Maybe thousands of Netroots activists had an effect... or maybe they just got sick of being condemned as human rights violators. Or perhaps they took a hint from the bankruptcy judge. In any case, the shutoffs have sort of, kind of, stopped for two weeks.
Detroit — The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is suspending water shut-offs for 15 days starting Monday.
The department is facing criticism worldwide for mass shutoffs that have turned off water to 15,200 customers since March, but department spokesman Bill Johnson said the move is not a concession in the high-profile political fight...
The department on Monday morning planned to inform U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes of the suspension. Last week, the judge overseeing Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy said the cutoffs give the city a bad reputation and are a distraction.
But according to Bill Johnson, they're still going after people, so it's not really clear whether this is real or just a smokescreen publicity stunt.
...half of the customers whose water was cut off never made arrangements to get it turned back on, leading officials to believe they were using the service illegally. So during the 15-day pause, the department is informing “shutoff crews to more aggressively turn off illegal use.”
In other words they announce a 15-day pause during which shutoffs are suspended, but during that time they are going to be shutting water off.
Right.
Then we have an interesting development:
and
7:56 AM PT: Other diaries got there a few seconds before this one:
Detroit Water Dept suspends water shutoffs for 15 days.
Breaking News: Water shut offs halted"
7:59 AM PT: