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No. 13
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
March 28 – April 3, 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 Baseball Association
players will be sporting Mark
Chevrolet t-shirts this year
since the dealership has once
again provided equipment and
support for the league.
See page 3.
Romulus Community High
School basketball players had
something to celebrate last
week when they won the 2013
Class B State Championship
for the Michigan Alternative
AthleticAssociation.
See page 5.
The plan to repair and
repave the asphalt streets in
the Ridgewood Hills subdivi-
sion in Plymouth Township
has fallen flat with several of
the affectedproperty owners.
See page 4.
Chocolates, dinner and an
original musical cabaret are
all part of the effort to help
support a new music and arts
therapy program for autistic
children inNorthville.
See page 4.
The Van Buren Fire
Department has taken a new
approach to emergency med-
ical service calls using a small-
er vehicle to save wear and
maintenance costs on the big
trucks.
See page 6.
Vol. 128, No. 13
Vol. 66, No. 13
Vol. 66, No. 13
Vol. 13, No. 13
Vol. 128, No. 13
Vol. 66, No. 13
Vol. 66, No. 13
Members of the Zeta Nu
Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta
Sorority chose DeArtriss
Coleman-Richardson as the
communityActivist of theYear.
See page 6
.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Members of Local 1602 of
the American Federation of
State, Country and Municipal
Employees approved a new
contract with the City of
Westlandby a 28 to 20 vote.
See page 6.
For the second time in as many
weeks, the Plymouth Township
FireDepartment was forced to call
for mutual aid from other commu-
nities.
Last Friday, a fire at the Lake
Pointe Village Apartments, located
about 350 feet from the closed
Lake Pointe Fire Station,
destroyed several apartment units,
despite the help of needed equip-
ment and manpower from both
Northville Township and the City
of Livonia. Reportedly, firefighters
from the City of Northville sta-
tioned in downtown Plymouth also
responded to the blaze.
On March 13, a blaze at Tower
Automotive Plant on Plymouth
Oaks Boulevard also requiredhelp
from several neighboring fire
departments who sent equipment
andpersonnel.
According to Plymouth
Township Fire Chief Mark
Wendel, “Everything that could be
done, was done,” in the apartment
complex blaze. Wendel said that
the damage to the apartments
would not have been significantly
reduced had the nearby closed fire
stationbeen open and staffed.
“Response times weren't an
issue,” Wendel said of the raging
blaze that destroyed 16 units and
displaced dozens of residents.
Reportedly, some pets were lost
but there were no human casual-
ties or injuries reported.
Wendel said fire reports
showed that the fire was reported
to dispatch at 11 a.m. and that the
response time from the township
department was 6 minutes.
According to statistics from the
National Fire ProtectionAct, a fire
doubles in intensity everyminute.
The National Fire Incident
Report provided by the township
shows six pieces of apparatus and
14 personnel were dispatched.
“That could be anything, an ambu-
lance, an engine or a vehicle,”
Wendel said, describing the
resources andpersonnel used.
According to Wendel there
were only six firefighters who ini-
tially arrived at the blaze, four full-
time and two part-time firefight-
ers.
Northville Township received
the call seeking help in battling the
blaze at 11:05 a.m. and arrived
with a rescue squad at 11:12 a.m.
and an engine and ladder truck
arrived at 11:13 a.m.
Livonia Fire Department got
the call formutual aid at 11:12 a.m.
Members of the Canton
Township Board of Trustees
followed the recommenda-
tions of department adminis-
trators and will not increase
water rates for one year.
See page 3
.
See
Fire,
page 2
Apartment blaze challenges fire department
Vol. 13, No. 13
An ongoing investigation
prompted the raid Monday night
at the home of Romulus Mayor
Alan Lambert, according to
Michigan State Police Lt. Michael
Shaw.
Shaw said that Lambert had
been interviewed by investigators
as part of the investigation into
corruption involving city officials.
Lambert was questioned at his
home and investigators then
searched the house on Mario
Court and “numerous items were
seized from the home and are
being processed at this time,”
Shawstated.
“He has been cooperative with
investigators,” Shawsaid.
Lambert, who has been mayor
since 2001, was not at the regular
meeting of the city council
Monday evening. A state police
car remained parked in the
driveway of his home late into the
night.
Speculation is that the investi-
gation may be related to the
charges of police corruption in
the city following a three-year
probe by the state police. In
September of 2011, former Police
Chief Michael St. Andre, his wife
and five police officers were
charged with corruption andmis-
use of drug forfeiture funds,
including charges that they used
forfeiture money for the pur-
chase of drugs, alcohol and pros-
titutes.
It is alleged that St. Andre
used more than $40,000 to fund
the purchase of a Westland tan-
ning salon for his wife. Those
cases are currently being adjudi-
cated in Wayne County Circuit
Court.
Lambert said at the time those
charges were filed that he had
fully cooperated with the investi-
gation and would continue to do
so.
Lambert is currently seeking
re-election. A lifelong resident of
the city, he graduated from
Romulus High School, was a
police officer in the city and
served on the city council and the
Romulus Board of Education
prior to becomingmayor.
Caroline Van Gorder has always
remembered the lessons her moth-
er taught her about being kind and
helping others in life.
At 83, theCantonTownship resi-
dent still tries to live up to those
life lessons and had a chance
recently to put her mother's exam-
ple in practice in a very personal
way.
For most of her life, she had
been treasuring and preserving
locks of her mother's hair, cut in
1939. The 18-inch brown and
auburn strands were cut in about
1939 when Van Gorder's mother,
Francis Tench, born in 1898, decid-
ed it was time to change.
Van Gorder, who was about 10,
still remembers the day her moth-
er cut her hair and gave it to her.
“She saved it for me because I
am the only daughter; she thought
I may want to have it,” said Van
Gorder. “I've had it all these years,
always wrapped in tissue on my
dresser.”
Van Gorder was married for 50
years before her husband, John
Donald, died in 2002 at age 72.With
no children of her own to pass it on
to, Van Gorder decided to donate
the family heirloom to a cause that
would honor her mother who sur-
vived breast cancer at age 65, but
died at age 79 due to throat cancer.
Van Gorder survived uterus cancer
at age 64. Her gift to those suffering
hair loss from the disease seemed
especially appropriate, she said.
“I wanted to do something for
children or adults who could use
it,” she said. “That was the type of
person my mother was; if someone
could use something, she would
help them.”
Her St. Mary Mercy Hospital
physician recommended the
Helen Palmer Image Recovery
Center®, a St. Mary Mercy service
that specializes in image rehabili-
tation for cancer patients. The
Image Recovery Center services
include skin care analysis, hand
and nail care, massage therapy,
hair replacement and headwear
and other services for those coping
with cancer.
“My immediate thought was
what a special gift to give to us,”
said Trish Tyl, licensed clinical
cosmetologist, at the Image
Recovery Center at St. Mary Mercy
Hospital. “It's more than just hair;
it's hairwithhistory.”
Tyl said she was also surprised
with the hair's excellent condition:
the strands still had shine without
knots or snarls. One end was tied
with a band while the other end
still bouncedwithnatural curl.
“It looked like it was freshly
cut,” Tyl said.
The Image Recovery Center
sends all hair donations to
Children with Hairloss, a non-prof-
it organization based in Rockwood
that makes wigs out of human hair
for children suffering from med-
ically-related hair loss, such as
cancer.
Tyl said specialists at the Image
Recovery Center routinely help
chemotherapy patients with hair
loss. “When we look at hair, we
look at it part of a person,” she
said. “I felt Caroline was passing
onher life and legacy.”
That's how Van Gorder feels,
too. “My mother raised me to help
others and be kind to others,” she
said. “It makes me feel good inside
that I'm able to donate it someone
who canuse it.”
Caroline Van Gorder (left), 83, of Canton Township, donates her
mother's hair that was cut about 74 years ago. Van Gorder stands
with Trish Tyl (right), licensed clinical cosmetologist, Helen Palmer
Image Recovery Center, St. Mary Mercy Hospital,
State police search Romulus mayor’s home
Photos by Don Howard
Crowning glory
Treasured keepsake is given
to Children With Hairloss