Basic HTML Version
No. 17
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
April 26-May 2, 2012
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
TheWayneRotary Club and
Wayne Parks and Recreation
Department will present a
Kentucky Derby Celebration
including faux wagering on
pre-tapedhorse races.
See page 5.
The reconstruction of
Goddard Road from Huron
River Drive at Five Points to
Romaine Street, rated the
worst major road in the city,
will start soon.
See page 3.
The Plymouth-Canton
Marching Band (PCMB) is
accepting new members to
join the ranks of marchers,
color guard and percussionists
for theupcoming season.
See page 4.
Mail carriers in Northville
hope to pick up a lot more
than the usual letters and
cards next month during a
benefit to aid Northville Civic
Concern from 10 a.m. until 4
p.m. May 12.
See page 4.
Visteon Corp. sold the Van
Buren Township headquar-
ters, originally known as
Visteon Village, to Sovereign
Partners, LLC, for a reported
price of $81.2million.
See page 3.
Vol. 127, No. 17
Vol. 65, No. 17
Vol. 65, No. 17
Vol. 12, No. 17
Vol. 12, No. 17
Vol. 127, No. 17
Vol. 65, No. 17
Vol. 65, No. 17
TheYWCAofWestern
WayneCounty is sponsoring
StandAgainst Racismtomor-
row, April 27, which includes
several public events.
See page 5.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Members of the Westland
City Council have accepted a
donation of a historic bard to
the city from the family of
Elmer McGee, to be moved to
the Westland Historic Village
Park.
See page 5.
New charges have been filed against a for-
mer Wayne Memorial High School teacher who
already stands accused of child sexually abu-
sive activity with a 16-year-old male student
fromCantonTownship.
WayneCounty ProsecutorKymL.Worthy has
charged Brandon Tomblin, 26, of Canton in
three new incidents, where it is alleged that he
had sexual contact with two male high school
students.
The new charges allege that while Tomblin
was a teacher he had sexual contact with a
then-16-year-old Wayne Memorial High School
student in May at a location near Henry Ruff
Road, nearEcorseRoad inRomulus.
In that instance, Tomblin has been charged
with Criminal Sexual Conduct Third Degree in
34th District Court in Romulus. If convicted,
Tomblin could face 15 years in prison on this
charge.
Prosecutors also allege that while Tomblin
was a teacher he had sexual contact with a then
17-year-old Wayne Memorial High School stu-
dent, also in May, at the high school on Fourth
Street inWayne.
In this instance Tomblin has been charged
with two counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct
ThirdDegree, a 15-year felony, and one count of
Criminal Sexual Conduct FourthDegree, which
is a 2-yearmisdemeanor, in 29thDistrict Court.
Worthy also has charged Tomblin with hav-
ing sexual contact with a then 16-year-old stu-
dent and a then 17-year-old Wayne Memorial
High School student at a home in Garden City
in May. In that instance, Tomblin has been
charged with one count of Criminal Sexual
Conduct ThirdDegree, a 15-year-felony and two
counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct Fourth
Degree, a 2-year misdemeanor, in 29th District
Court.
Tomblin has already been arraigned on ear-
lier charges at the 35th District Court in
Plymouth where he faces charges of Child
Sexually Abusive Activity, Using a Computer to
Commit a Crime and Distributing Sexually
ExplicitMaterial ToChildren.
His preliminary court hearing on those alle-
gations is scheduled forMay 4.
Tomblin was arraigned last Friday on all
three new cases in 34th District Court in
Romulus by video. Bond was set at $ 250,000 or
10 percent. There will be a pre-examination
hearing on the three new cases at 1 p.m. May 3,
in theRomulus court.
Canton residents will see a
slight reduction in the cost of
water and sewer in the town-
ship, reflecting a 'true cost of
service' model enacted by the
township in 2006.
See page 4.
Teacher faces additional sex charges
At least two people were
denied admittance and one man
was forcibly evicted from the
Plymouth
Lake
Pointe
Subdivision
Homeowners
Association meeting last
Wednesday afternoon.
According to accounts of the
meeting, at which Plymouth
Township Supervisor Richard
Reaume was the scheduled
speaker, association president
Mike Balow denied access to any-
one attempting to attend themeet-
ing whose name was not on a list
of dues paying association mem-
berswhowere “in good standing.”
Postcards were mailed to Lake
Pointe residents and a meeting
notice was on the homeowners
association website announcing
the meeting at the Friendship
Station on Schoolcraft Road. The
announcements this year, howev-
er, included the provision that the
meeting would only be open to
Lake Pointe residents only with
associationdues paidup to date.
Guy Villet, a laid off Plymouth
Township firefighter paramedic,
attended the first portion of the
meeting as the guest of a former
association board member. When
Villet attempted to question some
of Reaume's statements regarding
patient safety and emergency
response times of the 911 service
since cutbacks in the department,
A Canton Township woman
remains in critical condition at the
University of Michigan Burn Unit
after neighbors found her in flames
on the deck of her home.
Canton Police and Fire
Department Rescue units respond-
ed to an emergency call from a
neighbor about a deck fire and a
person being burned at a home in
the 1100 block of Celina Court at
about 3:18 p.m. last Friday, accord-
ing to reports from the fire depart-
ment.
A neighbor who smelled smoke
discovered the fire and ran to help
the woman who was described as
engulfed in flames.
When the neighbor ran to help,
the 53-year-old victimreportedly ran
from the burning deck into her own
kitchen where the neighbor found
her on the floor. The neighbor
attempted to smother the flames still
burning the woman's hair. Her cloth-
ing had reportedly been burned
away.
A family member of the neighbor
made the emergency call and
attempted to extinguish the fire on
the deck.
Fire department reports from the
emergency personnel on the scene
described the woman's injuries as
"substantial." Shewas transported by
Canton rescue workers to the
University ofMichiganBurnUnit.
Reports indicated that officers
found matches, a gas can and burn-
ing lawn furniture cushions on the
deck.
Neighbors said the family had
lived in the home since about 2004.
Police reports said that the prelimi-
nary investigation indicated that the
fire was intentionally set by the vic-
tim and her resulting injuries were
self-inflicted.
The investigation will continue
by the Canton Police Department.
The victim's name is not being
releasedby officials.
See
Meeting,
page 2
Man evicted, 2 denied admittance to meeting
Self-immolation suspected in Canton home fire
Cutting class
Students watch live surgery
Honors biology students from
the
Plymouth-Canton
Educational Park were trying to
listen for possible questions on
their next test - but they weren't
focused on their
teacher. Instead,
they
were
absorbed
in
watching a live
telecast of a
laparoscopic
pelvic surgery
being performed
at St. Mary
MercyHospital.
T i m o t h y
Johnson, MD,
Obstetrics and
Gynecology, St. Mary Mercy
Hospital, performed the minimal-
ly invasive procedure as 55 stu-
dents watched from a hospital
classroom on April 4. The live
video feeds - a first for St. Mary
Mercy - of the operating roomand
the laparoscopic camera were
telecast onto a widescreen TV
and two projector screens. The
students asked Johnson questions
as he was navigating the laparo-
scopic camera around the organs.
The procedure lasted about an
hour and ahalf.
“They all said tome at the end,
'Wow, it doesn't look like this in
the book,'” said Sharon Caldwell,
an honors biology teacher at
Plymouth-Canton Educational
Park, a campus that encompasses
Canton, Plymouth and Salem
high schools.
It was among the activities
designed to help the students gain
insight in the
medical field.
The students
also toured the
surgery depart-
ment, an oper-
ating room, as
well as tried
their skills in
various med-
ical simula-
tions: orthope-
dic surgery,
o r t h o p e d i c
casting, using technology in brain
surgery and laparoscopy.
Johnson and Perioperative
Services department employees
at St. Mary Mercy organized the
activities for the high school stu-
dents. Johnson, whose son
attends honors biology, had visit-
ed the students before the sur-
gery and gave a presentation of
his medical mission trips in the
DominicanRepublic.
“This is all part of giving back,”
said Johnson. “I want to provide
this opportunity for the students. I
am fortunate that I entered a field
that I enjoy. They also get to see
that what they are learning in the
classroom does matter and how it
applies in real life.”
They also get to
see that what they
are learning in the
classroom does
matter and how
it applies in real life.
”
Timothy Johnson (right), M.D., Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Mary
Mercy Hospital, demonstrates how an operating room is prepared for
surgery. Fifty-five honors biology students from the Plymouth-Canton
Educational Park were at St. Mary Mercy Hospital to watch a live broad-
cast of a laparoscopic pelvic surgery.
Alex Johnson (left), a sophomore at Plymouth-Canton Educational Park,
tries his skill in a laparoscopic surgery simulation at St. Mary Mercy
Hospital. The activity was among the demonstrations designed to give
honors biology students insight in the medical field.