The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged Detroit

Can Land Banks Help Solve Detroit’s Foreclosure Woes?

By | 10.27.09 | 10:06 am

Over at WalletPop, they’ve looked closer into a big recent auction of foreclosed properties in Detroit, and it’s an even bleaker situation than first reported.

The Wayne County auction of some 9,000 repossessed properties last week resulted in more than 80 percent of them More…

Seeking Answers on ‘Cash for Clunkers’

By | 07.31.09 | 12:15 pm

As funding for the $1 billion cash for clunkers program has reportedly dried up less than one week after its launch, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) want answers from the White House about what vehicles are being sold and scrapped under the program. In More…

An Opportunity to Improve ‘Cash for Clunkers’

By | 07.31.09 | 12:04 pm

With the news that the popularity of cash for clunkers has already consumed the program’s $1 billion allotment comes the inevitable rehashing of the debate over what cars should be eligible for trade-ins if the program is extended.

Earlier in the year, Detroit’s powerful defenders on Capitol Hill More…

Congress Looking for More Money for ‘Clunkers’

By | 07.31.09 | 10:04 am

Late Thursday, The Associated Press reported the government would suspend the “cash-for-clunkers” program that provides vouchers worth up to $4,500 to consumers who trade in cars with lower fuel efficiency for cars that get slightly better gas mileage. While the program has been operational More…

Foreclosures Down in Some of Michigan’s Largest Counties

By | 07.07.09 | 6:09 pm

The Michigan Messenger’s Todd Heywood ran the newest foreclosure numbers from a selection of Michigan counties and found some surprises. In Wayne County, home to Detroit, foreclosures were down substantially in May and June over the same period last year. But the real shocker was in Genesee More…

Monica Conyers Identified in Federal Corruption Investigation

By | 06.17.09 | 2:08 pm

More news from Michigan:

City Councilwoman Monica Conyers has been identified in an FBI bribery probe as “Council Member A,” the city official investigators say received more than $6,000 in cash bribes in exchange for a deciding vote that approved a $1.2 billion sewage disposal contract with the waste management

More…

Conyers’ Wife Offered Plea Deal in Detroit Corruption Case

By | 06.17.09 | 9:07 am

The Michigan Messenger’s Minehaha Forman has the details:

The FBI has offered Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers a plea deal involving her apparent connection to the Synagro Technologies sludge scandal according to published reports Tuesday afternoon. Conyers, who is married to U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr.,

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A Slow Start to Cash for Clunkers

By | 06.12.09 | 11:04 am

As part of the war-funding deal reached yesterday between House and Senate negotiators, Detroit’s automakers found a $1 billion gift: The launch of a cash-for-clunkers program that focuses more on selling large, otherwise unwanted cars than it does on curbing greenhouse emissions, as the program was initially intended. More…

How’s This for Shareholder Loyalty?

By | 06.11.09 | 10:49 am

Seems that critics of the White House decision to bail out General Motors and Chrysler were right to question how well federal government would manage its enormous new investment. The New York Times reported today that the administration recently bought thousands of new vehicles, but a lion’s share of More…