JoAnn Watson Believes She's Smarter than 6th Graders

[leland_palmer]

Kids to pitch new ideas for old depot

http://freep.com/article/20090723/NE...-for-old-depot

Detroit students get earful after plea to save train depot

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...ve-train-depot

One of the slides of the kids' presentation stated that the City Council would be "wasting" $4 million to tear it down.

The usually blunt Watson didn't hold back with the kids, correcting them and their teachers several times that billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun -- not the City Council -- owned the 96-year-old structure. She told the kids they had gotten some bad information.

"The city doesn't own the train station," Watson said. "You are not listening to me. We don't own it."

The teachers told Watson the kids knew who the owner was but that they were petitioning City Council because members had voted to raze the building this spring. The Detroit City Council voted to raze the building and force Moroun to pay the $3.6 million cost. Moroun has opposed the move.