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.
Wednesday, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick checked into the jail and was inserted into the cell where he will spend his next 120 days.
After an exhausting year of court appearances, sparring with City Council, and a night in jail as part of the infamous text messaging scandal, Kilpatrick ended his term as mayor and admitted to two felony counts including obstruction of justice.
The sentence — 120 days in jail, a $1 million restitution fee, and five years of probation — is part of a deal he cut that came with his resignation and guilty plea.
So why isn’t local media finished humiliating Kilpatrick? He’s done the crime, no doubt. And now he’s doing the time. What other public interest does the story have now other than to sensationalize and degrade Kilpatrick?
Thanks to the Detroit News and Free Press, the world knows how much water pressure is in his toilet, how many paces his cell is, his cell number, what exactly he was served for dinner and how it was served (through a slot).
So my question is: What are we getting from this other than (at best) a form of voyeurism that plays to the worst in us all: enjoying someone else’s misery?
Sure, we all know he’s a crooked guy who may very well have been involved in the murder of Tamara Green. We also know that if he hadn’t been the mayor he would have been locked up for at least 15 years. But until more witnesses come forth, or he’s up to something new that affects us as Detroiters, do we really need to know he’s having a pot-pie for dinner?
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