Metro Detroit's Most Talked About Stories Of 2012
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Are they or aren't they? When the two in question are a Detroit sports star and one of the most famous swimsuit models in the world, attention must be paid.
Here's a review of the Uplander situation and the other top talkers in metro Detroit in 2012.
Uplander
In July, we made this bold announcement: So, the rumors about the Tigers' Justin Verlander, 29, and superstar bikini model Kate Upton, 20, getting cozy in metro Detroit this weekend are true.Staffers at Coyote Joe's in Shelby Township, at 22 Mile and Ryan, confirmed the duo were very chummy Thursday night after reportedly taking in an Aerosmith concert. Upton, a Michigan native, was also spotted dancing around in a Tigers hat in Verlander's suite at Comerica Park on Friday.
Verlander reportedly has a longtime girlfriend Emily Yuen, whom he's dated since his college days; it's unknown whether they're still together. But witnesses at Coyote Joe's said Upton was "hanging all over" the ace.
During the World Series, the ace's grandfather seemed to confirm the news -- but little else is known about the pretty pair.
Google Maps Catches Teens With GunsGoogle's mapping truck caught a disturbing image at what appears to be the same home where a 1-year-old girl, Zyia Turner, was found dead inside a closet at her grandmother's house in July.
The same distinctive yellow brick house with the green porch is featured in a Google maps image of a Detroit neighborhood.
Only in the Google image, time-stamped September 2009, a group of young men stand ominously on the porch, one clutching what appears to be a shotgun. One of the men appears to point the gun at the Google truck in the final shot.
The truck was at Brinker and Robinwood in Detroit when the camera captured the young people with the weapon. The gun holder appears to follow the driver with the weapon — and points it at the truck in the final shot.
The home is identical to the place where baby Zyia Turner was discovered dead in a closet, with her cause of death undetermined. At the time, her father said his brother was watching several children Friday at the home near 7 Mile Road and Conant when she went missing. Police cadaver dogs later found her body buried under a pile of clothes in the closet.
There have been no arrests in connection with Zyia's death.
Is That Velvet?Detroit's disgraced mayor stayed in the headlines all through 2012 with his restitution payments to the city -- or lack thereof -- his book, a Texas McMansion, and a headline-making federal corruption trial that could land him behind bars for years.
But through it all, he looked good, and he never let them see him sweat. Well, except for that one time.
Kilpatrick sweated through his custom-looking suit during a particularly grueling day of testimony in his federal corruption trial in October, and still took took a moment at the end of the day for a hearty social media guffaw.
In response to someone who Tweeted a message about "old lady" Emma Bell testifying that she pulled fundraising cash from her ample bra and handed it to the former mayor, Kwame wrote this: "If this case was in another State, not paid for by taxpayers, & my life was not on the line, this ish would be laughable."
He was referencing what witnessed called a brutal day of testimony where Bell explained the $200,000 in kickbacks she said she was forced to hand over during the former mayor's reign. That's just one of the bombshells that continue to drop in the case.
Wardrobe-wise, from hats to cat eye glasses, velvet suits to all-white ensembles, Kilpatrick swaggered through the city in sartorial splendor. Will he have to trade in his pinstripes for prison stripes? Only time will tell.
Detroit May Go BrokeIn an entirely different kind of "will they or won't they," the city of Detroit's finances were an ongoing saga all year. In June, Mayor Dave Bing announced the city would go broke in four days.
Detroit survived with a pared down budget, layoffs and pay cuts. An estimate in August projected a cash deficit of $62 million for the city by June 30, 2013. But an October estimate placed the projected deficit at $84 million, while November's had it at $122 million.
So what will happen? JoAnne Watson suggested at one point Barack Obama owed the city a bailout because Detroiters had helped elect him. She didn't get far with that argument.
Governor Rick Snyder said he hasn't ruled out bankruptcy and the appointment of an emergency manager is still on the table. Snyder appointed a financial review team to examine the city of Detroit's finances December 18 following a preliminary review that concluded a "serious financial problem" currently exists in Detroit as a result of several issues.
The city now is operating under a consent agreement between Bing and the Snyder administration designed to head off the appointment of an emergency financial manager.
"My administration has worked, and will continue to work in collaboration, with Mayor Bing and city officials to ensure a revitalized and successful Detroit," the Republican governor said in a statement. "However, given the financial crisis that continues to grip the City of Detroit, we must move quickly to ensure city residents have continued access to essential services they expect and deserve."
Bing has said he will lay off 400 to 500 more city employees in the new year, roughly five percent of the workforce.
