Vickie Winans
Detroit to become highest density sports city in the nation
In celebration of a gospel superstar
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POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA
Nov. 30 - Dec. 6, 2016
michiganchronicle.com
Volume 80 – Number 12
What's the latest on Flint water crisis? Who knows? By Curt Guyette When it comes to the situation regarding the water in Flint’s public schools, Jeree Brown is in the dark. With two children attending Eisenhower Elementary School, she has no idea what’s going on regarding state testing of water in schools throughout the Flint Community Schools district. She is not alone. Parents, students, teachers and the community at large have virtually no access to the results of testing that’s been conducted throughout 2016. Ask the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) about the situation, and you will be directed to a state website that has information about both residential testing and the school testing that began more than a year ago when the state finally admitted that Flint’s water was contaminated with high levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin especially harmful to young children. The problem is that, while residential test results are completely up to date, with data from testing conducted as recently as November 2016, information for nearly all the district’s traditional public schools hasn’t been updated since the results from an initial round of testing conducted in October, November and December of 2015 were posted. Asked via email why the posting of school testing results lag so far behind residential testing, MDEQ spokesman Michael Shore responded: “The distinction is we provide sampling results to Flint Community Schools as we do with other institutions (child care, adult foster care and health facili-
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WHAT’S INSIDE
Workers and supporters of the effort to earn a $15 hourly wage protested at the McDonald’s restaurant at 1500 Bristol Road Tuesday morning in Flint. The protest was part of a national demonstration in 340 cities for higher wages, union rights and civil rights.
Dozens arrested in Detroit as part of national fight for improved minimum wage Morning protests staged in Flint, Detroit draw hundreds Michigan Chronicle Reports
Three dozen low wage workers were hauled off to a Detroit jail Tuesday morning, after protestors sat down in the middle of busy thoroughfare during rush hour as part of a national effort to help call attention to the need for a $15 hourly wage, union rights and other social concerns. Those arrested were among thousands who demonstrated, went on strike and got locked up across the country Tuesday to make their most ambitious statement yet in the movement for a $15 hourly wage and union rights. Homecare, childcare, fast food, retail, Uber drivers and airport workers will continue to protest throughout the day, from Los Angeles to Michigan to Pennsylvania. “I’m willing to get arrested for what I believe in,” said LaWanda Williamson, a 22-yearold McDonald’s worker who took her place on busy Grand River Avenue on Detroit’s west side, shortly before being loaded onto a bright blue and yellow bus brought there by the Detroit Police Department. Williamson, who earns the state’s minimum wage of $8.50 an hour, donned a red and black shirt with the words ‘My future is worth my freedom’ on the front. The arrests in Detroit occurred after an hour-long protest at the McDonald’s restaurant, where protestors lined the street before taking a march around the store. Cries of ‘We want our wages supersized!’ and “I want my $15!” rang out as passersby leaned on their car horns in a show of support. Workers also protested briefly just after
Cuba’s Fidel Castro’s connection to Detroit’s Joe Louis See page B-1
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6 a.m. outside of a Flint McDonald’s before police converged and broke things up. As of press time, thousands of workers and their supporters were expected to take part in another protest set for 5 p.m. Tuesday at another McDonald’s in Detroit. The strikes and protests in Michigan were part of a nationwide “day of disruption” that includes workers walking off their jobs in 340 cities from coast to coast, and as the effort for higher wages marks its four-year anniversary. A report released Tuesday by the National Employment Law Project shows the Fight for $15 has won nearly $62 billion in raises for working families since that first strike in 2012. That’s 10 times larger than
the total raise received by workers in all 50 states under Congress’s last federal minimum wage increase, approved in 2007. Carl Watkins of Detroit was prepared to go to jail Tuesday in solidarity with the person who provides his homecare, Renita Wilson, who earns $8.50 an hour. But police refused to arrest Watkins, who suffers from a host of health challenges ranging from diabetes to heart troubles. Watkins said his concern is for those like him who need “long-term care” and the need to adequately pay those who provide it. “I wanted to be here in support,” said Watkins.
Vigilant financial management creates renewed stability, allowing WCCCD to hire 23 full-time faculty New hires followed comprehensive study, strategic planning; allows district to support fuller scope of student, community services Twenty-three key full-time faculty members have been hired to the Wayne County Community College District staff across its 500 square mile service area to support the full scope of its programming, services and operations. The new hires will help to bolster Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs, business management and general education programs at the District. The 23 full-time faculty members were part of a District-wide initiative to hire 75 key personnel over the next two years as part of its 2015-2020 strategic planning
as well as our own history and growth.” said WCCCD Chancellor Curtis L. Ivery. “There was little doubt that to appropriately serve the 32 cities and townships we cover, we need to commit dollars to recruit more full-time staff in key areas such as student services and information technology, including administrative staff, support staff and more fulltime faculty.”
Dr. Curtis L. Ivery process. The boost to personnel levels will help WCCCD recover important levels of operational support for its expanded role as a key education, workforce development and economic development partner in the region. “We performed an exhaustive analysis of community colleges in Michigan and nationwide,
While the District grew its offerings to respond to emergent needs of the region during the financial challenges of the last decade, including career training and innovative workforce development programming with public and private partners, it did so with reduced staff levels to appropriately respond to the financial instability of the time. Financial vigilance and rigorous planning allowed the District to maintain its services, program-
ming and stability, and to emerge in a position to now add key supportive staff. The 23 full-time faculty members will be in the classroom for the start of the District’s Spring Semester, which begins Jan. 17, 2017. About WCCCD: WCCCD, the largest urban community college in Michigan, is a multi-campus district with six campus locations, including the Mary Ellen Stempfle University Center and the Michigan Institute for Public Safety Education (MIPSE), serving more than 70,000 credit and non-credit students annually across 32 cities and townships, and more than 500 square miles. WCCCD is committed to the continued development of new programs, workforce transformation, hosting community-based training sessions, and improving student facilities and services.