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Paris Ainsworth says if not for her concealed weapons permit, she'd be dead.DETROIT - Her siblings now jokingly call her Rambo. However, Paris Ainsworth easily could have been killed. Her attackers shot her four times, but she had eight bullets for them. "If I wouldn't have had my gun I would be dead today," she said. It was late Saturday night when she arrived home after working a double shift. She saw two men moving closer to her as she was about to get out of her car. Before she got out, she put her .45 caliber handgun in her...

Is Detroit destined to become a Chinese city?  Chinese homebuyers and Chinese businesses are starting to flood into the Motor City, and the governor of Michigan is greatly encouraging this.  In fact, he has formally asked the Obama administration for 50,000 special federal immigration visas to encourage even more immigration from China and elsewhere.  So will Detroit be the first major city in the United States to be dominated by China?  It could happen.  Once upon a time, Detroit was the greatest manufacturing city in the history of the world and it had the highest per capita income in the...

A homeowner on Detroit's west side is thankful that she got her concealed weapons permit last year. The 50-year-old woman used it to fend off an intruder early Tuesday morning at her home on Heyden Street. The homeowner's family told Local 4 that the woman heard someone trying to break in around 12:30 a.m. She immediately called 911 and grabbed her handgun. "All she just kept saying, 'I don't want to shoot anybody,'" said Anita McGee, the homeowner's sister. The woman repeatedly warned the suspect that she had a gun. Police say the 24-year-old man used a crowbar to break...

DETROIT, MI -- An off-duty Detroit police officer shot a suspected robber in the face Saturday afternoon. Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody says the officer was working a second job at a pharmacy located at 3611 Conant in Detroit. He is not a security officer for the store. While outside talking on his cell phone about 12:30 p.m. Woody said the suspect approached and demanded the officer's phone. When he refused, the suspect produced a "nickel-plated revolver and the officer was able to knock the gun away, which gave him time" to run into the store, Woody said.. The suspect...

The Motor City has a deal for you—classical homes with a starting price of just $1,000. The online auction for abandoned, but sturdy homes is the latest plan by city leaders to fight blight and boost property values as Detroit crawls its way out of bankruptcy. […] The city isn’t hiding the fact that nearly all of the homes up for auction will require a lot of work to repair. …

As the prospect draws closer of a state bailout of Detroit at the expense of other critical needs, voters might want to examine more closely politicians’ skittishness toward selling off city assets. In particular, artwork owned by the city’s museum, an institution sustained by tax dollars (including a regional property tax favored by many of those same politicians in 2010). Lawmakers should reject a bailout and instead insist that Detroit — whose problems are the product of its own fiscal malpractice — take responsibility for cleaning itself up. It is fundamentally unfair to make other Michigan residents pay for such...

A poll conducted earlier this month revealed that, by a 55-38 percent margin, Republican voters in Michigan oppose Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to send $350 million in state funding to help bail Detroit out from its bankruptcy. According to the poll results the proposal is just as unpopular among Independents, who opposed it by a 54-39 percent margin. Commissioned by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the poll was conducted on April 9 by Mitchell Research & Communications. Of the 1,460 respondents surveyed for the poll, 93 percent said they were “definitely” going to vote in November. The poll has...

Justified defensive shootings are fairly common  in Detroit, with 12 justifiable homicides occurring this year and several other criminals wounded.  Police Chief Craig has made national headlines by encouraging honest citizens to defend themselves.  He has made it  clear that citizens involved in self defense shootings will not be harassed and hounded.   The full power of the state will not be used make examples of those who dare to defend themselves.   At least not in the way the George Zimmerman was. Instead, the police Chief will sympathize with them, and suggest that Detroiters are sick of crime and...

A 50-year-old Detroit woman shot an intruder early Tuesday morning after he tried to break into her home with a crowbar. Now she’s very thankful she decided to take advantage of her Second Amendment rights last year. Getty Images The woman reportedly bought a handgun and received her concealed carry permit last year on the advice of her brother. She hoped she would never need to use it, but figured it was good to be prepared. That attitude just may have saved her life. The woman’s family told WDIV-TV that a man tried to break into the home at around...

Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed a partial bailout of the city of Detroit with a $350 million gift. The state has been providing special favors to Detroit for years and it hasn't prevented the Motor City from slipping into bankruptcy. Detroit gets special rules from state policies that don't apply to any other city in Michigan. Many of these rules expand the city's ability to collect revenue. For instance, Detroit is the only city in the state that assesses a tax on residents' utility bills. State law allows the city to assess up to a 5 percent tax on their...

Several hundred Chrysler minivans are stuck indefinitely on a piece of prime Detroit real estate, unable to be transported across America. The reason? The fossil fuel boom in Canada and the United States is hogging much of the available rail capacity needed to transport the vans. Citing a report by the Associated Press, the Windsor Star reports that railway capacity – which is normally transport new vehicles – is being eaten up by deliveries of oil from both the Alberta Oil Sands and the Bakken shale formation in the United States. According to the AP, just 9,500 railway carloads of...

While some are pitching a storyline in Detroit of a bankrupt city in need of more revenue, the city already collects hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes that no other city can. The state allows only the city of Detroit to collect a "utility users' tax" and a casino "wagering tax" that combined accounted for $221.4 million in revenue in 2012. Despite that, Gov. Rick Snyder is pitching a $350 million bailout for Detroit. A recent poll shows the bailout to be unpopular among voters, particularly Republicans and independents. Both of the special taxes for Detroit are in addition...

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will visit bankrupt Detroit this week to highlight the Obama administration's "continued commitment to the city's revitalization and explore ways to promote job creation and economic growth," according to an advisory his department released on Monday. --snip-- "I have urged President Obama to examine all options for executive action to help the city of Detroit overcome its fiscal challenges, and I am pleased that he is seeking to take positive action," said Representative John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan. "I will be discussing further legislative options with my colleagues in Congress."

Two brothers were working to restore a Detroit home this week when their lives were suddenly put into extreme danger. The two men and their friend had just pulled up the home’s driveway in their van. That’s when one of the brothers told WBJK-TV a “young black male, about 30s … walked up to the driver’s window.” “[He] had a little grin on his face, little smirk on his face. And he pulled a gun, pointed it right in my face. He pulled the trigger,” the other brother, who was not identified, told the local Fox affiliate. The trigger was pulled twice....

“Have you ever thought you’d see the mayor and council working together?,” says the voice on a Detroit radio ad. No, we didn’t. But this ad, set to hit Detroit radio airwaves April 21st features both Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council President Brenda Jones. The ad showcases the website buildingdetroit.org which features 12 city-owned properties in East English Village, each home waiting for an owner as long as they are willing to rehab the property and move in. Mike Duggan: NOT REALLY. THIS IS MIKE DUGGAN AND IT IS A NEW DAY IN DETROIT. INSTEAD OF JUST KNOCKING DOWN...

Both Lady M and Big Guy went back to college this week; MO was at Howard University: On Thursday, first lady Michelle Obama and rapper-slash-actor Bow Wow joined 37 students from Chicago public high schools for a tour of Howard University, our colleague Krissah Thompson reports. According to the first lady’s office, Obama specifically requested Bow Wow for the event, an annual college visit called “Escape to the Mecca” — a nod to the university’s nickname “the mecca.”The first lady said she was “very fond” of Bow Wow, whom she met during a 2013 appearance on BET’s “106th and Park,”...

Activists with the radical pro-affirmative action group, By Any Means Necessary, staged a protest on Tuesday featuring a black Detroit high school student who was denied admission to the University of Michigan. The student, Brooke Kimbrough, claimed UM rejected her because of her “morals,” and not her below-average ACT score of 23. (The average U-M student has a score between 28 and 32.) “I believe that I have been rejected because of the morals that I stand for,” said Kimbrough, according to Fox 2 news. “I will take back my freedom as a tool to help others. I have...

DETROIT (AP) — Pressure was building Wednesday for Michigan lawmakers to commit $350 million to Detroit pensions, a day after the city reached tentative agreements with pension funds and a retiree group to reduce payouts. Retired police officers and firefighters would see smaller cost-of-living payments but no cut in pension benefits. Retirees and city employees who qualify for a pension will get a ballot in a few weeks.

Much sympathy has been extended to the Detroit pensioners who are facing cuts to their retirement income. Indeed, some have argued that they are the biggest losers in the Detroit bankruptcy. A proper accounting, however, shows that they have been among the most protected. This does not mean that cuts will not be painful. It shows that Detroit is in a bad situation. Hohman City pensioners are one of the larger creditor groups, but they should not be. Cities should be setting aside sufficient funding to cover the pensions earned in any one year. This is mandated by the state...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) -- Detroit high school student Brooke Kimbrough, along with the pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary, staged a protest Tuesday to demand more diversity at the University of Michigan. BAMN is demanding an immediate appeal on behalf of Kimbrough and Birmingham Seaholm student Daisha Martin. Both applied to the university school and were denied admission. Kimbrough, who is black, says she carries a 3.6 GPA, scored a 23 (out of 36) on the ACT test and is a leader of University Prep High School's winning debate team. Martin's is president of Seaholm's Black Student Union,...