News of the Rust Belt from around the world, brought to you weekly by the staff of Belt Magazine. We’re independently owned; become a member and support us (plus get cool stuff for free!).

No Place Like Detroit: Stories of Detroit by Detroiters [Nastasia Peteuil]
Deonte is a Detroiter. During high school he was not a book lover that much. Now, he is a well-known poet in the D. His love for the city runs in his poems. He has lived on the west side his entire life, except for a year when he experienced Midtown. He was born in Alabama, but he arrived in Detroit when he was three-months-old. ‘So that doesn’t really count,’ Deonte says with a big smile about Alabama. He grew up knowing all his neighbors, here in Detroit. His wider family, as he likes to talk about it.”

A Last Word from the Midwesterner  [Chicago Council on Global Affairs]
In Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Milwaukee, South Bend and other cities, the earlier deafness to global trends has given way to a new realism. In many of these places, once-aloof universities like Wayne State and Notre Dame have become part of the conversation. Six years ago, Detroit and Cleveland appeared terminal, doomed to be hollow backwaters. Neither has turned the corner yet. But at least they’re asking the right questions, and may yet rise to be the new Pittsburghs – smaller, less powerful, but decent places to live and work.

Future of Former Finkl Steel Site Puts Heat on New Alderman [WBEZ]
When the A. Finkl & Sons steel plant opened its new facility on the South Side in 2011, it left about 30 acres of land in its old North Side home, inspiring many neighborhood conversations about possible congestion fixes, industry, retail development or housing. But one of the biggest questions at the core of all these ideas, is whether the land the steel plant and surrounding buildings sits on should stay as a “planned manufacturing district” or PMD, which protects industry from any encroaching non-manufacturing development.

Prosecutor Receives Findings in Fatal Shooting of Tamir Rice by Cleveland Police [New York Times]
Sheriff’s investigators on Wednesday turned over their findings on the death of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer, to the county prosecutor, who is expected to review the case and present it to a grand jury.

Officer in Tamir Rice Case Was Accused of Choking and Beating a Woman [Mother Jones]
In 2012, Garmback was named in a civil rights lawsuit for allegedly using excessive force against a black woman named Tamela Eaton. Eaton, who was 39 at the time, had called Cleveland police in August 2010 to ask for help towing a car that was parked in front of her driveway. … Eaton’s lawsuit asserted that Garmback initially argued with her, then rushed toward her “and placed her in a chokehold, tackled her to the ground, twisted her wrist and began hitting her body. Officer Guerra rushed over and proceeded to punch Tamela Eaton in the face multiple times.”