In yet another horrifying incident of human flesh-eating this week, a student in Maryland allegedly admitted to devouring his roommate's brain and heart.

Alexander Kinyua, a 21-year-old Morgan State University student, admitted to murdering his roommate Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, who was reported missing last Friday, cops told the Baltimore Sun.

Kinyua's father called police late Tuesday night when Kinyua's brother reportedly found human remains -- a head and two hands -- in a metal tin in the basement. The brother and father left the room for a short time, but when they came back, the body parts had been moved and Kinyua was washing out the tin, the paper reported.

Officers searched the house and arrested Kinyua. The man allegedly confessed a shocking revelation: not only had he killed Agyei-Kodie by cutting him up with a knife and then dismembered him, he ingested parts of the victim's brain and all of his heart. He then allegedly dropped most of the remains in a Dumpster behind a church in Joppatowne.

It's yet unclear what Kinyua's motive may have been, but he was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday. In another incident on May 20, he was charged with first-degree assault when he allegedly beat a fellow student randomly with a baseball bat and then fled into the woods.

The gruesome case comes on the heels of a similar attack in Miami on Saturday, in which Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by cops while in the process of chewing off most of a homeless man's face.

Ronald Poppo, 65, is alive, but the bizarre flesh-eating attack left doctors with a literal puzzle in how to put his face back together.

We live in a culture where water is something that happens when you turn a knob, light is something that happens when you flip a switch, and food is something that happens when you open a can.

Anything that lifts the veil to constantly remind us what's going on behind the drywall or the storefronts is considered unsightly, even vulgar.  

For instance, where does food come from? The answer is not "the store". Sorry.

Food comes from soil, from farms. Farms can be beautiful places if managed correctly, and orchards are perhaps the most beautiful parts of a farm.

So why on earth people think the fruit orchard in Palmer Park will be unsightly or attract rodents is beyond me. 

Yesterday the Detroit City Council heard complaints from some residents in Palmer Parkwho opposed a 500 tree fruit orchard because they don't want to live near a farm. How dare anyone live near where food is being produced, right?

An excerpt from a Detroit News report: 

"All this vacant land in Detroit, and they want to put it in our neighborhood," said Eric Sabree, deputy Wayne County treasurer for Land Management, who lives on Pontchartrain and lodged some of the complaints. "We didn't move here to be next to a farm."

OK. I do understand the social stigma on farming. It's dirty, it's for poor people to do, it's to be hidden and sanitized. Farms are light blight. That's the broader cultural mindset. But people have to understand that there is a lot of misinformation around food. Relationships between people and where food comes from have been severed. And removing one orchard is not about one orchard. It's a piece to a larger movement in the city gearing to heal relationships between people and food and provide economical and healthy avenues in doing so.

Having been raised on a farm, I know how orchards can explode into spectacular shows of color when in bloom, how they provide shade and coolness on a hot day, and, best of all, the flowers turn into fruit that have more flavor than anything bought at a store.

And for the record, fruit trees don't attract rodents. They just don't. What does attract rodents is the overflowing trashcans and rubbish lining the street just a block away. This orchard will be managed properly, and clearing the dropped fruit is orchard maintenance 101.

Before we jump to conclusions about what it means to live near an orchard there should be some education around it. Talks, if you will. Which is why it's best the City Council decided to let the Palmer Park neighbors come to an agreement.

But the larger picture to this is that food is being grown in Detroit. Metric tons. It is being eaten and sold at markets. All this is happening contrary to zoning codes and ordinances. This economic shift should be eflected in zoning and planning as it blooms into something larger than just one issue.  It's about people and our most fundemental need: food.

The director of Michigan State University's Civil Rights Clinic is suing the state Department of Corrections in federal court.

Dan Manville says the DOC is violating some lawyers' Constitutional rights by limiting when they can visit prisoners.

Manville says the new visiting hours are three days a week from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

"Now under this present procedure, you're having to drive at least two or three days to do the same thing you used to be able to do in one day," Manville says.

He says some lawyers have clients at several locations around the state.

The suit asks that lawyers be allowed to see inmates on any day between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A Department of Corrections spokesman says the state cut back prison visiting hours to save money.

Manville also says some prisons no longer provide separate rooms in which lawyers can meet their clients.
 
"Where's the confidentiality?" Manville asks.  "I'm sitting right next to other inmates, family members, and my client  is supposed to discuss their case with me?"

Around 30 community members, led by state Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), blocked traffic on Fort Street at a rally Tuesday evening in front of Southwestern High School, staging a sit-down to protest its scheduled closing.

The recent decision by Detroit Public Schools to keep operating southwest Detroit's Maybury Elementary School has emboldened parents and community members working to prevent the closing of the nearby Southwestern High.

"This is about bringing attention to an injustice," said Tlaib, herself a graduate of Southwestern, who called for the rally.

Police were on the scene when Tlaib sat down in front of traffic at 5:30 p.m. after giving a short speech to the gathering. Police cruisers were already parked in the center lane from an earlier effort to prevent members of the crowd from marching across the road. The crowd finally responded to police requests to return to the sidewalk after about 10 minutes of blocking traffic.

"I wouldn't do this if this was a school that wasn't working -- a school that wasn't graduating our kids," Tlaib told The Huffington Post, noting only eight students had failed to graduate during the previous year.

She also wondered how the district would accommodate future high school students.

"Forty percent of the population [of Southwest Detroit] are children, 18 and under," she said. "We're building K-8 schools all over the district right now. What high school are they going to [go to]?"

Southwestern is one of five high schools DPS plans to close next year as the district continues to cut costs and respond to shrinking enrollment. The district says it is closing Southwestern due to low enrollment.

"Southwestern High School has lost over 27 percent of its enrollment since 2009 and is expected to lose 31 percent over the next five years," said DPS spokeswoman Jennifer Mrozowski in an email. "The 583 students at Southwestern can be accommodated at Western International (800 empty seats) or Northwestern (1,000 empty seats)."

Mrozowski said the district believes it can handle stable or increasing demographics in southwest Detroit, but said the depopulation of other areas of the city has forced the district to make tough decisions.

"Rather than continue to support buildings that are far under-utilized, we will close, consolidate and merge schools, allowing us to drive additional resources to a smaller group of higher-quality facilities and to our students in those buildings," she said.

Mrozowski also noted that Southwestern appeared on the Michigan Department of Education's 2011 Persistently Low Achieving (lowest 5 percent) list for academic performance and was eligible for closure by the state or for transfer to the state's newEducational Achievement Authority district for low-performing schools.

Cheryl Elum heads Southwestern's Local School and Community Organization, a parent-teacher group, and has a 17-year-old son attending Southwestern. She doesn't think the district or its state-appointed emergency manager are being straightforward about motivations for closing the school.

Tuesday's protest was not the first action to keep the high school open. In April, students from Southwestern and nearby Western International High School walked out of class, demanding the former school be kept open. Community members who successfully fought to keep Maybury Elementary open have also participated in joint rallies with those supporting Southwestern.

Tlaib said the example parents set in saving Maybury inspired her to put a call out for the Tuesday rally. She said she is pushing to keep Southwestern open so that other young people in the neighborhood have an opportunity to become state representatives.

"Amazing people have come out this school: [neurosurgeon] Dr. Ben Carson, Jalen Rose, who is now an ESPN correspondent," she said. "They have done a phenomenal job in educating our youth here and they need to keep it open."

Rose, who went on to become a college basketball and NBA star after his time at Southwestern, awards a scholarship to a Southwestern High School student each year and recently paid to re-do the school's basketball court. Rose also runs a charter high school in Detroit.

The Rev. Marvin Winans’ remark, “I refuse to be afraid of us,” in the wake of the robbery attack on him by four young Black men at a neighborhood gas station on Linwood and Davison, carries a moral truth. 

 is a statement deeply rooted in the belief that we cannot throw our children away or become prisoners in our own communities, afraid to go out because  young Black males have become tigers in the hood, on the prowl for their next victims. 

I refuse to accept the notion that there is nothing else we can do, and that the solution is to dump Detroit and move out as quickly as you can. While such reasoning is politically expedient and the common sense thing to do in a state of fear, it is not the answer to the growing socioeconomic ills facing our community. It is not the answer to halt the violence in our town. 

To conclude that the best way  to  deal with the escalating violence in Detroit is to move out of the city is a defeatist attitude grounded in a weak notion that, in fact, we can no longer be problem solvers. Therefore, we should run away from the problem. 

What happened to our resilient spirit? 

The carjacking of Rev. Winans, a prominent Detroit minister and nationally celebrated gospel singer who was driving with a suspended license, provides a context for our men and women of the clergy to be engaged in tackling the despicable acts of crime in this city. 

Just as many were concerned about Winans and his well-being in the aftermath of the carjacking, we should all be equally concerned about the escalating crime rate in our city, and the senseless taking of lives. 

We should be concerned about the young woman who was raped in view of her child in broad daylight on Detroit’s west side. 

Children and adults are dying in horrific numbers, and the perpetrators of the crimes are usually young Black men. 

The young men who attacked Rev. Winans did not know who their victim was, despite his being a prominent figure, seen often on television and in the print media. It says something much deeper: how out of touch they are with the real world outside of their own underworld of violence and mayhem. 

If those young men had been properly steered on a right, productive path they would not have become carjackers. 

If properly brought up in a nurturing environment and having the self-confidence to know they can be whoever they choose to be, they would not be lured into a world of crime and drugs. 

Yes, they must bear personal responsibility, but as a community we also bear responsibility. Churches in particular cannot sit on the sidelines, claiming that parents have all of the responsibility. 

What happened to the communal spirit that made each of us responsible for the other? Our brother’s keeper.

What happened to the church that was once the center of our life and thus took a prominent role in the well-being of our children – the future leaders? 

Truth be told, Rev. Winans’ attack brought the violent crime in Detroit to the doorstep of the church, and has prompted many in the clergy to call for some kind of action, and knowing that they could be the next victim. 

The church has long been the center of transformation and at this crucial time cannot ignore its role in the community. The engagement has to reflect a broader embrace of children who are often treated as outcasts.  They need not be. 

The interest has to go beyond  church members focusing on their own well-being. After all, the church’s Biblical mandate is to go in search of the lost, not the saved. 

We have lost young Black males walking down the streets like lions looking for someone to devour. They need to be saved and mentored into understanding that they have great potential, they need not rob, sell drugs or kill. 

If their homes did not remind or inculcate in them that sense of personal responsibility, the church can help them develop a clear path to the future. Because the Black church historically has been the guiding light for our communities. 

If there was ever a time for the church to demonstrate its power, it is now when Black children are dying and adults are  being killed by their own children. 

To be commended are the group of clergy members, including Bishop Edgar Vann, as well as members of the law enforcement community and other leaders who last week launched an initiative called Detroit Night Walk to fight crime.  

We can create change and help those young Black males trapped at the crossroads of drug dealing and carjacking. I believe that we can transform young Black males who believe they have no alternatives and no future. 

In the words of the hip-hop icon and street poet Tupac Shakur, we can make these young Black males “the rose that grew from concrete,” because by virtue of being a Black male they already live under the heavy weight of stereotypes just as we saw in the Trayvon Martin case. 

Our young Black males — and anyone who is raising a Black boy is aware of this reality — are already facing an image battle, and many of them are holding our community hostage. 

The church can liberate the hostage taker and the hostages. 

Bankole Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and the author of a six-part series on the Obama presidency, including “Obama and Black Loyalty,” published last year. His latest book is ”Obama and Christian Loyalty” with an epilogue written by Bob Weiner, former White House spokesman. His upcoming books in 2012 are “Obama and Jewish Loyalty” and ”Obama and Business Loyalty.” Listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET 101.9 FM Detroit and every Sunday, 9 to 10 p.m., on “The Obama Watch” program on WLIB 1190 AM-New York. E-mail   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . 

In his usual eloquent and subdued manner, Detroit’s 36th District Court Judge Willie G. Lipscomb, Jr. spent his last days on the bench listening to an array of criminal cases. The only thing different was that he was preparing himself to leave the courtroom for a new and challenging career.  He notes that he has enjoyed nearly 30 years of what he calls the rare privilege of presiding over some of the most serious criminal cases, prosecuted by the best prosecutors in the country, and defended by the best criminal bar anywhere. 

“I am retiring at this time to complete and promote my first novel (a fictional work about a mythical African king who attempts to curb the spread of slavery) and explore other endeavors. I believe that my most significant and lasting accomplishment while on the bench is the founding and administration of the Handgun Intervention Program,” the retiring judge said. 

Lipscomb is known across the United States for commitment to The Handgun Intervention Program (HIP) which was the first of its kind court administered program, which started in 1993. For almost two decades, Lipscomb has dedicated his Saturday mornings to conducting intense workshops and classes with defendants, as a condition of their bonds. 

These defendants, who have been charged with gun crimes, have benefited greatly from their involvement with HIP, according to Judge Lipscomb. His relentless dedication to this cause has earned him numerous honors and awards including Michiganian of the Year, and The University of Notre Dame Alumni of the Year Award. 

“The program has helped to educate citizens about the senseless violence that too often results from the possession of handguns.  Although I have retired from the court as a sitting judge, I intend to continue with my involvement in this program and others, aimed at improving the quality of life in The City of Detroit,” Lipscomb said.  

Judge Lipscomb is a U.S. Air Force veteran, and has served as an adjunct professon of criminal law for 30 years at Wayne County Community College District. He resides in Detroit and is the father of one adult daughter and has two grandsons.  

In his usual eloquent and subdued manner, Detroit’s 36th District Court Judge Willie G. Lipscomb, Jr. spent his last days on the bench listening to an array of criminal cases. The only thing different was that he was preparing himself to leave the courtroom for a new and challenging career.  He notes that he has enjoyed nearly 30 years of what he calls the rare privilege of presiding over some of the most serious criminal cases, prosecuted by the best prosecutors in the country, and defended by the best criminal bar anywhere. 

“I am retiring at this time to complete and promote my first novel (a fictional work about a mythical African king who attempts to curb the spread of slavery) and explore other endeavors. I believe that my most significant and lasting accomplishment while on the bench is the founding and administration of the Handgun Intervention Program,” the retiring judge said. 

Lipscomb is known across the United States for commitment to The Handgun Intervention Program (HIP) which was the first of its kind court administered program, which started in 1993. For almost two decades, Lipscomb has dedicated his Saturday mornings to conducting intense workshops and classes with defendants, as a condition of their bonds. 

These defendants, who have been charged with gun crimes, have benefited greatly from their involvement with HIP, according to Judge Lipscomb. His relentless dedication to this cause has earned him numerous honors and awards including Michiganian of the Year, and The University of Notre Dame Alumni of the Year Award. 

“The program has helped to educate citizens about the senseless violence that too often results from the possession of handguns.  Although I have retired from the court as a sitting judge, I intend to continue with my involvement in this program and others, aimed at improving the quality of life in The City of Detroit,” Lipscomb said.  

Judge Lipscomb is a U.S. Air Force veteran, and has served as an adjunct professon of criminal law for 30 years at Wayne County Community College District. He resides in Detroit and is the father of one adult daughter and has two grandsons.  

Churches are key to saving young Black males  

The Rev. Marvin Winans’ remark, “I refuse to be afraid of us,” in the wake of the robbery attack on him by four young Black men at a neighborhood gas station on Linwood and Davison, carries a moral truth. 

 is a statement deeply rooted in the belief that we cannot throw our children away or become prisoners in our own communities, afraid to go out because  young Black males have become tigers in the hood, on the prowl for their next victims. 

I refuse to accept the notion that there is nothing else we can do, and that the solution is to dump Detroit and move out as quickly as you can. While such reasoning is politically expedient and the common sense thing to do in a state of fear, it is not the answer to the growing socioeconomic ills facing our community. It is not the answer to halt the violence in our town. 

To conclude that the best way  to  deal with the escalating violence in Detroit is to move out of the city is a defeatist attitude grounded in a weak notion that, in fact, we can no longer be problem solvers. Therefore, we should run away from the problem. 

What happened to our resilient spirit? 

The carjacking of Rev. Winans, a prominent Detroit minister and nationally celebrated gospel singer who was driving with a suspended license, provides a context for our men and women of the clergy to be engaged in tackling the despicable acts of crime in this city. 

Just as many were concerned about Winans and his well-being in the aftermath of the carjacking, we should all be equally concerned about the escalating crime rate in our city, and the senseless taking of lives. 

We should be concerned about the young woman who was raped in view of her child in broad daylight on Detroit’s west side. 

Children and adults are dying in horrific numbers, and the perpetrators of the crimes are usually young Black men. 

The young men who attacked Rev. Winans did not know who their victim was, despite his being a prominent figure, seen often on television and in the print media. It says something much deeper: how out of touch they are with the real world outside of their own underworld of violence and mayhem. 

If those young men had been properly steered on a right, productive path they would not have become carjackers. 

If properly brought up in a nurturing environment and having the self-confidence to know they can be whoever they choose to be, they would not be lured into a world of crime and drugs. 

Yes, they must bear personal responsibility, but as a community we also bear responsibility. Churches in particular cannot sit on the sidelines, claiming that parents have all of the responsibility. 

What happened to the communal spirit that made each of us responsible for the other? Our brother’s keeper.

What happened to the church that was once the center of our life and thus took a prominent role in the well-being of our children – the future leaders? 

Truth be told, Rev. Winans’ attack brought the violent crime in Detroit to the doorstep of the church, and has prompted many in the clergy to call for some kind of action, and knowing that they could be the next victim. 

The church has long been the center of transformation and at this crucial time cannot ignore its role in the community. The engagement has to reflect a broader embrace of children who are often treated as outcasts.  They need not be. 

The interest has to go beyond  church members focusing on their own well-being. After all, the church’s Biblical mandate is to go in search of the lost, not the saved. 

We have lost young Black males walking down the streets like lions looking for someone to devour. They need to be saved and mentored into understanding that they have great potential, they need not rob, sell drugs or kill. 

If their homes did not remind or inculcate in them that sense of personal responsibility, the church can help them develop a clear path to the future. Because the Black church historically has been the guiding light for our communities. 

If there was ever a time for the church to demonstrate its power, it is now when Black children are dying and adults are  being killed by their own children. 

To be commended are the group of clergy members, including Bishop Edgar Vann, as well as members of the law enforcement community and other leaders who last week launched an initiative called Detroit Night Walk to fight crime.  

We can create change and help those young Black males trapped at the crossroads of drug dealing and carjacking. I believe that we can transform young Black males who believe they have no alternatives and no future. 

In the words of the hip-hop icon and street poet Tupac Shakur, we can make these young Black males “the rose that grew from concrete,” because by virtue of being a Black male they already live under the heavy weight of stereotypes just as we saw in the Trayvon Martin case. 

Our young Black males — and anyone who is raising a Black boy is aware of this reality — are already facing an image battle, and many of them are holding our community hostage. 

The church can liberate the hostage taker and the hostages. 

Bankole Thompson is the editor of the Michigan Chronicle and the author of a six-part series on the Obama presidency, including “Obama and Black Loyalty,” published last year. His latest book is ”Obama and Christian Loyalty” with an epilogue written by Bob Weiner, former White House spokesman. His upcoming books in 2012 are “Obama and Jewish Loyalty” and ”Obama and Business Loyalty.” Listen to him every Thursday morning on WDET 101.9 FM Detroit and every Sunday, 9 to 10 p.m., on “The Obama Watch” program on WLIB 1190 AM-New York. E-mail  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . 

Novi Mayor Bobb Gatt announced this morning that the state fair is “coming back to Michigan,” although it has a new name, a new location and no state funding.

• Map of the Great Lakes State Fair

The event, which organizers have named the Great Lakes State Fair, will be held Aug.31-Sept.3 at Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. Organizers said this new event is revitalizing the Michigan State Fair, which closed in 2009 because of the lack of funding.

Organizers acknowledge the new event will be a smaller version of the original, while featuring many of the same elements: a midway, carnival rides, livestock and produce exhibits, a beer tent and entertainment.

The new event will also feature a Shriner’s Circus in the parking lot.

Advance tickets cost $25 for adults and children over 12; $20 for children.