Peters donates federal shutdown money to local nonprofits

  Two charities are the beneficiaries of the two-week partial federal government shutdown that ended Oct. 17.

  U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Township Democrat, is donating his $5,000 take-home pay during the two weeks to charities in Detroit and Pontiac.

  The beneficiaries are Care House in Pontiac and Piquette Square for Veterans by Southwest Solutions in Detroit.
   Care House helps children suffering from abuse or neglect, and Piquette Square for Veterans by Southwest Solutions offers affordable housing to southeast Michigan veterans.

  Both are within the S-shaped 14th Congressional District that Peters currently represents and which begins in Pontiac and ends in Detroit.

  Peters was among the five Michigan Democrats and four Republicans who voted to end the partial government shutdown last week.

  The other Democrats were John Conyers from Detroit, Sander Levin from Royal Oak, John Dingell from Dearborn, and Dan Kildee from Flint. Republicans voting to end the shutdown were  Dan Benishek from Iron County in the Upper Peninsula, Dave Camp from Midland, Mike Rogers from Howell, and Fred Upton from St. Joseph.

  Republicans opposing an end to the shutdown were Justin Amash from Cascade Township, Bill Huizinga from Zeeland, Candice Miller from Harrison Township, Tim Walberg from Tipton, and Kerry Bentivolio from Milford.

  Peters, in his third two-year term in the U.S. House, is running for U.S. Senate next year against Republican Terri Lynn Land.

  Land was scheduled to be in Oakland County, Mich., at an event in Birmingham Monday night but canceled her appearance. Land spokesman Matt Golden said there was a scheduling conflict.

  Dennis Marburger, from the Birmingham/Bloomfield Republicans, said all Republican candidates are welcome at their meetings.

  "We have an open invitation to her," he said. "We have an open forum for all Republican candidates. They were looking forward to seeing her but the vast majority who came enjoyed the program we had."