with the emergency manager as opposed to working against him. We need the state involvement and support. We need outside support."

Bing will hold another media availability in the coming days during which he will declare whether or not he is officially in the race for mayor.

Bankole Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle. He is the author of a book series on the Obama presidency. His book "Obama and Black Loyalty," published in 2010, follows his recent book, "Obama and Christian Loyalty," with an epilogue by Robert S. Weiner, former White House spokesman. Thompson is also a political news analyst at WDET-101.9FM Detroit (NPR Affiliate) and a member of the weekly "Obama Watch" Sunday evening roundtable on WLIB-1190AM New York and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut

Despite the emancipation of African Americans and the District of Columbia becoming the first thriving slave territory to free more than 3000 Blacks several months before President Abraham Lincoln rendered the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, many today, reflecting on the long and sometimes difficult journey, say the battle for real political, social and economic empowerment is not over, especially when some African Americans are still fighting for the right to vote in 2013.

A battle the Detroit Branch NAACP, the largest chapter of the nation’s storied civil rights organization, says must continue as the group hold its 58th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner on April 28 at Cobo Convention Center under the theme “Freedom Must Never Be Defaulted, It Must Forever Be Exalted,” during which it will honor individuals who exemplify the continued struggle for the liberation and advancement of Blacks in all facets of life.

And Washington, DC, in particular, recently commemorated the 151st Emancipation Day honoring an African American leader, Loretta Carter Hanes, for her commitment and dedication to raising the public’s conscience about the history of the Emancipation at an event attended by Black luminaries.

Clarence Davis, a leading historian in the nation and public administrator of the DC Office of Public Records and chairman of the Emancipation Day Committee, in an exclusive interview with the Michigan Chronicle said Blacks, “have an obligation to commemorate in Detroit, Washington, D.C., Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angles, Houston and all over the country, the triumphant struggle over slavery through the abolitionist and emancipation movement.”

Davis said at a time when African Americans continue to face many hurdles, including discrimination in varied forms and challenges to voting rights, it is important to commemorate it as a living memorial to the many African Americans who gave their lives in the quest for freedom.

“African Americans the country over must never forget the history and our plight in the struggle from indentured servitude, slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, and the suffering of oppression in America,” Davis said. “Thus our remembrance of this struggle is commemorated through emancipation as the first historical landmark in our celebration for freedom.”

Georgia Congressman John Lewis, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement and architect of the 1963 March on Washington, in an editorial published earlier this year in the Washington Post, said, “Evidence proves there are forces in this country that willfully and intentionally trample on the voting rights of millions of Americans. That is why every president and every Congress, regardless of politics or party, has reauthorized Section 5.”

Lewis, who will be in Detroit in May at the Max M. Fisher Music Center to be honored at the 15th Annual Ford Freedom Award, spoke out as the U.S. Supreme Court was considering a challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires states with a history of voter suppression to clear with the U.S. Department of Justice before any changes to voting laws.

“The right to vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy. I risked my life defending that right. Some died in the struggle. If we are ever to actualize the true meaning of equality, effective measures such as the Voting Rights Act are still a necessary requirement of democracy,” Lewis wrote.

Lewis would later challenge the conscience of members of Congress when he read the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution during the debt limit battle, noting, “It was a moral imperative, something this nation had to do to begin to free itself from the blight of selling human beings for profit. President Lincoln and others used their power to right a moral wrong and changed the destiny of this country forever. It is one example of the best kind of contribution legislators can make to society.”

Davis, the historian, agrees and said that is the reason why recognizing Emancipation Day in the nation is important to remind tomorrow’s leaders of the challenges confronting them.

“The history of the peculiar institution of slavery is our story to hold before the world in the commemoration of emancipation and as a paradigm and testament for all who yearn to be free,” Davis said. “The commemoration of emancipation is our conscience that reminds us to never forget the pain, death, and affliction suffered by many through slavery, oppression, suppression and degradation.”

The commemoration of emancipation must become a living chronicle to teach the uniformed about our plight in the struggle for freedom, liberty, justice and equality, Davis said.

“We must keep the conscience of emancipation alive as we continue to fight the battles of disenfranchisement that were so prevalent in the 2012 election,” he said. “As noted in the election of the first African American president, Barack Obama, our struggle for freedom, liberty, justice and equality is not over. Therefore, we must be forever vigilant in fighting against the oppressive forces that want to take us back to the darks days of racial oppression.”

Cynthia Brock-Smith, secretary of the District of Columbia, underscored the importance of recognizing individuals like Hanes who “organized community programs to commemorate the lost history of Emancipation Day celebrations. Because of Mrs. Hanes’ unwavering commitment to bring back Emancipation Day, it is now a public legal holiday.”

First Lady Michelle Obama, delivering the keynote address at the 2012 Congressional Black Caucus Dinner, said the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation is an indication of the long pilgrimage that has now produced the first Black president.

“It is the story of continuous, breathtaking progress from one generation to the next. It’s the story of unwavering hope grounded in unyielding struggle,” Obama said. “It’s the story of men and women who said to themselves, I might not fulfill my dreams, but if I march, if I stand strong on this bridge, if I endure another night in this jail cell, then maybe my children will fulfill their dreams, maybe my grandchildren will.”

And many now look to the Obama era as the beginning of another chapter in the African American experience and what it means for Blacks to mark emancipation with special significance.

“The commemoration of emancipation is the fuel that drives the forces for freedom struggles of all types around the country today,” Davis said.

Bankole Thompson is editor of the Michigan Chronicle and the author of the forthcoming book “Rising From the Ashes: Engaging Detroit’s Future With Courage.” His book “Obama and Black Loyalty,” published in 2010, follows his recent book, “Obama and Christian Loyalty” with an epilogue by Bob Weiner, former White House spokesman. Thompson is a political news analyst at WDET-101.9FM (NPR affiliate) and a member of the weekly “Obama Watch” Sunday evening roundtable on WLIB-1190AM New York and simulcast in New Jersey and Connecticut. E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit his personal page at www.bankolethompson.com.

LANSING – With the craft beer craze continuing to sweep the state of Michigan and summer approaching, Pure Michigan and Founders Brewing Co. have teamed up to give fans and craft beer enthusiasts a chance to pick a Founders beer style that best represents Pure Michigan.

The beer chosen by fans will be featured in the Founders tap room in downtown Grand Rapids throughout July as part of Michigan Craft Beer Month.

Starting today and running through Friday, May 3, fans can vote between the following three beer styles – Vanilla Stout, Apple Ale and Wheat IPA – to choose the one they want to try in the Founders taproom. To vote, visit michigan.org/blog. Individuals can vote once a day for the duration of the contest and the winning beer will be announced in May. Participants must be 21 years of age to vote.

“Michigan has a thriving craft beer industry that is building on our tourism efforts by offering visitors unique flavors and memorable experiences,” said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “Founders is a vibrant and growing company here in Michigan and we are excited to work with them on this fun, beer-inspired contest. And we encourage fans to stop in at the Founders taproom this summer for a taste of Pure Michigan craft beer.”

Home to more than 100 breweries, Michigan is fifth in the nation for the number of breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs. Grand Rapids, home of Founders, shared the designation of Beer City USA with four-time winner Asheville, North Carolina in 2012. Michigan's craft beer industry grew by 20 percent in 2012, outpacing the national industry growth rate by 12 percent, and has a total economic impact of more than $133 million in the state.

Michigan’s craft brewers are also part of a close knit community, promoting all that the Great Beer State has to offer.

“On a given weekend in our taproom, our staff will check the IDs of people from Grand Rapids to Detroit to Chicago to Louisville and beyond,” said Dave Engbers, Co-Founder and Vice President of Brand & Education at Founders Brewing Co. “Having so many great beer destinations in Grand Rapids and across the Great Beer State brings new people into town and keeps others coming back.”

For rules and regulations or for more information on voting, please visit michigan.org/blog. Pure Michigan and Founders Brewing Co. remind everyone to drink responsibly. When enjoying a brewery tour or visiting a taproom, please use a designated driver, call a cab or use public transportation. Founders is conveniently located across the street from the Rapid bus station.

For more information on beer trail suggestions and brewery tours, visit michigan.org/breweries.

Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, markets the state’s tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For Michigan travel news and updates, go to michigan.org.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) serves as the state's marketing arm and lead agency for business, talent and jobs, with a focus on helping grow Michigan's economy. For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit: MichiganAdvantage.org.

About Founders Brewing Co.
Established in 1997 by two craft beer enthusiasts with day jobs and a dream, Founders Brewing Co. has made a distinctive mark on the craft beer community by brewing complex, in-your-face ales, with huge aromatics and tons of flavour. Founders is one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in the United States, currently ranking among the top 30 largest craft breweries in the nation.

Founders Brewing Co. has received numerous awards from the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival, and its beers are often rated among the best in the world by RateBeer and BeerAdvocate users. Located in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, Founders is a proud member of the Michigan Brewers Guild and the Brewers Association. For more information, visit www.foundersbrewing.com.

Dr. Patricia Maryland has been promoted to President of Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Ascension Health effective July 1st. She has over thirty years of experience in healthcare leadership and has been instrumental in ensuring the vitality of St. John Providence Health System since 2008.

Dr. Maryland’s accomplishments are expansive. In one of her more recent accomplishments, she collaborated with physician leaders to develop and new, cutting edge partnership with The Physician Alliance (TPA), a 2,200-member organization whose physician practices span five counties across Southeast Michigan. The new model, Partners in Care allows the health system and TPA physicians to successfully manage populations to better outcomes and was awarded three years of funding and support from Blue Cross Blue Shields. Furthermore, it helped to ready both St. John Providence and TPA for the changes caused by the Affordable Care Act.

“Pat’s farsighted and thoughtful approach has been instrumental to advancing Ascension Health’s Mission in Michigan and reaffirming our dedication to the region,” said Robert J. Henkel, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascension Health. “She has motivated her Health Ministry and other Health Ministries in Michigan to aggressively look ahead to determine how to best serve a radically changed Michigan going forward. I look forward to Pat bringing her gifts and experience to her new, broader role in service to our national ministry.”

“The Michigan Market of Ascension Health has begun leveraging our Health Ministries within the state to eliminate duplicate costs, pursue statewide contracting and develop enhanced revenue opportunities,” Dr. Maryland said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to share such successes and the lessons we’ve learned in Michigan with my colleagues across Ascension Health, and to contributing in an even more far-reaching way to our common success in serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable.”
 

(CNN) -- The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told investigators that his older brother, not any international terrorist group, masterminded the deadly attack, a U.S. government source said.
Preliminary interviews with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev indicate the two brothers fit the classification of self-radicalized jihadists, the source said Monday.
Tsarnaev has conveyed to investigators that Tamerlan's motivation was that of jihadist thought and the idea that Islam is under attack and jihadists need to fight back, the source said.
The government source cautioned that the interviews were preliminary, and that Tsarnaev's account needs to be checked out and followed up on by investigators.
And a federal law enforcement official told CNN that while investigators have seen nothing yet to indicate the suspects were working with anyone else, plenty of work remains before they can say confidently that no others were involved. That official would not comment on any motive or specifics on what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has communicated to officials.
Boston commissioner recaps manhunt Suspects called aunt to say 'I love you' What FBI knew about suspect #1 in 2011 Questions for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
As hints of a possible motive continue to emerge, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds.
The 19-year-old has been charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, and one count of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death. He was heavily sedated and on a ventilator at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, but was "alert, mentally competent and lucid" during the brief initial court appearance at his bedside on Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler found.
Read transcript of the hearing
During the hearing, Tsarnaev communicated mostly by nodding his head, though he once answered "no" when Bowler asked him if he could afford a lawyer, according to a transcript of the proceeding. A public defender was appointed to represent him.
Investigators have been asking Tsarnaev whether there are more bombs, explosives caches or weapons beyond those already found by police, and if anyone else was involved in the attacks, a source with direct knowledge of the investigation told CNN. Investigators are going into Tsarnaev's room every few hours to ask questions in the presence of doctors, the source said.
Federal agents at first questioned Tsarnaev without reading him his Miranda rights, under an exception to the rule invoked when authorities believe there is an imminent public safety threat, a Justice Department official said over the weekend. But by the time of the hospital room proceeding, government sources said he had been read his rights, and Bowler reviewed those with him again Monday.
Bowler scheduled a probable cause hearing for May 30.
Read the charges
Tsarnaev had been shot in the head, neck, legs and one hand, according to an FBI affidavit supporting the charges. He had lost a significant amount of blood and may have hearing loss from two flash-bang devices used to draw him out of the boat, the source said.
It wasn't clear whether Tsarnaev was wounded during his capture Friday night or in an earlier shootout with police that left his 26-year-old brother dead. Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the brothers, armed with handguns and explosives, apparently were planning another attack before the shootout derailed their efforts.
"I believe that the only reason that someone would have those in their possession was to further attack people and cause more death and destruction," Davis told CNN Monday.
Among the pieces of evidence collected from Boylston Street during the past week was a tree that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have leaned against before the bombing, according to a source who receives regular intelligence briefings on the attack. The source said the tree, located at the site of the second blast, was removed along with the surrounding grate, where the explosive device's circuit board was found.
Clues about radicalization?
While Tamerlan Tsarnaev apparently became increasingly radical in the past three or four years, according to an analysis of his social media accounts and the recollections of family members, there was no evidence Monday that he had any active association with international jihadist groups.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a shootout with police early Friday. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured that night, after police found him hiding in a boat in the back yard of a house in the Boston suburb of Watertown, Massachusetts.
Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers
Photos: Boston celebrates
New evidence photos from Boston
Photos: Nation mourns Boston bomb victims
The Tsarnaev family hails from the Russian republic of Chechnya and fled the brutal wars there in the 1990s. The two brothers were born in Kyrgyzstan; Dzhokhar became a U.S. citizen in 2012, while Tamerlan was a legal U.S. resident.
An FBI official said agents interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 at the request of the Russian government. The FBI said Russia claimed that he was a follower of radical Islam and that he had changed drastically since 2010.
But the Russian government's request was vague, a U.S. official and a law enforcement source said Sunday. The lack of specifics limited how much the FBI was able to investigate Tamerlan, the law enforcement official said.
Dead Boston bomb suspect posted video of jihadist, analysis shows
In August 2012, soon after returning from a visit to Russia, the elder Tsarnaev brother created a YouTube channel with links to a number of videos. Two videos under a category labeled "Terrorists" were deleted. It's not clear when or by whom.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev attended prayers periodically at the Islamic Society of Boston's mosque in Cambridge, a board member told CNN's Brian Todd. In a statement issued Monday, the society said he twice interrupted sermons -- once in November to express his opposition to celebrating any holiday as un-Islamic, and once in January when he tore into the preacher for citing civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The second time, the congregation shouted back, "Leave now," the statement said.
"After the sermon and the congregational prayer ended, a few volunteer leaders of the mosque sat down with the older suspect and gave him a clear choice: either he stops interrupting sermons and remains silent or he would not be welcomed," it said. "While he continued to attend some of the congregational prayers after the January incident, he neither interrupted another sermon nor did he cause any other disturbances."