I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
When the Detroit News reported that the city of Detroit was opening two warming centers for people without heat during this past week’s frigid temperatures, the first thing I noticed was the limited hours of operation. These designated warming centers, which are actually community recreation centers were open for their regular hours: from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
That means these people would have nowhere to go during the coldest hours of the night when warmth is needed most.
The city’s press release said one thing, but a visit to the William Recreation Center on Detroit’s West Side told a different story.
The so-called warming center was actually just a recreation center that the city designated as a “warming center” in a press release but in reality no new considerations were being made. There was no indication that they were doing anything differently to accommodate more people. After speaking with a supervisor I found out that there had not been much of a difference since the city announced the place as a warming center and they were not advertising this anywhere, no even on the front door.
There were no signs outside advertising the city’s decision to open that recreation center to the public. Even when I tried to get in a woman at the door didn’t want to let me in unless I was a member.
I mentioned that I was a reporter looking to find out about the warming center and she let me in. The supervisor I spoke with did not want to give his name and was reluctant to say anything about community warming.
This is a clear indication of the city’s attempt to accommodate the poor was weak at best and no better than a PR stunt to give the appearance that the city was doing something.
Logistically, a community recreation center would be a disastrous place to open a functional warming shelter. From what I saw in my visit there, it was a place were young children were playing games, groups of all ages were playing chess or checkers, pool, and basketball.
Not exactly a place that could easily double as a homeless shelter. If it were advertised correctly and transportation was offered to get needy people to the shelter, then the place could be packed with people from the street and patrons at this rec. center would not be happy.
There needs to be a designated warming center that is open around the clock that serves no other purpose but to warm those without heat in the community. so far the city’s slacking on this one.
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