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Entrepreneurs looking to open a business in Detroit face licensing fees of up to $1,500 depending on the type of business. If a business isn't licensed or is not licensed properly, it is subject to stiff fines or even a complete shutdown. According to documents on the city of Detroit's website, furniture movers must pay a $178 licensing fee and $25 each for more than one vehicle plate. Anyone looking to open a bathhouse in the city will have to pay a $138 licensing fee while animal hide haulers must pay $35 for the first plate and $12 for the...

To succeed in business, you don’t always have to be first, just better. When the Abbo family failed to get reliable ice delivery for their three retail grocery stores 35 years ago, they saw an opportunity. Saad Abbo remembers the tipping point came one hot summer weekend when his father called on a Thursday for a delivery and the ice showed on Monday. “My father was so mad that we lost so much business. We waited four days for ice and that shouldn’t have happened," Abbo said. "He said that we could do a lot better — let’s open an...

Narcotics raids by Detroit Police have plummeted over the past three years, something the department said is due to an increased focus on major violators. There were 855 police raids in 2015, according to the city’s 2015 audit that was released in June. That is down from a high of 3,462 raids in 2012. Detroit Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Woody said the department has changed its focus over the last few years. He said there has been a restructuring involving the 80 officers who work in drug enforcement; they are now focused on what he called "major violators." Woody said...

The emergence of Dan Gilbert as a major employer in the city of Detroit has been meteoric. Gilbert’s prominence began in 2010 when he moved his Quicken Loans headquarters to the city. But two years ago, none of the companies under Gilbert’s “Rock Ventures” umbrella, including Quicken Loans, were on the list of the city’s top 10 employers. That changed by 2015 when Rock Ventures became Detroit’s top employer with 11,524 people on its payroll. The company’s website says it is “engaged in economic and real estate development, marketing and communications, philanthropy and government relations.” The city publishes a list...

When Detroit's semipro soccer team needed a bigger stadium to accommodate its growing fan base, it did something unusual. Instead of seeking tax breaks or subsidies to support its ambitions, it turned to private supporters, mostly fans. It did so with the help of the Michigan Invests Locally Exemption or MILE Act. Detroit City FC raised $741,250 from 527 investors to refurbish Hamtramck’s Keyworth Stadium. The team’s first game at its new home, on May 13, was a sellout with 7,410 tickets sold. That was more than double the 3,500 tickets it was limited to selling when the team played...

On July 11, 2016, the Detroit Police Department teamed up with the National Shooting Sports Association (NSSA) to promote gun safety in Detroit.  Chief Craig was in attendance.  The goal was to prevent accidents with guns, especially accidents involving children.From wxyz.com: Detroit Police Chief James Craig will be joined by the National Shooting Sports Foundation later today where they'll be talking about firearm safety and proper storage and misuse of guns. The goal here is to promote the safe use of any firearm and help the community by handing out gun locks and information. Chief Craig has been at...

Detective Nathan Weekley of the Detroit Police Department has been busted back to ordinary officer, losing his gold shield for something he posted on Facebook. Katrease Stafford of the Detroit Free Press writes:

A Detroit detective was demoted Monday after calling "Black Lives Matter" activists "terrorists" and "racists" in a viral Facebook post. During a news conference, police chief James Craig said the detective, Nathan Weekley, who is white, had been "downgraded" to the rank of a regular officer while the department conducted an internal investigation. "We have worked so hard, and continue to work, in making sure we have great relationship with everyone here in Detroit," Craig said, adding that such comments "have a tendency to undermine" those relationships.

Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores have recently floated the idea of bringing a Major League Soccer team to Detroit. The initial plan for the team’s new stadium was to place it on the site of the unfinished Wayne County jail, and there’s been some talk about financing the project, in part, with taxpayer dollars. Attendance at MLS games has been strong and growing, averaging 21,574 fans per match in 2015 — more than the NBA’s average of 17,826. But despite the growing popularity of soccer in the United States and despite what proponents of this new team might say, a...

On  Saturday, 11 June 2016, the Wayne County Sheriff and anti-Second Amendment activists held a gun turn in event at the Mathis Community Center.  The turn in was hyped by numerous local news media, providing free publicity for the event.  But the actual coverage of the event was remarkably free of any mention of the numerous private buyers who competed with the “buy back” organizers for the firearms that were brought to the event. Photo Gallery of Detroit Gun Turn in Event with Private Buyers It may not have been hard to compete.  The gun turn in organizers only offered...

DETROIT (WJBK) - Coleman A. Young Municipal Center is on lockdown for a police situation. Detroit police tell FOX 2 officials believe a person is inside with a weapon. Authorities say they are looking for a white man in his early to mid 50s, who is wearing a dark-colored suit. No injuries have been reported. Wayne County sheriff's deputies and Detroit Police are on scene. According to Detroit Police Chief James Craig, a suspect got through security with what's believed to be a handgun in a bag. Craig said the gun was in a bag that went through security screening...

Public College Drops Math Requirement, May Replace It With Diversity Photo of Blake Neff BLAKE NEFF Reporter 10:21 PM 06/14/2016 924 924 Share Math [ImageFlow/Shutterstock] Math [ImageFlow/Shutterstock] A public university in Michigan has announced it’s deleting a requirement that all students complete at least one math course before graduating. At the same time, the school is seriously considering a new requirement that would compel students to complete four courses that promote diversity. Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit is one of the largest schools in Michigan, with some 27,000 students. Until now, all of them had to either take one...

A faculty committee has proposed adding a three credit hours requirement in diversity to the general education curriculum at Wayne State University. It also recommended that WSU drop its university-wide requirement in mathematics, an idea that was carried out on June 13.

A faculty committee has proposed adding a three credit hours requirement in diversity to the general education curriculum at Wayne State University. It also recommended that WSU drop its university-wide requirement in mathematics, an idea that was carried out on June 13. “We are proposing the creation of specific ‘Diversity’ courses, with students required to take one course in this designation,” said a document from the General Education Reform Committee, which is recalibrating what the university will expect from all students who earn a degree from the state university. It released the proposal in May.

Link here: http://www.clickondetroit.com/sports/hockey-legend-gordie-howe-dies-at-age-88

Civility Two years ago, Stephen Henderson won a Pulitzer Prize. I’ll let you decide what you think that says about the state of journalism, especially as you consider what he wrote late last week. Henderson, the editorial page editor of the Detroit Free Press (and a Facebook friend of mine, at least as I type this), has become increasingly hysterical in the past year - seeing racism behind almost every perceived societal ill and ascribing to conservative policymakers not just mistaken thinking but, invariably, an intent to hurt people. But his column of this past Saturday took the cake. A...

In supporting a $617 million bailout of the insolvent Detroit school district last week, Michigan House Republicans defied fierce political opposition by refusing to create a mayoral commission that could have restricted new charter schools in the city. Before the vote, there were allegations that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan tried a power play to pressure charter school operators within the city to sign on to the Detroit Education Commission or become irrelevant. After House Bill 5384 was passed by a 55-53 vote, Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson accused House Republicans of taking money for their vote. Henderson...

There will be a gun turn in event in Detroit, Michigan, on Saturday, 11 June,  2016.  While these events are commonly labelled with the propaganda term “buyback” the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them. The event will be held at Mathis Community Center, 19300 Greenfield Road, Detroit.The event is scheduled to run from 10 am until the gift card supply runs out. People often turn up early at these events.  At other turn-in events, some excellent buys were made after the gift cards ran out. The incentive for the gun turn in is a...

For the last few years, stories about an alleged Detroit Public Schools teacher shortage have appeared in Michigan news outlets, implying that understaffing is due to low morale and poor working conditions, and has led to classroom overcrowding. But data submitted by DPS to the state of Michigan show the district’s teacher-to-student ratio is lower than the state average and has been so for several years, with a lower teacher-to-student ratio than found in many more-affluent communities. As of December 2015, DPS had one teacher for every 14.53 students, compared to the state average of one teacher for every 16.13...

Legislators may be nearing a final deal on a Detroit Public School bailout package, with a vote possible this week. The sticking point is a proposed Detroit Education Commission appointed by the Detroit mayor that is designed to restrict the expansion of charter schools in the city. The state Senate passed a bill that creates a DEC, but the House left it out of its version. Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter is adamant that a DPS bailout cannot include a clampdown on school choice for Detroit parents. DPS and its allies — including Mayor Mike Duggan — have rallied...