Detroit EM’s chief of staff, Shani Penn, hit with tax lien
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr also was hit with liens earlier this year.
EM’s former firm bills Detroit $1.4M for 6 weeks of work
Lawyers billed up to $1,000 an hour working for the cash-strapped city.
Public, media forced out of EM meeting
Although Orr and his advisers were warned that as many as 1,000 Detroiters may show up, they held the event in a cramped, 250-seat venue at Wayne State University.
Gov. Snyder declares financial emergency in Hamtramck
A five-member review team reported that the city has run four consecutive budget deficits and began ignoring its long-term obligations, such as pension payments.
Detroit’s new EM: Pension trustees’ 22K trip to Hawaii is ‘monumental lapse of judgment’
Four of the city’s pension trustees billed taxpayers $22,000 to fund a convention trip to Hawaii this weekend, even as the city nears bankruptcy, largely over mismanaged, underfunded pension plans.
Motor City Muckraker revamps website for increased coverage of Detroit’s financial emergency
Almost a year ago, we launched Motor City Muckraker to serve as an independent watchdog in a city where corruption, inequality, poverty and poor services have taken an immeasurable toll on many of Detroit’s 700,000 residents.
After Mayor Bing cuts police patrols amid spiking violence, he seeks to raise own security detail to 30 officers
On any given night, officers arrive to work with a backlog of cases that would be a priority in most cities. But police are overwhelmed with murders, rapes, aggravated assaults and armed robberies.
City Council threatens to pull plug on Arnold Home demo because bidder not a Detroiter
The sprawling Greek revival-style building near the Southfield Freeway collapsed in December 2011, killing two metal scrappers and drawing attention to a long-abandoned building that is wide open to trespass and has injured others in the past.
Detroiters hurl insults at city council, raising rhetoric over emergency manager fight
“You better wake up because some of you are going to jail, and I will be the first to laugh at you because you’ve been laughing at us for years,” one block club member shouted at council.
Scrambling for cash, Detroit pursues aggressive crackdown on parking ticket scofflaws
If Mayor Dave Bing gets his way, parking fines will increase. Delinquent on three tickets? You face the boot and could lose your driver’s license.