Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 1. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. Most coaches would have been studying yet another scouting report. Most players would have been listening to yet another rap song. But on the bus ride to Ford Field, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo put down his game plan for a moment to look out the window at a row of abandoned buildings. The Spartans basketball team turned off their iPods to follow his gaze. "Win one for Detroit," Izzo pleaded, and his charges nodded along. In the end the Spartans fell short of the 2009 national championship, but for everything else they accomplished during an unforgettable Final Four weekend in Detroit, they are my Sportsmen of the Year.
Six people. Buried. In Detroit.
While Detroit booster Dan Gilbert has a passion for the city, where he wants to move 1,700 jobs, it's a romance that's getting complicated.
It is noon in downtown Detroit, a glorious autumn day in the nexus of the city's business district. A large crowd of people stride up the street toward a sleek, glass-walled tower in the Campus Martius complex.
Detroit needs jobs. The city's unemployment rate hovers around 28%, the worst in the nation, and the city's budget deficit is near $300 million. Both Detroit's residents and its government need new employers to recharge the local economy.
Detroit continued to lead the nation's cities of 1 million people or more with the highest unemployment rate in September, according to government figures released Wednesday.
Three runners collapsed and died during the Detroit Marathon on Sunday. Although that news is shocking and frightening for runners and non-runners alike, such deaths are rare, experts say.
For a foreclosure, the house at 15461 Kentfield St. in Detroit needed surprisingly little work. The new owner, an investor from the Chicago area named Kevin Holmes, slapped on a coat of paint, pulled up the dirty carpets, and replaced the stolen water heater. The car stashed out back, he learned soon enough, belonged to a neighbor, not a thief using the three-bedroom as a makeshift chop shop.
With its ever-increasing pockets of barren land and abandoned housing, Detroit may be the most financially devastated city in the country. Who would take on the task of trying to revive neighborhoods mired in economic blight? Try an institution built on faith and hope: Detroit's churches.
At 1300 E. Warren St., you can smell the plight of Detroit.
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 1. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. Most coaches would have been studying yet another scouting report. Most players would have been listening to yet another rap song. But on the bus ride to Ford Field, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo put down his game plan for a moment to look out the window at a row of abandoned buildings. The Spartans basketball team turned off their iPods to follow his gaze. "Win one for Detroit," Izzo pleaded, and his charges nodded along. In the end the Spartans fell short of the 2009 national championship, but for everything else they accomplished during an unforgettable Final Four weekend in Detroit, they are my Sportsmen of the Year.
Six people. Buried. In Detroit.
While Detroit booster Dan Gilbert has a passion for the city, where he wants to move 1,700 jobs, it's a romance that's getting complicated.
It is noon in downtown Detroit, a glorious autumn day in the nexus of the city's business district. A large crowd of people stride up the street toward a sleek, glass-walled tower in the Campus Martius complex.
Detroit needs jobs. The city's unemployment rate hovers around 28%, the worst in the nation, and the city's budget deficit is near $300 million. Both Detroit's residents and its government need new employers to recharge the local economy.
Detroit continued to lead the nation's cities of 1 million people or more with the highest unemployment rate in September, according to government figures released Wednesday.
Three runners collapsed and died during the Detroit Marathon on Sunday. Although that news is shocking and frightening for runners and non-runners alike, such deaths are rare, experts say.
For a foreclosure, the house at 15461 Kentfield St. in Detroit needed surprisingly little work. The new owner, an investor from the Chicago area named Kevin Holmes, slapped on a coat of paint, pulled up the dirty carpets, and replaced the stolen water heater. The car stashed out back, he learned soon enough, belonged to a neighbor, not a thief using the three-bedroom as a makeshift chop shop.
With its ever-increasing pockets of barren land and abandoned housing, Detroit may be the most financially devastated city in the country. Who would take on the task of trying to revive neighborhoods mired in economic blight? Try an institution built on faith and hope: Detroit's churches.
At 1300 E. Warren St., you can smell the plight of Detroit.
What do an MRI machine and a Ford F-150 have in common?
After David Mancini opened Supino Pizzeria eight months ago in downtown Detroit, he quickly came to appreciate a powerful source of word-of-mouth marketing: his fellow business owners. Even those who are potential rivals.
Detroit is one of America's largest cities, but there isn't a single grocery chain store within the city limits. Spurned by national retailers, Detroit's nearly 1 million residents instead rely on independent stores run by local entrepreneurs for their most basic needs.
Sometimes you need a little starter cash to get things going.
This was Christmas night. In the basement of a church off an icy street in downtown Detroit, four dozen homeless men and women sat at tables. The smell of cooked ham wafted from the kitchen. The pastor, Henry Covington, a man the size of two middle linebackers, exhorted the people with a familiar chant.
No city in America has been more entwined with the fortunes of a single industry as Detroit with autos. The nicknames "Motor City" and "Motown," coined years ago, have stuck for good reason.
Three years ago, with a freshly-minted law degree, Connecticut native Tom Northrop started job hunting in Detroit.
It's Brian Holdwick's job to bring new businesses to Detroit. No easy task when nearly one out of every three Detroiters is now out of work.
When it comes to creating jobs, people in Detroit need to start experimenting and exploring.
Detroit's auto industry trained generations of workers in design and manufacturing. As that business fades and its jobs disappear, city planners are hoping to redeploy the city's creative minds and craftsmen toward a new and growing field: fashion.
Isaiah Brooks expects to graduate soon from Focus: HOPE, a non-profit machinist school in Detroit, where his hopes of getting a job are fading along with the local auto industry.
On a side street in an old industrial neighborhood, a delivery man stacks a dolly of goods outside a store. Ten feet away stands another man clad in military fatigues, combat boots and what appears to be a flak jacket. He looks straight out of Baghdad. But this isn't Iraq. It's southeast Detroit, and he's there to guard the groceries.
In Detroit, a city with rampant unemployment, big crowds in the middle of the day may mean someone is giving out freebies. But on a recent workday, over 450 people packed an auditorium downtown. They weren't looking for a hand out, sympathy or even a job application. They were looking to start their own business.
The Detroit metropolitan area held its position of having the highest unemployment rate among major U.S. cities, with the rate surging more than 2 percentage points to above 17%, the government reported Wednesday.
An 18-year-old suspect in Tuesday's bus-stop shootings that wounded seven people in Detroit, Michigan, surrendered to authorities Wednesday, police said.
Seven people, at least five of them high-school students, were shot Tuesday at a bus stop in Detroit, Michigan, officials said.
The unemployment crisis is a nationwide concern, but the collapse of the auto industry has made joblessness in Detroit particularly painful.
If an e-mail popped up in your inbox promising a house for $100, you'd expect to see it sent from a guy in Nigeria asking you to wire him several thousand dollars first.
As Detroit home prices crash, sales are heating up. But with all of the plant closings and layoffs, who's buying? Investors -- some of whom are snapping up five and 10 houses at a time.
Just what the devastated Detroit housing market didn't need: more plant closings, more layoffs.
Detroit's Big Three could soon become the Big Two or even the Big One.
Jeremy Burgess likes the location and layout of the three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath home in the Grandmont neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan.
After years of churning out giant gas-guzzlers, lobbying against fuel-economy standards, and refusing to repent even while begging Congress for a bailout, the humbled and chastened Big Three gathered recently at the Detroit auto show to finally embrace the electrification of the automobile.
The real estate market is so awful that buyers are now scooping up homes for as little as $1,000.
This is undoubtedly way too unsophisticated a solution to the troubles in the American auto industry, but it has to be better than bankruptcy or federal edicts:
More than 20 of Detroit, Michigan's public schools may close and 600 teachers will be laid off in an attempt to reduce a projected $303 million deficit, the state-appointed financial manager of the schools said Thursday.
Americans are fed up with the Detroit drama.
DETROIT -- So Ty Lawson won a little cash rolling dice in advance of the Final Four? It could have been worse for NCAA officials, who seem embarrassed and even a little surprised that when they brought four groups of 18- to 22-year-olds to a city without much nighttime entertainment other than a few downtown casinos, a few of-age players actually took advantage of their legal right to patronize one of those casinos.
The U.S.'s treatment of domestic car makers must leave Motown feeling hard done by.
All season Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had avoided using the site of this year's Final Four, Detroit's Ford Field, to motivate his team. But last Friday night the time seemed right. After his Spartans beat Kansas 67-62 in the Midwest Regional semifinals in Indianapolis, Izzo gathered the players at the team hotel and talked. He had already been to four Final Fours, even won a title, in 2000, right there in Indy. But could they grasp how gratifying going to a Final Four just 90 miles from East Lansing would be for someone like him, a Michigan native who'd never lived anywhere else? Did they know how few teams have played in a Final Four in their home state? (A dozen since the first tournament, in 1939, and only two in the last 30 years.)
Despite talking a tough line today, Washington seems determined to bail out Detroit, despite the objections of the public (61% opposed it, according to a CNN poll in February). The public is correct. Money diverted to a dying industry is taken away from areas with better prospects.
March 31st is the deadline for the Treasury Department's auto task force to announce how much more money it will extend to General Motors and Chrysler - and what the two tottering automakers will have to do to get it.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you. Give out free tickets and the whole world will come.
Comedian Jay Leno's plan to hold a free concert for the jobless of Detroit, Michigan, drew criticism from a politician in the city.
Are auto shows going the way of manual typewriters, videotape recorders, and Palm Pilots?
With the idea of a "car czar" the flavor-du-jour in our nation's capital, it looks like we're destined to repeat history and with unhappy consequences.
By almost any measure, investors are right to beat up on Detroit. Car sales are at their worst since 1982, credit lines for would-be car buyers remain tight, and the Big Three might as well be called the little three after begging for government help. So the question is: Do auto industry stocks offer investors any value?
The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News will become the first major metropolitan newspapers in the U.S. to end daily home delivery, the papers announced Tuesday.
The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News will become the first major metropolitan newspapers in the United States to end daily home delivery, the papers announced Tuesday.
The proposal to loan $14 billion to Detroit's struggling automakers collapsed late Thursday night but the Big Three may get some money anyway.
Help may soon be on the way to the struggling U.S. auto industry after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed off her opposition to using funds from a fuel-efficiency research program for a bailout, two congressional officials said Friday.
With auto sales at the weakest pace in 25 years and a government bailout far from certain, job losses in the struggling industry could potentially get much worse.
Poor Detroit. The heads of the Big Three automakers had to subject themselves to two days of Congressional grilling last week while they begged for a $25 billion loan.
The heads of Detroit's car companies -- Ford, Chrysler, GM -- bumper to bumper, are begging Congress for a bailout. Let's start by cutting through the bull and look at how the automobile companies got into this mess.
The bodies of a woman and three children were found Wednesday in a charred Detroit, Michigan-area home after an early morning fire that also destroyed two nearby houses, a fire official said.
Three seventh-grade girls at a school in Monroe were ordered to strip to their underwear while a teacher investigated the alleged theft of $42, their parents charge.
Public health officials in Canada announced Thursday that they were looking for 27 people who may have contracted tuberculosis from an infectious passenger during a bus trip in late August
Ken Cockrel Jr. became the city's new mayor, vaulted into office by a sex scandal that destroyed the reign of Kwame Kilpatrick and threw Detroit's government into chaos for months
When General Motors unveiled its much-anticipated Chevy Volt this week, it also repeated pleas for the government to fund loans to the automakers.
In the darkened cocktail lounge of a midtown Manhattan hotel early one recent evening, the gloomy atmosphere matched the mood of the Detroit executive who was nursing a beer. Auto sales are being ravaged by the toxic combination of plummeting housing prices, expensive consumer credit, and cratering used car values. And the economic forecast offers little hope of a recovery over the next 15 months
Detroit's Big Three are pushing for federal loan guarantees to stay afloat through the tough times
The end of the long-running soap opera over Detroit's mayor could help the Democrats in Michigan. At least, that's the hope
Michigan's attorney general says he's bringing assault charges against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick after a physical confrontation with a detective trying to serve a subpoena
It appears that the prospect of $4 gas finally has Americans getting serious about fuel economy.
This was supposed to be a good year for Detroit's Big Three.
What's in an urban brand? Civic leaders across the country ask that question as they strive to make their towns attractive to entrepreneurs and others in shaky economic times.
Every Monday morning at 7:29 A.M. Northwest flight 533 from LaGuardia to Detroit pulls out of the gate, its first-class cabin filled with bankers, consultants, and lawyers who work with beleaguered auto companies. These days some of them have become such regulars that they've given the DC-9 its own moniker - the Distress Bus.
One overlooked piece of news coming out of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is that small business is starting to invade the Big Three's territory.
Detroit automakers are rediscovering cars.
The Detroit News welcomed Detroit auto show attendees to town over the weekend with the headline "Carmakers try to overcome gloom."
Rising foreclosures will lead to billions of dollars in losses next year in the nation's major cities, but homeowners and banks can contain the effects, a new report says
More and more these days, you hear that the public's patience with Detroit has run out. The recently negotiated labor agreements at General Motors and Chrysler, the argument goes, relieve a big chunk of their health care burden and give them more flexibility in manning plants and planning production.
Nearly 700 homes in the Detroit area will be auctioned on Sept. 21 through Sept. 23, one of the biggest home auctions ever.
Contract talks between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit Three could run beyond a Sept. 14 deadline because so many issues are unsettled, including the companies' desire to pay the union to take over retiree health care, a person briefed on the bargaining said.
Here are some facts from tonight's broadcast that you might find interesting.
America's once-proud public school system -- the great equalizer of our democratic society -- is failing an entire generation of students. Millions of high-school students are donning their caps and gowns this month, but a new Education Week report reveals that more than 1.2 million students will fail to graduate high school this year. Half of our black and Hispanic male students are dropping out of public high schools.
Chief executives of struggling Detroit-based automakers will press their energy and trade agendas in congressional meetings Wednesday, days before the Senate plans to take up proposed legislation to sharply hike fuel economy standards.
The names have changed, but the dynamic of the Eastern Conference finals is every bit as intriguing as it was nearly two decades ago when another prodigious number 23 was trying to take down the Detroit Pistons, then in the midst of a run that included three straight trips to the Finals and back-to-back championships. It took Michael Jordan four straight postseason meetings before he learned how to beat Detroit; the question today is whether LeBron James can acquire that knowledge in half the time.
Rasheed Wallace, the self-appointed deejay of the Detroit Pistons' locker room, had a tough time settling on his musical mood on Sunday at Chicago's United Center. To prepare for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals -- and an expected sweep of the Bulls -- he first selected a high-energy Nas tune, but after nodding to the beat for several measures, he abruptly switched to a mellower cut. Then, following the Pistons' 102-87 loss, Sheed cranked up Chaka Khan singing Tell Me Something Good to ear-splitting decibel levels, only to emerge from the shower and switch to the Lipps Inc. classic Funkytown, shaking his booty to the bass line.
Conventional wisdom as it currently exists regarding the top of this year's NFL Draft took its first hit Thursday when the Detroit Lions agreed to a trade that will send cornerback Dre' Bly to Denver in exchange for running back Tatum Bell, offensive tackle George Foster and a fifth-round pick.
Also in this column: • NBA's 10 most significant injuries • Kirilenko struggling to deliver • Dark cloud on Wizards' horizon
For the next couple of days, you won't be able to escape the avalanche of news from the Detroit auto show. Manufacturers will do everything in their power to focus attention on the models they'll be unveiling. They have compiled elaborate information kits and planned glitzy product reveals to extract the last ounce of glamour and drama from the displays.
On a night when the past was being honored in Detroit -- Steve Yzerman's jersey was hung from the rafters alongside those of Gordie Howe, Sid Abel, Terry Sawchuk, Ted Lindsay, and Alex Delvecchio -- the future was also being foreshadowed:
Detroit led all U.S. metro areas in the percentage of homes entering foreclosure during the third quarter, at more than four times the national average, according to a report released Friday.
Former backcourt mates and two-time world champions with Detroit, Thomas and Dumars have traveled divergent paths since entering the NBA's executive ranks.
"Four Brothers" is a dark and brooding drama about revenge and retribution. Set on the dirty streets of Detroit, Michigan, and directed by John Singleton ("Boyz N the Hood"), this film plays out like an urban version of an old-fashioned Western.
It costs more to own a car in Detroit, an amazing $11,844 a year for a mid-sized sedan, than in any other city in the country, according to a new report comparing the cost of car ownership in various a U.S. cities.
(CNN/Money) - While the urban centers in most major U.S. cities are blossoming with loft apartments, gourmet restaurants and pricey boutiques, Detroit has been waiting for its renaissance.
Detroit police searched Tuesday for a man who opened fire in a Detroit home day-care center, killing a 3-year-old child and critically wounding two women, officials said.
With two girls, two boys and two guitars, the Von Bondies are probably the second most famous garage band to come out of Detroit, Michigan, in the past few years. Like the White Stripes, the Von Bondies make raw, bluesy and punk-inflected rock.
Even record gasoline prices haven't been enough to put the brakes on Americans' love affair with sport/utility vehicles.
DETROIT (Reuters) - A growing reliance on longer loans to help spur new-vehicle demand could soon start backfiring on Detroit's automakers, a leading industry research firm said on Thursday.
Few air travelers willingly spent much time or money at the old Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. It was a textbook example of what was wrong with airport design: crowded, cramped, and dir...
According to one moss-covered piece of folk wisdom, "When the economy catches cold, Detroit gets pneumonia." So in February, when automakers turned in their worst sales performance in nearly five y...
On a muggy Wednesday in late July, used cars are rolling through the Manheim auto auction in Bordentown, N.J., at the rate of one every two seconds. Vehicles of just about every make, from flashy M...
The 2001 auto frenzy spurred by zero-percent financing may be rapidly disappearing in the rearview mirror, but a new boom is appearing on the horizon. Because of record-high capital spending by aut...
Detroit started the gadget trend in the mid-1960s, when carmakers first offered power windows. Speed ahead to 2001, and you won't believe what the auto industry has up its tailpipe. Of course, ther...
They're building a plush new ballpark for the Tigers in Detroit, and that's fine. It'll be ready next spring. It won't come cheap ($295 million), but Tigers owner Michael Ilitch and a consortium le...
In the wake of January's Detroit airport debacle--when a snowstorm kept hundreds of passengers trapped in planes for up to nine hours--politicians in Washington have been making lots of noise about...
The Greeks figured out the summer heat long ago: cold spreads of yogurt, potatoes, or fish roe; whole fish grilled over charcoal and slathered with olive oil, lemon, and herbs; and a bladder of ret...
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