Detroit draws first map to get out of bankruptcy
Detroit draws first map to get out of bankruptcy
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit presented its first full road map for leaving bankruptcy Friday, outlining an elaborate plan to restructure $18 billion in debt, demolish thousands of blighted homes and invest in the broken-down infrastructure that made the city a symbol of urban decay.
If approved by a judge, the wide-ranging proposal would sharply reduce payments to some retirees and creditors. Pension holders could expect to get 70 percent to 90 percent of what they are owed, while many banks would receive as little as 20 percent.
The plan, which is sure to be the subject of court challenges, envisions a leaner, cleaner and safer Motor City after its crushing financial burdens are lifted.
“There is still much work in front of all of us to continue the recovery from a decades-long downward spiral,” Kevyn Orr, the city’s state-appointed emergency manager, said in a statement.
Orr’s so-called plan of adjustment “provides the best path forward for all parties to resolve their respective issues and for Detroit to become once again a city in which people want to invest, live and work.”
The state is focused “on protecting and minimizing the impact on retirees, especially those on fixed, limited incomes,” Gov. Rick Snyder said, as well as “restoring and improving essential services” and “building a foundation for the city’s long-term financial stability and economic growth.”
AP source: Tribal killing suspect target of probe
ALTURAS, Calif. (AP) — A woman suspected of killing four people at the headquarters of an Indian tribe evicting her and her son from its land was under federal investigation for at least $50,000 in missing funds, a person familiar with the tribe’s situation told the Associated Press on Friday.
Investigators were looking into whether Cherie Lash Rhoades took federal grants to the Cedarville Rancheria tribe, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Rhoades was recently ousted as the tribe’s chairwoman.
Authorities said she killed three family members and a worker at the headquarters in the small community of Alturas in far Northern California during a meeting Thursday about her eviction and critically wounded two other people.
One of the people wounded was alert and talking. The other remained in critical condition, Alturas Police Chief Ken Barnes said.
Barnes said young children were inside the building and on the property when the shooting occurred. After running out of bullets, police said, Rhoades grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed a woman.
Rhoades was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of homicide, attempted murder, child endangerment and brandishing a weapon. Russo’s husband works at the jail, so Rhoades was transferred to an undisclosed location.
Train hits, kills crew member filming biopic
ATLANTA (MCT) — A 27-year-old member of a crew filming a biopic about Southern rock musician Gregg Allman was struck and killed by a freight train this week in Georgia.
Investigators Friday were collecting video, emails and statements to figure out who might be at fault in the death of a 27-year-old second camera assistant Sarah Elizabeth Jones of Atlanta. Jones was struck and killed Thursday afternoon by a freight train roaring along a bridge where the biopic was being filmed. Seven other crew members were treated at a hospital for injuries suffered on the 110-year-old trestle above the Altamaha River in Wayne County.
Open Road Films, the film’s U.S. distributor; Unclaimed Freight, the Pasadena, Calif., company producing the film; and the Georgia-based Meddin Studios film crew had permission from the railroad operator to film near the railroad tracks, but they did not have permission to be on it, authorities said.