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No. 11
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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March 14 – 20, 2013
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
Wayne Mayor Pro-Tem
Pamela
Dobrowolski
announced at a recentmeeting
that she will not seek re-elec-
tion to the city council in
November.
See page 3.
The family of the late Nikki
Spicer Kuta thanked the com-
munity for the outpouring of
support during a fundraising
pancake breakfast organized
by her long-time friends.
See page 2.
The City of Plymouth will
issue an administrative recom-
mendation for non-renewal of
seven of the 24 liquor licenses
currently in effect in the city at
ameetingMonday.
See page 5.
Northville and America lost
a true patriot and genuine war
hero last week with the death
of Fred Millard, 88, a veteran
of World War II and winner of
twoPurpleHearts.
See page 4.
Alexander Boyar, 48, of
Belleville is facing federal
charges in U.S. District Court
alleging that he threatened to
blow up an elementary school
on the internet.
See page 2.
Vol. 128, No. 11
Vol. 66, No. 11
Vol. 66, No. 11
Vol. 13, No. 11
Vol. 128, No. 11
Vol. 66, No. 11
Vol. 66, No. 11
An Inkster resident submit-
ted recall petition language
against the mayor and all
seven members of the current
city council to the Wayne
County Board of Elections
March 4.
See page 4.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The Westland Jaycees will
sponsor the 16th Annual
Easter Egg Scramble begin-
ning with registration at 12:30
p.m. March 23, at JayceePark
See page 8.
Inkster police officers were reportedly sur-
prised by a recent memo from Interim Police
Chief HiltonNapoleon announcing his vacation
from the department and leaving Lt. Jeffrey
Smith at the helm during his two-week
absence.
The officers were surprised, they said,
because the chief has sated that he has com-
pleted an investigation of Smith and has found
him“unsuitable to be an Inkster police officer.”
The chief's investigation came as a result of a
vote of no-confidence filed against him by both
unions representing Inkster police officers. The
complaints were filed with former Interim City
Manager Ron Wolkowicz, who referred the
investigation of the charges against Napoleon
toNapoleon for investigation.
Wolkowicz was fired as the city manager by
members of the city council during the regular
meeting last Thursday and returned to his for-
mer job as the director of the city Parks and
RecreationDepartment.
The interim chief's investigation of the
charges against himself resulted in his recom-
mending the termination of both Smith, who is
the union steward for the Inkster Command
Officers Union and Phillip Randazzo, who is
the Union Steward of Teamsters Local 214
which represents the 20 city patrol officers and
detectives.
In his absence, anothermemo from the chief
was delivered to each Teamsters member this
week attached to a copy of the original vote of
no confidence. In this memo, the chief
demands that each officer “review the entire
document and mark in yellow highlighter the
part you contributed to this document.”
That demand, according to officers, is a clear
violation of their civil rights, their union con-
tract and federal labor laws.
The charges detailed in the 10-page com-
plaint included dates, times, case numbers and
witnesses' accounts of the chief “interfering
with a criminal investigation, endangering the
lives of officers, endangering his own life and
The "Annual Easter
Eggstravaganza" will take
place from 10:30 a.m. until
12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23
inHeritagePark.
See page 5.
See
Inkster,
page 4
Napoleon has denied all the charges
and claims that the officers lied about
him and committed perjury.
”
Inkster police chief’s ‘investigation’ continues
Community mourns death of Christopher Knight
Vol. 13, No. 11
The community is mourning
the death of Christopher Bruce
Knight, a well-known and beloved
businessman and community
benefactor.
Mr. Knight, 47, of Plymouth
died March 11 after a two-year
battlewith cancer.
He was a 1983 graduate of
Canton High School and attended
Eastern Michigan University. He
opted to remain in the
Plymouth/Canton area where he
spent 28 years building his suc-
cessful real estate business.
During his career he was honored
as the top Coldwell Banker sales
agent in the Midwest for several
years. In 2011, his sales team at
the business he operated with his
sister, Kelly Knight Webster, did
more than $77 million in business,
selling 385 properties in the area.
He and his sister achieved the sta-
tus of Number One Coldwell
Banker sales team in the nation in
2011.
He was dedicated and commit-
ted to the growth and success of
the downtown Plymouth area and
was involved in many efforts to
improve and preserve the com-
munity including his activity with
thePennTheatre..
Mr. Knight's greatest love, how-
ever, was his time with his family,
friends and enjoying watching his
daughters play soccer. He enjoyed
golf, spending time at the family
cottage in Charlevoix, traveling
and cheering for the University of
Michigan football team.
Mr. Knight is survived by his
wife of 18 years, Susan (Miller); his
daughters, Kylie and Alyssa; his
parents, Pamela (Randy) Webster
and Gordon (Kathy) Knight; his
sister, Kelly (Robert) Webster; his
father-in-law, Gary (Janice) Miller;
many beloved aunts, uncles,
cousins, nieces and nephews, and
a host of friends.
Mr. Knight was preceded in
death by his cousin, Jason Rambo
andhis grandfather, GeneBischof.
A funeral mass is planned for
10:30 a.m. tomorrow, March 15, at
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Catholic Church, 47650 N.
Territorial Road in Plymouth.
Visitation at the church will begin
at 10 a.m.
Interment will take place at
RiversideCemetery inPlymouth.
Memorials in Mr. Knight's
name may be made to St. Jude
children's Hospital or Arbor
Hospice.
State of Canton Township is ‘prosperous and improving’
Anyone looking for signs of eco-
nomic recovery can look toward
Canton Township, according to
TownshipSupervisor Phil LaJoy.
At his annual State of the
Township address last week, LaJoy
touted several impending econom-
ic projects as signs of the ongoing
township prosperity, and even
poked fun at some of the doomsday
scenarios circulated last year.
“The Mayans were wrong,” he
joked. “Not only did the world not
end, but things improved. I think
they'll continue to improve-at least
inCanton.”
The township has weathered
the difficult economy as well as or
better than many other communi-
ties, he said, and now shows signs
of moving out of the economic
slump.
Housing values are up for the
first time in four years, he said.
The 3.6 percent increase in those
values, coupledwith an increase in
new residential permits-216, com-
pared to less than 100 last year-
show that Canton is still a desir-
able place to live.
More commercial develop-
ments are on the way, too. Busch's
Marketplace has purchased the
old Former Jack's location at
Canton Center and Cherry Hill.
National Coney will fill another
high-profile spot: the former Big
Boy's location at Ford and Canton
Center roads. Perhaps more
important, LaJoy said, most of the
vacant industrial buildings have
been filled and two more are
planned for one of the Singh indus-
trial parks, each between 40,000-
50,000 square feet.
“A couple of years ago, a devel-
oper investing in 'spec buildings'
was unheard of,” LaJoy said. “Now
we've got at least two in theworks.”
He said the township hopes to
Training day
Northville hosts
first responder
specialty teams
More than 300 highly trained crisis profes-
sionals swarmed the grounds and buildings
at the former Northville Psychiatric Hospital
site Tuesday prepared to deal with exploding
improvised bombs, heavy arms fire frommul-
tiple shooters, hostage situations and the use
of chemical weapons.
The specially-trained crisis first respon-
ders were at the site to demonstrate their
skill in dealing with mock terrorist attacks
during drills simulating real crisis situations.
Northville Township played host to 13
Southeast Michigan First Responder
Specialty Teams at the closed psychiatric
facility in what Northville Township Director
of Public Safety John Werth described as “a
multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary train-
ing event.”
In addition to the Northville Township
Police andFireDepartments, the 13 specialty
teams represented 50 local agencies.
The site, on Seven Mile Road, provided a
very realistic full-scale scenario for the exer-
cises, which continued most of the day. The
training was partially funded through Urban
Area Security Initiative (UASI) Homeland
Security Grants and was designed to provide
an accurate assessment of the various teams'
capabilities. The federal grants have funded
the specialized first-responder training for
the past several years.
“NorthvilleTownship supported this train-
ing exercise both as a means to test response
capabilities and promote regional coopera-
tion. The site provided a good test for the
capabilities of many of the region's special
response units. The Police and Fire
Departments of Northville Township were
happy to contribute to the development of the
capabilities of teams that we hope are never
needed,” Werth said, in a prepared state-
ment.
“As a key region of our nation's homeland
security infrastructure, we have made a very
strong commitment towards both planning
for major crisis situations and conducting
exercises that evaluate our response capabil-
ities and overall preparedness,”' he said.
Photos by Don Howard
See
Canton,
page 5