Basic HTML Version
No. 10
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
March 8 - 14, 2012
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
A Wayne High School
teacher was arraigned
Saturday in 34th District Court
in Romulus on charges stem-
ming from inappropriate sexu-
al contact with a 16-year-old
boy.
See page 5.
Romulus has granted a 10-
year tax abatement to the for-
mer Aerostar Manufacturing
onNorthlineRoad.
See page 3.
The Salvation Army
Plymouth Corps will host a
Bunny Brunch on Saturday,
March 31, and is accepting
monetary donations and vol-
unteer help for the event.
See page 8.
Visitors can meet Brownie,
the newborn llama at Maybury
Farm where Maple Syrup
Tours include a hayride to
help tap the trees and watch
maple syrupbeingmade.
See page 8.
Elwell and Haggerty ele-
mentary schools in the Van
Buren Public School District
will be closed next year as part
of a reorganization of the dis-
trict.
See page 3.
Vol. 127, No. 10
Vol. 65, No. 10
Vol. 65, No. 10
Vol. 12, No. 10
Vol. 12, No. 10
Vol. 127, No. 10
Vol. 65, No. 10
Vol. 65, No. 10
A free clothing giveaway is
planned from 9 a.m. until 2
p.m. Saturday March 10 at
Middlebelt Baptist Church, 943
Middlebelt Road in Inkster.
See page 5.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The 8h Annual Women of
Westland Chocolate Fantasy
Ball is planned from 6-9:30
p.m. Saturday at JoyManor.
The sweet event honors a
community leader and is
fundraiser for scholarships for
women.
See page 5.
Two employees of a Wayne
cemetery were arrested, and a
third is under investigation, in
the theft of bronze markers from
the graves of veterans in
Metropolitan Memorial Gardens
inSumpter Township.
Police investigators suspect
that as many as 70 markers may
have been takenby the culprits.
Sumpter police were notified
by the sexton at the cemetery in
early February that five veterans'
headstones were missing. The
bronze metal plaques were bolt-
ed onto the headstones of the
deceased. Last month, the sexton
told police he observed two men
in the cemetery with shovels.
When he challenged the pair,
they claimed they were ceme-
tery workers, which the sexton
knew to be false. The discussion
reportedly got heated and the
pair left in aWestlawn Cemetery
truck. The sexton phoned the
police and followed the men in
his own vehicle.
Sumpter Township Police
Chief James Pierce and Ofc.
Brian Stefani stopped the truck
and questioned the pair, identi-
fied at Wendel Ratliss of Wayne
and Michael Johnson of Van
Buren Township. The manager
of Westlawn Cemetery con-
firmed their employment, but
said she had no knowledge of
their activities inSumpter.
She did confirm that she had
sent the pair toWeiser Recycling
in Wayne with some broken
markers earlier this year. She
said she sent a statement on
cemetery letterhead with them,
verifying that themetal was to be
scrapped. The pair subsequently
returned to the recycling yard
several times, scrapyard owners
confirmed, each time with grave
markers and a letter confirming
the legitimacy of the sale for
scrap.
Sumpter Det. John Toth said
the police investigation found
that Ratliss and Johnson, along
with a third individual, had sold
1,245 pounds of bronze markers
meant for veterans' graves to the
recycling operation. The metal,
worth about $1.60 a pound, gar-
nered about $1,992 for the trio
over the past fewweeks, he said.
Toth said that Weiser
Recycling cooperated fully in the
investigation, and had confirmed
Five teams of South Canton
Scholars Charter Academy stu-
dents recently participated in
the Michigan State Chess tour-
nament, learning patience and
how to deal withanxiety.
See page 3.
Police investigators suspect that
as many as 70 markers may have
been taken by the culprits.
”
Markers stolen from veterans’ graves
See
Thefts,
page 2
American Dream
Native of Kosovo announces bid for congressional seat
Layoffs continue, fire station No. 2 is closed
John Goci of Westland is about
to fulfill a lifelong dream that
began when he took a school trip
to Washington, D.C. in the seventh
grade.
Goci has decided to seek the
13th District Michigan Congress-
ional seat.
Goci said that like millions of
other immigrants, his family came
to America in search of a better
life. When Goci was only 9, his
family left a mountainous region
of Kosovo, where povertywas com-
mon and government oppression
made life difficult, he said, and
staked their future onAmerica.
They moved to Westland,
where Goci and his siblings
enrolled in the public schools and
his family purchased a restaurant
nearby in Wayne. It was a family
operation and Goci spent count-
less hours working there through-
out his teen years. He now man-
ages the business along with his
brother, Scott.
In 1999, when war broke out in
his native Kosovo, the U.S. Army
was in need of Albanian-speaking
translators. Goci enlisted and
served as a linguistic specialist for
General John Craddock. Carl
Levin, the seniorU.S. senator from
Michigan, who traveled to Kosovo
during the war, honored Goci for
his service.
In 2000, Goci said, his entrepre-
neurial spirit flared up again
when he took his idea for a juke
box that featured music videos
and tried to make it a reality. He
remortgaged his home, borrowed
money where he could and found-
edDigital Video JukeboxNetwork,
Inc., later to become Barden
Entertainment when he partnered
with the late businessman, Don
Barden. Goci served as president
of Barden Entertainment until
2008. As an inventor, Goci holds
patents for his digital jukebox and
an electronic voting system, he
said.
When a seat opened up on the
Wayne-Westland Schools Board of
Education, Goci said he decided it
was time for him to serve. He felt
Well-known area businessman
Howard Oldford, 75, died Feb. 27,
2012.
Mr. Oldford owned and operat-
ed many local businesses includ-
ing Stewart Oldford and Sons
Builders and Developers,
Northville Lumber Co. and
PlymouthLumber andHardware.
In addition to his business
interests, Mr. Oldford was an
active member of the Plymouth
community. He was a former
member of the Plymouth Jaycees
and remained an active member
of the Plymouth Noon Rotary
Club. He served with pride and
determination in many capacities,
including as chairman of the
Plymouth Fall Festival Chicken
Barbeque a few years ago. He was
also the co-founder of the
Plymouth Junior Community
Basketball League.
Mr. Oldford was born March 29,
1936 and graduated Plymouth
High School in 1954 and Michigan
State University in 1959. He was a
member of Alpha GammaRho fra-
ternity and served in the Michigan
AirNational Guard.
Mr. Oldford was well known for
his love of the Michigan State
Spartans and anything Irish. He
also enjoyed fishing and sailing.
Mr. Oldford is survived by his
loving wife of 48 years, Patricia;
his beloved children, Thomas
(Beth) Oldford, Martha McGraw
and John (Heather) Oldford; his
grandchildren, Clare, Ben and
Andrew McGraw and Sarah and
Sloane Oldford; his siblings,
Stewart (Linda) Oldford, Martin
Oldford, Marion (Rob) Beatty and
Larry (Michelle) Oldford; many
loving nieces and nephews, and a
host of friends.
He was preceded in death by a
daughter, Sarah Oldford, and by
his parents, Stewart and Jeanne
(Arfmann) Oldford, and his step-
mother, AdeliaOldford
Funeral services were at St.
Kenneth Catholic Church in
PlymouthTownship
Final arrangements were
entrusted to the Schrader-Howell
Funeral Home inPlymouth.
Memorials may be made to the
ALS of Michigan 24359
Northwestern Hwy, Suite 100,
Southfield, Mi 48075 or to Angela
Hospice, 14100 Newburgh Road,
Livonia, MI 48154.
At a special meeting of the
Plymouth Township Board of
Trustees last Thursday, board
members voted 6-1 to immediately
lay off six firefighters, leaving a
full-time staff of 14 to protect a
community of 28,000 residents.
Following an emotionally
charged meeting, Fire Chief Mark
Wendel was ordered by
Supervisor Richard Reaume at
about 9:30 p.m. March 1 to imme-
diately implement the layoffs.
Wendel subsequently ordered the
shift captain on duty to inform the
affected firefighters to leave their
stations immediately. The fire-
fighters were told that arrange-
ments would be made for them to
retrieve their personal belongings
fromthe station sometime later.
Fire Station No, 2 in Lake
Pointe was immediately closed
and the lieutenant there moved to
Station No. 1. flyers were posted
throughout the Lake Pointe subdi-
vision on Tuesday, announcing the
closing. The flyers announced that
there is now a maximum staffing
level of five firefighters to “cover
the entire township.”
The layoffs eliminate the town-
ship eligibility and participation
in Mutual Aid. Should there be a
major disaster or fire in the town-
ship, public safety departments
from neighboring communities
would not respondwith personnel
or equipment. Plymouth
Township would not respond to
major fires or disasters in neigh-
boring communities, either, as
they are now not within the
staffing levels required to partici-
pate in the Mutual Aid agree-
ments.
Township officials have said
they will now depend on a cadre
of on-call volunteer fire fighters in
cases of emergency. The volun-
teers are called by the dispatcher
from their homes, travel to the fire
station and then to the reported
incident. In 911 medical emergen-
cies, Huron Valley Ambulance,
based in Ann Arbor, will respond,
according to the township. During
the meeting March 1, officials
Community mourns death of Howard Oldford
See
Layoffs,
page 8
See
Dream,
page 2
Howard Oldford
John Goci
For decades we
have been represented
by persons who claim
to represent the
disenfranchised
and working
persons of Michigan.
”