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Detroit:
No water
shutoffs
for next
15 days
By ED
WHITE
Associated
Press
DETROIT
(AP) --
Detroit
suspended
its
aggressive
policy
of
cutting
off
water to
customers
with
unpaid
bills on
Monday,
the
latest
response
to a
controversy
that has
prompted
large
protests
and
caught
the
attention
of the
judge
overseeing
the
city's
bankruptcy.
The city
said
there
will be
no
shutoffs
for the
next 15
days.
The
disclosure
was made
in
bankruptcy
court
where
Judge
Steven
Rhodes
is
overseeing
the
nation's
largest
ever
municipal
bankruptcy.
He has
been
encouraging
Detroit
to come
up with
alternatives
to
shutting
off
water
for
thousands
of homes
and
businesses.
The
issue
gained
national
attention
last
month
after
activists
appealed
to the
United
Nations
for
assistance.
About
2,000
people
protested
in
Detroit
last
week
during a
national
convention
of
liberal
Democrats.
The
water
department
stopped
service
to about
7,200
homes
and
businesses
in June,
compared
to 1,570
in the
same
month
last
year.
Water
was
restored
to 43
percent
after
customers
paid or
worked
out
payment
plans,
though
thousands
more
have
been
affected
since
last
fall.
Water
department
Deputy
Director
Darryl
Latimer
said the
15 days
will be
used to
educate
customers
on how
to cure
their
overdue
bills
and
avoid
shutoffs.
The city
"does
not want
to put
its
customers
out of
service,"
Latimer
said.
Rhodes
is
overseeing
Detroit's
bankruptcy
but
hasn't
ordered
any
direct
action
on the
shutoffs.
He has
required
officials
to give
him
updates
in
court,
which
has put
a
spotlight
on the
issue.
Meanwhile,
a
lawsuit
to stop
the
shutoffs
was
filed
Monday,
but
Rhodes
said,
"There's
nothing
for me
to do
about
that
today."
"With
the
creativity
of
everyone
involved,
it can
be
solved.
We've
got
people
without
water,
and they
need
their
water,"
he said.
People
lose
water if
they're
more
than 60
days
behind
or owe
$150.
The
average
overdue
bill is
$540.
The
reprieve
for
delinquent
water
customers
was
announced
on the
same day
that the
city is
expected
to say
whether
workers
and
retirees
approved
pension
cuts
that
would
trigger
an $816
million
bailout
from the
state of
Michigan,
foundations
and the
Detroit
Institute
of Arts.
The
money is
crucial
to
preventing
the sale
of
city-owned
art and
avoiding
deeper
pension
cuts in
the
bankruptcy
case.
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