The Associated Press reports federal officials are evaluating a prison in rural Standish, Michigan, as a possible site to hold Gitmo prisoners.
It’s not surprising to me that officials would head to an economically depressed state to try to do this.
Youngstown famously became associated with prisons, some of which were privately run, moving into town in the wake of the loss of steel jobs.
Opinion amongst locals on the prison is mixed, the AP reports.
Some think it would make the area a terrorist target. And surprisingly, union workers at the prison don’t …

Block Watch organizations across the county are latching on to a new powerful tool: social media.

The Associated Press reports block watch organizations are increasing utilizing tools like Twitter and blogs.

The article follows a Columbus lawyer who tweets about suspicious vehicles and break-ins to protect his crime-ridden Old Oaks neighborhood.

The strategy has payed off for Mr. Vickers. Neighbors report criminal activity has dwindled and the streets are safer.

I hesitate to even post this story, it is so violent, depressing, and hopeless.
At a recent cookout in East Baltimore, a dozen people were shot – which in itself is bad enough – but is part of a larger wave of violence that swept the city recently.
“The shootings on Conkling were not related to the shooting on Ashland, which might have sparked the shootings at Baltimore and Bond, which might have led to the shootings on Comet, which might have been retaliation for a shooting six months ago which was …

Last month, 66-year-old Robert Brundage was riding his bicycle home from a Jobs with Justice meeting at the library in Toledo’s Old West End neighborhood.
Around 6:30 p.m., he was knocked off his bike by a 15-year-old who lives nearby; the teen stole Brundage’s bicycle. Brundage died.
Brundage was well-known to many in the city – he was often seen riding his bike, or attending board or other meetings for the Collingwood Arts Center, the Toledo Poetry Foundation, the Urban Coalition, the MultiFaith Council of Northwest Ohio, Toledo Area Jobs With Justice …

This Associated Press story highlights the problem of fire – by arson or by accident – in vacant homes, increasing as does the foreclosure crisis.
It focuses on the sad story of one homeless man squatting in one vacant home in Flint.
-KG
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  Gawker.com has a good roundup of a wave of violence that swept Chicago last night, claiming seven lives.
  Police are investigating a possible connection, but it’s just as likely random. 

  The deaths were the result of six incidents which took place at different sites throughout the city. Many are considered to be gang-related.
  On Thursday night, five were shot in a drive-by shooting.
  The bloodshed got little mention in the mainstream media, Gawker reports. Could it be being downplayed so as not to cramp Chicago’s Olympic hopes?
  Also last week, Chicago’s Alderman in charge of …