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.
As the court hearings continue over former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his required restitution payments, some very interesting tidbits have come to light. It had already been revealed that a group of prominent Detroit businessmen — Peter Karmanos, Dan Gilbert, Roger Penske and James Nicholson — had given Kilpatrick a $240,000 loan, which Karmanos said was given in order to “encourage him to resign.” Now it has come out that another area businessman was originally involved in that loan but pulled out:
But prosecutors revealed during the second day of a hearing over Kilpatrick’s ability to pay $1 million restitution to the city that others played a role, including local developer John Rakolta Jr., who backed out of an agreement that involved other prominent businessmen and attracted the attention of FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents…
On Tuesday, a Compuware attorney testified that Rakolta, chairman and CEO of Walbridge group, backed out of an agreement to join Roger Penske, Daniel Gilbert, James Nicholson and Peter Karmanos Jr. in a $300,000 loan to ease Kilpatrick’s transition from the public to the private sector after his jail release.
Rakolta is a major backer of conservative causes and was a Romney supporter in the 2008 presidential election, though he also donates to Democratic legislators in Michigan.
Another interesting thing that came out of the hearings on Monday and Tuesday was that Kilpatrick has been getting short term loans to cover his $6,000 per month restitution payments — but he refused to name his benefactors on the witness stand:
Kilpatrick said he also got help with later payments, too, borrowing smaller amounts for days or a week at a time in order to make his payments on time.
When asked who helped him make his initial $22,000 payment toward restitution on March 13, Kilpatrick said: “I paid it back already.”
Asked directly, “Who did you borrow this money from?” Kilpatrick responded, “I’m gonna take the Fifth.”
The Fifth Amendment protects an individual’s right not to incriminate themselves, so invoking that protection implies that he cannot reveal who gave him the loans without admitting to something that violates the law.
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