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No. 5
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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January 29 – February 4, 2015
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
Wayne voters will be
asked to approve the levy of
3 mills for five years to fund
police and fire pensions in
the city.
See page 2.
Romulus welcomed two
newRomulus police officers,
a part-time animal control
officer, and a part-time ordi-
nance officer to the Public
SafetyDepartment.
See page 3.
A highly anticipated fund-
raiser for the Salvation Army
will return next month, to
the delight of both artists and
food lovers, as the Soup
Swap returns to Plymouth
for the third year.
See page 2.
Northville Township resi-
dents will see an increase
their water costs this year as
the rates of the Detroit Water
and Sewer Department
increase.
See page 5
.
Members of the Belleville
City Council set a historic
record for themselves during
the first meeting of 2015. The
official meeting lasted only 3
minutes.
See page 3.
Vol. 130, No. 5
Vol. 68, No. 5
Vol. 68, No. 5
Vol. 15, No. 5
Vol. 130, No. 5
Vol. 68, No. 5
Vol. 68, No. 5
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Westland Mayor William
R. Wild was among 200 may-
ors from across the country
who gathered inWashington,
D.C. last week.
See page 4.
Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-
Canton, was sworn in as sen-
ator for the 7th District earli-
er this month during a cere-
mony at the state Capitol.
Colbeck also set local office
hours.
See page 5.
Vol. 15, No. 5
Free financial literacy
classes are taking place at
the Leanna Hicks Inkster
Public Library in coopera-
tion with the National
African
Business
Association.
See page 4.
New England Development
andParagonOutlet Partners, LLC
have confirmed the joint venture
to develop a new 360,000 square
foot outlet center on Interstate 94
in Romulus opposite Detroit
MetroAirport.
New England Development
and ParagonOutlet Partners have
identified Metro Detroit as an
ideal market for a major outlet
center, according to a spokesman
for the two developers. The joint
venture selected the site in
Romulus for its regional accessi-
bility to all the key segments of
this market. Forming a partner-
ship to develop this site enables
the two firms to accelerate per-
mitting, leasing, and building the
project. Opening is planned for
2016, and when completed, the
center will be home to approxi-
mately 90 retailers, she added.
In confirming the joint ven-
ture, first announced by Romulus
Mayor Leroy Burcroff earlier this
month,
New
England
Development and Paragon Outlet
Partners expressed enthusiasm
about working together to devel-
op Outlets of Michigan into an
unparalleled shopping destina-
tion in Metro Detroit. New
England Development President
Douglass Karp, commented,
“We're pleased to be partnering
with Paragon to create an outlet
shopping destination that will
attract shoppers from Canada,
Southeast Michigan, and Toledo,
Ohio. We also look forward to
continuing to build on our work
with Romulus Mayor LeRoy D.
Burcroff and with Romulus city
officials.”
“We are well under way with
tremendous leasing activity. We
look forward to bringing a tenant
roster of the best names in outlet
retail to the Greater Detroit mar-
ketplace,” said Robert Brvenik,
principal, Paragon Outlet
Partners.
The City of Romulus received
some good news from outside
auditing firm representatives
during a city council meeting
earlier thismonth.
Representatives from the
Plante/Moran auditing firm gave
the city an unmodified rating for
the fiscal year that ended on
June 30, 2014. It's the highest
level of opinion the city could
have received from an external
auditor, saidFrankAudia, a part-
ner with Plante/Moran, and it
means that all the city financial
recordswere inproper order.
“It's the type of opinion that
you're really after and the type of
opinion that bond holders and
other stakeholders looking at
your financial statements are
looking to see,” saidAudia.
The overall economic outlook
was improving but gains in the
job and housing markets have
not yet been reflected in munici-
pal budgets, he said. That has
nothing to do with the City of
Romulus, but the way municipal
finance is set up. The interaction
of the Headlee Amendment and
Proposal A, which dictates that
property values can only
increase by the rate of inflation
or 3 percent, whichever is lower,
as well as cuts in local revenue
from the state level combine to
create a relatively stagnant rev-
enue stream for cities and town-
ships.
“The overall municipal
finance environment remains,
still, extremely challenging,”
Audia said. “Numerous chal-
lenges remain.”
Despite that, the city made
gains in some important areas,
such as reducing ongoing legacy
costs. Revenues and expendi-
tures were about the same as
they were at the end of 2013,
which put themat about $44mil-
lion and $40 million, respective-
ly and the city was able to
increase its fund balance, said
Audia.
State Rep. Kristy Pagan (D-
Canton Township) was sworn in
earlier this month at the
Michigan
House
of
Representatives. Pagan repre-
sents the 21st House District,
which comprises the city of
Belleville and the majorities of
Canton and Van Buren town-
ships.
“I am incredibly excited to
begin my service as a state rep-
resentative. It is an honor that
the people of the 21st House
District chose me to represent
them in Michigan's Legislature,”
Pagan said. “As I spoke to my
neighbors, I learned they are
concerned about quality educa-
tion, finding good-paying jobs,
and having safe and vibrant
communities. They are tired of
politics as usual and want a rep-
resentative that will work hard
to serve their needs. I am ready
to work hard every day for the
people of this community.”
Pagan was born in Belleville
and raised in Canton, where she
graduated from Salem High
School. After graduating from
Western Michigan University,
Pagan, struggled to find mean-
ingful work in Michigan.
Instead, she moved to
Washington, D.C., where she
worked in child nutrition policy
for a nonprofit organization and
took night classes to earn her
master's degree in political man-
See
Audit,
page 3
See
Pagan,
page 5
”
It's the type of opinion that you're really after and the
type of opinion that bond holders and other stakeholders
looking at your financial statements are looking to see.
Pagan takes oath of office, sets local hours
Romulus merits ‘highest rating’ by auditors
Four men are facing various
felony charges in the death of a
Westland woman whose body
was found lying in a Dearborn
Heights street last week.
Wayne County Prosecutor
Kym L. Worthy has charged
TerranceHarold Johnson, 44 , of
Westland, Randy Demario
Batts, 30, of Detroit, Joshua
Hurston-Herron, 23, of Detroit
and Michael Richard Bashlor,
34, who is transient, in connec-
tion with the homicide of
Diedra Crawford, 46, of
Westland.
Worthy has alleged in court
documents that at about 5 a.m.
Jan. 18, Johnson fatally beat the
woman in the home they shared
on the 32000 block of Grand
Traverse in Westland. The pros-
ecutor alleges that Batts aided
Johnson in the beating.
Defendants Hurston and
Bashlor are alleged to have
assisted Johnson and Batts in
taking Crawford's lifeless body
from her home and dumping
her, clad in her nightclothes and
wrapped in a bedsheet, in
Dearborn Heights in the area of
Powers andGlenis streets.
Crawford's body was discov-
ered at about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 19
by a passing motorist who noti-
fied police. The Wayne County
Medical Examiner determined
her cause of death to be homi-
cide by multiple blunt force
injuries.
Later Jan. 19, one of the men
appeared at theWestlandPolice
Station and said he and the oth-
ers had been involved with the
dumping of the body, according
to the Westland Police
Department. Based on his infor-
mation, a search warrant was
obtained for the home where
police discovered evidence of
the assault.
Police then tracked down the
other three men and arrested
all four of the defendants in the
homicide.
Johnson was arraigned last
week and remanded to jail on
one count of first-degree mur-
der. Batts was arraigned on one
count each of first and second-
degree murder and remanded
to jail. Hurston-Herron and
Bashlor are charged with one
count each of accessory after
the fact. Hurston-Herron and
Bashlor each received a
$250,000 cash/surety bond.
The probable cause court
hearingwas scheduled for today
and the preliminary examina-
tion on the charges is scheduled
for Feb. 5, before Judge Mark
McConnell at the 18th District
Court inWestland.
In a prepared statement,
Worthy said that more specific
facts of the crime will be pre-
sented in court at the prelimi-
nary examination.
The development site plan for new outlet mall was presented to Romulus officials for approval.
Developers confirm plans for new mall
4 face charges in fatal beating of woman
State Rep. Kristy Pagan (D-Canton), right, takes the oath of office
from Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget Mary McCormack on
Wednesday, Jan. 14. Joining Pagan are, from left, father Nick
Pagan, mother Kathy Pagan, brother-in-law Bill Pagan DeYoung,
niece Evelyn Pagan DeYoung and sister Jenna Pagan DeYoung.