Fort Shelby Doubletree Hotel and restaurants open in time for the new year
Holiday wishes for the west side of downtown Detroit have been answered: the Westin Book Cadillac came on line just a couple of months ago and the Fort Shelby Doubletree […]
Downtown Detroit
Model D TV: Digerati and Keeping Talent Here
Keeping young and talented kids in Michigan, and luring them to Detroit, is part of one U-M grad's mission. Detroit-based Digerati founder Brian Balasia talks with Model D TV.
NYTimes hangs out at Campus Martius, Coney Island, finds out how durable Detroiters are
The New York Times travels to Campus Martius and then visits Lafayette Coney Island, talking with Detroiters about life and the bailout along the way.Excerpt: A local sports radio station dedicated the entire day to “standing up” for the auto industry with messages of hope from people like Detroit’s new mayor, Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., and other politicians.Stores, too, joined the campaign. John Hiller, the chief executive of Hiller’s Markets, a favorite of the area’s Asian residents, felt the need to blog about the importance of buying American. “These cars have a long, illustrious history, its own history,” he wrote, “for we come from a place of innovation.”Thoughts of persistence more than innovation seemed to be the focus of many people like Ronald Williams, 32, a student at Wayne County Community College who was waiting for a bus to take him home.“We’re all just going to have to keep on keeping on,” Mr. Williams said. “Around here, that’s all we know how to do.”Read the entire article here.
Detroit broomball is back; sign up ends December 22
Broomball is back but you only have a little more time to sign up. Registration ends Dec. 22. So, if you want to play a game that's like hockey but without skates on Campus Martius' ice, better go to the broomball Web site and sign up.Excerpt:Broomball is a winter sport played in ice arenas and community parks throughout the country. It is similar to hockey in its formation and rules, but has some soccer strategies as well. Six players play on each team at once. Like hockey, there are two defensemen, three forwards, and a goalie. A player uses a broom shaped stick to maneuver a six-inch diameter ball up and down the ice. Whichever team scores the most goals wins! Unlike hockey, players wear soft-soled shoes instead of skates.For details on registration visit broomball online here.
Time looks at Detroit auto industry’s forgotten legacy of diversity
TIME looks at the Detroit auto industry's role in creating a melting pot of workers and a diverse metro Detroit.Excerpt:"Detroit is truly a huge melting pot," says Alee Darwish, 53, a retired assembly line worker employed by Ford Motor Company for 32 years. "The car companies were no doubt responsible for that." Like other Lebanese who flocked to the area in the early 1900's, Darwish's father immigrated to the U.S. seeking a job at Henry Ford's Model T plant, as the pioneering automobile entrepreneur was offering a large $5 a day. Following in his footsteps, both his sons ended up as career hourly employees at Ford, applying sealer to the seams of metal on the assembly line. "I worked hard, saved my money, and eventually opened a Coney Island diner and a pizzeria on the side while I worked full-time at the plant," says a proud Darwish, now married with two children. "Ford was good to us."Read the entire article here.
Detroit rail line closer as senate passes key components of plan
Legislators passed key components to Detroit's potential $103 million private rail line backed by billionaires Dan Gilbert and Roger Penske.Excerpt:The proposal, pushed by billionaires Dan Gilbert and Roger Penske, would use $103 million in private money to build the street-level rail line looping between Hart Plaza and Grand Boulevard in the New Center area. Its 12 stops would include major businesses, theaters, ballparks, museums and hospitals. "It has the potential to be a model for creating mass transit in Michigan," said Sen. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Read the entire article here.
Young professional and entrepreneur survey about the Detroit region launched
The Detroit Regional Chamber's young professional and entrepreneur's organization, Fusion, is launching a survey to see how young people view Detroit and the metro region.Excerpt:The survey results will be shared at the 2009 Mackinac Policy Conference to create a quality of life agenda for the region, said Christianne Sims, director of Fusion.Local businesses, universities and community organizations are encouraged to have their young professional employees and students participate. The Fusion survey is open from now until Jan. 16 and can be found online by clicking here."This survey is necessary for understanding the views young professionals have of our region," Sims said in announcing the project. "The results will help Fusion carry out its mission of retaining and attracting young talent as part of an economic transformation strategy for the Detroit Region."Read the entire article here.
Jon Stewart lobbies for Detroit
Daily Show's host Jon Stewart gives Detroit his support and lobbies for the bailout of its automakers in front of a live studio audience.Excerpt:“Now that’s the things about cars,” Stewart said after admitting that his first vehicle was an AMC Gremlin, “even the crappy ones are useful.“But you won’t bail out the people who make cars,” he told Congress. “You’ll only bail out the people who make car loans. Not even car loans. The people you bailed out made derivative paper transfers speculating on the future value of enormous groupings of said loans to China. “Fine. Detroit’s business model is bad. We know they lose $2,000 for every car they sell. Wall St. lost $7 trillion without selling anything. At least when Detroit loses money, we get cars. So give them the money!”Not sure if the cheers were for Detroit or for Stewart, but after a week that has seen Detroit thoroughly pummeled in Washington, the noise was good to hear.Read the entire article here.
Detroit’s creatives honored at this years D Show awards
The D Show awards that honor the creatives of Detroit were given out for the second year in a row.Excerpt:“I want to remind you we’re from Detroit, a city with a statue of a fist,” said a defiant Bill Ludwig, vice chairman and chief creative officer at Warren-based advertising agency Campbell-Ewald. He’s also chairman of the D Council, the Adcraft Club of Detroit committee that oversees the awards judging and black-tie presentation event at the Max M. Fisher Music Center.Ludwig’s agency was the sometimes-rowdy event’s big winner, taking home 19 of the Old English-script “D Awards,” including Best of Show for its integrated wellness campaign for the Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente health-care consortium.The D Awards — everything from tradition print and broadcast ads to guerrilla marketing, cell-phone campaigns and computer effects are eligible and judged by outside experts — must have been produced by a Detroit-based agency or client between June 1, 2007, and May 31 of this year.Read the entire article here.
Freep looks at Ft. Shelby’s transformation
The Freep goes down to the Ft. Shelby to check out the new digs.Excerpt:The grandeur that was once part of the Ft. Shelby was evident again Thursday, even as construction crews scrambled to finish work. Lobby marble and tile gleamed, while the restored Crystal Ballroom on the second floor projected an air of classic dignity.Bill Aprill, director of sales and marketing for the Doubletree, said that the transformation from eyesore to elegance has been amazing."It was really bad," Aprill said of his first glimpse of the hotel a year ago. "Everything was destroyed. When I started in January, the Crystal Ballroom ceiling was hanging on chicken wire, just crumbling. Now it's gorgeous," he said.Read the entire article here.
