Call it the year of the buyout. More than 38,000 workers at the Ford Motor Co., roughly 35,000 at General Motors Corp.
and another 6,000 from Delphi Corp. agreed to accept buyouts as the companies restructured and downsized. GM announced buyouts in March, parts supplier Delphi in June and Ford in October in response to the continuing losses that had taken a heavy toll on other companies throughout the region.
At Ford, the announcement also included the permanent shutdown of the company's assembly plant in Wixom, idling 1,500 this year. The plant is likely to be turned over for redevelopment next summer. Several other companies also announced plans for downsizing as the auto industry in Michigan continued to lose jobs.
The market share of the domestic companies dropped below 50 percent this past summer, and Toyota is now the second-largest seller of new vehicles in the United States, moving ahead of both Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG, which had held the second and third spots respectively up until the start of 2006. Toyota is projected to top GM in sales in 2007 by industry analysts. Ford's red ink for 2006 is expected to exceed $10 billion, while the Chrysler Group's losses could exceed $2 billion in the face of slowing sales.
In November, Pontiac city officials learned the disheartening news that GM would be shifting 3,600 mostly engineering jobs from Pontiac's Centerpoint office park to its Warren Tech center and to GM's Detroit headquarters in the Ren Cen. Already struggling with a deficit of $6 million to $9 million, Pontiac will now lose from $1 million to $1.5 million in income tax revenue and possibly more with the loss of jobs.
Record numbers of voters turned out Nov. 7 to choose a governor and decide the fate of five statewide ballot proposals. The Michigan Secretary of State's office reported voter turnout increased by more than 600,000 from the last midterm election in 2002 to 3.
8 million voters this year. Republican Dick DeVos - wealthy son of billionaire Richard DeVos, the owner of Alticor Inc., formerly Amway Corp.
- took on incumbent Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, in the race for governor. After three televised debates and an endless barrage of commercials, Gran holm defeated DeVos, who spent $35 million of his own money.
Five statewide ballot proposals were credited with boosting turnout, especially Proposal 2, the ballot issue calling for an end to affi rmative action programs. It passed, but several groups, including the ACLU, are working to change the measure. Proposal 3, which would have allowed hunting mourning doves, generated concerns among animal lovers and was defeated.
Proposal 5, which would have mandated state funding for schools, did not pass. But Proposal 4, amending the state Constitution to prohibit government from taking private property for economic development, and Proposal 1 - which created a conservation fund - did pass. Three years ago, the hapless Detroit Tigers ranked as the worst team in Major League Baseball.
But something happened this season - they began winning games. By October, they found themselves in the American League Division Championship with the heavily favored New York Yankees. The Tigers beat them, three games to one, and fans went wild.
During the next round, the American League Championship Series, the Tigers beat the A's in a fourgame sweep, and Detroit found itself in its first World Series since 1984. Coming back to the ballpark after nearly a week off, the Tigers took on the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals in the Series, and were defeated, four games to one.
But after a month that included spectacular highs - a jubilant Kenny Rogers spraying champagne on fans at Comerica Park and Magglio Ordonez hitting a three-run homer in the ninth inning to win the deciding ALCS game - most fans can't wait for Opening Day 2007. Detroit and dozens of suburbs pulled out all the stops for the thousands of visitors who came to take part in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field on Feb. 5 when the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Seattle Seahawks.
Hordes of fans from Pittsburgh and Seattle came to the region, fi lling area hotels and bars. The Steelers won the game 21-10 over Seattle. Locals took part in dozens of sanctioned events, including the Motown Winter Blast in Detroit, a gigantic festival - overseen by Jonathan Witz of Pontiac - that featured live music, food, exhibits, ice-skating and sledding.
After deciding Michigan's Single Business Tax stymied business in the state, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson rallied the Legislature to his side and the tax, around since 1975, was repealed this fall. Lawmakers have vowed to address the issue as soon as they return to session in January.
They are promising a quick resolution to replace the $1.9 billion the tax brings the state. Gov.
Jennifer Granholm and Democrats have proposed an alternative that spreads the tax more evenly and replaces the revenue while Republicans have said they want to cut as much as $500 million with any new business tax replacement plan. When the Detroit City Council rejected an agreement Feb. 18 that would have turned management of the zoo in Royal Oak over to the private Detroit Zoological Society, the move set off a battle that made fight scenes from old dinosaur movies look tame.
Without an agreement, the zoo, officials said, could have closed May 1. Asked for his reaction, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson told the media that the council belongs in the zoo.
The possibility of the zoo closing made nightly newscasts, and an alarm went off around the region. Funds were collected to keep the institution open. Petitions were circulated.
After hours of debate, the Detroit City Council voted 6-3 on March 1 to transfer control to the Detroit Zoological Society. Newly elected Mayor Clarence Phillips took offi ce in January with a budget deficit between $50 million and $60 million. The police department had already been reduced by 40, including 27 officers, last year.
Phillips then ordered another 15 police officers cut, but the 28 fire department employees he wanted laid off were protected by a minimum staffing clause in their contract and the city charter. Residents have complained most about the lack of police and slow response time. The city borrowed $42 million to reduce the defi cit.
Community centers were closed, recreation programs were eliminated and the library was set to close until residents approved 3 mills in November to operate recreation and city centers, bring back 12-14 police offi cers and operate the library. The deficit continues to be a problem, and more cuts are anticipated in 2007. It was a long wait, but in August, Juwan Deering of Pontiac was sentenced for killing five children in an April 6, 2000, fire.
Deering, 35, had been the chief suspect for years in the arson fire, but abundant evidence was lacking. Deering was convicted of five counts of felony murder in August, leading to a mandatory life sentence without chance for parole from Chief Circuit Judge Wendy Potts. The trial was featured on Court TV and included evidence from several men who shared jail cells with Deering.
The former crack cocaine dealer started the fire as a way to motivate the children's father to pay up on a drug debt. Killed were Michelle Frame, 11; TaLeigha Dean, 10; Craig Dean, 8; Aaron Dean, 7; and Eugene Dean, 6. After a wait of more than 10 years, veteran rocker and 2004 Rock Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bob Seger returned to the stage, performing four sold-out shows at The Palace with his Silver Bullet Band.
The 61-year-old was touring in promotion of his fi rst new studio album in 11 years, "Face the Promise," which has sold more than 500,000 copies so far. But a late-fall tour, which also hit Grand Rapids and Saginaw, wasn't the only place Seger was found in 2006. At fellow Oakland County resident Kid Rock's sold-out Joe Louis Arena concerts during Super Bowl XL weekend, Seger took the stage to sing "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" with Rock.
And at Game One of the Detroit Tigers' World Series contest against the St. Louis Cardinals, Seger sang "America the Beautiful." For more on Seger, visit The Seger Center by clicking on the link at www.
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