"Detroit defaulting on $2.5 billion" Associated Press, June 15, 2013
ROMULUS, Mich. — A team led by a state-appointed emergency manager said Friday that Detroit is defaulting on about $2.5 billion in unsecured debt and is asking creditors to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what the city owes them.
Kevyn Orr spent two hours with about 180 bond insurers, pension trustees, union representatives, and other creditors in a move to avoid what bankruptcy experts have said would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.
The whole country is bankrupt, both in money and morality.
Underfunded pension claims probably would get less than the 10 cents on the dollar.
An assessment of the plan’s progress will come in the next 30 days or so. Orr also announced that Detroit stopped paying on its unsecured debt Friday to ‘‘conserve cash’’ for police, fire, and other services in the city of 700,000 people. The debt not being paid includes $39 million owed to a certificate of participation.
That's going to make "investors" mad!
Orr’s team said the proposal is the one shot to permanently fix fiscal problems that have made the city insolvent.
I'm always wary of that type of "urgent" talk.
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Detroit's Dictator
Also see: Dog Day Afternoon in Detroit Courtroom
"Detroit officer faces verdict in girl’s death" by Ed White | Associated Press, June 13, 2013
DETROIT — A Detroit police officer charged in the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl testified Thursday that he’s trained to keep his finger off the trigger, but insisted the split-second tragedy began when the victim’s grandmother grabbed his weapon during a risky midnight raid.
Joseph Weekley, charged with involuntary manslaughter, testified in his own defense, telling jurors that he remains ‘‘devastated and depressed’’ over the death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, who was shot in the head while she slept on a couch in May 2010.
Weekley said Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones, hit his submachine gun after a stun grenade was thrown into a house during a raid. Weekley said he pulled back and heard the shot, but at first didn’t realize it came from his gun.
The jury has three options Friday: involuntary manslaughter, a felony; a misdemeanor weapons charge; or not guilty of any crime....
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