No. 01
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
Jan. 4 – 10, 2018
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
Deborah Vigliarolo has
been named as the new
director of business, commu-
nication and philanthropy at
the Champions of Wayne
program.
See page 2.
Last
month,
the
Northville Educational
Foundation awarded 43
teachers and 22 projects in
the Northville Public
Schools with grants totaling
$29,571.
See page 5.
Vol. 133, No. 01
Vol. 71, No. 01
Vol. 71, No. 01
Vol. 18, No. 01
More than 800 students
packed Romulus High
School Dec. 3 for the Health
Occupations Students of
America
Region
5
LeadershipConference.
See page 3.
Vol. 133, No. 01
Vol. 71, No. 01
Vol. 71, No. 01
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Karen Fuchs of Westland
was the lucky winner of the
Shop and Dine Shopping
Spree this year and got to
spend $1,000 in 1,000 sec-
onds at JCPenney.
See page 2.
Canton Township will
once again honor the memo-
ry of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. with a special tribute Jan.
15 at The Village Theater at
CherryHill.
See page 4.
Vol. 18, No. 01
Officers from the Inkster
Police Department accom-
panied 20 children and four
families to a local Toys “R”
Us for the annual “Shop
WithaCop” evening.
See page 4.
Sam Plymale and Tony
Bruscato of the Plymouth
Downtown Development
District played Santa this
year and presented unsus-
pecting shoppers gift certifi-
cates.
See page 5.
Belleville Mayor Kerreen
Conley confirmed last week
that a plan to dissolve the
city fire department will not
bemoving forward.
See page 3.
Plymouth
Township
Supervisor Kurt Heise has con-
firmed that federal prosecutors
are expected to reveal criminal
charges involving the theft of
municipal property. Heise,
speaking last Wednesday during
an exclusive interview with The
Eagle, said that the charges are
imminent in the investigation
which is ongoing.
Refusing to name the
involved parties, Heise con-
firmed that FBI agents have vis-
ited Plymouth Township Hall
several times in the past three
months. Rumors about a crimi-
nal investigation within the
township have run rampant
since July after township Police
Chief Tom Tiderington con-
firmed certain former township
employees were being investi-
gated for an alleged large-scale
theft of townshipproperty.
Heise would only confirm
that in addition to a pending
indictment of a former employ-
ee, federal agents have
expressed a “great interest” in
township interaction involving
the now defunct company
owned by former trash titan
Chuck Rizzo, and his father,
Charles
Rizzo,
Rizzo
Environmental Services, and
“matters involving former town-
ship personnel that occurred
during the tenure of the former
Supervisor ShannonPrice.” The
Rizzo investigation is part of a
wide-ranging probe of political
corruption in local governments.
Rizzo, the former CEO, and
his father Charles Rizzo Sr.,
have recently pleaded guilty and
face up to 10 years in federal
prison after admitting they
bribed Macomb County politi-
cians to build their trash busi-
ness. Rizzo senior, charged in a
43-page indictment this fall,
allegedly stole funds from his
own company to bribe local
politicians while building his
trash-hauling business into a
colossal enterprise. The father
and son businessmen were the
subject of a court-ordered wire-
See
Probe,
page 5
It isn't easy, preparing for
nearly 75,000 visitors, but
James Gietzen has it all under
control this year.
Gietzen, owner of JAG
Entertainment, is producing
the 36th Annual Ice Festival
which will roar into Plymouth
next weekend, beginning
Friday, Jan. 12 and continuing
throughSunday, Jan. 14.
“The event continues to
grow and we are much better
organized than when we start-
ed,” Gietzen noted. He has
been at the helm of the event
for the past 5 years and said
this year he feels comfortable
with the growth and organiza-
tion of the event.
“The first years, we were
just trying to keep the event
going. Now, we have lists, we
have contacts, we are organ-
ized,” he said last week. “The
only situation we can't control
is the weather, but right now,
predictions for the weekend
look ideal for us.”
Gietzen said he is also grati-
fied by the increased number
of sponsors for the IceFestival,
although that hasn't always
been an easy situation.
“Once a business becomes
a sponsor, and they see what a
unique opportunity this is for
people to engage with their
brand, they are in. They
always return the next year
but we have to start looking for
more sponsors the day after
the festival closes,” he said.
“This is totally funded by spon-
sorships. There is no city
money involved, other than
the fees we pay to them for
services. Most people don't
realize that it is these sponsors
who bring themthis event.”
Gietzen said the amount of
ice used at the festival is
always an indication of how
things are going, and this year,
there is going to be a lot of ice.
“A lot of ice,” he stressed.
“That won't necessarily
mean bigger sculptures, but it
will mean more sculptures
and probably more intricate
and artistic work,” he said. He
expects the festival will use
more than 300 blocks of ice,
each weighing in at about 300
pounds this year. “It's a lot of
ice,” he repeated.
That ice will be placed in
the hands of professional ice
artists, many of whom are
national and international
carving champions.
“Most of them started right
here in Plymouth,” Gietzen
said. “They have a real nostal-
gia for the IceFestival because
they were in competitions
here with their college teams
years ago.”
In addition to the usual long
list of attractions at the festi-
val, this year they have added
a Tubing Run on Ann Arbor
Trail that Gietzen expects to
be popular. This year, Miss
Michigan USA Elizabeth
Johnson and Miss Michigan
TeenUSAAnane Loveday, will
be visiting The Gathering on
Saturday to sign autographs
andpose for photos.
Johnson, a Plymouth resi-
dent, is also expected to make
an appearance at the E.G.
Nick's Party Lot Saturday,
although Gietzen said he had
not yet confirmed that appear-
ance.
The carving competitions,
the warming stations, the
interactive sculptures, the
cross country ski lessons and
the food vendors will be joined
by livemusic at the library and
PARC where there will also be
crafts, live entertainment and
even a presentation of The
Magic Flute, an opera sung in
English.
“There is so much more
going on,” Gietzen said. “It
really is an event for every-
body.”
1865 home
must go
on market
Don Howard
Staff Writer
I'm not at liberty at this point
to go into great detail.
It (the investigation) may involve Rizzo,
past employees and officials.
”
Indictments ‘imminent’ in FBI probe
Anyone interested in pur-
chasing a home built in 1865 in
downtown Northville will now
have the opportunity to realize
that goal. The home would be
classified, however, as a “fixer-
upper” with warped floors, a
sagging, dilapidated roof, an
insufficient stone foundation
and other structural problems.
Theremay not be a long list of
potential buyers as the home
was sold last December for
$460,000.
The sale has been required
by members of the Historic
District Commission who have
delayed permission to tear down
the home at 341 East Main St.
until it is placed on the market.
Members of the commission,
who had previously tentatively
approved the demolition permit,
said their decision was based on
an opinion from Northville city
attorneyRobertMarzano.
Eric and Renee Guidobono,
the current owners of the prop-
erty, must now put the home on
the market before their applica-
tion for demolition of the prop-
erty can be finalized by the com-
mission. Last month, the district
commission voted 6-1 in favor of
allowing the Guidobonos to
demolish thehouse.
This latest meeting was the
fifth consecutive Historic
District Commission attended by
Ed Funke, who represents the
Guidobonos, seeking the demoli-
tionpermit.
Funke said the Guidobonos
purchased the house, which for-
merly housed MacGuire's Fine
Art Gallery, about a year ago and
had planned to renovate the
two-story, 2000-square foot house
into offices for their building
company. Structural engineering
inspections, however, deter-
mined that renovations and
repairs to the damages and dete-
riorated building would cost in
excess of $750,000.
The Guidobonos presented
an independent structural
analysis of the building damage
to the commission members as
they sought the demolition per-
mit. They are now planning to
construct a three-story office
and condominium building on
the site.
Chairman of the Historic
District Commission Jim Allen
said he sympathized with the
Guidobonos, but that the attor-
ney's opinion would have to be
followed.
Bigger and better
Ice Festival set to begin next week
James Gietzen
