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January 2, 2014
I
NKSTER
- W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Wayne honors 5 police officers for efforts
Westland makes top 10 list for area job seekers
Five Wayne Police officers were
honored recently during a regular
meeting of theWayneCity Council.
According to Wayne Police Chief
Jason Wright, the officers' work
should have been recognized when
the Officer of the Year award was
presented but were put off until last
month.
Officers William Mangan and
David Hamlet were presented with
meritorious service awards from the
city for their work in the arrest of a
fleeing armed robbery suspect on
June 3, 2012.
According to accounts of the inci-
dent, Manganwas parked in the lot of
the closed Brownie's Diner of
Michigan Avenue West monitoring
traffic when he saw a man carrying a
bag running northbound from the
Tim Horton's restaurant. Hamlet,
who was driving on patrol, was pass-
ing on the other side of Michigan
Avenue, parallel to Mangan and also
saw the suspicious man. Wright said
both officers concluded the fleeing
man had probably robbed the coffee
shop.
The officers pursued the suspect,
who dropped the bag hewas carrying
near the Parkview Terrace
Apartments toward the Rouge River
where he was arrested. As the offi-
cers pursued the suspect, Wright said
a call came into dispatch that the
Tim Horton's had been robbed at
gunpoint.
“It's a great example of you never
know what you'll find while
patrolling,”Wright said.
Mangan and Hamlet were also
awarded lifesaving awards for their
response to a suicidal man who was
threatening to jump from the roof of
the downtown parking structure on
Oct. 7, 2012.
In this situation, Sgts. Finley
Carter and Terrance Springer were
also awarded lifesaving awards as all
four officers responded to the inci-
dent. Springer and Mangan talked to
theman from the ground and got him
to step back off the ledge while
Carter and Hamlet were able to
make their way to the roof to grab the
man, who was taken from the roof,
without injury, andhospitalized.
“All four officers responded. They
didn't have to come up with a plan----
they knew what to do, “ said Wright.
“The man was distraught. It's quite a
large structure. If a person had sur-
vived (the fall) they wouldn't be
right.”
Also honored with a lifesaving
award for a Sept. 26, 2011 incident,
was Ofc. Robert Amore. Amore
responded to a 3 a.m. call from a
home on William Street abut an
infant not breathing and was able to
save the child while awaiting EMTs
arrival.
Amore was unable to attend the
councilmeeting.
NerdWallet, a consumer advoca-
cy website, recently conducted a
study to find the best places for job
seekers in Michigan and Westland
came in among the top 10.
As many people continue search-
ing for employment in this recover-
ing economy, NerdWallet wanted to
help residents of the Michigan find
the best places for jobs, a spokesman
noted. To do so, NerdWallet evaluat-
ed the largest cities in the state
using criteria such asmedian house-
hold income, monthly homeowner
costs, population growth of those
ages 16 and older and unemploy-
ment rates.
NerdWallet ranked Westland as
the seventh best place for job seek-
ers in Michigan. The city experi-
enced a 3.2 percent increase in the
working-age population between
2009-2011, and it has an unemploy-
ment rate of 6.1 percent, which is
nearly three percentage points
lower than the state average.
“Key employers include
Plastipak and the Wayne-Westland
Community School District,” said
NerdWallet analyst Annie Wang.
“The city government also runs the
Westland Works program, which
helps connect local employers with
residents who are looking for jobs,”
Wang continued.
Wild implemented the Westland
Works program in 2010 to promote
job postings in the city. “Westland
employers can post job openings,
which ultimately exposes job seek-
ers to more opportunity” said Wild.
“We wanted to give our residents
every advantage possible to find
suitable employment.”
When Wild took office nearly
seven years ago, the citywas facing a
projected deficit of nearly $37 mil-
lion by 2013 and today the city is
soundly positioned with a two-year
balanced budget and a $5 million
surplus. The strategic planWild put
in place has enabled him to bring in
more than $100 million in economic
investment toWestland, according to
statistics suppliedby the city.
NerdWallet is a consumer-
friendly financial literacy website
that helps consumers make better
decision about their personal
finance andmore.
“We had the Salvation Army and the
Red Cross on site, helping to find tempo-
rary shelter for the residents and they did
a phenomenal job, as they always do,”
Hubanks said. He added that the Inkster
Fire Department was on site until early
evening and that the owner of the complex
and the Inkster Department of Public
Works sent heavy equipment to the site to
tear down the and move portions of the
collapsed building so that fire fighters
could extinguish hot spots and ensure that
the fire didnot flare up again, endangering
other structures at the site.
Hubanks said that at this time he did
not have a dollar estimate on the damage,
nor a total number of the residents dis-
placed.
He said that the incident was now in the
investigation state and that answers would
take some time.
“There is a great deal that goes on in the
aftermathof sucha serious fire,” he said.
An open house event to welcome new
Leanna Hicks Inkster Public Library Director
Denise Bearre is planned for 5:50-7:30 p.m.
Jan. 8.
The event will take place at the library,
located at 2005 InksterRoad in Inkster.
The event is open to the public at no cost
and light refreshmentswill be served.
The LeannaHicks Public Library of Inkster
became aCity of Inkster Public Library on July
1, 2010. LeannaHicks Public Library of Inkster
is amember of TheLibraryNetwork.
The library is located at 2005 Inkster Road
in Inkster. For more information, call (313) 563-
2822.
The new director will join youth librarian
Angela Scott, and library aides Larry Mills,
WandaCorbin andAllisonBoartright.
The mission of the Leanna Hicks Public
Library is to be an informational, intellectual
and cultural resource for all people provided
in a professional andwelcomingmanner.
Fire
FROM PAGE 1
Library plans open house