DETROIT — Sixteen years ago, Michelle Alessandri of Dearborn Heights, Mich., gathered with family and friends on Thanksgiving as they always do, outside Ford Field for a Detroit Lions tailgate.
The team was on its way to an 0-16 season, the first in NFL history at the time. High above in a nearby jail sat the city’s former mayor, convicted on two counts of obstruction of justice (he’d later serve federal time as well). A nearby casino had just filed for bankruptcy and the city government would soon follow. General Motors, headquartered down the block, recently received a $13 billion emergency loan from the government to stay afloat.