State could be forced to pay new Detroit officials' salaries
Under the consent agreement with the state, the city of Detroit will have to appoint new officials to lead the city out of its financial crisis. Who will pay the salaries for these new officials is a new bone of contention according to Jonathan Oosting at MLive:
The [consent] agreement... requires the formation of a nine-member Financial Advisory Board to oversee city budgets and hiring of a Program Management Director to oversee implementation of key initiatives. The deal calls for the city and state to split the salaries of advisory board members, who each will make $25,000 a year, while the city is required to cover the full salary of the PMD, expected to earn triple figures. As MLive.com first reported this weekend, some city leaders believe the state may end up assuming full responsibility for those costs.
Some council members feel the Headlee Act prevents the state from mandating new services without compensating the city for those services.
Oosting reports Detroit City Council is expected to meet in a closed door session with the city's law department this afternoon.
U.S. Attorney General says violence in Detroit is "unacceptable"
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told thousands of people gathered at an NAACP fundraising dinner that violence in Detroit is "unacceptable."
He told the crowd last night in Detroit that his administration is directing "unprecedented" resources nationally in order to reduce young people's exposure to crime.
Holder said an average of two young black men get killed each week in Detroit. He called the statistic "shocking."
Higher train speeds between Detroit and Chicago
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says Michigan, Illinois and Indiana are each contributing $200,000 for a study looking into the creation of a high-speed rail corridor between Chicago and Detroit.
LaHood says the study will seek ways to cut Amtrak passenger train times between the cities and to more efficiently move goods.
The Department of Transportation says the study will build on the progress that Michigan has made in achieving 110 mile per hour service between Kalamazoo and Porter, Indiana.
