No. 15
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
April 14 – 20, 2016
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
To defray some of the
mounting medical expenses
of the VerHines family, a
Spaghetti Fundraiser is
planned from 6-8 p.m. April
29 at the First United
Methodist Church.
See page 4.
The
Northville
Community Foundation is
searching for Olympic ath-
letes to help celebrate the
Fourth of July this year dur-
ing the annual holiday
parade.
See page 3.
Vol. 131, No. 15
Vol. 69, No. 15
Vol. 69, No. 15
Vol. 16, No. 15
The City of Romulus
Annual Clean Sweep Day
will take place Saturday,
April 23. when volunteers
clean up litter and spruce up
public spaces around the
city.
See page 6.
Vol. 131, No. 15
Vol. 69, No. 15
Vol. 69, No. 15
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The mountain of cases
and huge stack of gallon con-
tainers of water donated by
Westland residents were
delivered to beleaguered
residents of Flint last
Saturday.
See page 4.
Jason McIntyre of Fellows
Creek Golf Club was named
Billy
Casper
Golf's
"Superintendent of the Year"
at the recent regional meet-
ing of the company.
See page 3.
Vol. 16, No. 24
Inkster Police Chief
WilliamRiley is looking for a
few recruits for a new
Scouting program and has
planned a meeting tonight at
the Dozier Recreation
Complex.
See page5.
The popular Ghosts of
Plymouth Walk is planned
for April 23 this year when
visitors can meet characters
fromthe past of the city.
See page 5.
TheAmericanCancer
Society is seeking teams, sur-
vivors, caregivers, and other
volunteers for theupcoming
RelayFor Life of Belleville
May 14.
See page 2.
Members of the Wayne City
Council have unanimously
approved ballot language for the
Aug. 2 primary election asking
voters to approve a 14 mill levy
for public safety and allow the
city to join a public safety author-
ity. The 14-mills would be levied
against property in the city
through 2034 and would gener-
ate about $4.9 million in tax rev-
enue the first year, according to
official estimates.
Officials have said that the
general operating millage levied
against property in the city
would be rolled back as a partial
offset to the 14-mill levy, if
approved.
The authority, the South
Macomb Oakland Regional
Authority or SMORSA, currently
has two members, Hazel Park
and Eastpointe. Voters in those
communities would have to
approve Wayne as a member to
finalize the financing plan. The
authority collects no fees and
takes no compensation. All tax
monies collected are returned to
the individual municipal mem-
bers.
The city continues to face a $2
million budget deficit and is
expected, according to analysts,
to run out of money during the
next budget year. The general
fundmillage in the city is already
at the maximum amount and
joining the authority is a means
of financing both public safety
and other general city services.
Mayor Susan Rowe said that
the city would consider the
amount of the general fund roll-
back as soon as the budget was
finalized. She also said that a cit-
izens committee would be pro-
viding information to voters
regarding the authority with
townhallmeetings andpresenta-
tions.
14 mills to be on Wayne ballot
Plymouth City Commissioner
Colleen Pobur will seek the
office of state representative
from the 20th District in the
November election.
Pobur, 57, announced her
candidacy Monday morning at
thePlymouthLibrary.
She has lived inPlymouth for
more than two decades and
prior to her current term,
served eight years on the
Plymouth City Commission,
including four years as mayor
pro tem. She has also served on
the Plymouth Redevelopment
Authority and Plymouth
EconomicDevelopment Corp.
Pobur said her campaign
would be based on three key
elements; education, support
for sustained business and
transparency and accountabili-
ty.
During her professional
career, she directed the conces-
sions development program for
the McNamara Terminal at
Detroit Metro Airport and was
appointed to the Michigan
Liquor Control Commission in
2008 by then Gov. Jennifer
Granholm. She said she has
traveled the state “fromone end
to the other” and “understands
howstate government works.”
“One important thing,” said
Pobur, “is public education and
I'mgoing to work hard to bolster
higher education,” she said.
“I consider the people of
Plymouth to be my family,”
Pobur said. “Plymouth is really
a rare organization to work in.
Everyone respects everyone.
That's one of the things I want to
bring forward as a state rep,”
she added.
Pobur said she feels current
State Rep. Kurt Heise who is
termlimiteddid “a good job.”
Mind and body
School clinic dedicated to total well-being of teens
Sometimes themost difficult
problems facing high school
students have nothing to do
with classroom tests or home-
work assignments.
Many of the problems con-
fronting these young people are
far more personal and can
have life-altering conse-
quences. Like a ninth-grader
who finds herself being socially
pressured into a sexual rela-
tionship, a 14-year-old being
mercilessly bullied or the high
school junior who is suffering a
severe sore throat and has no
way to get to a doctor and no
means to pay for treatment.
The answers and help for
these students andmany others
is as close as a quiet section of
Romulus High School where
they, and young people up to
the age of 21 from anywhere in
Wayne County, can go for confi-
dential counseling and treat-
ment of medical and situation-
al problems. The clinic, official-
ly known as the Beaumont
Teen Health Center-Romulus,
offers help to these students
froma select staff of health pro-
fessionals dedicated to improv-
ing the lives of the young peo-
ple they see every day.
Clinic Director Jeff Cook
explained that the high school
facility is state funded and has
been open for about 18 months
now after regaining grant
money lost in 2011.
“We serve anybody inWayne
County up to the age of 21,” he
said. “We treat minor physical
illnesses provide vaccinations
and do a lot of counseling for
young people.”
The clinic is a safe haven
where help for issues such as
depression, suicidal thoughts,
academic, sexual and family
abuse or dysfunction situations
can be discussed with a coun-
selor either in a single session
or ongoing visits.
Rachel Wallner, one of the
social workers at the clinic,
said that the staff members
often find that the medical,
family and physical situations
of a student are all in need of
attention. Sometimes a physi-
cal symptom is a sign of a more
serious issue, something the
clinic is equipped to handle
eitherwith the professionals on
staff or with a referral to a
more specializedprovider.
“Do they have enough food,
are there utilities, like water, in
the home, is this an abuse situ-
ation?” she said. “We need to
evaluate and consider a lot of
possibilities.”
Nurse Practitioner Lynn
Lawlor handles most of the
physical or medical issues that
may bring young people to the
clinic. She said they do a lot of
inoculations at the high school
facility and that their main
focus is prevention. That pre-
vention includes issues as seri-
ous as teen pregnancy and sex-
ually transmitteddisease.
“We do not hand out con-
doms or birth control,” she
said, “but we do have resources
to help with any problems the
patients have. We can help
them.We can find away.
“Confidentiality is an issue,”
she said. “Obviously, we always
attempt to involve the parents
and advise the kids to talk to
their mother about the issue,
whatever it is. I'm on the phone
tomothers nearly constantly.”
Lawlor said the focus is
always to attempt to involve the
parents if there is a medical
problem. State and federal
laws, however, are strict about
what can and cannot be
revealed to a parent or
guardian and conversely what
the law requires must be
revealed, depending on age
guidelines. “We keep things
confidential if that is what the
student wants us to do, unless
there is a danger to them,” she
said.
Lawlor and Cook agreed
that sometimes it is a fine line
towalk, but that theirmain con-
cern is always the welfare of
the patients.
Students and other patients
at the clinic are greeted at the
receptiondesk by officemanag-
er Jennifer Hall who helps
them fill out the necessary
paperwork and offers a lot of
gentle reassurance about the
help available. Hall tries to
determine the underlying rea-
sons, if any, for a student's visit,
while protecting their privacy.
That's a big job, considering
the clinic also deals with issues
including mood disorders,
addiction to drugs, cigarettes or
alcohol, depression, sexual sit-
uations or disease, pregnancy
testing, and abuse issues.
“It's almost always not just
one problem, but six. We work
See
Clinic,
page 2
Office Manager Jennifer Hall, seated, Social Worker Rachel Wellner, standing, left, Nurse
Practitioner Lynn Lawlor and Clinic Director Jeff Hall welcome students to the Beaumont Teen
Health Center in Romulus High School.
Photo by Sean Rhaesa
Commissioner Colleen Pobur
We treat minor physical illnesses
provide vaccinations and do
a lot of counseling for young people.
”
Plymouth city commissioner seeks state term
