No. 14
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
April 5 – 11, 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
Wayne Memorial High
School basketball superstar
Camree Clegg has been
awarded a full scholarship to
Clemson University in South
Carolina.
See page 4
Northville Township
Police Officer Zachary Lewis
was officially sworn in by
Deputy
Clerk
Katie
Anderson during a ceremony
last week.
See page 3.
Vol. 133, No. 14
Vol. 71, No. 14
Vol. 71, No. 14
Vol. 18, No. 14
For the second time in
three years, the Romulus
Eagles Symphony Band
earned an overall top rating
at the Michigan district festi-
val.
See page 2.
Vol. 133, No. 14
Vol. 71, No. 14
Vol. 71, No. 14
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Westland Click and Fix, a
free citizen reporting tool,
has undergone a major
upgrade to help residents
communicate directly with
city hall about issues.
See page 4.
Kiran Ahluwalia will
present "LOVEfest: Welcome
the Stranger", bringing per-
formances from the Sikh and
Muslim cultures to Canton
April 15.
See page 5.
Vol. 18, No. 14
Inkster residents have the
opportunity to have their tax
returns prepared for free
through the Wayne County
Asset BuildingCoalition.
See page 3.
For the seventh time since
2001, WSDP-FM (88.1) has
been chosen as the High
School Station of the Year by
the Michigan Association of
BroadcastersFoundation.
See page 5.
The Belleville Area
District Library will cele-
brate National Library Week
with several special pro-
grams including the ground-
breaking for a new facility.
See page 2.
Despite authorization earlier
this month allowing Plymouth
Township Supervisor Kurt
Heise to cancel a tolling agree-
ment and proceed with litiga-
tion, a settlement may be near in
the disputed fire pension obliga-
tion fromtheCity of Plymouth.
The pension obligation
remained following the 2010 dis-
solution of the intergovernmen-
tal fire protection agreement.
Under that agreement, one
department provided all fire
services to both the city and
township for 17 years.
The two communities did not
agree as to the financial obliga-
tion and the accounting method-
ology used to determine the
amount the city owed the
employees' pension fund. Last
month, township officials report-
ed the city obligation to be near
$1.5 million. At the board of
trustees meeting last week, how-
ever, that number was revised to
$1.45million.
City officials have reportedly
offered a settlement of $800,000
and a used 2010 Pierce fire truck
as full payment of the obligation.
Heise told the board mem-
bers last Tuesday that he would
prefer a lump sum payment and
recommend a $1.1 million settle-
ment amount be proffered to the
city. Heise, an attorney, estimat-
ed the cost of ligation at $200,000.
He said the settlement time
would drag on and he felt the
township would be at the mercy
of the courts as to timing.
“My recommendation is we
get this done by the end of the
year. I recommend a $1.1 million
settlement plus a MERS
acknowledgement from the
city…I want a universal settle-
ment,”Heise said.
Trustees Chuck Curmi and
Bob Doroshewitz were not in
favor of Heise's suggestion and
the two cast dissenting votes on a
motion to approve the settle-
ment offer. The motion was
approved by a 4 to 2 vote follow-
ing lengthy discussion.
Curmi said he thought the
township needed to consult an
expert pension attorney while
Doroshewitz said he was not
happy with the suggested
amount.
“From 1.45 million to $1.1 mil-
lion is a generous settlement,”
Doroshewitz said.
“We want a cash settlement-
with no fire truck,” Clerk Jerry
Vorva commented.
Trustee Gary Heitman char-
acterized the offer from the city
as “a joke.”
From 1.45 million to $1.1 million
is a generous settlement.
”
Residents filled Plymouth
Township Hall nearly to capaci-
ty last Tuesday in response to
false claims about themerger of
the township with the city
announced in robocallsmade to
townshiphomes.
Many residents claimed to
have received the recorded
calls which stated that
Supervisor Kurt Heise had a
“diabolical plan to merge the
township and city into one
Plymouth.” The robocall,
recorded by the reedy voice of a
mature-sounding woman,
claimed that the township
would cede all local control to
the city to “run as they see fit”
while township residents
“wouldpay for it.”
The caller stated at the end
of the message that it was paid
for by SayNo toPARC, although
no registration of any suchpolit-
ical group couldbe located.
Heise, visibly upset by the
claims made in the robocalls
and in some Facebook posts,
made his position clear at the
meeting.
“If you are here because you
were told we are going to raise
your taxes tonight, you are
being lied to. If you are here
because you were told we are
voting to sell the golf course,
you are being lied to. If you are
here because you were told we
are going to vote on a massive
new recreation authority that
will have unlimited taxing
power, you are being lied to. If
you are here because you were
told we are disbanding the sen-
ior bus service, you are being
lied to,”Heise stated.
Heise's remarks criticizing
the robocalls were seconded by
several members of the audi-
encewho expressed their shock
and dismay at the claims made
by the caller.
“Shame on all the despica-
ble(s),” commented resident
DoreenSharpe.
“Let the people decide about
PARC, (Plymouth Arts and
Recreation Complex). They
have a lot to offer people in this
community. The small amount
of money we'd have to come up
with would be a benefit,” she
said.
Some of those in attendance
said they were there in
response to information posted
on the Facebook page of former
Township Clerk Nancy
Conzelman who was soundly
defeated during her bid for
reelection inNovember.
“The presentation is in the
board packet,” Conzelman post-
ed. “It calls for an authority to
raise taxes to build the stand
alone 800 seat orchestra hall,
renovate Central, and enter into
an agreement with PARC, that
can never be terminated, to
In memoriam
City vows to honor
long forgotten hero
A long-deceased war hero buried in
Romulus has been overlooked by the federal
government for nearly a century.
Local officials, however, intend to see that he
receives the honor he earned with his valiant
military service and that he deserves at his
place of final rest.
Members of the Romulus Cemetery Board of
Trustees led by Chairwoman JanLemmon have
taken on the responsibility for a new headstone
and marker at the grave of Charles Cawetzka,
who was presented with the United States of
AmericaMedal of Honor for his heroismduring
the Philippine-American War. Mr. Cawetzka is
buried in the Romulus Memorial Cemetery but
his government-issued headstone does not rec-
ognize his heroic earning of the most presti-
gious honor bestowed on members of the
armed forces. Mr. Cawetzka was presented the
medal by President Theodore Roosevelt in
1902, honoring his heroic conduct on Aug. 23,
1900 in Sariaya in the province of Quezon,
Philippines.
The oversight was discovered by Ret. Army
Master Sgt. Greg Farino of Riverview who
learned of the Medal of Honor omission and
researched Mr. Cawetzka's military history, dis-
covering that he “single-handedly defended a
disabled comrade against a greatly superior
force of the enemy.”
Mr. Cawetzka's gravestone shows his dates of
birth (March 1, 1877) and death (Oct. 23, 1951)
and states that he served as a corporal in the
Army in the 30th United States Volunteer
Infantry in the Spanish-AmericanWar.
But neither his Medal of Honor nor the fact
that he was recognized for his service in the
Philippine-AmericanWar arementioned on the
current headstone.
Farino, who loves military history, studies
military gravesites and corrects mistakes and
omissions, was researching another gravesite
whenhe learned ofMr. Cawetzka's grave.
“Holy cow, I didn't know a Medal of Honor
recipient was buried anywhere near me,”
Farino said. “I wanted to pay my respects to
someone who earned aMedal of Honor. I found
his headstone mentions nothing about him
being a Medal of Honor recipient. There is no
higher honor than the Medal of Honor. I just
couldn't let it go.”
According to records discovered by Farino,
sevenmonths before the incident that led to the
Medal of Honor, Mr. Cawetzka was severely
Janet Lemmon, chairwoman of the Romulus Cemetery Commission, and Greg
Farino, an Army veteran who researched the case of the late Charles Cawetzka,
at the current gravesite.
Medal of Honor recipient
Charles Cawetzka
See
Calls,
page 5
See
Hero,
page 2
Don Howard
Staff Writer
City offers settlement in pension dispute
If you are here because you
were told we are going to raise
your taxes tonight, you are being lied to.
”
Township officials blast false robocall claims
