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    David Sands

    David Sands

    Contributor

  • Michigan Congressman Goes On Food Stamps

    To get a sense of this hardship and raise awareness about possible cuts to the federal food stamp program, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Dave Coulter, mayor of the neighboring Detroit suburb of Ferndale, have each pledged to stick to a grocery budget of $31.50 next week.

  • Police Purse Snatching Exercise Nearly Turned Tragic

    An FBI agent almost shot a Detroit cop on Wednesday at a gas station while filling up. It was the cop's bosses, who came up with the lame brain idea to simulate a purse snatching and then invite a TV crew to film your reaction Detroit. The officer takes the purse, runs around the gas station.

  • Why Two Men Displayed Nazi And Confederate Flags At Their Home

    Two men in Bay City, Mich. hanging controversial flags from their homes have shocked members of their local community -- but they say they have a reasonable excuse. Darold Newton, president of the local NAACP chapter, told the Bay City Times he was shocked to discover the flags while driving past the house.

  • This Baby Penguin Loves Its Foster Parents

    Parents can be very protective of their kids, including foster parents -- or penguin parents, for that matter. This two-week old macaroni penguin chick being sheltered by foster dad, Tubby, is one of the newest additions to the Detroit Zoo. After inspecting the baby penguin to ensure it was healthy and strong, they put it back in the egg, sealed it with tape and placed it in its new foster parents' nest.

  • All Aboard The SS Kid Rock

    The recent trend of rock 'n' roll cruises hasn't worked for every band that's tried it—let's pour out some PBR for the sadly canceled Sugar Ray cruise. Its captain is Kid Rock, and its name is the Chillin' the Most Cruise. Kid Rock knows something that you and I don't.

  • LOOK: Step Inside The New Whole Foods Detroit Store

    As crowds of well-wishers cheered, the doors to the first Whole Foods Market in the city of Detroit opened Wednesday at 9 a.m. -- one of the most significant national investments recently made to the Motor City's flourishing Midtown neighborhood. Building a gourmet grocery store in a city facing bankruptcy may be risky business, but Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods, told an audience of shoppers and browsers that the experience had become personal. “All of us at Whole Foods have been touched by Detroit and Detroiters,” he said, according to the Detroit News.

  • Republicans Have An Official Contender For Levin's Senate Seat

    A Republican has finally stepped forward in the race for the seat of departing U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich). Terri Lynn Land, a former Michigan Secretary of State, announced her intention to pursue the GOP's nomination for the office on Monday.  Representing our magnificent state of Michigan and your interests in Congress would be the greatest honor," she said in a Facebook post.

  • Urban Ag Development Plans To Hire Recovering Addicts, Ex-Prisoners

    Gary Wozniak is cultivating an urban farming initiative in Detroit that he says could create 18,000 new jobs in the city over the next two decades. Wozniak, a former financial consultant, is the driving force behind a nonprofit called RecoveryPark, which is developing three separate but related agricultural projects: an urban farm spread out over a 2,475-acre zone on Detroit's east side, a food processing center and an indoor fish farm.

  • LOOK: Development Projects Are Popping Up Across Detroit

    Development is back and booming in the Motor City, even despite the city's very real fiscal issues. Midtown has arguably become Detroit's most successful -- and talked about -- district for new commercial and real estate ventures. Mixed-use projects like The Auburn apartments and Willys Overland Lofts are filling their ground floors with new retail ventures, and new construction is ramping up at sites like the former Stone Pool Park, slated to become an apartment complex.

  • Man Says Foreclosure Led Him To Crime Against Ex-Official

    Terrence Edwards told police his home was facing foreclosure. An Ingham County Circuit Court judge sentenced the 56-year-old Okemos man to five years behind bars Wednesday after he pled guilty to gun and armed robbery charges, the Lansing State Journal reports. On the morning of August 31, 2012, Edwards confronted ex-state treasurer Douglas B. Roberts at his home in East Lansing, Mich. After a verbal dispute that lasted about 90 seconds, Edwards pulled a gun on the former state official, according to MLive.

  • A Wave Of New Retail Is Coming To Midtown This Summer

    Summer is apparently the time to go shopping in Midtown Detroit, if the new stores popping up all over the neighborhood are any indication. "All those shops ... are located in a pretty close proximity to each other," Black said.

  • Lawmakers Make Big Push For Gay Marriage

    Michigan isn't known for being a state with policies that are friendly toward the LGBT community, but several state lawmakers are trying to change that. On Wednesday, a group of Democratic state Senators sponsored a package of legislation supporting gay marriage on a statewide and national basis. Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) introduced Senate Joint Resolution W, a measure that would give Michigan voters the opportunity to repeal a 2004 state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

  • WATCH: Tornadoes Leave Trail Of Destruction In Michigan

    Residents in two Michigan counties were recovering Wednesday from the havoc wreaked by a night of heavy thunderstorms and tornadoes. Funnel clouds reportedly touched down at three locations in Genesee County near Flint and two other sites in neighboring Shiawassee County, according to the Detroit Free Press. Tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service Tuesday evening for the two counties.

  • Packard Plant FOR SALE

    The abandoned factory that once produced Packard automobiles will be among the properties for sale this September at the Wayne County auction of properties foreclosed on because of property tax delinquency. The starting price for bidding will be about $975,000, the sum of the taxes owed on 43 parcels that make up most of the sprawling Packard plant property, county officials said.

  • Researcher: Serious Concerns' About Pet Coke Piles

    Concerned about possible risks associated with growing mounds of a petroleum waste product piling up along the Detroit River, State Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) gathered samples last March to be tested with an Ann Arbor environmental nonprofit. The material, known as petroleum coke or pet coke, is a byproduct of processing tar sand oil. A company controlled by Charles and David Koch, billionaire brothers known for supporting conservative political causes, is buying the material from the Detroit Marathon Oil Refinery and storing it by the river until they can ship it out and sell it on the international market.

  • Medical Marijuana Users Can (Sometimes) Smoke And Drive

    Michigan's Supreme Court has ruled that taking a toke before driving is OK for state-approved marijuana patients in certain circumstances. In a unanimous ruling Tuesday, the high court decided that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) supersedes a zero-tolerance drug policy provision of the Michigan Vehicle Code. Approved by state voters in 2008, The MMMA allows patients suffering from a list of designated ailments like cancer or Crohn's disease to take marijuana as medicine, provided they have legitimate certification from a doctor.

  • Fannie & Freddie Say It Would Be Too 'Awkward' To Meet With Foreclosed Homeowners

    Officials from the mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have withdrawn from a Detroit event where homeowners are set to talk about the impact foreclosures have had on their lives and communities. The group Detroit Eviction Defense claims the last-minute cancellation of the May 20 hearing comes after officials for the government-backed agencies told organizers it would be "awkward" to hear testimony from homeowners who are currently litigating against them. Steve Babson, a spokesman for Detroit Eviction Defense, said organizers received word of the cancellation through a series of phone calls with employees of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie and Freddie.

  • Whether They Go To Prom Or Not Could Depend On The Internet

    Imagine wanting to go to your high school prom, but not being able to afford to rent a tux or buy a dress. Unfortunately, about 25 students at a charter school located on Detroit's west side are facing exactly this predicament. Fortunately, an online campaign has been launched to try and raise money and clothes for these students to celebrate with their classmates.

  • State Reconsiders Award For Refinery After Explosion

    A Michigan state agency has apparently had some doubts about honoring the safety record of a Detroit oil refinery -- one that recently experienced an explosion and fire that led to the partial evacuation of a nearby city. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration Wednesday canceled an event Wednesday that would have presented the Marathon Oil company with a CET Platinum award for safety, while the company investigates the fire incident. "This is not a joke! The State of Michigan is giving Marathon Petroleum Company an award for 'Outstanding Safety and Health Record,'" State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) said in a Facebook post prior to the cancellation.

  • LOOK: Chances Are, You've Seen His Art Around Detroit

    My Detroit is a series of Q&A profiles with our favorite denizens in and around the D. If you've walked around Detroit, you've probably glimpsed the art of Vito Valdez without even knowing it. With Herbeck, he also is responsible for the colorful reconfiguration of the Space Frames pillars, located at Springwells and Vernor on the city's Southwest side.