Despite pleas from both area residents and Mayor Bing, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ (SEMCOG) 50-member executive committee voted last Friday to shift $7 million from DDOT to SMART.

According to SEMCOG Executive Director Paul Tait, the requested action was to establish a formula for allocating Federal Transit Administration capital funds. In total, it involves just under $42 million for the fiscal year.

The allocation of those funds was based on an agreement made in the mid 1970s where 65 percent would go to DDOT and 35 percent to SMART.

“As a result of the passage of the Regional Transit Authority legislation, no formula currently exists,” Tait said, adding that based on an analysis of the relative capital needs of SMART and DDOT, the funds would be split for one year as follows: 51.5 percent to SMART, 47.5 percent to DDOT and 1 percent to the People Mover.

Tait emphasized that the $7 million that would go from DDOT to SMART would be for capital money, for bus purchases, facilities and preventive maintenance.

The Federal Transit Administration questioned the continued use of the 65/35 formula. The FTA called it “inconsistent federal law.”

Tait said DDOT has newer buses and at least a sufficient number of buses to provide core service. SMART, on the other hand, has more immediate needs for bus purchases and maintenance because of the age of its fleet.

Bing told the executive committee he didn’t think that changing the distribution of the funding from the federal government could happen at a worse time.

“Out of all of the initiatives that are important to the city and its inhabitants, transportation looms very, very high on the agenda,” Bing said, adding that on average, more than 100,000 people use public transportation every day.

The mayor also said this loss of funding will not only negatively impact DDOT, but also Detroit’s overall budget.

“We have just sent our budget up to City Council and it’s a tough budget,” Bing said. “A lot of work to be done. But now with the risk of losing $7 million of transportation funding, I’m really not sure where I can do any more cuts in our budget without having major impact on some of the services we need to provide to our citizens.”

Bing reiterated that the loss of funding would have a negative impact on so many people in need.

“I am sensitive to the fact that in the communities that you serve, there are also people in need,” he said. “But I wonder why, as we look at almost eight months into this budget period, we’re ready to make a change. My question is why now? Why is it so important to do this now?”

He also said many people have e-mailed him with grave concern about the impact this decision would have on them, and asked the executive committee to vote with sensitivity.

“I think we are now starting, as a region, to see that working together is better than doing everything separate and apart from each other,” Bing said.

During the public comment period, State Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Detroit) said shifting these funds to provide SMART with 51 percent and DDOT with 47 percent is misguided, and that pinning the blame on the FTA will not work.

Johnson also said the FTA maintains that local leaders make funding decisions based on demonstrated need.

“Simply put, DDOT has a greater demonstrable need for the federal funding than those SMART,” Johnson said.

Rev. Joan Ross, who represents a transportation coalition called the North End Woodward Community Coalition, said her group has been struggling with the issue of transportation for the past three years.

She said 35 to 40 percent of people in her community don’t have cars.

“We’re in a community of seniors, a community of students, a community of people who are barely making it day by day,” Ross said.

She asked, on behalf of that community, who she said constitute much of the 100,000 riders per day that DDOT is struggling to serve, that the funding formula be based on ridership.

Ross said justice dictates that DDOT should be a priority for public transportation, also noting that regional transit decisions should be left to the Regional Transit Authority.

Kathy Montgomery, a candidate for City Council, District 1, said she was concerned about the possibility that SEMCOG would decide to lower the amount of money DDOT receives.

She also pointed out that many Detroiters are either unemployed or on some kind of public assistance, and therefore are extremely low income.

“They do not have cars,” she said. “They must get around on public transportation.”

Montgomery said cutting the federal dollars for the DDOT system would hurt all those people.

“It’s unconscionable,” she said, adding that if the money were distributed according to the number of people who actually ride the bus, Detroit would be entitled to 81 percent.

“We’re satisfied with 65, which is what we’ve received up to this point,” she said.

Montgomery pleaded with SEMCOG members to consider the people of Detroit.

“I want to get the people in our city employed,” she said. “If they do not have transportation to get to a job in the suburbs, if there are no jobs in the city, then they will remain unemployed.”

Joel Batterman, transportation coordinator for the Michigan Suburbs Alliance which represents inner ring suburbs, said his organization is an advocate for regional cooperation and that many people are served by both transit lines.

Batterman also said diminished funding for DDOT means fewer riders can access SMART and vice versa.

“To create the kind of transit system that our region deserves, we must improve service in the suburbs and the city, on both local routes and regional corridors,” he said, adding that for too long metro Detroit has been a house divided.

“The public has raised some questions about what has happened, but it has not prevented people from coming. We are important in many communities and we are usually the last institution to leave the community.”

— JOANNE MONDOWNEY, Executive Director, Detroit Public Library

The Detroit Public Library is not only a Detroit institution rooted in the educational mission of the city, but also a jewel and a massive resource for many who look to the library to attend to their educational and research needs.

Children, students and adults all use the Detroit Public Library as a reservoir of knowledge for the exchange of information and ideas and a community asset that stands as a connecting pillar and a learning tool.

Often it is said that you can tell the educational commitment of a city by the kind of attention paid to the effective functioning of its public libraries and the set of eyes in charge of its management.

Because libraries are places where knowledge is built in grooming a community of learners and those who would contribute to society.

That is why news of the Detroit Public Library embroiled in allegations of financial mismanagement shocked most in the community because given its nature, it is the last place to expect scandals that are routine in government bureaucratic structures where “pay to play” is often the order of day.

Earlier this year, the library’s Main Branch on Woodward Avenue was raided by FBI agents in a corruption sweep that led to the firing of one of the top officials at the public library, Tim Cromer, who handled technology.

Cromer’s Bloomfield home was also raided by federal authorities following reports that he awarded a $3 million no-bid technology contract to an outside company.

Another company, Core, was contracted by Cromer to update the library’s technology infrastructure during which the cost of the work jumped to an unexplained $1.7 million from the initial $712,000. James Henley, the owner of Core, was indicted last month on bribery charges, that he allegedly paid $600,000 in kickbacks to an anonymous public official.

With the cloud of alleged financial mismanagement hanging over the Detroit Public Library like the Sword of Damocles, officials from the library, including Executive Director Jo Anne Mondowney and Library Commission President Russell Bellant, are on an aggressive mission to separate fact from fiction in an effort to maintain the institution’s reputation.

The case they are making is that the actions of one or few individuals who are still going to have their day in court should not be used to paint the library with a wide brush considering what it has meant in this community for decades.

“The memory is going to be there. We still have to deal with the fact that it happened. We can’t keep getting beat up for it because everybody wasn’t a part of it,” Mondowney said during an interview in my office last week, noting that there is still an ongoing investigation. “You would think the library would be (exempt) from that kind of behavior but we’re not.”

During the entire ordeal and the federal probe that made the library garner national attention, Mondowney said, “It was something I had to deal with and take responsibility for which I did. I tried to investigate and determine how to respond. And because I’m from Baltimore, I had the courage and strength to stand up to what was happening. I did not make excuses.”

Witnessing what was happening for Mon­downey meant that it was time to not let the reputation of an institution of this stature go down the drain because “this is a fine institution that deserved to be exonerated and I was the person that could help with what was happening.”

Given where things are and the fact that the federal probe is still continuing, she said the leadership of the library will have to be more accountable because “people trust us with their money.”

Commissioner Bellant, who is also a union leader, said even though the library was hit with this scandal it should not be misconstrued as a failure of the entire leadership.

He cited as an example the Detroit Public Schools, where he said past allegations of mismanagement were far more rampant saying what happened at DPS is not equal to the allegations facing the library.

“When it happened we as a commission issued a statement that reflected the commission’s view that we will cooperate fully. But what happened at DPS was so systematic and widespread, and the library was one person. By comparison, the library had a clean bill of health,” Bellant said. “You can’t see services being undermined while people profit for themselves. We have a lot of young people using the library.”

Mondowney agrees.

“The public has raised some questions about what has happened but it has not prevented people from coming,” Mon­downey said. “We are important in many communities and we are usually the last institution to leave the community.”

Even though the library is currently reviewing policies and instituting internal controls to avert what happened in its technology department that is still under investigation, Mondowney said, “Rules are as good as the folks who implement them and there are people who find a way to get around and do wrong. That’s why the law is there.”

The library’s role cannot be dismissed no matter what has happened, Mondowney said.

“The public has seen us as an institution that has tried to minimize the digital divide. We provide that role in a daily basis,” She said. “In our Main Library we have a literacy program and technology has made the library far more relevant. There is a need to stay connected. We have people accessing our computers every single day.”

Mondowney, who has been on the job now since 2009 as director, said her vision is weaved into the library’s mission.

“We find hope for people. We create an environment of lifelong learning. We know as technology evolves libraries are still needed to help people maintain a quality of life in this society,” Mondowney said.

The challenge now is about revenue and how the library continues to provide services that are beyond the wrongdoing that has been reported.

“It is not going to derail us from looking hard at the central question,” Mondowney said. “We provide very creative summer reading programs that help children maintain a reading level that allows them to excel. You accomplish something when you help a child to love to read. The library tries to teach a child to love to do this and our programs are centered around keeping children excited and engaged in the love of reading.”

In the coming months and years, the library’s leadership will continue to face the questions in the financial scandal, but the challenge remains on its ability to show in concrete terms what it is doing to prevent misdeeds of some on its staff, the kind that can lead to deplorable and embarassing sitiuations such as this one. These questions and any improvement to its operating standard as it relates to guarding tax dollars takes on a more central role as the library works to renew its existing millage which will expire in 2015.

Public libraries are important because they contribute not only to our democracy, but also to education and the lifelong learning that those who spend hours in the library researching information benefit from.

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.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing went on the offensive Tuesday afternoon after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg cited Detroit’s murder rate in underscoring the low murder rate on the streets of New York.

Speaking to police officers, Bloomberg noted that if New York had the same number of people getting killed, more than 4,500 who live in the world’s financial capital would have died instead of the 419 murders in New York last year, the Detroit News reported.
“Last year, we had a record low 419 murders. If instead we had Washington, DC's murder rate, nearly 1,200 New Yorkers would have been murdered last year instead of 419," Bloomberg said. "And if we had had Detroit's murder rate, more than 4,500 New Yorkers would have been murdered last year instead of 419. That's a factor of ten.”
Mayor Bing fired back, saying the billionaire mayor who was once considered a potential presidential candidate is taking Detroit’s crime issue out of context when compared to New York City.

“I think it is sad and inappropriate for anyone, especially public officials, to tout their crime fighting efforts by highlighting other cities’ murder rates,” Bing said. “There are dramatic differences between New York and Detroit.”

Bing cited as an example New York’s 40,000 police officers compared to only 3,000 men and women in blue in Detroit.

“Secondly, New York has crime fighting techniques and resources such as ‘stop and frisk at will’ and a sophisticated surveillance system that we do not currently have in our crime fighting arsenal, in part due to the fact we are under a federal consent decree,” Bing said. “We are all engaged in reducing violent crimes and we need to fight this battle together. Therefore, I support Mayor Bloomberg’s efforts to get Congress to toughen gun laws so that gun violence is reduced in Detroit, New York and across this country.”
Detroit’s crime statistics that were released earlier this year showed 411 homicides last year, up from 377 the following year. The FBI’s violent crime statistics for the first half of 2011 showed that overall violent crime rate was down 24 percent.
In the same speech to the rank and file of the New York Police Department, Mayor Bloomberg accused the media of double standard in its coverage after he came under heavy criticism for the police department’s “Stop-and-Frisk” program which has been widely criticized by police brutality advocates for targeting people of color.
Bloomberg said that the New York Times criticism of the “Stop-and-Frisk” program was baseless and accused the paper of racial double standard in the lack of coverage of a 17-year-old shot to death last week in the Bronx.
“Do you think that if a White 17-year-old prep student from Manhattan had been murdered, the Times would have ignored it?” Bloomberg asked. “Four days after Alphonso Bryant's murder went unreported by the Times, the paper published another editorial attacking stop-question-frisk. They called it a ‘widely-loathed’ practice — even though a growing number of mothers and fathers who have had their children murdered with guns have been speaking out in support of stop, question and frisk.”

(CNN) -- A cargo plane crashed in Afghanistan killing all seven crew members on board Monday.
All seven were U.S. citizens, the cargo carrier National Airlines said.
The crash happened shortly after takeoff from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, the U.S.-based company said. The Boeing 747-400 was en route to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
"This was a purely cargo flight and no passengers were aboard," a company statement said. "Cargo consisted of vehicles and routine general cargo."
Inside a firefight with the Taliban Dangerous challenge for Afghan police
National specializes in moving freight for the military and businesses, as well as charter passenger service in the Middle East.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
But Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said his group shot down the aircraft and that "several foreign soldiers were killed."
That claim could not be immediately verified. But in the past, the Taliban has exaggerated casualty figures.
"This is a devastating loss for our family and we'll work diligently with authorities to find the cause," National Airlines President Glen Joerger said in the statement.
"Our focus at this time is on the family members of those we've lost, and on assisting the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority in their investigations."
Six of the victims were from Michigan, National said, and they were identified as Brad Hasler, Jeremy Lipka, Jamie Brokaw, Rinku Summan, Michael Sheets and Gary Stockdale.
The other victim, Timothy Garrett, was from Kentucky.

(CNN) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it approved the availability of the Plan B One-Step emergency contraception pill without a prescription for women 15 and older.
This move comes just weeks after a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, ordered the FDA to make the morning-after birth control pill available to women of any age, without a prescription. Tuesday's FDA announcement, which pertains to an application from Teva Women's Health, Inc., is not related to that, the FDA said.
"The FDA's approval of Teva's current application for Plan B One-Step is independent of that litigation and this decision is not intended to address the judge's ruling," the FDA said in a statement.
In early April, the U.S. Justice Department indicated an appeal of the Brooklyn judge's order was under consideration. "The Department of Justice is reviewing the appellate options and expects to act promptly," department spokeswoman Allison Price said.
According to the new FDA decision, Plan B One-Step will now be labeled to reflect that proof of age is required to purchase it, and it cannot be sold where age cannot be verified. The packaging will include a product code that prompts the cashier to ask and verify the age of the customer.
The product will be available in retail outlets with pharmacies, but the pill can be sold during non-pharmacy hours, too.
"While we fully support this expansion of access to birth control, we continue to believe that the administration should lift all unnecessary restrictions to emergency contraception, consistent with the prevailing science and medicine," Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards said Tuesday in a statement.
The FDA decision does not pertain to the two other emergency contraceptive drugs marketed in the United States. Plan B is available from generic manufacturers over-the-counter for women 17 and older and Ella is available by prescription only, for all ages, and prevents pregnancy within five days of unprotected sex or contraceptive failure.
"Research has shown that access to emergency contraceptive products has the potential to further decrease the rate of unintended pregnancies in the United States," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg in a statement. "The data reviewed by the agency demonstrated that women 15 years of age and older were able to understand how Plan B One-Step works, how to use it properly, and that it does not prevent the transmission of a sexually transmitted disease."
None of these products protect against sexually transmitted diseases.
Controversy surrounding emergency contraception in the United States has lasted more than just one morning.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended last year that oral contraceptives be sold over the counter in an effort to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the United States. Opponents of prescription requirements say prescriptions can delay access to the drug.
In 2011, Teva Women's Health Inc., maker of Plan B One-Step, had asked the FDA to make the drug available without prescription to all sexually active girls and women.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA's recommendation in 2011, saying, "I do not believe enough data were presented to support the application." She mandated requiring a prescription for girls under 17.
In early April, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman said in his order, "The decisions of the Secretary with respect to Plan B One-Step and that of the FDA with respect to the Citizen Petition, which it had no choice but to deny, were arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable."
Korman's order sparked praise among supporters of the morning-after pill for all ages, such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, which had launched a relevant lawsuit.
Nancy Northup, the center's president and CEO, said in a statement about that order: "This landmark court decision has struck a huge blow to the deep-seated discrimination that has for too long denied women access to a full range of safe and effective birth control methods."
But other groups, including the Family Research Council, expressed concerns about Korman's order.
"There is a real danger that Plan B may be given to young girls, under coercion or without their consent. The involvement of parents and medical professionals act as a safeguard for these young girls. However, today's ruling removes these common-sense protections," Anna Higgins, director of the organization's Center for Human Dignity, said in a statement.
The FDA approved Plan B in 1999. The key ingredient in Plan B is a synthetic hormone called levonorgestrel.
This drug stops an egg from being released from the ovary, or preventing fertilization of the egg by sperm.
If there has been fertilization, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from embedding in the uterus. But if the egg has already been implanted in the uterus, the morning-after pill will not work.
Emergency contraceptives are intended for use within 72 hours after sex but are most effective if taken within 24 hours.
Many developed countries require a prescription for oral contraceptives, including Canada and most of Europe, but other countries sell the pill without a prescription even formally or informally.
A 2012 study in the journal Pediatrics found that there is misinformation about emergency contraception, including about what age women can obtain it without a prescription, and who can take it in general.
The morning-after pill goes for about $50, said Susannah Baruch, interim president and CEO of Reproductive Health Technologies Project.

DETROIT, MI -- UFO researchers can't get Congress to listen to testimony about their extraterrestrial studies, so they're having their say this week before a group of former lawmakers including Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. Click Here For Complete Story 

After thirty-three years of being a staple in Detroit media with WXYZ-TV, award-winning reporter Bill Proctor announced his retirement, effective May 10th. Proctor joined WXYZ-TV in May of 1980 as general assignment writer.

Throughout his career, Proctor has received numerous accolades, including the 1999 Best Coverage Award for breaking news by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Proctor is also the winner of the 1983 "Outstanding Media Award" from Michigan's Crime Prevention Association. A former police officer for the Federal Protective Service in Washington, D.C., Proctor highlighted two or three unsolved crimes during each program, which aired twice a week.

Expounding upon his passion for criminal justice, Proctor founded “Proving Innocence” a non-profit organization dedicated to providing investigators to innocent convicts in cases of wrongful convictions in the hopes of proving their innocence and getting the charge overturned. He plans to continue his work with this organization upon his retirement.
 

Follow Amber L. Bogins @AmberLaShaii

Depending on the day, what you’re reading or who you’re listening to, the economy is either still in the tank, in recovery, getting worse or is on the upswing. Whatever the fluctuating state of the American economy, money is being spent. And, guess what, ladies? The economic oil that keeps the wheels and workings of our world turning is largely controlled by us.

Want to know just how much purchasing power we pack in our purses? Any guesses? Well, if you guessed between $5 trillion and $15 trillion you were correct. This is the collective annual estimated purchasing power range of women in America, which is more than the GNP of dozens of small countries. Do you know what that means? An eye-opening report from Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., a global, full-service public relations agency, tells us that women will be in control of two-thirds of the consumer wealth in this country within the next 10 years.

No matter what economic position any of us find ourselves in right now, I want us all to feel an integral part of the whole . . . feel your power. Just think how far we’ve come. Women couldn’t even vote before 1920 (of course, for those of us who are Black, that right came some decades later), and now we control most of the purchasing decisions in our households. And the way things are looking, we may even have our first female president of the United States in the near future.

Whether it’s groceries, new clothes, a new sofa, car or even a new house, it’s usually our (final) call. We appreciate their input, but we all know how challenging it can be to persuade the men in our lives to accompany us shopping, and the numbers bear that out. Women do most of the shopping, or have a major say in it. However, we must give credit where credit is due. Nielsen research indicates that men are stepping up. In fact, the number of shopping trips we make has actually decreased in most shopping channels between 2004 and 2012. With men, their average number of shopping trips has increased during that time, except for grocery and drug stores. Take a look at how the sexes stack up with the average number of shopping trips between 2004 and 2012 across all the many shopping outlets available to us (see chart at left).

There is another critical component for manufacturers and marketers to keep in mind when examining consumer need and creating new advertising and outreach strategies. Women also outspend men $14.31 per trip at the supercenters and $10.32 per trip to the grocery store. Other Nielsen studies document how women come into the world with the inherent abilities to juggle multiple balls and wear many hats, in addition to being able to see the big picture. So I am surmising that those God-given female tendencies add up to pre-planning involved for most trips to the market.

Advertisers should also pay attention to how much content we consume. In 2012, women over 18 spent more time watching video on all the platforms available than men did. On average, we viewed a little more than 191 hours of video each month, which is up from 184 hours in 2011. (My senses are telling me that much of that viewing time was logged probably while preparing dinner, picking up around the house or answering emails on our laptops, tablets or smartphones.) Men spent over 18 spent almost 175 hours a month watching video, compared to 170 hours the previous year. The bottom line is that whatever you or I do as consumers — how we shop and how we watch our favorite shows and other content — contributes to the whole. We hold the power.

Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of public affairs and government relations for Nielsen. For more information and studies go to www.nielsenwire.com.

Wayne County FREE Health Expo for the Uninsured

DATE
Tuesday, April 30, 2013

TIME

9:00 am – 4:00 pm EDT

WHERE
Cobo Conference Center, Michigan Hall,
1 Washington Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226

PHONE
1-800-WELL NOW or 313.224.0810

Have you had your annual health exam or physical? Uninsured or underinsured? If you haven't, don't put it off. Your health is important. Come to the Wayne County Health Expo for the Uninsured and get your health checkup for FREE...

The FREE annual Wayne County community health event features FREE essential health and dental screenings and health education, vendors, health-related giveaways, informative health-related sessions, refreshments, FREE parking on Cobo Roof, entertainment and much, much more!

Don't miss it! For more information, visit: http://www.waynecounty.com/

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.