No. 10
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
March 8 – 14, 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
More than 2,000 Michigan
Assembly and Stamping
Plant workers will be laid off
from the Michigan Avenue
plant in Wayne from May
untilmid-October.
See page 4.
Maybury Farm is now
offering Maple Syrup Tours,
including awagon ride to the
woods, demonstrations of the
tapping of maple trees and
the collection of syrup take
place.
See page 5.
Vol. 133, No. 10
Vol. 71, No. 10
Vol. 71, No. 10
Vol. 18, No. 10
A Romulus man is facing
felony murder, second-
degree murder and first, sec-
ond and third-degree child
abuse in the death of 2-
month-old daughter last
April.
See page 2.
Vol. 133, No. 10
Vol. 71, No. 10
Vol. 71, No. 10
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The former Quo Vadis
movie theater site in
Westland, at Wayne and
Warren roads, has a new
occupant since Community
Financial Credit Union
openedFeb. 1.
See page 4.
Television veteran and
multiple Emmy Award win-
ning actor Ed Asner will
bring his one-man show to
The Village Theater at
Cherry Hill in Canton
Saturday, March 10.
See page 6.
Vol. 18, No. 10
State Rep. Jewell Jones
(D-Inkster), took part in the
Big XII Conference on Black
Student Government last
weekend inWaco, TX.
See page 5.
Supporters of the
Plymouth
Arts
and
Recreation Complex met
with the Plymouth Township
Board of Trustees in an
effort to develop a millage
proposal bymid-April.
See page 3.
The 22nd annual Quilt
Exhibit at theBellevilleArea
Museum featuring more
than 150 quilts will continue
throughMarch 28.
See page 2.
An agreement to settle a dis-
pute between Plymouth
Township and the City of
Plymouth regarding fire depart-
ment legacy costs appears to be
in jeopardy.
Members of the Plymouth
City Commission approved a
tolling agreement (a legal doc-
trine that allows for the pausing
or delaying of the statute of lim-
itations so that a lawsuit may
potentially be filed or a case
arbitrated even after that time
has elapsed) in January 2017
regarding a long-standing dis-
pute with the township regard-
ing financial liability for fire-
fighter retiree benefits.
The tolling agreement fol-
lows years of discord following
the dissolution of a 17-year joint
fire services agreement
between the two municipalities
that ended in 2010. At the meet-
ing of the members of the town-
ship board last week, trustees
approved a motion to grant
Township Supervisor Kurt
Heise the right to cancel the
tolling agreement within the
next 30 days, at his discretion.
Previous administration offi-
cials filed a five-count lawsuit
naming the City of Plymouth as
defendant, alleging the city
refused to pay it's obligation to
the township for post-termina-
tion health care costs, medical
benefits and retirement costs
for employees who worked
under
the
Plymouth
Community Fire Department
from 1995 to 2010, when the
intergovernmental agreement
was cancelled.
With the 2016 election, the
new township administration
and a newfound relationship
with the city commission, settle-
ment appeared imminent,
according to those familiar with
the situation.
In June 2017 the city agreed
to a partial payment to the
township in the amount of
$330,558.22 to cover four years
of the retiree health care obli-
gations, from 2012 to 2015.
Subsequently, the medical por-
tion of the dispute has been
resolved with the city agreeing
to make $78,000 annual pay-
See
Lawsuit,
page 3
The remaining dispute
involves settlement of pensions.
”
Legacy cost lawsuit could continue
As international competi-
tors went for the gold in curl-
ing during the Winter
Olympics in South Korea, a
new tradition may have start-
ed in theCity of Romulus.
“Curling Royale” debuted
Feb. 10 on the frozen outdoor
city ice rink at Mary Ann
Banks Park in downtown
Romulus. Organized by
Romulus Director of Public
Services Robert McCraight,
the tournament attracted 10
teams and about 50 competi-
tors who used homemade
equipment - much of it creat-
edbyMcCraight.
Curling is a sport in which
players take turns sliding
heavy “stones” on a sheet of
ice toward a target area, earn-
ing points for the stones stop-
ping closest to the target.
Players called “sweepers” use
brooms to help guide and con-
trol the speed of the stones.
The United States won their
first gold medal in men's curl-
ing during the 2018 Olympic
Games.
In Romulus, teams compet-
ed against until a foursome
representing the military-sup-
port organization Foundation-
14 - Wade Raddatz, Jen Shay,
Mike L'Heureux and Justin
Fugate - earned the champi-
onship cup. The runners-up
were a team of Romulus High
School football coaches.
“It was a big success,”
McCraight said. “We have a
big rink in town (installed by
DPS employees and Romulus
firefighters). We were trying to
use it and create an event
where everyone can have fun
in wintertime. There's a first
time for everything. They dug
it. Theywant to do it again.”
In addition to getting peo-
ple to enjoy the great out-
doors, the tournament raised
money to pay for “sunshine
boxes” being created for chil-
dren staying in homeless shel-
ters by students Kayla
Leonard and Bianca Waters,
who are representatives of the
Romulus High School chapter
of Family Career Community
Leaders of America (FCCLA).
Leonard, who presented
the championship trophy at
the end of the day, said
FCCLA is a national program
that helps prepare young peo-
ple for the future. Students not
only perform community serv-
ice, they learn about budget-
ing, timelines, communica-
tions and teamwork, she said.
Leonard, a high school jun-
ior, said she got to know
McCraight last year while
working on a project for
homeless veterans. In that
case, the students filled sun-
shine boxes with personal
care items.
Leonard said she was
encouraged to do more proj-
ects involving veterans,
including a project involving
Foundation 14, which is an
organization committed to
supporting military veteran
and their passion for riding
motorcycles. McCraight is a
Foundation 14member.
The initial curling event
generated $650, which will be
used to purchase plastic shoe-
boxes that will be filled with
“literally anything that can
make a child smile,” Leonard
said. Items may include color-
ing books, Play Dough, a
bouncing ball, bubbles and
other items that will be donat-
ed to First Step on behalf of
children living in shelters.
“We're trying to make their
lives brighter,” she said.
“I would definitely love to
help out again. The turnout
was amazing. People were so
happy just having fun.”
McCraight, who is now
mentoring Leonard, said he
was happy that the curling
event will lead to “making a
positive impact on less fortu-
nate children.”
Weather permitting, he
added, CurlingRoyale “will be
bigger andbetter next year.”
Clean sweep
Curling Royale makes Romulus debut
Curling Royale champions from the Foundation-14 team, includ-
ing Wade Raddatz, Jen Shay, Mike L'Heureux and Justin Fugate
were all smiles as they received their trophy from Kayla Leonard
after their victory.
Photo by Roger Kadau
Members of the runner-up Curling Royale team from the
Romulus High School coaching staff, Team Eagles, included
from left, Craig Otter, Keith Brothers, Thom Patterson and Mark
Edwards.
Photo by Roger Kadau
Canton Township residents
are concerned about the cost
and necessity of sidewalk
repairs in their neighborhoods.
As the township board of
trustees allocated $826,600 to
the Sidewalk Repair Program
for 2018, a number of residents
who received bills and walked
their sidewalks raised concerns
during the regular meeting of
the trustees last week.
Supervisor Pat Williams
explained that a task force
including township board mem-
bers has beenmeeting to discuss
the issue.
“Cityhood is one of the topics
being broached. Stay tuned,
more coming,” Williams told the
assembled crowd.
Canton Municipal Services
Director Tim Faas urged resi-
dents with concerns to call (734)
394-5150 for a re-inspection of
the sidewalk, if needed.
“Periodically, we're going to
make amistake,” said Faas, who
acknowledged the paint dots
that define responsibility for
repairs do fade. Green dots
show resident responsibility, red
ones denote a township obliga-
tion.
Faas also had a colleague at
the Feb. 27 meeting to discuss
sidewalk concerns with resi-
dents. He cited a 1997 Michigan
Supreme Court case that made
Don Howard
Staff Writer
See
Sidewalks,
page 3
Periodically, we're
going to make a mistake.
”
Sidewalk repair costs concern Canton residents
Julie Brown
Special Writer
