Saturday, November 23, 2013

Whirlpool wants young, intelligent, problem-solver out of elected office



A recall petition has been filed against Benton Harbor Commissioner Trenton Bowen by William Spinks, a member of Mayor James Hightower's church. This recall, spearheaded by Hightower, is the doing of Whirlpool Corporation. 

Trenton Bowen, age 25, is the only commissioner in at least 25 years to present an idea which would bring revenue to the city.

Whirlpool is on a mission of gentrification: rid the city of Black residents, steal the land, build a new city for the wealthy, for golfers, for a resort.  By any means necessary.  Whirlpool uses residents who can be bought to carry out their mission.  Hightower is Whirlpool's stooge, and they want Bowen out of office.

The recall petition uses the very same wording that James Cornelius used to recall Mayor Hightower. The clarity hearing for Hightower's recall has already been held.

A clarity hearing for the Trenton Bowen recall has been scheduled for Dec. 6, 9am in the boardroom of the Berrien County Administration Center, 701 Main St., St. Joseph, Mi.  Please attend if you can.  

We continue to be extremely disappointed in Hightower's collusion with Whirlpool, and his inablity to be honest and truly moral.  Think what we could accomplish in Benton Harbor if ALL residents stood up against the oppressor.  

If a tree falls in a forest and lands on Mayor James Hightower and you cannot hear the tree or the scream, I bet you will hear the applause.  




Rev Edward Pinkney

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Should Whirlpool pay taxes? Benton Harbor must borrow 2.3 million dollars...

The question is: should Whirlpool pay taxes and water bills?  Benton Harbor residents must pay taxes and water bills.  

Whirlpool does NOT pay any taxes or water bills to Benton Harbor.

Mayor James Hightower, and City Commissioners Duane Seats and Sharon Henderson, all strong Whirlpool supporters, were the only ones at the recent commission meeting to support a 2.3 million loan the city must borrow from the
state to pay their bills.  These three did NOT support the city income tax which
would have produced 3.5 million dollars and forced the corporations to pay a
fair share.
The Benton Harbor City Commissioners voted 5-3 Monday to reject the emergency manager's deficity elimination plan which includes the 2.3 million
dollar loan from the state.  BH residents must pay this debt.
The city income tax would have eliminated the debt.  Commissioner Marcus 
Muhammad said he could not support the city taking on more debt.  "You can't cut your way out and you can't borrow your way out of debt," he said.  Those
are two basic principles of finance.
Whirlpool supporters want the city of Benton Harbor to now take out a 2.3 million dollar loan so Whirlpool will not have to pay their fair share of taxes an water bills.

Somebody needs ask Mayor Hightower how he can sleep at night when he continues to support and enable the greed of Whirlpool at the expense of
Benton Harbor.  Because of his corporate collusion, he is directly responsible for the most severe poverty in any municipality in Michigan.


Rev Edward Pinkney
blogtalkradio.com/rev-pinkney

Pinkney to Pinkney show
Every Sunday 5pm ET
Burn Baby Burn
Burn all NAACP membership cards



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Whirlpool Corp. Downgraded


Whirlpool Corp. Downgraded to Market Perform at Raymond James (WHR)

Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE:WHR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. They currently have a $150.00price target on the stock. Raymond James’ target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.36% from the company’s current price.
The analysts wrote, “Despite a generally in-line October AHAM report, we downgrade WHR from Outperform to Market Perform ahead of what we believe will be increased investor attention/concern around a more promotional Black Friday at retail. We deem the downgrade ‘tactical’ in nature, as we still see a generally favorable 2014 operating environment with flattish price/mix and positive productivity against generally benign raw material inflation. The shares have reached our price target, and are trading in line with the historical median multiple relative to the S&P. The short interest (3%) remains as low as it’s been in a decade, further limiting downside protection.”
Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE:WHR) traded up 0.57% on Tuesday, hitting $151.40. 332,641 shares of thecompany’s stock traded hands. Whirlpool Corp. has a 1-year low of $96.55 and a 1-year high of $152.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142. and its 200-day moving average is $132.5. The company has a market cap of $11.884 billion and a P/E ratio of 15.84.
Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE:WHR) last released its earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Whirlpool Corp. will post $10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th.
WHR has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Longbow Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Whirlpool Corp. in a research note to investors on Thursday, November 14th. Separately, analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Whirlpool Corp. in a research note to investors on Wednesday, October 30th. They now have a $156.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at McLean Capital Management upgraded shares of Whirlpool Corp. from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.60.
In other Whirlpool Corp. news, Insider Michael Todman sold 23,943 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.82, for a total value of $3,539,254.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
http://zolmax.com/investing/whirlpool-corp-downgraded-by-raymond-james-to-market-perform-whr/161610/

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Will Justice Be Served for 100's of Illegally Imprisoned Benton Harborites?

BH men say they want city to own up over Collins/Hall corruption case

Monday, November 11, 2013 

Trio's day in court nears

By Jim Dalgleish - Assistant Local News Editor 
BENTON HARBOR - Their day in court is near for three Benton Harbor men suing the city of Benton Harbor over allegations surrounding the drug arrest fraud scandal involving two former police officers.

Tim Mason, Quacy Roberts and Shannon McKinney and their lawyers are preparing for a Dec. 3 trial in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. They allege the city failed to curb, and even encouraged, officers Andrew Collins and Bernard Hall, who served federal prison time for planting drugs on suspects.

The trio estimates some 80 other people wrongly arrested have settled out of court. But Mason, Roberts and McKinney said the settlements allowed the city to avoid fault.

"All we are saying is you did things wrong. Just admit to it," Mason said in an interview.
The plaintiffs allege Collins and Hall, with Hall as supervisor, were not rogue cops.

They intend to show a jury that the city and then-Police Chief Al Mingo encouraged the pair through pay and recognition in order to bring up arrest numbers and increase civil forefeiture takes - the money and goods police departments can claim from drug suspects.

The city and Mingo have denied there is truth to the allegations.
The trio said the department and city ignored countless citizens complaints that Collins and Hall were breaking the rules.
Hall was sentenced in 2009 to 30 months for conspiracy to violate civil rights. Collins was sentenced that year to three years for crack cocaine possession. Both men have completed the prison sentences.

Indictments alleged the officers falsified search warrants affidavits, secured warrants without probable cause, embezzled money from the department, filed false police reports and unlawfully seized money and property for their own use.

The case broke open in 2008 when a department investigation uncovered a large stash of cocaine, heroin and marijuana in Collins' locker.

The case led the Berrien County Proscutor's Office to seek the dismissal of dozens of drug cases, some of which led to prison sentences.

Mason, 32, said Collins arrested him in 2008 for marijuana possession, but the case fell apart before it got to trial.
McKinney, 36, said Collins planted marijuana on him, leading to a 125-day jail sentence. Roberts, 37, spent a year in jail for cocaine possession.
Email: jdalgleish@TheHP.com


http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/trio-s-day-in-court-nears/article_f58c5a43-7913-582b-bede-e5038dca9440.html

More people being disappeared in Benton Harbor

Marcus Muhammad asks emergency manager about recent arrests of residents, and cops receiving gift card to stores such as Target for each arrest they make.   

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE  --

The following is a memorandum to the Emergency Manager Tony Saunders II.  

As the Chairman of the Legislative Committee I am requesting an investigation into the "arrest for gifts" campaign by the Benton Harbor Public Safety Department. 


I would like to know how much cash was distributed to police officers for arrest? How many gift cards have been distributed for arrest. What were the reason for arrest? What types of gifts or awards/incentives were promised to public safety officers to make such arrest? How many arrest have been made since this proposal or program was initiated?

Cash, gift cards, awards and trinkets for arrest is an unethical practice. The City of Benton Harbor is currently in litigation concerning unsavory and illegal arrest. This award system has proven to be against "best practices. "

I am requesting that a moratorium on the "arrest for cash, gift cards and awards campaign" be effective immediately.

I look forward to your response. Thank you for reading these words.

Respectively submitted, 
Marcus Muhammad
Commissioner at Large
City of Benton Harbor

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Whirlpool continues to push Benton Harbor into unthinkable poverty

Press Release

Contact Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001
 
 
I would like to thank the voters who came out to vote on Nov. 5, 2013 in Benton Harbor.
 
I disagreed with No voters. I believe the No voters were wrongheaded and out of touch with reality.  (This refers to voting No on the city income tax.)
 
There were a variety of issues that were simply not true, and the media refused to address them.
 
This would have been an opportunity for the city of Benton Harbor to become self-sufficient and self-governed.
 
You can drive through any block on the residential side of Main St. where people don't or won't vote, or a block where people vote but do not have political connections, or a block where people vote and Whirlpool Corp. gave lots of money to James Hightower for the No vote, and I will show you the hell and purgatory that Benton Harbor residents live in  -  and NOBODY cares.  (To be clear, Hightower used the donated Whirlpool money to convince residents to vote No on the city income tax.  Whirlpool can always count on Hightower to take money and do their bidding.)

The real winners are the residents who voted Yes and the real loser is Whirlpool Corporation: the world knows what Whirlpool really is.