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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
January 5, 2012
Judge
FROM PAGE 1
I
NKSTER
- W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Wayne rebuilding emergency services in city
Officials play Santa at local shelter
Grant will fund study of Inkster women’s health
The City of Wayne is gradually
building back up its emergency
services.
The city hired two probationary
firefighters in November and will
soon bring back the K-9 officer pro-
gram, according to City Manager
Robert English.
Fire Chief Mel Moore said the
two new firefighters have been on
staff since November. They
replaced two firefighters who
retired earlier this year. In June,
the city also brought back four fire
fighters who had been laid off,
using funds fromaSAFERgrant.
“We're almost back to full
staffing, we're getting there,” said
Moore.
Bryan Schwesing came to
Wayne from the City of Taylor,
where he had had served as a fire-
fighter for 10 years. He was laid off
along with 19 others through budg-
et cuts earlier this year, according
toMoore.
“He has a lot of experience,
which will be a great asset to our
department,”Moore said.
Nicholas Winrow has worked as
a paramedic for a private ambu-
lance company, as well as a paid
on-call firefighter for the City of
Woodhaven. His father and brother
are both firefighters, saidMoore.
“They comewith awide range of
experience,” he said.
The city will hire one more fire-
fighter to replace Kevin
Brookshire, who recently left the
City of Wayne to take a position in
Westland.
The city could also bring back
the K-9 officer program as soon as
the end of March, according to
Police Chief Jason Wright. Council
members unanimously approved
the expense lat a recentmeeting.
“For me this is a great day,” said
Wright, a former K-9 handler him-
self. “It's a very successful program.
I was very sad to see it go for a
while. I'm very happy to be able to
provide that service back to the cit-
izens.”
The city had suspended the pro-
gram when former K-9 officer
Terry Foley retired, due to budget
cuts. Wright came up with a plan to
fund the purchase and training of
the dog through drug forfeiture
funds. The program should pay for
itself going forward, he said.
Wayne Mayor Al Haidous said
he was pleased to bring the pro-
gramback.
“I think it's a step in the right
direction to fight crime,” he said.
“We need to send the message loud
and clear that Wayne is still strong
at fighting crime. It's a happy
moment.”
English said it was his goal to
bring back all of the programs that
have been suspended due to budg-
et cuts. Another proactive police
program, the Community Oriented
Police Crime Reduction Unit
(COPCRU), is another he and
Wright would like to reinstate.
“Unfortunately, at this point in
time we don't have the money to
bring back the COPCRU, but we're
working on it,” he said.
It's a very successful program.
I was very sad to see it go for a while.
I'm very happy to be able to provide
that service back to the citizens.
”
Christmas came a little early
this year for the residents of the
Wayne County Family Shelter on
MichiganAvenue inWestland.
Westland Mayor WilliamR. Wild
and members of his administrative
team loaded up four vehicles with
gifts and delivered them to the cen-
ter beforeChristmas.
Each resident received a gift
with toys, games and books for the
children and new sheets for the
adults. In addition, Wild and his
staff provided gifts for the facility,
too.
“I don't think there is anything
more fun than getting to play Santa
Claus to those who can most use a
helping hand and especially during
the holidays,” said Wild. “My
administration and I do our best to
support various charitable causes
and certainly during these sus-
tained difficult economic times, we
recognize our personal good for-
tune and are grateful we are able to
help these Westland residents in
this small way.
“We wish every Westland resi-
dent the happiest of holidays, a
warm Merry Christmas and much
joy in theNewYear.”
Women in Inkster face some
severe and unique challenges to
their health, according to a nation-
al study.
To help overcome these local-
ized challenges, The National
Kidney Foundation of Michigan
(NKFM) recently received a 5-year
grant from the Office on Women's
Health as part of the Coalition for a
Healthier Community (CHC) proj-
ect.
The specific focus of the grant is
on diabetes, which is the leading
cause of chronic kidney disease, a
spokesperson said.
"The grant will mean that we
can continue the focus on improv-
ing health equity for Inkster resi-
dents," said Inkster Mayor Hilliard
L. Hampton. "The City of Inkster is
happy to be working with the
NKFM and the IPHC to help
women and Inkster residents live
healthier lives."
For more information about the
Office on the Women's Health proj-
ect or to learn about other projects,
prevention education, and patient
services offered by the NKFM, call
(800)
482-1455
or
visit
www.nkfm.org.
Since that time, Capela has
resigned and reported irregulari-
ties and deficits in the city
finances to the Michigan State
Treasurer, A team of financial
auditors has now been appointed
by the governor to audit the city
finances, a precursor to the
appointment of a financial man-
ager, according to several council
members. The city deficit has
been estimated at $2 to $3 million
byHampton.
Members of the Supreme
Court had some differences
regarding continuing to pay
James during her suspension.
The Supreme Court urged the
matter be “handled speedily” in
the written opinions on the mat-
ter.