Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Announce New App: “Chevy in the D: Pose with PA…
Community 06-19-2013 Hits:40 
Michigan Chronicle Staff
App is part of promotion between the Detroit Tigers and the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers; grand prize winner receives an all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado All-Star Edition Detroit, MI --- June 19, 2013 --- The Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers (MDCD), in partnership with the Detroit Tigers, announces a new “Chevy in the D: Pose with PAWS” app for iPhone, Droid, iPad and tablets. The free app is part of a promotion the MDCD is running with the Detroit Tigers to support its mission of giving back to the Metro Detroit communities. A photo contest is being held to launch the new app, with the grand prize winner receiving an all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado All-Star Edition. The “Chevy in the D: Pose with PAWS” app allows users to take a photo with the beloved Detroit Tigers’ mascot, “PAWS”. The app uses a special marker to trigger a 3D version of PAWS and in which fans can either stand in front of the marker or hold a marker in their hand to make PAWS appear in the camera shot. Markers are located at local Metro Detroit Chevrolet Dealerships and in three locations at Comerica Park: Kids Club Kiosk, entrance of the Big Cat Court and on the second level of the stadium. A marker can also be found on the back of the Detroit Tigers pocket schedules with the MDCD “Pose with PAWS” advertisement; a printable format is available online at chevydetroit.com/chevyinthed. “It is always fun to work with the Detroit Tigers; the Pose with PAWS app is a new way for us to engage with Tigers fans while keeping in mind our mission of giving back to the communities we serve,” said Paul Stanford, president of Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers. The promotion, which includes a series of monthly contests and runs from June through September, invites users...
Read moreHas motorization in the US reached its peak?
News Briefs 06-19-2013 Hits:16 Michigan Chronicle Staff
ANN ARBOR—Fewer light vehicles are on America's roads today than five years ago, thanks possibly to increases in telecommuting and public transportation, says a University of Michigan researcher. Michael Sivak, a research professor at the U-M Transportation Research Institute, studied recent trends in the numbers of registered cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans in the U.S. from 1984 to 2011. He examined both the absolute numbers and rates per person, per licensed driver and per household. Sivak found that the absolute number of registered vehicles reached a maximum of 236.4 million in 2008, 2.6 million more than in 2011. "It is likely that this was only a temporary maximum and that the decline after 2008 was primarily driven by the current economic downturn that started that year," Sivak said. "Consequently, with the improving economy and the expected increase in the U.S. population, it is highly likely that from a long-term perspective, the absolute number of vehicles has not yet peaked." He found, however, that rates of vehicles per person, per licensed driver and per household reached their highest levels most recently in 2006—two years before the economy stalled. The rates that year were 0.79 vehicles per person, 1.16 per licensed driver and 2.05 per household. In 2011, the rates were 0.75, 1.10 and 1.95, respectively. "It is likely that the declines in these rates prior to the current economic downturn reflect other societal changes that influence the need for vehicles—such as increases in telecommuting and in the use of public transportation," Sivak said. Sivak said that changes in the rates from 2008 on, however, likely reflect both the economy and a variety of societal changes. "Whether the recent maxima in the rates will represent long-term peaks, as well, will be influenced by the extent to which the relevant societal changes turn out to be permanent," he said.
Read moreJuneteenth Books Reveal Former Slaves' Words
News Briefs 06-19-2013 Hits:23 Michigan Chronicle Staff
Nationwide (BlackNews.com) -- In the 1930s, thousands of formerly enslaved African-American elders dictated their full life stories during interviews that were conducted by the US federal government. These transcripts are stored in six archives in the United States, and compiler Donna Wyant Howell is in the process of categorizing them by subject matter. Howell has begun compiling the interviews into a series of books, entitled the I WAS A SLAVE book collection. The books contain text that remains virtually in their unedited words, along with their photographs that were taken during the interviews and others that were taken during slavery. Six books that are available now are subtitled: Descriptions of Plantation Life, The Lives of Slave Men, The Lives of Slave Women, The Breeding of Slaves, The Lives of Slave Children, and Slave Auctions. WHAT IS JUNETEENTH? Juneteenth was the name given to the celebration that was founded in Texas where the last American slaves learned that they were freed on June 19, 1865. The annual festivities now have spread throughout this country and Juneteenth is an official holiday in many states. SAMPLES OF FREEDOM DAY QUOTATIONS FROM FORMER SLAVES William Mathews: All we talk about freedom git so bad on de plantation, de massa make me put de men in a big wagon and drive em [from Louisiana] to Winfield. He say in Texas dere never be no freedom. I drive em fast and it take bout two days. But dey come back home. Massa say if he catch any of em, he gwine shoot em. Dey hang around de woods and dodge round til de freedom man come by. We went right on workin after freedom [when first declared]. Old Buck Adams wouldn't let us go. It was way after freedom dat de freedom man [from the federal government on June 19] come and read...
Read moreHUD Awards $40 Million in Housing Counseling Grants/Michigan agencies to re…
Community 06-19-2013 Hits:40
HUD AWARDS $40 MILLION IN HOUSING COUNSELING GRANTS Michigan agencies to receive nearly $601,000 CHICAGO - As part of its continuing effort to assist families and individuals with their housing needs and to prevent future foreclosures, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced more than $40 million in housing counseling grants to 334 national, regional and local organizations. As a result of these grants and the additional funding they help leverage, more than 1.6 million households will have a greater opportunity to find housing, make more informed housing choices or keep their current homes. Michigan counseling agencies will receive nearly $601, 000(see chart). Agencies in Michigan receiving funds are: LANSING MICHIGAN STATE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY $400,191.00 DETROIT ABAYOMI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION $17,429.00 FREMONT NCCS CENTER FOR NONPROFIT HOUSING $18,167.00 GRAND RAPIDS LINC COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION INC., F/K/A LIGHTHOUSE COMMUNITIES, INC $13,000.00 Grand Rapids GRAND RAPIDS URBAN LEAGUE $16,690.00 Grand Rapids HOME REPAIR SERVICES OF KENT COUNTY $17,429.00 Jackson COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY $21,119.00 LANSING FRANKLIN STREET COMMUNITY HOUSING CORPORATION $20,381.00 Pontiac OAKLAND COUNTY HOUSING COUNSELING $17,798.00 Pontiac OAKLAND LIVINGSTON HUMAN SERVICE AGENCY $19,643.00 TRAVERSE CITY NORTHWEST MICHIGAN COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY, INC $22,215.00 YPSILANTI HOPE AMERICA, INC. - A/K/A HELPING ORDINARY PEOPLE EXCEL $16,690.00 MICHIGAN STATE TOTAL $600,752 Make no mistake: these grants will do a lot of good said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. The HUD-approved counseling agencies this funding supports are crucial in helping families manage their money, navigate the homebuying process, and secure their financial futures. The evidence is clear that housing counseling works. These grants are a smart investment to help families and individuals find and keep housing which helps promote neighborhood stability in the long term. These grants are a solid investment in the future of this state housing counseling works. It will help keep families in their homes which stabilizes neighborhoods said Antonio R. Riley, HUD's Midwest Regional Administrator. More than $38 million in grant funds will directly support the housing counseling services provided by 27 national and regional organizations, 8 multi-state organizations, 22 State Housing Finance...
Read moreHouse Passes Far Reaching Anti-Abortion Bill
News Briefs 06-19-2013 Hits:32 
ABC News
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted this evening to pass legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks, except in what Democrats assailed as “narrow” cases of incest of a minor, rape, and health of the mother, prompting a partisan debate on the House floor as lawmakers grappled over the question of how soon a fetus is able to detect pain in the womb.The bill, H.R. 1797 – Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, passed by a vote of 228-196. Six Republicans opposed the measure, while six Democrats crossed the aisle to support it.Republicans contend that a fetus is capable of detecting pain well before the current cut-off for abortions, at 24 weeks. Continue To ABC News...
Read moreDetroit Council Member Kwame Kenyatta Resigns
News Briefs 06-19-2013 Hits:47 My Fox Detroit.com
As reported by My Fox Detroit.... Detroit City Council member Kwame Kenyatta says he's quitting Friday. Kenyatta didn't give a specific reason to radio station WWJ, but he says the council is virtually powerless now that Detroit is being run by an emergency manager. Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/22630393/detroit-council-member-kame-kenyatta-quitting-friday#ixzz2WfW1DY00
Read more
Larry Nevers, left, in 1999 and Malice Green in an undated photo. (Photo Credit: AP)
