Tagged: Detroit

Detroit and other cities in Michigan are turning to businesses to help pay for schools that provide a wide variety of services to students and their families.

Today JPMorgan Chase announced it will donate one and a half million dollars to pay for three “wraparound’ schools in Detroit.

Detroit schools emergency manager Roy Roberts says the idea recognizes that students won’t succeed without support at home.

“When we sat with students, one of the things students said to us was, can you help us teach our parents to be parents? Now you think deeply about that. That’s deep stuff. So we’re going to do everything we can. You’ve got parents with two jobs, two people working, broken families. We’ve got a lot of issues.”  

Roberts says the services can include parenting training, help finding a job, and counselors who are available around the clock.

Governor Rick Snyder was on hand for the announcement. Snyder says he wants businesses to become more directly connected to schools.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, says Detroit is "still engaged in a great freedom walk … and a campaign to preserve the dignity of all Americans."

Pelosi made the remarks as the featured speaker for the Detroit NAACP’s 56th annual gathering last night.

A Marathon Petroleum spokesman says no one was hurt after a fire at a refinery in Detroit.

Shane Pochard tells The Associated Press the fire started Saturday evening in one of the smaller tanks at the Marathon Petroleum refinery. He says the fire has been put out and the cause is being investigated.

Pochard says no employees or contractors were injured. He says Marathon Petroleum has conducted extensive air monitoring in the neighborhood where the refinery is located and the area is safe.

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has taken a step toward seeking a second four-year term leading the city that now operates under a state financial manager.

Bing picked up petitions Thursday afternoon at the city clerk's office for a spot on the August primary ballot. The top two vote-getters advance to November's general election.

He's been silent for months on his re-election intentions as Detroit entered state oversight. Gov. Rick Snyder in March named bankruptcy attorney Kevyn Orr as Detroit's emergency manager.

Bing says he's working closely with Orr, who must approve all financial decisions.

The 69-year-old Bing was elected mayor in May 2009 to complete the remaining months of disgraced ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's second term. Voters re-elected elected Bing that November.

He inherited a budget deficit that now stands at $327 million.

DETROIT (AP) - Donations from businesses and federal grants will allow Detroit to keep open 50 public parks slated for closure this year due to lack of money.

Mayor Dave Bing says Wednesday that the donations include $5 million over five years from auto industry supplier Lear Corp. Other donors include General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Marathon Petroleum and the Kellogg Foundation.

Several businesses, community groups and residents also have adopted parks in order to keep them open.

The parks donations follow a pledge of $8 million from businesses and foundations for 23 EMS units and 100 police cars.

Detroit's finances are under control of a state-appointed emergency manager. The city's budget deficit is about $327 million.

More than 200 city parks were closed between 2008 and 2009.