No. 07
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
February 18 – 24, 2016
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
Former Wayne Mayor and
current Wayne County
Commissioner Al Haidous
has been named to the
recently-created County
Task Force on Environmen-
tal Quality.
See page 4.
A 40-year-old Kent County
truck driver has been crimi-
nally charged in the 42-vehi-
cle pile up on I-94 last month
that claimed the lives of two
Northville residents.
See page 5.
Tickets are now on sale
for the March 12 annual
Mayors' Ball, hosted by
Romulus Mayor LeRoy D.
Burcroff and Belleville
MayorKerreenConley.
See page 2.
Vol. 131, No. 07
Vol. 69, No. 07
Vol. 69, No. 07
Vol. 16, No. 07
A water drive to help the
residents of Flint at
Romulus High School result-
ed in one of the largest one-
day efforts seen by officials
at Eastern Michigan
University.
See page 5.
Vol. 131, No. 07
Vol. 69, No. 07
Vol. 69, No. 07
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Former Westland Fire
Chief Mark Neal has been
re-appointed to a five-year
term on the William Faust
Public Library of Westland
Board of Directors.
See page 4.
A new program at the
BLOCK
in
Canton,
LikeAGirl, is designed to
change the thinking of girls
11-15 about perceptions of
women in all phases of their
lives.
See page 3.
Vol. 16, No. 24
Michigan State Police and
Inkster police detectives are
warning the public about a
national trend of criminals
luring victims to meet for
internet transactions.
See page 4.
After a 7-year legal battle,
Jim Schebil has reopened
Fox Hills Chrysler Jeep on
Ann Arbor Road, exactly
where he sold cars for 27
years.
See page 2.
The longest serving Wayne
County Commissioner, Kay
Beard, died Feb. 9 at the age of
94 from complications from a
stroke and other ailments.
Mrs. Beard's political career
started at the age of 57, after
having raised her family in
Inkster. She first became
involved as a fundraiser for her
children's school and then her
spirit of public service and
determination to improve local
government pushed her to seek
elected office. She was not easi-
ly deterred from her goals,
applying her inbred Irish deter-
mination to her bids for office.
Her first bid for state represen-
tative in 1972 was unsuccessful
as was her first bid for the coun-
ty commission in 1976. In April
of 1978, the staunch Democrat
was appointed to fill a vacancy
on the county commission
where she continued to gain re-
election eventually serving a
total of 30 years on the
board.She ended her 30-year
political career in 2008 when
she resigned from public office
citing her health.
She had been residing at
Angela Hospice in Livonia at
her death, her family said.
“I was saddened to learn of
Commissioner Kay Beard's pass-
ing. She served the residents of
Westland, Inkster and Garden
City for 30 years and holds the
title as the longest serving
Commissioner in Wayne County
history. As a dedicated crusader
for the people she served, Kay
provided a voice to the voice-
less. Her spirit and legacy will
live on in Wayne County forev-
er,” said Wayne County
ExecutiveWarrenC. Evans.
Mrs. Beard's passing was also
noted by U.S. Sen. Debbie
Stabenow.
“I amdeeply saddened by the
loss of Kay Beard who will
always hold a special place in
my heart as a beloved friend, an
advocate and wonderful public
servant. My thoughts and
prayers go out to Kay's family
and friends and to the people
whose lives she touched
throughout her years of public
service.”
Mrs. Beard was born in
Detroit in 1921, her family said.
She and her late husband, Jerry,
were married in 1946, after he
See
Beard,
page 6
A third location has been pro-
posed for a planned Verizon cell
tower in Canton Township, after
protests from residents of homes
near the first two sites consid-
ered were successful in rejecting
those locations.
After the first site proposed by
Verizon, located on township-
owned land near Hannan and
Palmer, was rejected bymembers
of the Canton Township Board of
Trustees, Verizon proposed erect-
ing the new tower near the
Abundant Life Church of God,
also on Hannan Road, south of
Palmer. That suggestion, which
would have brought about $1,000
a month to the church food
pantry for the needy, also did not
sit well with nearby residents
who suggested the tower could
negatively impact their home val-
ues.
Township Supervisor Phil
LaJoy told members of the board
last week that the church had
notified his office that plans to
allow the 120-foot tower near the
church had been dropped. Under
that plan, the nearest home
would have remained about 250
feet from the tower. The change
in plans came following a meet-
ing of church representatives
with about 180 neighboring resi-
dents early this month. Residents
in Canton, Wayne and Westland
protested the church site.
A third proposed location has
been suggested by Nick Hermatz,
the owner of Wayne Lawn and
Garden located at 39915
Michigan Ave. in a commercial
district. Hermatz said that he has
land available at the site,
although he said he has had no
negotiations with Verizon about
the issue. Wayne Lawn and
Garden is located about a mile
from the Abundant Life Church
property.
Neighbors’ protests cancel cell-tower plan
Payday
Champions awarded
checks for good grades
Three local businessmen are managing
to change lives inWayne andWestland.
Last week, the three men, Glenn Shaw,
Jr., Richard Helppie and Jeff Styers, fund-
ed checks to students that totaled nearly
$50,000 as a reward for their academic
success.
The donors fund the educational pro-
gram that provides a $200 cash reward to
students whomeet the conditions of a con-
tract they sign with the school, their par-
ents and a mentor agreeing to improve
their grade point average by at least one-
half a point during the semester. This
semester, the two programs saw 350 stu-
dents, succeed andmeet those goals.
Among those successes is a student
who had a cumulative grade point average
of 1.86 and improved that total to 3.33.
Another Wayne Memorial High School
student went from a 0.0 grade point aver-
age, passing no classes, to a B average or
3.0 grade point average as part of the
Champions program. Another Wayne
Memorial student achieved her
Champions goal for the seventh consecu-
tive semester this year and has a grade
point average which actually exceeds 4.0
She has applied for the Gates Millennium
Scholarship, according to school officials.
At Wayne Memorial, 170 students
achieved their goals and received checks,
while another 350 saw improvement in
their grades during the Champions pro-
gram.
Several students in the Wayne
Memorial program are now on track to
graduate this June after failing 9th grade,
noted Sean Galvin who directs the Wayne
program.
At John Glenn High School, where the
program was started for the first time this
year by Shaw under the auspices of the
Westland Community Foundation, one
ninth-grade student passed all his classes
for the first time since fifth grade and
credits the Champions program for keep-
ing himfocused and off drugs.
Another Glenn student who managed
Area mourns death of Kay Beard
See
Champions,
page 4
Kay Beard
The John Glenn High School cheerleaders filled the Hellenic Cultural Center with enthu-
siasm for the Champions of John Glenn students.
Students traveled through a barrage of confetti to be congratulated by their mentors
during the celebration of their success last week.
Mayor William Wild congratulates Glenn and Patti Shaw on
the success of the Champions program.
Student Chase Storm
shares his experience.
