DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit Mayor Dave Bing appeared before City Council to ask council members for their support to address public safety, a public lighting authority, and to retain a turnaround firm that will work with the Auditor General’s office.

Bing said he believes the city must embrace these reforms for the city to survive.

“Since I have taken office as mayor, this city has been under financial stress, clearly, it is now time to act with a renewed sense of urgency,” said Bing.

Council President Charles Pugh was receptive to working with the Mayor and said that the council understands its role in moving these reforms forward.

Bing noted that in just a matter of days, the Detroit Tigers will be playing in the World Series in Detroit, the city named the most violent by Forbes Magazine and said a public safety plan will be place.

Although Bing told WWJ’s Beth Fisher that he won’t talk about what the safety plan is but says the Forbes article talked about a lot of the violence being in the neighborhoods.

“Our police department is very good at what they do around big events, and if you go back in history, and think about any of our big events there have been plans that have been put in place, we’ve really had little or no incidents and I don’t believe that’s going to happen this time around also,” said Bing.

“We are very pleased and proud (about) what the Tigers have accomplished and we want to make sure that our city is seen in a good light,” said Bing.

Bing noted that much of the violence in the city described by Forbes is among people who know each other and not in the downtown area.

Bing said it shouldn’t just be about this event but something that they need to work on day in and day out. The mayor said a major focus will be on safety in the neighborhoods for the rest of his administration.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/10/22/bing/

DETROIT (WWJ) - Michigan’s governor and the Canadian Consul General took part in a town hall discussion Monday on the proposed bridge between Detroit and Windsor.

About two dozen protesters opposed to the governor and Canada’s plans for a new international trade crossing demonstrated outside the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel on Monday.

Minister Malik Shabazz led the demonstration.

“The governor said that Canada’s gonna pay for everything and Michigander’s aren’t going to pay for anything to the tune of $500 million,” said Shabazz. “But his own department of transportation says the bridge is going to cost between $2.1 billion and $4.7 billion. Who’s gonna pay for it? We are.”

However, speaking at Monday’s meeting, Consul General Roy Norton said Canada is financing the entire project.

“Canada assumes full responsibility for the new international trade crossing,” said Norton. “(According to) the June 15th agreement — if there are cost overruns they’re on us, not on the government of Michigan. If tolls are insufficient, they’re on us.

The state of Michigan pays nothing for the project and faces no liability. That message needs to be told over and over again,” Norton said.

Added Gov. Rick Snyder, “It’s an extraordinary offer — a partnership where they’re gonna pay the costs for this project.”

Norton criticized Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun’s campaign against the new bridge.

“There are folks, namely the Morouns, who don’t seem to want me to talk about the new international trade crossing. They would prefer that their multi-million dollar television advertising campaign of distortions and fabrications go uncontested,” said Norton. “But my message to them is you can try but you will not succeed in shutting down the government of Canada.”

Both Snyder and Norton agreed that passage of Proposal 6 would not prevent the bridge from being built but said court battles would likely delay construction.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/10/22/protesters-target-pro-bridge-town-hall-meeting/

“When Obama was elected it was thrilling,” the ad starts off, but the African-American man and woman on screen quickly begin questioning whether President Barack Obama should be re-elected for a second term.

“What has he done as president?” the woman in the video asks.

The answer they give is that he’s cut aid to black colleges and businesses.

“And his support of gay marriage is a slap in the face to people of faith,” the woman adds.

The video is one of two political ads Pivot Point, a PAC launched earlier this year, is airing on BET in the Seattle, Washington and Cleveland, Ohio areas. The other ad, below, features soundbites from Mitt Romney’s speech to the NAACP in July, in which he promises to improve conditions for African Americans.

Their goal, according to the head of the PAC, Dave Shemwell, is to communicate to African-American communities that it’s okay to consider switching political parties.

“You have no power when people take you for granted,” Shemwell told the Grio. “You only have power when people believe realistically that you’ll seek an alternative if they don’t come through.”

The people he’s referring to are Democratic politicians.

“Once [Obama] got into office, he didn’t pay any attention to the black community,” he said.

To make sure his message to African Americans would get across effectively, Shemwell partnered with Reverend Wayne Perryman, a local black evangelical pastor in Washington. The author of Whites, Blacks & Racist Democrats and activist for black issues echoed the same idea, calling the black community “a forgotten race.”

“The Democrats take it for granted. They don’t put anything on the table, but they get our vote,” he said. “For all the votes they’re getting, they should have an agenda.”

Perryman believes the opposite for the Republican Party, citing Romney’s NAACP speech.

“When he went to the NAACP and spoke, he talked about the conditions in our schools, in our communities,” he said. “He did make an appeal to African Americans, but we’ve seen no such appeal coming from Obama.”

Perryman named issues black people face, like economic instability and high foreclosure and school dropout rates. He explained that in the last four years, he felt President Obama had neglected to address the black community on too many occasions.

“If a white president was in office and all these things occurred, blacks would be out in the street,” he said.

“Black people should love black people so much, regardless of who is in office,” he continued. “When these kinds of conditions deteriorate to the point they have now, there needs to be strong, black voices bringing up these issues.”

So is electing Mitt Romney the answer to this problem? Will he keep his promises to African Americans?

“What do we have to lose?” Perryman answered. “I really think he’s sincere.”

He added that the changes Romney would bring may not be radical because some African American issues can only be solved by the people, not the government.

“But I think he can start things moving in the right direction,” he said of Romney.

The political ads began running in Washington last week and in Ohio yesterday. Shemwell hopes to influence votes in both his home state and the swing state. He said the ads will be airing on BET at least once a day by the end of this week, but there are no plans yet to air them in other states.

http://thegrio.com/2012/10/22/super-pac-and-black-pastor-tell-african-americans-to-vote-for-romney/

In an attempt to revive a franchise, Alex Cross, an adaptation of the novel by James Patterson, offers little stimulation. Tyler Perry ditches the fat suit and wig to star as the title character. Alex Cross takes place in Detroit, where a crazed killer is targeting European big-shots.

For all the laughs Perry garners as Madea, he elicits just as many grimaces and eye rolls as Alex Cross. Perry comes off as awkward and clumsy lacking the sophistication and skill that Morgan Freeman brought to the same role in Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. The audience is supposed to believe that Cross possesses Sherlock Holmes’ type clairvoyance but it seems forced and undeserved. However that fault lies more with the lazy script than with Perry. The audience could perhaps even forgive this lapse in judgment if Perry managed to look the part of an action hero. How many actors have confessed to upping their work outs and dieting to beef up for the role of action super star? Countless. But not Tyler Perry. He opted for the jelly donut diet in which the results are flabby arms and a soggy mid-section.

The villain Picasso, played by Lost’s Matthew Fox is probably the most interesting character because Fox committed completely to a stereotypical psycho-killer with a penchant for torturing beautiful young women. Cicely Tyson gives a strong performance and Alex Cross’ mother, although the necessity of her role is up for debate. Other additions to the cast include Edward Burns as Tommy Kane, Alex Cross’ best friend since grade school, Jean Reno as Giles Mercier the CEO and main target of Picasso, John C. McGinley as the Chief of the Detroit Police Department.

Speaking of Detroit, its presence in the movie was virtually non-existent. With all the film incentives available you would think that the bulk of the movie would be filmed in Detroit, instead of Ohio. With the exception of the Detroit Police cars and the mention of Woodward and Caniff, there is nothing even remotely resembling Detroit until a missile is launched from the people mover late in the movie.

This movie is largely a failure due to its poor script. It was painfully stale and didn’t leave the actors a lot of room to work. This is not Tyler Perry’s break out action role. Although he may deserve another shot.

2 Stars  

Color of Change, the nation's largest online civil rights organization, is taking on media heavyweight Clear Channel over billboards that the advocacy group claims are attempts at voter intimidation.

Recently, anti-voter fraud billboards have sprung up in swing states such as Ohio and Wisconsin, depicting a gavel and informing passers-by that voter fraud is a felony, punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. Although the billboards state that they were funded by a "private family foundation," Color of Change's executive director Rashad Robinson believes Clear Channel has a responsibility to remove the ads, and has started an online campaign in an effort to force them to do so.

Robinson told The Huffington Post, "For us, these billboards, they create a culture of fear. They've only been put up in black and brown neighborhoods, so these are not widespread billboards. They are targeting certain communities, and they're creating a fear for people going to the polls."

Robinson also took issue with the anonymity of the billboard's buyer. "These billboards were funded by an anonymous donor. So unlike the work of Color of Change, when we send out a petition or do a rally, when we take out an ad, people know exactly who paid for it. They know what we stand for, they know who we are," Robinson said.

Clear Channel, which owns the billboards, was purchased in 2008 by Bain Capital, the company founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

In an email to HuffPost, Jim Cullinan, vice president of corporate communications for Clear Channel Outdoor, said, "Clear Channel Outdoor does not comment on our advertisers' ads. We are committed to ensuring that ads, including political ads, posted on our billboards have the appropriate disclaimer so this situation doesn't happen again in the future." He explained to HuffPost that the advertiser's contract stipulates anonymity.

He told the Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel that the billboards currently appear at 85 locations, and that the company does not intend to take them down.

In Wisconsin, community organizations have rallied in opposition to the billboards, citing them as the latest effort to suppress the vote.

"Voter rights are under attack every which way possible," Mike Wilder, director of the African-American Round Table told the Wisconsin Journal Sentinal.

HuffPost's Trymaine Lee reported this week on the same signs appearing in Ohio neighborhoods, where critics feel the ads were strategically placed to intimidate potential voters. Ohio is among the swing states that have passed restrictive voter laws, and it recently had its elimination of early voting days reversed when the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the Ohio secretary of state.

Demographically, the voting age populations in the Ohio neighborhoods where the signs were placed are 96 percent black, 88 percent black and 76 percent black -- a stark contrast to another ad that appears on a Clear Channel billboard in Harris County, Texas, where the message is to "vote early." The population of Harris County is 57 percent white.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has also sent a letter to Clear Channel demanding the removal of the billboard ads and has appealed to the public to do the same.

Between now and the November election, Color of Change plans to hold rallies to pressure Clear Channel to remove the ads.

"The petition was just the first step for us," Robinson said. "There will be a lot of work involved to make sure that Clear Channel and Bain are held accountable, that they know there are consequences for this kind of voter suppression."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/voter-fraud-billboards_n_1987058.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices

If it has not occurred to the people of Detroit yet, on the heels of 32 murders in 15 days or 31 fires in 32 hours the bell should be ringing loud and clear soon enough that we are nothing more than collateral damage to Governor Snyder, Mayor Bing and his financial advisory board. The city, at the request of the governor and advisory board has made steep cuts to fire, police, ems and just recently 30 water department workers went on strike because the board controlling the water department wants to cut 81 percent of its workforce.

So now not only is your life in danger because of the potential of being a victim of crime or fire, you won't be able to drink the water either. We, the people of Detroit realize the city is in a financial quandary, not of our making of course. We have been good citizens , paid our taxes and even raised our taxes when asked to. So now we've reached a point of apparent calamity and hard decisions have to be made. The problem with getting out of the crisis is the people calling the shots have decided that the people of Detroit are not important and what is important is the bottom line and nothing more. Officers, firefighters and EMS employees have lost 10 percent of their pay and face losing more but as a citizen that 10 percent cut in pay and the manpower loses that have come with it amounts to a great deal more, lives are being lost because there are no police or fire to respond to 911 calls.

Tragically other than Mayor Bing, who resides in the Manoogian Mansion, not one other person making the decisions about Detroit lives within the confines of the City of Detroit, so the decision is easier when you have no skin in the game. So what the citizens can't get a fire truck to respond? So what grandma gets robbed on her porch? So what your uncle or dad falls ill and dies before a emergency medical service worker arrives? Instead Governor Snyder wants to strong arm the city into giving him Belle Isle for 90 years. Talk about priorities being out of whack. And what is it the governor wants to do with Belle Isle? No one knows, he won't even tell City Council.

Detroiters are very forgiving even when its clear we've been used and abused, but what's insulting and painful to watch is a muted mayor who doesn't even have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and tell the people in Lansing, 'Look we understand our plight, but you could show some compassion.' But even in Bing's case, a recent resident to Detroit, you would have to be from here and have skin in the game to care enough to do that. One thing is certain, all those people who hungered for an outsider to lead the city, someone with no political ties, you got him. Be careful what you ask for.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-k-bennett/detroit-residents-are-col_b_1929522.html?utm_hp_ref=detroit-politics

An assault that took place at a Detroit park this past weekend has left residents on edge, and even worried about a possible serial rapist.

Police say 45-year-old Tammy Freeman was attacked on Oct. 13 at Patton Park on the city's southwest side. A crime summary sent out by the department at the time said the woman "was found lying in the park unresponsive ... appeared to have been physically assaulted and was listed in critical condition." It listed the time of the incident as 10:05 p.m.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens said the department had not confirmed whether the victim was raped.

"The circumstances pertaining to this incident [are] unknown and [are] still being investigated," she said in an email to The Huffington Post.

A family member of the victim told FOX 2 the woman's face was mutilated and her arms were broken during the assault. According to the local news station, doctors say she likely won't survive. Detroit police would not confirm that the woman had been mutilated, although they did believe she sought medical attention.

Neighbors are worried about the possibility of more assaults and have started a neighborhood watch, according to FOX 2.

"I just heard that there (were) two other victims and the same thing basically happened to them and they died," Freeman's relative told the news station. Something needs to be done."

Phillip Cook, a public information officer with the DPD, said he could not confirm these reports and didn't believe the attack was part of a pattern of assaults.

"We don't think or feel we're looking for any serial rapist," he told The Huffington Post.

Cook did say that several men had been arrested for sex crimes in the area during the past month, but added that the incidents were unrelated to the assault at Patton Park.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/patton-park-attack-detroit-rape-rapist_n_1982317.html?utm_hp_ref=detroit

The center of Mitt Romney‘s campaign, both personally and politically, has revolved around Utah. His remarkable handling of the 2002 Olympics has been touted as proof of his business acumen. And Salt Lake City, the hub of Mormonism and home of the Mormon church, has played a pivotal role in Romney’s religious growth as well.

That is why this has to hurt.

With the scathing indictment: “The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first,” the city’s largest newspaper endorses President Barack Obama for a second time over a “shape-shifting” Romney.

Read below for more on SLT’s editorial board’s decision:

Nowhere has Mitt Romney’s pursuit of the presidency been more warmly welcomed or closely followed than here in Utah. The Republican nominee’s political and religious pedigrees, his adeptly bipartisan governorship of a Democratic state, and his head for business and the bottom line all inspire admiration and hope in our largely Mormon, Republican, business-friendly state.

But it was Romney’s singular role in rescuing Utah’s organization of the 2002 Olympics from a cesspool of scandal, and his oversight of the most successful Winter Games on record, that make him the Beehive State’s favorite adopted son.

After all, Romney managed to save the state from ignominy, turning the extravaganza into a showcase for the matchless landscapes, volunteerism and efficiency that told the world what is best and most beautiful about Utah and its people.

In short, this is the Mitt Romney we knew, or thought we knew, as one of us.

Sadly, it is not the only Romney, as his campaign for the White House has made abundantly clear, first in his servile courtship of the tea party in order to win the nomination, and now as the party’s shape-shifting nominee. From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: “Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?”

The evidence suggests no clear answer, or at least one that would survive Romney’s next speech or sound bite. Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear.

http://newsone.com/2063937/shocker-obama-endorsed-by-salt-lake-tribune-favorite-son-romney-cant-be-trusted/

The battle for the NFC North heats up on Monday Night Football as the Detroit Lions travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears.

Something will have to give between Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and the Lions’ passing attack facing a defense that has been creating many turnovers and touchdowns.

While Detroit has had a brutal slate in 2012, the Bears have feasted on rather lowly competition. Coming off of a bye week and an extra day of rest, they are sure to be prepared for this crucial divisional matchup.

Here is where you can catch the game and predictions on how it will shake ou

When: Monday, October 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Current Spread: Chicago (-6.5)

Over/Under: 47.5

Moneyline: Detroit (+220), Chicago (-260)

Injury Report

Detroit Lions (NFL.com)

Dwight Bentley, CB (shoulder) DOUBTFUL, Jacob Lacey, CB (concussion) OUT.

Chicago Bears (NFL.com)

Earl Bennett, WR (illness) QUESTIONABLE, Alshon Jeffrey, WR (hand) OUT.

Lions Player to Watch: DT Ndamukong Suh

The Achilles heel of this talented Bears team is unquestionably their offensive line, which is something Suh and the Detroit line will have to exploit.

After getting off to a rough start, Suh and Co. played very well against the Philadelphia Eagles, which is another team known for leaving its backfield susceptible to big hits.

Suh must be able to prevent RB Matt Forte from establishing the run, and drawing a double team will also help put pressure on Bears QB Jay Cutler.

Detroit is currently thin on the back end defensively, making Suh's play all the more important.

Bears Player to Watch: WR Brandon Marshall

It could be a huge day for the Pro Bowl wide receiver at home. With the injuries at cornerback for Detroit, Marshall is going to be a serious mismatch all game long.

As far as fantasy football is concerned, this week in particular would be a great one to put Marshall in; he looks to be more consistent now that Cutler is his QB once again.

With an extra week to prepare for a depleted secondary, Marshall should have a field day.

Key Matchup

It will come down to the Chicago secondary facing Stafford and Co.

While the Bears have the No. 1 rush defense in the league, their pass defense has appeared better than it has been due to so many turnovers.

As long as Stafford can be smart with the football, the Bears have proven that they will give up some yards through the air. They have just been the beneficiaries of bad decisions by inexperienced quarterbacks for most of the season.

The only time Chicago faced an elite quarterback—Aaron Rodgers—Cutler was not only badly outplayed, but they were soundly beaten as a team.

Here were the other QBs the Bears have faced: Andrew Luck, Sam Bradford and Blaine Gabbert.

Come on now.

Prediction

It’s the second-consecutive make-or-break game for Detroit.

Stafford tends to be erratic, but Bears QB Jay Cutler may be even more so.

The more balanced team is definitely Chicago, but no matter how bad the Lions look at times, Stafford has the uncanny ability to bring them back. The man who threw for 5,000 yards in 2011 still has not pieced together a great game this season from start to finish, which makes him just about due.

If the NFL has taught us anything this season, it's that the unexpected result in just about every game continues to occur. The Bears are the favorites, but this will be a season-turning win for Detroit, who can't afford to drop to 2-4.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1380081-monday-night-football-schedule-2012-complete-tv-guide-for-lions-vs-bears

DETROIT (WWJ) – There’s welcome news for drivers as the work week gets under way, with DetroitGasPrices.com reporting the average price for a gallon of gas has fallen 22 cents in the past week.

As of Sunday, prices were averaging $3.45 per gallon. And as of Monday morning, a station at Seven Mile and Inkster roads in Redford Township was selling gas for $3.27 per gallon.

Including the change in gas prices in Detroit during the past week, DetroitGasPrices.com says prices on Sunday were 8.9 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago. But they’re currently 48.6 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

The national average has decreased 14.2 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 20.1 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

“Only one other time in the last few years have we seen the national average drop so significantly in the course of just a week, and that other time was in May 2011,” said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. “Looking back at our data, we only see that prices dropped considerably more in autumn 2008 when the economy slipped into a recession. Given the circumstances with this latest weekly decrease – that it has nothing to do with recession – is significant,” DeHaan said.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/10/22/gas-prices-dropping-even-more/