As described in a groundbreaking Metro Times story earlier this year, “A Highway Runs Through It,” a plan is moving ahead to spend $3.8 billion expanding sections of I-75 and I-94 in metro Detroit. Of particular interest to Detroiters is the part of the plan that calls for expanding a 6.7-mile stretch of I-94 between I-96 and Conner Avenue — at a cost of $1.8 billion. The plan would enlarge the gulfs separating Midtown — now experiencing a full-on resurgence — from the neighborhoods around it. In fact, the plan calls for removing several pedestrian and vehicular bridges connecting Midtown to Woodbridge and New Center. The staggering amount of money to be spent, the loss of the bridges, and the emphasis on speeding commuters through the city at its expense has new urbanists pissed. And the fact that the plan encroaches on the eclectic Fourth Street neighborhood, as well as threatening historic United Sound Studios, has preservationists questioning if this is really necessary. Then there is metro Detroit’s newfound interest in what rapid transit, specifically BRT and light rail, can do to revamp our fair city, all of which will likely cost a fraction of this multibillion-dollar roadbuilding spree. Add to this the fact […]

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Legislation in Michigan has passed the Senate that will set the phasing out of landlines in Michigan into motion, Click On Detroit reports. The bill, which heads to the House next, plans to eliminate landline service in Michigan by 2017. Traditionally, landline service has been subsidized by the government, viewed as an essential service. But the market in Michigan seems to indicate otherwise: landline customers have dropped by more than 60% in the last decade, from 6.5 million in 2002 to 2.6 million in 2012, according to the FCC. Meanwhile cell phone users have more than doubled from 4.5 million in 2002 to more than 9 million people in 2012. Senate bill 636 removes the requirement that at least two other providers offer comparable service in an area before a phone company can discontinue service there. Groups like the AARP have opposed the plan, citing concerns that affordable service and access to medical alert systems could be compromised. Another part of the country was forced to experiment with eliminating landlines when Hurricane Sandy destroyed the system on New York’s Fire Island. Initially, Verizon opted to not restore the system, instead installing a wireless system called Voice Link that connected house phones to […]

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His famous bombing raid on Japan was payback for Pearl Harbor Many American’s are aware of Doolittle’s Raiders and their demoralizing bombing of Japan. The raid has been immortalized in the film, “Thirty Seconds over Tokyo.” It was also one of the turning points of the war. With the approach of December 7 and the anniversary of the, “day that will live in infamy,” we should note that Doolittle’s raid was a mere five months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor crippled our naval forces; that same day Japanese bombing destroyed almost half of the U.S. aircraft that were stationed in the Philippines. Japan enjoyed a series of victories as they spread out their front and easily conquered that island nation. Something had to be done to slow the Japanese juggernaut. That is when the U.S. decided we needed a plan to surprise the enemy and bomb Japan’s home islands, a seemingly impossible task. The man chosen to plan the attack was Lt. Col. James Harold Doolittle, and he devised a daring, some say foolhardy, plan. Sixteen stripped down B-26 bombers would take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. With favorable weather conditions they should all reach their targets. […]

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English DJ Pete Tong has been a global ambassador for electronic music since the whole thing started in the ’80s. For years, Tong was exposing thousands of people to the best new electronic music on Radio 1, while also touring the world. He lives in LA now; perhaps he crossed the Atlantic to escape the fact that, in England, “It’s all gone Pete Tong” is cockney rhyming slang for “It’s all gone wrong.” Probably now. He has a new mix tape, The Pete Tong Collection, out now, and he has a radio show over here called Evolution. He’s DJing at Elektricity on Saturday night. We grabbed him for a quick chat about all of that. How’s the current tour going? Really good. It is a tour, but it’s as much because I’m now based in America so I can utilize the time between the Rising after the Ibiza season until the end of the year to touch base with all the major cities. It’s wrapped up like a tour, but it’s not a tour in the sense that I’m away from home like I would have been if I was based in England. How long have you lived in LA? […]

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Local indie pop band Trait was supposed to open this show, but a family emergency forced them to cancel. Up steps Zombie Jesus & the Chocolate Sunshine Band, or half of them anyway. This being a last minute show, two of the band members were unable to play, but that didn’t stop front man Jheremie Jaque and guitarist Helmut Aretz from stepping up like the saviors of the day that they are, and rattling through a set of barbed cutesy tunes. Jaques told us that he and Aretz have played as a two-piece a ton of times at open mics, so this wasn’t an unusual setup for them. He’s an interesting front man too; his demeanor suggests that he’s on the verge of sleep, yet he delivers one witty line after another between songs. “This song’s about Helmut’s battles with addiction,” Jaques says, as the conservative-looking German shrugs. “Love Song” from the debut EP is the pick of tonight’s tunes, an oldie but goody. “You’re a filthy little slut,” Jaques croons. “Look at you playing with my balls on the first night.” Awwwwww. Bailiff are here from Chicago. This writer knew nothing about the band before the evening got underway. […]

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Detroit sportswriter Dan Ewald pays homage to his old friendGeorge “Sparky” Anderson in this book. Ewald recounts his last visit with Sparky only days before the death of the baseball legend. The two old friends spent most of the three day visit at the kitchen table in Anderson’s Thousand Oaks, Ca. home. There, they took turns telling the stories of their time together. One of the best just may be in the preface where Ewald describes an unlikely scene at the airport when he happened to have Anderson’s dental bridge in his pocket. He goes on to tell of his conversation with the befuddled security guard about why he has Anderson’s teeth and of the fellow passenger who offered to buy them. Ewald was the public relations director for the Detroit Tigers when Sparky was hired as manager early in the 1979 season. The two soon became fast friends. When Sparky’s agent committed a breach of faith and was released he asked his friend Ewald to assume the responsibilities. They did not sign a contract; they shook hands to seal the deal. They did not like the titles agent or representative, so they termed Ewald’sjob as “friend.” Their close working […]

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