News

Water crisis in Flint declared public health emergency

October 2, 2015 | CBS NEWS

A public health emergency has been declared in cash-strapped Flint, Michigan, after tests showed the city’s water supply is causing elevated levels of lead in children, following months of complaints about the smell and taste.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced Friday that the state will spend $1 million to buy water filters and immediately test water in public schools in Flint. He also announced expanded health exposure testing, continued […]

Snyder finally says lead in Flint water may be problem

September 30, 2015 | Detroit Free Press

Almost a week after news broke that more Flint kids have been lead poisoned, two weeks after state data confirmed that lead levels in Flint’s water had spiked, more than a year after residents first noticed something was hinky with the water coming out of their taps, Gov. Rick Snyder has publicly acknowledged that Flint’s water supply “appears” to have problems.

Publicly, because despite his office’s repeated […]

Snyder must act on Flint lead crisis

September 27, 2015 | Detroit Free Press

It’s hard to understand the resounding yawn that seems to have emanated from the governor’s office, following news that an increasing percentage of Flint kids have been lead poisoned after a switch in the city’s water supply.

A spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services sent a Free Press data analyst a chart she claimed would refute a report issued by a Hurley Medical Center researcher, […]

Flint to issue lead in water warning after push from doctors, health officials

September 24, 2015 | MLive

FLINT, MI — The city of Flint is expected to advise its water customers on ways to minimize exposure to lead in its tap water — particularly for children — after a group that includes doctors and health officials strongly suggested the step.

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling confirmed the move on Wednesday, Sept. 23, after The Flint Journal-MLive learned the Greater Flint Health Coalition approved a resolution two days prior urgently […]

Detroit Mayor Duggan, Dan Gilbert intro new ‘Rehabbed and Ready’ home program

August 26, 2015 | MLive

DETROIT – Sell two homes a week in any of four Detroit neighborhoods until a $5 million grant from businessman Dan Gilbert runs out.

That’s the plan for the newly announced Rehabbed and Ready program, a multi-faceted project between Detroit Land Bank Authority, Quicken Loans and The Home Depot.

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How Detroit, Dan Gilbert $5M home rehab project will work

August 26, 2015 | MLive

DETROIT – The four neighborhoods targeted in the newly announced Rehabbed and Ready program were carefully picked, according to Quicken Loans Founder Dan Gilbert.

The Detroit real estate mogul who’s spent much of the last few years investing in over 75 properties in downtown Detroit recently provided the new program (through Quicken Loans) with a $5 million donation.

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A glimpse inside Detroit Land Bank home rehabbed and ready for auction

August 30, 2015 | MLive

DETROIT, MI — The renovated Detroit Land-Bank-owned house at 18652 Monica was receiving rave reviews from some before they stepped inside Saturday.

“The door is even nice,” said one woman carrying a puppy. “It’s pretty,” her friend added.

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Gilbert: 65 rehabbed homes will boost Detroit values

August 26, 2015 | Detroit Free Press

Quicken Loans chief Dan Gilbert and Mayor Mike Duggan said today that a program to renovate as many as 65 abandoned but salvageable homes in four Detroit neighborhoods will boost home prices across the city.

Quicken partnered with the home improvement store Home Depot and the Detroit Land Bank Authority on the program, with Quicken donating $5 million to the effort targeting homes in the Bagley, Crary-St. Mary’s, College […]

Detroit Future City to Become Independent Non-Profit

June 12, 2015 | Detroit Future City

The DFC Implementation Office announced it will launch its next phase by making the transition to an independent non-profit organization governed by a board of directors. A new transition management committee made up of members of the Detroit Future City Implementation Office Steering Committee and headed by Dr. George W. Swan III will oversee the process over the next four to six months.

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Housing Policy Key to Freddie Gray’s Baltimore—and the City’s Future

June 8, 2015 | Rooflines

The lack of opportunity in Gray’s neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester and others like it is not the natural order of things, but rather the result of policies that perpetuate segregation, concentrated poverty, and inequality.

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