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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Detroit's mayoral candidates gather in heated forum ahead of election
The Brief The Detroit mayoral election is heating up as two panels of candidates face off in a forum. The election is Nov 4, 2025. DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Detroit mayoral election is heating up as two panels of candidates faced off in a forum at Wayne County Community College District's Northwest Campus on Thursday night. Local perspective FOX 2 was there during the event, when Moderator Charlie Leduff went into the crowd to calm things down in an evening that saw former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, businessman John Barlow, city councilmember Fred Durhal and business owner Joel Haashiim tearing it up over education and whose children go to private versus public schools. And that was only the first panel. The second panel had Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, Attorney Todd Perkins, THAW CEO Saunteel Jenkins, and previous candidate DaNetta Simpson battling over the Detroit Land Bank. The forum was hosted by 'No BS Newshour with Charlie Leduff' and the 'Michigan Enjoyer.' What they're saying Discussion moderators pointed out Kinloch owning a large home in Oakland Township and FOX 2's research of public records shows that a large $1.5 million property was in that same community. FOX 2's Dave Kinchen asked some of the candidates about this find. Kinchen: "What do you say about Rev Kinloch not being here?" Sheffield: "You have to ask him." Kinchen: "Are you concerned that he has a residence in Oakland Township?" Sheffield: "I think Detroiters will have to make that decision." Kinchen: "What are your thoughts on this? Jenkins: "I think Detroiters deserve to have a mayor who has been here with us the whole time." Perkins: "He's not participating in a process in which voters want to hear his message. That's his choice." Durhal: "A lot of the other forums we haven't seen him yet. What I would say is I don't know why. You'd have to ask him that. " What's next The election is Nov 4, 2025. One candidate will replace Mayor Mike Duggan, as he runs for Michigan Governor.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Amid immigration concerns, 25 Michiganders become US citizens in Detroit ceremony
A group of immigrants from around the world became U.S. citizens April 16 during what organizers called a 'profoundly moving and historic' naturalization ceremony held in Detroit. The 25 new Americans hailed from 12 countries — Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Gambia, Jordan, South Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Uganda and Yemen. They took the Oath of Allegiance at Wayne County Community College District, pledging their loyalty to a nation they worked so hard to join. 'I feel excited to be part of the political process. I can't wait to vote. I can't wait for my voice to be heard,' said Jainaba Faal, 42, who came to the U.S. from Gambia to join her husband. 'It's now time for me to give back to the United States.' Faal, who lives in Dearborn Heights and works as a procurement expert at Michigan State University, spent three years working toward her citizenship. Before immigrating, she served in her home country's government, and now dreams of one day working for the federal government in the U.S., she told the Free Press. "It's now time for me to give back to the United States," Faal said. The ceremony was organized by the American Human Rights Council, in partnership with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, amid President Donald Trump's push for a stricter immigration agenda and expanded deportation efforts. Imad Hamad, executive director of AHRC, said the timing of the ceremony sends a strong message of unity and beauty in diversity, as the political climate is currently filled with 'anxiety,' 'fear,' and 'speculation.' "To hold such a precious ceremony amid all of that, it's a statement by itself," Hamad added. "This is a day of pride." 'Immigrants make America great': Rally in southwest Detroit seeks end to deportations More: Kilmar Abrego Garcia deportation to El Salvador could happen to any of us | Opinion That sense of pride — and relief — was echoed by Alia Khalil, 42, a mother of two from Lebanon who now lives in Canton. She was joined by her husband as she took the oath. "My kids are American, and I came to this country seven years ago. It has been a long journey, so I feel great today," Khalil said. "After everything we're hearing about people being detained and even deported, I feel better now with my citizenship. I'm more secure; I'm safer." In a statement, AHRC described the event as 'a symbolic passage into a life filled with opportunity and the limitless promise that defines America.' U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals administered the oath. In her address, she emphasized that becoming an American doesn't mean leaving one's culture behind. 'The freedom that's guaranteed by our Constitution means that you're not required to leave at the door, or to leave at the border's edge, the culture that you grew up with, the foods that you love, your values, your customs,' Davis said. 'You can still retain those and ... merge into what we know is the United States of America. The tapestry that is America is broad and colorful, and it's multilayered.' Nour Rahal is a trending and breaking news reporter. Email her: nrahal@ Follow her on Twitter @nrahal1. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'I can't wait to vote': 25 immigrants sworn in as citizens in Detroit
Los Angeles Times
22-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Rancho Santiago stakeholders take forensic audit findings to O.C., L.A. investigators
As Rancho Santiago Community College District officials determine their response to a forensic audit showing conflicts and state education code violations regarding the maintenance of an off-books insurance rebate fund, some are seeking the involvement of a higher authority. Two individuals with ties to the district, one of them a member of its board of trustees, have reached out to district attorney's offices in Orange and Los Angeles counties with the audit's findings and complaints about the Cerritos-based risk pool operator that held the funds, Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs (ASCIP). Findings from the audit were delivered during a March 10 regular board meeting by Travis Casner, a certified fraud examiner with Houston-based firm Weaver. Casner found current and former Rancho Santiago administrators violated sections of California education code and state budget accounting guidelines when they withheld the risk management fund balances and statements from elected officials as well as their own external auditors. The report also described conflicts of interest surrounding two now-retired vice chancellors, John Didion and Peter Hardash, who did not fully disclose they served on the board for ASCIP, a joint powers authority, and a subsidiary created by the agency to handle bond construction insurance, even as they recommended policies to the district through the two entities. ASCIP's practices were also examined by auditors and called into question during Casner's presentation. He showed what appeared to be a practice of intentionally obscuring the amount of excess premiums, or rebates, returned to individual member school districts as officials with the agency reported only one grand total on annual audits. RSCCD Board President Daisy Tong assured constituents at the meeting the board would discuss the ramifications of the audit. But her one of her board colleagues, Phil Yarbrough, is taking things one step further. The trustee Tuesday forwarded the report to the Orange County district attorney's major fraud unit, in hopes investigators might follow up on possible violations of law identified in the forensic audit. 'It's not handled by us. We don't call the Santa Ana Police Department,' Yarbrough said in an interview Thursday. '[But] I have a responsibility as an elected official to make sure this is being looked at seriously.' Yarbrough said there are two avenues for prosecutors at multiple levels to explore — violations at the district level and the wider implications of ASCIP's practices involving the 140 public school district members it serves, from San Francisco to San Diego counties. While he and fellow board members were primarily focused on the former, investigators may want to look into the joint powers authority that provided a context for RSCCD administrators' actions, Yarbrough said. 'All of this is pointing to financial fraud, and that's at the state level. There needs to be an investigation for there to be complete transparency and accountability,' he added. A similar complaint has been brought to the attention of prosecutors in Los Angeles County, where ASCIP is headquartered, by Barry Resnick, a retired RSCCD professor and former faculty union president from 2012 to 2016. Resnick on Tuesday forwarded the recent audit report to the L.A. County district attorney's public integrity division, which reviews complaints alleging criminal misconduct, prosecutes crimes committed by public officials in the course of their official duties, according to its website. In January 2023, the retiree reached out to the Daily Pilot with concerns about Didion and Hardash's ties to ASCIP and a Hawaii-based subsidiary it created in 2005 to handle bond-construction related insurance—Captive Insurance for Public Agencies, Ltd. (CIPA). When he discovered last year ASCIP was holding tens of millions of dollars in public school funds, Resnick worked with others to uncover the $8.1 million being held on behalf of Rancho Santiago. Using records obtained from the organization that were also reviewed by the Pilot, he learned other public school and community college districts reportedly had insurance rebates banked by the agency and contacted them to see what their administrators knew. 'I wanted to know, is what occurred within the Rancho Santiago District an anomaly, or is this a pattern involving other districts?' Resnick said Friday. 'And I found out there are other districts that are unaware they have funds being held by ASCIP.' Resnick is hopeful that, armed with the Rancho Santiago audit and his own findings, prosecutors might take up the case. 'This is not the way taxpayer funds should be handled,' he said.
