July 19, 2013.

Detroiters Respond to Record Bankruptcy

There was a trampling of boots and another blast on the comb as the children charged into the living room. Mrs. Parsons brought the spanner. Winston let out the water and disgustedly removed the clot of human hair that had blocked up the pipe. He cleaned his fingers as best he could in the cold water from the tap and went back into the other room.

DETROIT----Some residents and businesses responded with a dose of optimism in the wake of the city's bankruptcy filing on Thursday.

"Up with your hands!" yelled a savage voice.

Just a few steps away from the city hall room where Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr was outlining the Chapter 9 filing, Roy Ferguson, 64 years old, a pastor from a church in nearby Dearborn Heights, said he wasn't too concerned about the city going bankrupt.

A handsome, tough-looking boy of nine had popped up from behind the table and was meancing him with a toy automatic pistol, while his small sister, about two years younger, made the same gesture with a fragment of wood. Both of them were dressed in the blue shorts, gray shirts, and red neckerchiefs which were the uniform of the Spies. Winston raised his hands above his head, but with an uneasy feeling, so vicious was the boy's demeanor, that it was not altogether a game.

"This is not a good thing, but with desperate situation of Detroit, hopefully this will be a way out," he said as he worked on a stand that will offer barbecued ribs this weekend. "Hopefully, it will mean a turnaround. We need it."