Detroit
Emergency manager solicits parking bids
DETROIT (AP) - Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr is moving ahead with a plan to privatize the city's parking department despite the City Council's rejection of the proposal.
Orr's spokesman confirmed Tuesday that Orr will solicit bids from companies to run or buy the department. Orr sent a letter about the plan Monday to unions whose members work in the department.
The City Council last week voted to deny the proposal, 6-2. A local union president appeared before the council to argue against the plan.
Orr's letter acknowledges the vote but says bids will be accepted anyway under the state's emergency manger law. He isn't required to seek the council's approval to request the bids.
Orr's spokesman says the council will get to vote on any contract to outsource department functions.
Albion
Briefs Headline:
ALBION, Mich. (AP) - Witnesses have begun testifying in the trial of a Michigan man charged with killing a woman who went missing and whose body was found at a tree farm in southern Michigan.
The Battle Creek Enquirer reports the trial of 48-year-old Jackie McConnell got underway Tuesday in Calhoun County. He's charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 42-year-old girlfriend Donna Frost in January.
McConnell confessed to the murder and told police where to find Frost's body 12 days after police say he killed her and left her in a ditch. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Published: Thu, Aug 07, 2014
