Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette issued a preliminary order barring the review team from meeting unless it complies with the state’s Open Meetings Act. Collette said that in his opinion the review team has more authority and scope than an advisory committee, making it subject to the state’s open meetings law.

The fire broke out just after 2 .m. at the complex on Lappin, near Gruebner. It was brought under control, but fire officials said crews will be on the scene for the rest of the day putting out hot spots. No injuries were reported.

Bing, in a statement issued on Thursday, hailed the tentative agreement forged Wednesday night with AFSCME, the public-sector union, as “the first meaningful step in achieving the necessary concessions and structural changes to resolve the city’s financial crisis.” The deal would impact about 3,200 workers, or a third of the city’s headcount.

Labor leaders said Tuesday that 25, slightly more half of the city’s bargaining units, have reached tentative agreements. However, administration officials would not confirm that number.

The city has been unable to negotiate as much savings as Bing had hoped, but the concessions on health care and prescription drugs are substantial, according to people close to the negotiations. Bing is seeking to cut $102 million from this fiscal year’s budget to help avoid the state taking control of the city.

Union leaders said they agreed to a savings of $20 million a year alone on prescription drugs by finding a new provider.

The biggest long-term savings targets the ballooning pension costs. Under the tentative agreements, new employees would be largely responsible for paying into defined-contribution plans, much like a 401(k). Currently union members have defined-benefit plans, financed largely by taxpayers. Still, the pacts are anything but certain.

Labor leaders said they won’t seek ratification by their members unless defiant police and fire unions also approve concessions. And rank-and-file members, most of whom accepted 10% wage cuts nearly three years ago, would still have to approve the deal.

Late Tuesday, the administration released a statement offering few details about the ongoing talks. Negotiations were expected to last into the night.

“Mayor Bing has met with key members of the major unions, both uniform and nonuniform, today,” the statement said. “Negotiations are ongoing.”

Although tentative agreements could be a victory for Bing, they may not contain the cost savings needed to solve the budget crunch alone. Some council members say the union concessions are not enough, and are proposing deeper cuts, including closing all of the city’s recreation centers, privatizing ambulance services, increasing bus and garbage fees and reducing the salaries of employees making more than $100,000 by 15%.

The council has suggested cuts that members hope Bing will include in his final financial restructuring plan that will be presented to Gov. Rick Snyder.

City officials don’t want to present two plans to Snyder — a Bing plan and a council plan — because such a move would give the state the impression of divisiveness and leadership deficiencies.

The Michigan Treasury gave city leaders until early February to reach concessions.

Snyder appointed a 10-member financial review team that has been examining the city’s finances. Under a law backed and signed by Snyder in March, the review is another step in a process that could lead to the appointment of an emergency manager. Alternatively, it could lead to a consent agreement under which local officials receive increased powers and agree to take certain steps to right the city’s finances.

A meeting to discuss proposed council reductions Tuesday ended because not enough council members were present. Five of the nine council members are required in attendance to hold a public meeting of the full board. But three council members had scheduled meetings with the financial review team.

Without full union concessions, the state is expected to appoint an emergency manager or urge the council and mayor to use a consent agreement to privatize services, restructure government and impose a contract on employees when most of the union contracts expire June 30.

After learning that some of the city’s 48 unions appear likely to tentatively approve landmark concessions, council members expressed cautious optimism that some services could be saved.

“The more concessions we get, the more we can scale back some of the recommendations” for cuts, City Council President Charles Pugh’s spokeswoman Kirsten Ussery said. “Concessions will help with the immediate cash crisis, but there is no way to avoid some of these tough decisions that council will have to make.”

Ratified union contracts could limit the divisions among council members who can’t agree on the severity of cuts needed to ward off an emergency manager.

Council members Kwame Kenyatta and JoAnn Watson said Tuesday they were uncomfortable with some of their colleagues’ recommendations for more than $100 million in cuts.

“At this point, I’m not voting for this,” Kenyatta said, without offering alternatives. “Until we have a vote, we don’t have a plan. I don’t think even the majority at the table would support this.”

Councilman James Tate said he was encouraged by word of the tentative agreements, and called the negotiations unprecedented, particularly in such a short period. The administration has been in talks with the unions since November.

“I am aware that the clock is ticking and action has to be taken quickly,” Tate said.

Tate said the council is aware that cuts will have to be made if union concessions aren’t enough, but there is a limit to slashing services without viable options. Take recreation, for example.

“I don’t have a problem with us getting out of the recreation business, but we have to provide an alternative for the community or at least foster relationships with others who can fill in the gaps if we can’t provide that service,” he said.

Prices dropped from October in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. The biggest declines were in Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. Phoenix was the only city to show an increase.

Council members earlier this month said the mayor’s plan — which cuts $102 million by June 30 and calls for 1,000 layoffs — doesn’t go far enough. They are considering more cuts, including an additional 1,300 layoffs, to save cash. The council’s fiscal analyst says the current plan will net only about $44 million in savings.

People in about 40 countries are expected to view Saturday’s high-definition “Live from Orchestra Hall” webcast, and the orchestra expects its webcast series to surpass 30,000 views with this weekend’s episode.

The orchestra said the webcast player will make online viewers feel as if they are sitting in Detroit’s Orchestra Hall.

The Symphony said it is the only U.S. orchestra to offer a free series of webcasts, which are made possible through contributions from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Motor Co. Fund.

The new viewing environment mimics the interior of Orchestra Hall, giving audiences across the world the same view as local music lovers.

The webcast player also features dimming controls so that viewers at home can control their own version of the house lights.

Audience members now will be able to view a full schedule of upcoming webcasts and add them their online calendars. Viewers also can tweet directly from the webcast player page and follow the feed in the same browser window, allowing audience members to interact with fellow concertgoers while watching the concert at the same time.

The piece being played at any moment will be highlighted on a live repertoire tracker, and live program notes will post below the viewing window with trivia about the piece and the artists.

The “Live From Orchestra Hall” series is one of three new digital initiatives the DSO is introducing this season. Also new to the orchestra’s digital repertoire are DSO To Go, a free mobile app, and the Symphony’s first downloadable, digital album produced in-house.

Field trips to Cranbrook and family outreach programs at several Detroit schools are part of the partnership. Institute memberships for Detroit families and professional development in science for Detroit teachers also will be available.

Yesterdays breaking news that former Milwaukee slugger Prince Fielder had signed a 9 year, $214 million dollar contract with the Detroit Tigers was one of those moments.

“This has been the first time in about six decades that the city has been broken down into districts like this so it’s a new undertaking for everybody in city government,” says council member Saunteel Jenkins.

Jenkins is one of nine council members tasked with seeing the city through this process. Under the directive of the elections commission, the city will be divided into seven council districts. The planning commission, with the help of Data Driven Detroit has taken the city’s population into account and  created four slightly different maps – one of which will be approved by council as early as February 17th. Future city council members will represent each of those seven districts, with two council members being elected to represent the city at large.

Realizing it will be difficult if not impossible to please everyone, and lawsuits will most likely be filed, specific guidelines have been used to create the districts. Some neighborhood associations may be disrupted and ultimately spread out over multiple districts because the criteria for laying district lines are pretty cut and dry.

“I know when we go into our public hearings, people are going to speak about the importance of keeping block clubs and community groups together, but the law is very clear that in the districts the only consideration be that they be equal in size, that they be compact and contiguous,” says Jenkins.

In theory, the new districts will give the citizens of Detroit a greater voice in how the city is run and while shaking up city council in 2013. In order to run in the newly created districts… an individual will have to live in that given area as of mid-may 2012. As a result, some long-standing council members could be forced to move, otherwise find themselves on the outside looking in.

According to council member Jenkins, “Some may have to move. If there are council members who live in the same district, either they’ll have to run against each other or make a decision to move into another district.”