detnews.com — A 93-year-old Bay City man froze to death inside his home several days after the city limited his electricity for failing to pay his bills. When Schur's body was discovered by a neighbor Jan. 17, the temperature inside the home was less than 32 degrees.
Jan 26, 2009 View in Crawl 4
hansolowJan 28, 2009
Actually, the idea that the police in most cities are out fighting crime and have no time for proactive citizen safety is complete fantasy. This coming from a 7 year veteran of the police dept. At 93, this man could have had Alzheimer's or dementia. Had he not shown up to work for a few days or didn't return family phone calls the local law enforcement would have most certainly had the time to do a safety check on him. But in the dead of winter this man's electric was cut off. How hard would it be to force the utility companies to parse their records for all customers over the age of 60 and set a policy of not shutting off the power until a local sheriff has checked on the well being on said persons? It would probably work out to about 10-20 checks per year in a city of 200,000 people.
omgiamthemanJan 28, 2009
have some compassion for human life. this whole attitude about people saving themselves is why people die alone in the cold
boeremaJan 29, 2009
I wasn't being sarcastic. That is how I feel.
ccboyJan 29, 2009
Why do almost all of you assume that all 93 yr olds are senile and incompetent? My mom, whom we just lost in May, was 96 and sharp as a tack. My aunt, her sister-in-law, is 93 and also just fine mentally. Sure there are some who are senile but don't make a blanket assumption. This is just a sad, sad story. Utilies should not be allowed to shut off anyone in the winter. PERIOD!!
johnehubertzMay 9, 2009
Detroit is not America - they made a Katrina decision due to the massive lack of profitability from the primarily black population there - following the 1968 riots.Our country is a for profit dictatorship, essentially a feudalism of corporate and wealthy interests; and having been part of a fortune-10 global multinational for nearly a decade until my mid 30s, returning to being "just" an American was a shock. If you haven't had the experience, believe me... it is a totally different level of citizenship.