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No. 16
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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April 17 – 23, 2014
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
A plan to have the Wayne
and Westland District courts
share jurisdiction and some
services was approved by
members of the Wayne City
Council recently.
See page 6.
Romulus has been chosen
by the Detroit Institute of Arts
to participate in the Inside/Out
program which will display
framed reproductions of clas-
sic artworks in the city.
See page 3.
More than 100 business and
community leaders were
acknowledged during the
recent Plymouth Community
UnitedWayAnnualMeeting.
See page 5.
The Drug Enforcement
Administration and Northville
Township Police have sched-
uled the 8th National
Prescription Drug Take-Back
DayApril 26.
See page 4.
The Belleville Area
Museum is still accepting his-
torical information on tri-com-
munity, current and defunct,
clubs and organizations for the
upcomingMay exhibit.
See page 4.
Vol. 129, No. 16
Vol. 67, No. 16
Vol. 67, No. 16
Vol. 14, No. 16
Vol. 129, No. 16
Vol. 67, No. 16
Vol. 67, No. 16
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The Westland Youth
AssistanceProgramwill match
Westland residents or students
in the Wayne-Westland district
16-18with summer jobs.
See page 6.
A fourth-grade student at
South Canton Scholars
Charter Academy has made a
little history of her own with
her win of a statewide poetry
contest.
See page 5
.
Vol. 14, No. 16
A 73-year-old Van Buren
Township man has charged with
first degree premeditated murder
in the shooting death of another
township resident, described as his
“drinking buddy.”
Police were called to 49170
MichiganAve. at 7:54 p.m. April 9 in
response to a report of shots being
fired. Officers searched the resi-
dence and then the area immedi-
ately surrounding the property
where they discovered Eric
Williams, 44, of Van Buren
Township, lying on the ground with
severe injuries to his abdomen and
chest, according to police reports.
Officers reported that Williams
was not breathing, did not have a
pulse and had apparently expired
froman apparent gunshot wound.
Van Buren Township Police offi-
cers secured the area and estab-
lished preliminary investigative
actions to locate any possible wit-
nesses and preserve evidence,
according to police reports. The
police Investigative Division and
Evidence Technician Team
responded to the scene and
assumed control of the investiga-
tion.
While at the scene, officers col-
lected evidence and canvassed the
area surrounding the address,
searching for anyone who might
have witnessed the incident or had
information related to the investi-
gation. During the course of this
investigation, Van Buren Police
officers detained 73-year-old
Kenneth William Coskie, a Van
Buren Township resident, and
transported him to police head-
quarters for questioning. Coskie
was subsequently arrested and
charged with the killing of
Williams.
Coskie was arraigned April 11 at
the 34th District Court in Romulus
before Judge David M. Parrott. He
is charged with felony firearm and
as a habitual offender in addition
to the first-degreemurder charge.
Coskie is being held on a $1 mil-
lion or 10 percent cash bond. His
preliminary court examination on
the charges is scheduled for April
23 before 34th District Court Judge
BrianOakley.
Anyone with questions or con-
cerns about the case is asked to
contact Lt. Kenneth Floro at the
Van Buren Township Department
of Public Safety (734) 699-8915.
73-year-old charged in Van Buren homicide
‘Fascinating Rhythm’
Local craftsman restores piano of legendary George Gershwin
The 22nd District Court in
Inkster has launched an
amnesty program for unpaid
civil infraction tickets from
nowuntil April 30.
See page 6.
An 80-year-old superstar left
Plymouth last week after spending
more than three months of reha-
bilitation inOldVillage.
The star in question is the
ebony grand piano that belonged
to George Gershwin, who with his
brother, Ira, composed nearly
every Broadway hit show and
score of the 1910s, 20s and 30s.
Gershwin remains the most prolif-
ic and recognizable composer of
his generation with much of his
music written at the Steinway that
Pat DeBeliso at PianoCrafters in
Plymouth just finished restoring.
“If Gershwin walked in today,
he would find the movement and
action of his piano exactly the way
he left it,”DeBeliso explained.
The piano, a 6-foot, 4-inch
Steinway GrandModel A, has now
been carefully transported from
DeBeliso's shop to the University
of Michigan where it will be part
of a permanent music exhibit, The
Gershwin Initiative, at the School
of Music, Theatre and Dance. The
piano will be housed in a glass
case and displayed along with a
great deal of other Gershwin
memorabilia donated to the
school by the Gershwin family.
Todd Gershwin, the grandnephew
of George and Ira Gershwin, is a
University of Michigan alumnus.
He was instrumental in the dona-
tion of memorabilia through his
father, Marc George Gershwin,
who heads the Gershwin
Foundation.
One of the top 10 intersections
for vehicle accidents in the state
will be the target of road construc-
tion and traffic signal work begin-
ning in July.
WestlandCity Councilmembers
approved a contract with the
Michigan
Department
of
Transportation for road recon-
struction and traffic signal work
on Cherry Hill Road, west of
Newburgh Road, back in
November.
According to a crash analysis of
the site, with data obtained from
the Traffic Improvement
Association (TIA), there have been
113 crashes in 36 months at the
intersection, making the critical
crash rate double that of crashes
in theState ofMichigan.
"The safety of our citizens and
visitors has always been a top pri-
ority for my administration. When
I hear that there have been 27
crashes in 2013, and 40 in 2012 at
this location alone, I know that we
need to come up with a solution
immediately," said Mayor William
Wild.
Construction on the intersec-
tion, slated to start in early July, is
expected to be complete by mid-
October. Private utility relocation
will begin before the road project,
starting this spring.
"The partnership with MDOT
has given us the opportunity to
address this problem with an
emphasis on best practices for
drivers' safety, while allowing us to
move forward without delay,"
added Wild. "The new design will
improve traffic flow and make the
intersection safer."
The upcoming project will not
only include the reconstruction of
the intersection of Cherry Hill and
Newburgh Road, but the west side
of Cherry Hill will also be
widened from four to five lanes,
and there will be an area at the
west end of the project which tran-
sitions the road from the newly-
built five-lanes to the existing two-
lane road. Other features of the
project include a new traffic signal
installation at the intersection,
drainage improvements and side-
walk enhancements.
The estimated cost of the proj-
ect is $1,163,000. The state, through
federal funding, will pay 81.85 per-
cent of the total costs of construc-
tion, or $952,000. Westland and
Wayne County have agreed to split
the remaining $211,000 cost of the
project, with a total cost to the city
of $105,500. The project was bid in
November, 2013 with Florence
Cement Co. awarded the contract
for thework.
There is also a separate project
on Newburgh Road from Palmer
to Cherry Hill scheduled to com-
mence inMay. That project should
be complete by early July. The two
projects are being coordinated to
provide the least impact on traffic
andmotorists,Wild said.
See
Piano,
page 2
High-accident intersection slated for reconstruction
Musical legend George Gershwin, above, wrote music at the Steinway grand piano recently donated by his
family to the University of Michigan for a permanent exhibit. The piano was restored by PianoCrafters owner
Pat DeBeliso, below, who spent more than three months on the project.
Photo by Dave Willett
Kenneth William Coskie