Detroit 2017? Restoring Commercial Air Service at Detroit City Airport

By Richard C. Clement

          The investment into transportation will revitalize Detroit, especially the neighborhoods and the Tri-County region of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Aviation and education go together like Sam and Dave on the stage performing a song.

Having Direct Flights to destinations like Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, Havana, etc, will be a reality when commercial air service is restored to Detroit City Airport. Currently, this airport serves as a viable entry for high profile entertainers and government officials from Michelle Obama on down the chain of command. With the present runway configuration, commercial air service at the facility could restart within 6 months of this writing. 

Billy Bishop Airport
Toronto Canada 

To make this prediction we made a comparison at a similar sized airport. We found this one Billy Bishop Airport located in Toronto Canada because it has the same size runway as Detroit City Airport.  Currently commercial air service is provided by Porter Airlines a regional airline based in the City of Toronto Canada. They fly to local and international destinations from that facility to places like New Orleans LA, Seattle, Florida. Please take the time to view their website for a complete list of destinations. They also have service in Windsor CA so that you can examine their operation. 

Website  Billy Bishop Airport Toronto CA

Website: www.flyporter.com - Commercial Air Service in Toronto CA 

Website: Detroit City Airport  (Arrivals and Departures) Flight Tracker 

Website: West Michigan Aviation Academy Grand Rapids MI w/School Runway 

New 6900ft Runway Extension in Red
Detroit City Airport, Detroit MI

By the end of 2018, we will be available to build a 7000 to 9000ft runway that will rival Chicago’s Midway Airport and provide instant access to events in the Tri-County region. We will have the Benjamin O Davis Aerospace School located on the grounds of the airport with their own hangars for their aircraft. Room for larger capacity aircraft will increase the need for housing because of the need for people to have a place to stay while they work.  Giving back to our children will sustain the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen and the job opportunities in Aerospace.

New Runway Diagram
FAA

Council President Pro-Tem Cushingberry Jr. is strongly advising interested parties to support your Federal, State, and Local elected officials who want to bring this to a reality. The Detroit City Council Airport Review Committee led by members Benson, Sheffield and Spivey would love to hear your comments and concerns at   www.detroitmi.gov

From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_Airlines

“Porter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[1] Owned by Porter Aviation Holdings, formerly known as REGCO Holdings Inc., Porter operates regularly scheduled flights between Toronto and locations in Canada and the United States using Canadian-built Bombardier Dash-8 Q 400 turboprop aircraft. “

Detroit 2017? The Best Is Yet To Come with President ProTempore George Cushingberry Jr.

By Richard C. Clement

                In 2017 Council President Pro Tempore George Cushingberry Jr. is committed to the betterment of our community, especially the neighborhoods.

Mr. Cushingberry Jr. is committed to submitting balanced budgets that will assist in removing the last remnants of State Emergency Management allowing funding to be redirected to neighborhood projects like Livernois Avenue and Johnson Recreation Center.

Additional money will be available to help develop empty parcels like the former Michigan State Fairgrounds property.  Design plans call for a new neighborhood with bus service from DDOT and SMART.   Future plans call for a brand new Amtrak station on the Fairgrounds property that will replace the station on Woodward and Milwaukee.  Amtrak users will no longer have to climb up stairs or be forced to drive to Dearborn because of the poor facilities in Detroit. We support local businessmen like Marvin Beatty who have a vision for the large parcel that was once known as the Michigan State Fair.

Tindal Recreation Center
Reopening Ceremony 

Re-opening recreation centers like Tindal Center and progress on the Johnson Center property will be people focused to serve the community. To rebuild the neighborhoods we must look at the role recreation centers play in the re-development.  When Johnson Center was closed down, the entire neighborhood around the property went down also.  When parents let their children out of the home, they usually went to the Detroit Park and Recreation Center and spent the entire day there.  Children were safe at the Rec Center because there was always something to do.   Rec Center staff-members were completely dedicated to health and welfare of the neighborhood children. Sometimes they served as secondary teachers and mentors to neighborhood youth.

ProTem Cushingberry is extremely proud of his involvement regarding bringing the Detroit Pistons back home to Detroit. We appreciate the Illich family and their contribution to the Detroit Recreation Department, especially the Jack Adams Ice Arena. 22 years before the start of the National Hockey League, African Americans invented the game of professional hockey in Northern Canada. Everything you see on the ice was invented by Africans and West Indians who made it to freedom by crossing the Detroit River.

         Website: The Colored Hockey League Of 1894

There is a massive drug problem in the neighborhoods and it is not Marijuana. Opioid addiction is an American grown 50 state epidemic. According to the New York times, over 33,000 people died of an overdose in 2015 and 2017 is on pace to be worse.  When it comes to the neighborhoods, we have a massive amount of heroin addicts frequenting the area of 7 mile and Woodward around the ongoing Perfecting Church development managed by Bishop Marvin Winans. This development has been a major highlight of neighborhood blight and this must change.  In this area we have a Palmer Park Golf Course that has been a consistent money loser and a drain on the City of Detroit's budget.   

Website: American Police Beat 2016 The Opioid Crisis

In 2016 five Medical Marijuana Compassion Centers on Woodward Avenue generated more revenue than the Palmer Park City Golf Course so much that the back nine was deactivated and is now abandoned. Unfortunately, religious interests and the definition of Drug Free Zones forced the closing of all of the Marijuana facilities.  To turn this around in 2017, people must act to modify the ordinance through petition drives and court challenges based on First Amendment grounds of freedom FROM religion and the pursuit of happiness. 

In 2017 Opioid addiction can be treated and cured with the use of Marijuana. Quoting a Time Magazine article titled "Can Marijuana Help End the Opioid Epidemic"  6/28/2017 Website (www.time.com/4419003/can-medical-marijuana-help-end-the-opioid-epidemic/ )

" The idea that marijuana may treat pain and combat addiction is not without precedent. A study published in 2014 in the journal JAMA found that states with medical marijuana laws experienced a nearly 25% drop in deaths from opioid overdoses compared to states that did not have those laws. That may be because medical marijuana, which often relies on compounds from the cannabis plant called cannabinoids, has been found in many studies to help pain management. For example, a 2015 analysis of 79 studies also published in JAMA reported a 30% or greater reduction in pain from cannabinoids compared to a placebo. Studies suggest cannabinoids interact with receptors in pain activity centers located in the brain and spinal chord. There’s also some suggestion that they have anti-inflammatory effects.  "

By expanding help programs in the City, Detroit will be known as a place that has serious compassion toward people who really need the help. Detroit Police Chief James Craig has no desire to tie up his employees chasing people with joints. Children are more in danger of a Heroin Addict vs a person using Marijuana.  An attack on food is the most damage a Marijuana user could do. Food sales at restaurants would increase because of the enhanced appetite of a Marijuana user vs the Heroin Addict. The Heroin addict may kill you as opposed to a Marijuana patient eating all of your food.

We would be better served by religious institutions practicing real help like the Dominican Sisters teaching people how to read and other denominations helping to curb the Opioid addiction craze that is sweeping our nation. The last thing we need are carnival barking Pastors  who have no academic credibility and serve  to harm our children by dumbing them down with innuendo instead of concrete facts based on research and scientific reasoning.

Therefore and as a part of balancing the budget, the trend to attack Marijuana like Harry Anslinger did in the 1930's must be forcefully re-directed to a sensible policy of help and change. In 2017 we must open up our minds and do some reading and research on alternative product manufacturing with Agriculture such as concrete and drywall made from the Hemp Plant.  Using products grown in Michigan, State and local economies will experience growth through spending money within our own community.

Mr. Cushingberry will continue to support common sense practices that will benefit all the people in the City.  Because we are working hard for you, to improve the quality of life for the residents living in District 2