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Comerica Cares volunteers spend September volunteering throughout metro Detroit See page B-1 POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA
michiganchronicle.com
Volume 79 – Number 6
Snyder’s 'no-blame' game
Dan and Amy Loepp donate $100,000 at Capuchin fundraiser CHRONICLE STAFF REPORTS
The Capuchin Soup Kitchen exceeded the fundraising goal of its annual Support Our Capuchin Kitchen (SOCK) Dinner, thanks to help from its friends in the business and philanthropic community, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan President and CEO Dan Loepp and his wife, Amy, who served as co-chairs for the event. The 43rd annual SOCK Dinner drew 1,000 guests to Cobo Center for the Blue Cross-sponsored Oct. 16 event. “You’ve Got a Friend” was the chosen theme, symbolic of the everyday Dan Loepp acts of kindness the Soup Kitchen performs with support from those who donate their time, talents, and money. It is the organization’s signature fundraising event, one of the largest of its kind in the Detroit metropolitan area. Operating almost exclusively on charitable contributions since it opened its doors in 1929, the Soup Kitchen serves more than 2,000 hot meals every day to Detroit residents. Its far-reaching ministry also provides a helping hand for families, children, and men and women in need through social services, counseling, educational opportunities, an urban farming initiative, and the On The Rise Bakery program that helps people build new lives after dealing with incarceration or addiction. “The revenues we generate at the SOCK dinner are critical to the ongoing operation of all our programs,” said Brother Jerry Smith, executive director of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. “We are grateful to all who give so generously from their families to those we serve, to so many business and community leaders who lift up our city by their support, and a special thanks goes to Dan and Amy Loepp and our friends at Blue Cross.” Blue Cross is making a $25,000 corporate donation to the Soup Kitchen while also garnering an additional $110,000 from employees, vendor partners, and peer business leaders. Dan and Amy Loepp were so inspired by those generous donations that they made a personal
See DONATION page A-4
By Curt Guyette
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
During his press conference announcing that the city of Flint would finally be allowed to return to Detroit’s water system, Gov. Rick Snyder made it a point to note that placing blame for the lead poisoning of children is not something he intends to do. He wants to address the current problem, learn what can be done better in the future, and move forward. Call it the “no-blame” game.
Can it work? Gov. Snyder’s latest plan for
The governor’s spokesperson, Sara Wurfel, is playing it as hard as anyone right now.
Detroit education reform
By Keith A. Owens SENIOR EDITOR
T
he one thing everyone can — or should — agree on when it comes to the perpetual malodorous brown storm surrounding Detroit’s public school system is that while all the “helpful” governmental and governmentally-appointed entities continue to feud and struggle over how to navigate the minefield of politics and finances on their way toward providing Detroit’s children with a functional school system, the children continue to pay the ultimate price for the incompetence of the adults involved.
weren’t otherwise occupied trying to survive this world with what little skills DPS, the charters, and the Educational Achievement Authority have managed to equip them with. Moving on. Monday morning, during a press conference held in his offices at Cadillac Place, Gov. Rick Snyder announced his latest plan to improve all of Detroit’s public schools. The most recent version does not differ much from the previous announcement made six months ago, which likely means that Mayor Mike Duggan will continue to have issues with the governor’s plan because it does not provide a quick enough time frame for when Detroit schools can be returned to the control of an elected school board. Specifically, according to a press release provided by the governor’s office, the proposed reforms for Detroit’s schools would be as follows: •
A bit too harsh? Perhaps. But it’s Gov. Rick Snyder been how many years now? And the children are still suffering beneath the burden of the colossal failure created by those whose job it is to protect them, namely the adults. And it’s those same adults who continue to dicker around all these years later still trying to solve this problem that they created. Which means that in many ways the so-called problem solvers are the problem. So for those whose feelings might possibly be hurt by such a brutal assessment, just imagine what the children might have to say about this whole miserable situation if they
•
Creating a new, traditional public school district — the Detroit Community School District — to teach students, with the current Detroit Public Schools district existing only to address the debt. All students, employees, contracts, employee benefits, and assets will move to the new district, which will be governed by a seven-member board initially appointed by the governor and the Detroit mayor, switching to elected members. An all-elected board would be in place by 2021. Creating a Detroit Education Commission, appointed by the mayor and
See DETROIT
EDUCATION REFORM page A-4
In an interview with the ACLU of Michigan following the governor’s tightly-managed press conference, Wurfel did the best she could to absolve her boss of any responsibility for the disastrous decision to begin using the Flint River as the city’s source of drinking water in April 2014. Asked about the governor’s role in that decision, Wurfel claimed that there was really no choice to be made, that the city of Detroit kicked Flint off of its system, thus forcing the switch to river water. We’re not the only one she’s trying to spin. Wurfel made a similar claim in a statement to the Flint Journal last week. According to the paper, Wurfel asserted that the city was forced to find another source of water after the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department terminated Flint’s contract to continue purchasing water under the terms of its expired contract. Maybe the Snyder administration is operating under the theory that a lie repeated often enough is eventually accepted as fact. But here’s the truth: Flint did have a choice. It absolutely could have kept using Detroit water until construction of the Karegondi pipeline, which will bring water from
See FLINT
WATER page A-4
Gordie Howe International Bridge to double truck traffic in polluted area By Natasha Dado
State Rep. Stephanie Chang (D- Detroit), has been working with the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition and a community advisory group to ensure Delray is still a livable area after the bridge opens.
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE FROM THE LATINO PRESS
(Second of two parts) Delray was chosen as the U.S. site for the Gordy Howe International Bridge (GHIB). The impoverished neighborhood is located near the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest international border crossing. Approximately 10,000 trucks cross over the Ambassador Bridge every day. Then known as the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC), GHIB is set to open in 2020 and will connect Detroit and Windsor. The GHIB will increase truck traffic by 125 percent according to Simone Sagovac, program director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition.
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October 21-27, 2015
Jeff Cranson, a spokesman
“We want Delray to be a hopeful, vibrant area for the residents who will still be living here after the second bridge opens,” she said.
A coal fired plant located near the Delray neighborhood. It is just one of the many forms of pollution that contributes to poor air quality in Delray. for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), said the most recent published estimate compiled as part of the DRIC study is that truck traffic will grow at the rate of 2.5 percent per year, which will result in a 109 percent increase in 30 years from today’s traffic. The GHIB was first proposed in 2004. Since then, support-
ers of the project have argued that a second border crossing is needed to prepare for an anticipated expansion in economic activity. Fate of residents who won’t receive buyouts questioned Residents living within the footprint of the project will be offered buyouts.
Chang is also working to make sure residents who were offered buyouts know what their rights are and have a safe, decent and sanitary place to live. She said all the residents within the footprint of the project have already received letters informing them about the buyouts. According to the 2010 census, Delray had a population of 2,783 people. Cranson said 142 residential properties have been identified for acquisition. All buildings on acquired properties will be
See POLLUTION page A-4