Detroit Makes Progress—Finally

DETROIT —With the support of the mayor’s office, the Detroit Arts Commission on October 31 approved an operating agreement for a private, nonprofit organization to assume day-to-day management of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Management will rest with the "Founders Society," a nonprofit organization, beginning in the middle of 1998.

In an effort to make the city’s street lighting cheaper and more reliable, city officials—at Mayor Archer’s direction—are proposing to contract with Detroit Edison to provide power to about 60,000 of Detroit’s 87,000 often-broken streetlights. Even though under the plan no city workers would lose their jobs, the arrangement would save Detroit about $10 million a year.