John Clark, 41, of Farmington Hills is headed to prison for five months — not the 16 months federal prosecutors were seeking — for lying to the FBI about his role in a $1.2-billion sludge deal.

Under a judgment filed Wednesday, he will report to prison on June 18, almost exactly four years after the Free Press reported Clark resigned from his job after federal agents showed his boss a videotape of Clark accepting money from a Synagro executive.

Clark, a onetime aide to Councilman Kenneth Cockrel Jr., has long insisted he never accepted any bribes. He said his only crime was lying to federal agents about giving $3,000 back to a Synagro vice president, which he didn’t do. Cockrel wasn’t implicated in the Synagro scandal.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, who gave Clark the five-month sentence, also ordered him to serve five months of home confinement and two years of probation.

Clark, who pleaded guilty last April to lying to the FBI, had requested a zero- to six-month prison sentence.

Prosecutors said Clark received $3,000 from James Rosendall Jr., a vice president at Synagro Technologies, for helping secure a sludge-hauling contract. To prove it, they played FBI surveillance tapes in court showing Clark accepting a wad of cash from Rosendall.

In one video clip, in which Clark is seen taking money from Rosendall during a Feb. 20, 2008, car ride, Clark is heard saying, “Woo hoo! You helped me out man. … Man, this is it.”

In another video clip from March 11, 2008, Clark is seen counting a wad of bills that Rosendall called “a little advance for helping us.”

Clark’s lawyer Walter Pookrum was not immediately available for comment. In the past, he has argued that the video put his client in the wrong light.

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120223/NEWS01/202230428/Former-Detroit-City-Council-aide-gets-lighter-sentence-for-Synagro-scandal-role

On Wednesday, Chrysler said it will offer 60 all-new items that can be purchased at www.IFDstore.com.

“The ‘Imported from Detroit’ theme continues to generate a conversation throughout this country, and we are proud to share that message through this new collection of clothing and accessories,” Saad Chehab, president and CEO of the Chrysler brand, said in a statement.

Today, Chehab will be recognized by Crain’s Detroit Business as its Newsmaker of the Year. Chehab is expected to talk about last year’s Super Bowl spot and this year’s commercial featuring Clint Eastwood called “It’s Halftime in America.”

Chrysler began selling “Imported from Detroit” merchandise early in 2011 to capitalize on the buzz the Super Bowl ad generated.

A raft of other retailers tried to take advantage of the slogan. Last March, Chrysler sued one of them, Pure Detroit, alleging that the small business violated the automaker’s trademark protection by using the phrase. The case is pending in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

“We continue to be in conversations with Pure Detroit and the court about trying to resolve the lawsuit,” said spokesman Michael Palese.

Last summer, Judge Arthur Tarnow ruled that Pure Detroit, which operates three retail stores in Detroit and a website, could continue selling the T-shirts.

“Pure Detroit remains focused on finding a middle ground that will respect their rights and will get this issue resolved,” said John VanOphem, attorney for the retailer.

Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120223/BUSINESS0103/202230467/Imported-from-Detroit-MERCHANDISE-LINE-EXPANDS?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Expectations are high for the 20-year-old Turner, who was drafted in the first round by the Tigers in 2009. Detroit hasn’t settled on a No. 5 starter, and Turner is one of several pitchers in the running during spring training. That competition figures to be one of the most interesting subplots for the Tigers as they prepare to defend their AL Central title.

Detroit appears content to fill its final rotation spot from within. General manager Dave Dombrowski shed some light on the team’s thought process a couple weeks ago when he rattled off a list of possible candidates, including Turner, Drew Smyly, Andy Oliver, Casey Crosby, Duane Below and Adam Wilk.

Baseball America ranks Turner as Detroit’s top prospect, and he was certainly solid last year at Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo. He made three starts as a Tiger, posting an 8.53 ERA, so he still has to show he can handle a full-time role in the majors.

“The biggest thing I think with Jacob is getting comfortable throwing his changeup,” pitching coach Jeff Jones said. “His changeup has looked good on the side. We want him to be able to carry that into the game and command his stuff.

Oliver was drafted the same year as Turner, one round later. He’s also made an occasional start with the Tigers, going 0-5 with a 7.11 ERA over the last two seasons. Oliver struck out 143 batters in 147 innings at Toledo last year, but he also allowed 149 hits and 80 walks for the Mud Hens.

Smyly is a bit of a wild card. He was drafted in the second round in 2010 and breezed through last season, going 7-3 with Class A Lakeland and then 4-3 with a 1.18 ERA at Erie. The left-hander has been so impressive he’s being mentioned as a candidate for a rotation spot despite not being a member of Detroit’s 40-man roster.

“There’s a lot of people competing for it, so you can’t really think about it,” Smyly said. “It’s awesome to know you’re in the running.”

Like Smyly, the 23-year-old Crosby has yet to pitch in the big leagues. He spent much of the 2008 season recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery, and the southpaw’s left elbow gave him problems in 2010, too.

Crosby was able to make 25 starts at Erie last year, a step in the right direction. He struck out 121 in 131 2-3 innings.

The 26-year-old Below — another left-hander — is the candidate who pitched the most for the Tigers last year, making 14 appearances, including two starts. He had a 4.34 ERA in 29 innings with Detroit, and also pitched impressively for Toledo, going 9-4 with a 3.13 ERA — exclusively as a starter.

Wilk, an 11th-round pick in 2009, showed impressive control at Toledo last season, walking only 14 hitters in 102 2-3 innings. He made five appearances with the Tigers, all in relief.

Detroit doesn’t start exhibition games until next month, and that’s when these pitchers will really be on the spot. Until then, they’ll have a chance to settle in and work alongside established big leaguers like Justin Verlander, last year’s Cy Young Award and MVP winner in the American League.

“It’s a good idea to watch other hitters and other pitchers on your own staff, to get an idea of what they do, but you have to be careful that you don’t try to emulate them exactly, because your stuff might not be the same,” manager Jim Leyland said. “Your method of getting somebody out might have to be different than somebody else’s. There’s not many Justin Verlanders, so you have to figure out what works for you.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/jacob-turner-among-several-candidates-to-be-detroits-no-5-starter/2012/02/23/gIQAvqoqUR_story.html

Touting an endorsement from The Detroit News, Mitt Romney’s campaign sent out a press release announcing the news Wednesday morning.

But the e-mail skipped over a few key paragraphs in the editorial, namely sentences that offered criticism of the Republican presidential candidate.

While much of the article lauded Romney as the most experienced and electable candidate, the editorial board included a few points of contention:

“We disagree with Romney on a point vital to Michigan – his opposition to the bailout of the domestic automobile industry. Romney advocated for a more traditional bankruptcy process, while we believe the bridge loans provided by the federal government in the fall of 2008 were absolutely essential to the survival of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp.”

But the editorial board went on to write that the issue “wasn’t a differentiator in the GOP primary, since the entire field opposed the rescue effort.”

The Romney press release, however, replaced that section with a simple:

“…”

Other paragraphs replaced with ellipses included the board’s analysis on the volatile presidential race, naming several candidates “who have enjoyed a burst of popularity at Romney’s expense.” The article also mentioned that “very conservative Republicans have been lukewarm to Romney because of his history of more moderate positions on social issues.”

That, too, was left out of the Romney email.

To be fair, the release omitted harsh criticism of his opponents, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, as well. The release also included a link to the full story at the top of the email.

The Detroit News’ editorial page editor, Nolan Finley, said he contacted the Romney campaign after media reports highlighted the press release.

“We would prefer — if they are going to excerpt pieces of the editorial and not the complete editorial — that they would have indicated that they were excepts,” he told CNN. “This was such a long cut and paste that I think it did create some confusion as to whether this was the whole editorial or not.”

The Romney campaign told him they circulated excerpts, rather than the full text, because of copyright “legal concerns,” Finley said, and he was assured a link to the full text did and would accompany any excerpts.

This isn’t the first time Romney’s campaign has carved out negative commentary when sending out newspaper endorsements (of which Romney has many). It left out similar critical passages in its release on The Des Moines Register endorsement in December, for example, as well as an editorial from The Tampa Bay Times in January.

While copyright laws may play a role in restricting the amount of material a campaign can legally disseminate, the email blasts leave out largely negative material. In the case of The Detroit News, the campaign skipped over the primary point of criticism on Romney’s opposition of the auto bailouts, a big issue in Michigan.

Article source: http://www.ksbw.com/news/politics/Romney-email-omits-Detroit-News-criticism/-/2124/8865374/-/p49rexz/-/

Under the banner Leaders to ReBuild Detroit, General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson told a crowd at the J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy on Bremen why he is involved.

Akerson said that he and his wife, Karin, toured the neighborhood that borders Grosse Pointe Park. It’s an area where Habitat for Humanity Detroit has worked for 5 1/2 years.

“We saw the work that’s been done and the work that’s left to do,” Akerson said.

He and his wife decided that they would not give each other gifts for their wedding anniversary, but donate $1 million to the campaign.

“You cannot see what we’ve seen and walk away from it,” Akerson said.

Habitat for Humanity Detroit Executive Director Vincent Tilford said: “Dan and Karin have put a stake in the ground, and we hope you will follow their example.”

Other speakers at the kickoff were Roy Roberts, the state-appointed emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, and Karla Henderson, group executive of Planning and Facilities for the City of Detroit.

Henderson told the crowd made up of students, neighborhood residents and Habitat officials, that GM made multimillion-dollar pledges to renovate recreation centers in the city.

“They’re not just making homes, but they’re building community,” said Celeste Jackson, a MorningSide resident who has lived in her Habitat home since 2009.

According to Habitat for Humanity Detroit, the group’s goal in the campaign is to impact the lives of at least 500 families by 2014, through construction, home repairs and weatherization projects.

Contact Cecil Angel: 313-223-4531 or cangel@freepress.com

More Details: How to help

To participate or donate to Leaders to ReBuild Detroit, go to www.habitatdetroit.org or call 313-521-6691.

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120223/NEWS01/202230524/Habitat-for-Humanity-launches-36-25M-drive-to-rebuild-neighborhood-on-Detroit-s-east-side

Bertuzzi has made himself at home in the metro area since re-joining the Wings in the summer of 2009, and he will continue to do so for another two years. As the Free Press was the first to report Wednesday, Bertuzzi and the Wings have agreed to a two-year extension worth around $2.25 million a season.

“It was easy to do,” Bertuzzi said. “I love being here, I love being part of the Wings. I’m really excited about our team this year. I feel we’re very focused, especially on playing defense. We lacked that last year, and in training camp, everybody pretty much decided to up the ante.”

Bertuzzi, 37, has 12 goals and 29 points in 54 games. He helped turn around the underperforming first line when he was put with Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen in mid-November. But Bertuzzi always has had offensive skills, never more so on display than when he starred for the Canucks a decade ago. What’s remarkable now is how he’s developed his defensive game since joining the Wings.

“You know it’s funny, but back then, I was in a totally different role,” Bertuzzi said. “And to tell you the truth, I really enjoy playing this way. You try to prove yourself each and every time so they trust you when it matters.”

The deal made sense to the Wings because they got a big man — 6-feet-3, 200-plus pounds — with great hands at a reasonable price. General manager Ken Holland is a big believer in the importance of veterans, often pointing out that when things get tough, “they get it done on will.”

Bertuzzi has become so popular in Detroit that the first 7,500 fans through the doors of Joe Louis Arena tonight will get a Bertuzzi bobblehead, as he was one of three Wings picked by fans last summer to be portrayed in polyresin. His flesh-and-blood miniatures — son, Tag, 11, and daughter, Jaden, 12 — are enrolled in local hockey programs, contributing to Bertuzzi’s comfort in closing out his career in Detroit.

“They love it here, love playing here, just like me,” Bertuzzi said. “All I really want to do is win a Cup and have something that a lot of the other guys in the room already have.”

Contact Helene St. James: 313-222-2295 or hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @freepwings.

Join Free Press sports writer Anthony Fenech for a live blog of the Red Wings vs. Canucks game Thursday night at freep.com/sports.

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120223/SPORTS05/202230518/Todd-Bertuzzi-on-agreeing-to-extension-with-Red-Wings-It-was-easy-to-do-

It will be an enormous challenge. Deep cuts have strained the Detroit Department of Transportation and left riders waiting for late or no-show buses.

CEO Ronald Freeland will get some assistance in the form of 46 new coaches being rolled out through the spring that will help shore up the city’s aging fleet of about 450 buses — some of which should have been retired long ago.

“We want to increase the reliability of the buses so we can make sure our customers are getting to their destination points on time,” Freeland said at a news conference Wednesday at DDOT’s Shoemaker Terminal on the city’s east side, where he and Mayor Dave Bing unveiled the new buses.

Freeland was brought in as part of a management shake-up of the city’s transportation department as the Bing administration battles a budget crisis that could lead to a state financial takeover. The city subsidizes DDOT to the tune of $53 million a year, an amount Bing said is unsustainable.

The new CEO and buses come as another round of cuts looms at DDOT. The city plans public hearings Friday on proposals to end bus service from 1-4 a.m. citywide as of March 3, pare some routes and increase waits between buses on dozens of city bus lines. The city has pledged “truth in scheduling” so buses arrive at scheduled times.

Freeland will work for Envisurage, a consulting firm founded by Mark Aesch, the former CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority. Aesch is credited with turning that upstate New York transit provider around but wrangling at times with unions.

Bing’s office recently hired Parsons Brinkerhoff, an international consulting firm with offices at the Guardian Building in Detroit. Envisurage is a subcontractor.

Additional details of the management contract will be presented Monday to the City Council, Bing spokeswoman Naomi Patton said.

Underscoring the fluidity of the situation at DDOT, the city rescinded the layoffs of 74 drivers late Wednesday who would have been let go Friday as part of Bing’s proposed downsizing of the department.

Henry Gaffney, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26, which represents DDOT drivers, confirmed the decision, along with two officials familiar with the matter who didn’t want to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak on it.

The two officials said it wasn’t clear how long the layoffs would be postponed but that they were delayed to give the new management team at DDOT more time to prepare to operate with a reduced work force.

Also, Bing hinted that talks are under way to ultimately fold DDOT service into a regional transportation system, but it’s far from clear that will happen anytime soon, if ever.

Gov. Rick Snyder and other regional leaders are backing a regional transportation authority to build a new bus rapid transit network — speedy, modern buses running in their own lanes on major routes such as Woodward, Gratiot, Michigan Avenue and M-59 — that would operate independent of DDOT and the suburban SMART bus system.

Key suburban leaders have agreed to help set up a bus rapid transit system with its own dedicated funding — likely through a regional property tax or additional vehicle registration fees that voters would have to approve. The aim is to provide better coordinated, more reliable service, stabilize transit funding and free up SMART and DDOT to improve service and cut costs.

But there has been significant resistance to combining the city and suburban bus systems. Suburban officials don’t want to take on Detroit’s pension and retiree benefit costs or subsidize a service they believe is used far more by city residents than suburbanites. Detroit leaders worry ceding control of buses would shrink service to city residents.

Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120223/NEWS01/202230426/Detroit-bus-system-s-new-CEO-aims-for-more-buses-reliability

Article source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/30518926/detail.html

GAME STATS

Greg Monroe led everybody with 30 points (17 in the fourth quarter) and 14 rebounds. Brandon Knight added 16 points, Tayshaun Prince scored 14 and Jason Maxiell 12. Rodney Stuckey, Detroit’s second-leading scorer at 14.8 a game, was held scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting in 13 minutes.

“You don’t want to skip this game and get into the break but I think we kind of did that,” said Monroe. “We have to find a way to stay focused, no matter the circumstances.”

Detroit allowed the Raptors to shoot 53% (40-for-76) from the field and was 20 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Pistons shot only 42% (35-for-84) and was just 2 of 12 (17%) from the three-point line. Both threes were made by Knight.

Toronto opened the fourth ahead, 74-60, and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the final period. The Pistons went on a 12-0 run midway through the fourth, which included Monroe making two free throws after taking a flagrant foul from Jerryd Bayless, to close to within 10. Later, Knight made a three-pointer with 4:47 to go to make it a 91-82, but the Pistons couldn’t get any closer.

Jose Calderon had only six points but had 15 assists and eight rebounds. Leandro Barbosa scored 17 points off the bench while James Johnson added 15. Aaron Gray had 12 points and 12 rebounds and former Piston Amir Johnson chipped in 11. Ed Davis scored 10.

Detroit got to within three points, 55-52, after Monroe’s three-point play in the third quarter. But from there, James Johnson drove the lane for a dunk and Calderon followed with three-pointer to make it an eight-point game. Later, back-to-back baskets by Gray and DeRozan pushed the lead to 72-58. The Raptors led by 14 going into the fourth.

The NBA All-Star festivities in Orlando begin Friday. The Pistons are off until Tuesday when they host the 76ers.

“This gives us a healthy break to reflect on which kind of team do we want to be,” Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. “Do we want to be the group that played the first 24 games or the group that was able to put together consistent basketball for a little stretch?

“We want to be that (second) group. You have to mentally and physically engaged to do it every night and that’s what we have to commit to.”

Detroit fell at Cleveland Tuesday night, 101-100. Monroe certainly felt the sting of consecutive losses to struggling opponents.

“It’s two games we definitely wanted to win,” he said. “We had some good momentum going into these two games. We’ll have to take this break, regroup and find that same energy and focus we had in those games we were winning.”

Detroit swingman Damien Wilkins played despite suffering from flu-like symptoms. Will Bynum was away from the team for personal reasons.

Free Press news services contributed.

Tweets from the game

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120222/SPORTS03/120222066/detroit-pistons-toronto-raptors?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CSports%7Cs

John Clark, 41, of Farmington Hills, is headed to prison for 5 months — not the 16 months federal prosecutors were seeking — for lying to the FBI about his role in a $1.2-billion sludge deal.

Under a judgment filed today, he will report to prison on June 18, almost exactly four years after the Free Press reported Clark resigned from his job after federal agents showed his boss a videotape of Clark accepting money from a Synagro executive.

Clark, a one-time aide to Councilman Kenneth Cockrel Jr., has long insisted he never accepted any bribes. He said his only crime was lying to federal agents about giving $3,000 back to a Synagro vice president, which he didn’t do. Cockrel wasn’t implicated in the Synagro scandal.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, who gave Clark the 5-month sentence, also ordered him to serve five months of home confinement and two years of probation.
Clark, who pleaded guilty last April to lying to the FBI, had requested a 0- to 6-month prison sentence.

Prosecutors said Clark received $3,000 from James Rosendall Jr., a vice president at Synagro Technologies, for helping secure a $1.2-billion sludge-hauling contract. To prove it, they played FBI surveillance tapes in court showing Clark accepting a wad of cash from Rosendall.

In one video clip, in which Clark is seen taking money from Rosendall during a Feb. 20, 2008, car ride, Clark is heard saying “Woo hoo! You helped me out man. … Man, this is it.”

In another video clip from March 11, 2008, Clark is seen counting a wad of bills Rosendall called “a little advance for helping us.”

The tape was made public almost three years after the Free Press revealed its existence in June 29, 2008, when the paper reported that Clark resigned as Cockrel’s chief of staff after federal agents showed Cockrel a videotape of Clark.

Clark’s lawyer Walter Pookrum was not immediately available for comment. In the past, he has argued that the surveillance video put his client in the wrong light.

“His motives and intentions have been grossly misrepresented,” Pookrum told the Free Press in June. “Mr. Clark was not on the take. He was not performing paying-for-play with Synagro Technologies.”

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120222/NEWS01/120222064/Ex-Detroit-City-Council-aide-gets-break-five-months-in-prison?odyssey=nav%7Chead