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No. 18
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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May 2 – 8, 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 City Council mem-
bers have approved a new
Commercial Redevelopment
District which would allow
businesses to apply for a 50-
percent property tax abate-
ment.
See page 3.
Eric Smith, who earned
honors during his nine years of
work as a police officer in
Detroit, recently joined the
Romulus department.
See page 5.
The artwork of 11-year-old
Vincent Parker, Jr. will be fea-
tured at the Plymouth
Community Arts Council front
Wall gallery during the month
ofMay.
See page 4.
Testing at the powerhouse
located on the site of the for-
mer Northville Psychiatric
Hospital revealed massive
amounts of asbestos, a known
carcinogen.
See page 2.
Van Buren Township Clerk
Leon Wright is hoping local
residents are aware of the new
election laws now in effect in
the state.
Seepage 5.
Vol. 128, No. 18
Vol. 66, No. 18
Vol. 66, No. 18
Vol. 13, No. 18
Vol. 128, No. 18
Vol. 66, No. 18
Vol. 66, No. 18
Inkster police are seeking
witnesses or information
regarding a homicide that was
reported to police in the early
morning hours of Saturday,
April 27.
See page 4
.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The success of a lobbying
and consulting firmapparently
prompted members of the
Westland City Council to
renew a $90,000 annual con-
tract with the company.
See page 3.
A Canton Township resi-
dent will face a preliminary
court examination next
Thursday on charges he
planned a series of robberies
in the area with two accom-
plices.
See page 2
.
Vol. 13, No. 18
Things are going to get a bit
safer in Van Buren Township for
motorists along Belleville Road
from Tyler Road to the I-94
ServiceDrive.
The Van Buren Township
Downtown
Development
Authority (DDA) has been award-
ed $774,620 through Wayne
County for a major streetscape
improvement project along the
strip that was rated 13th highest
for car crashes in Wayne County
by SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan
Council of Governments). There
are a reported 56 collisions per
year in the area to be improved.
Many of these crashes are
avoidable through the use of mod-
ern signal equipment and coordi-
nation of the traffic signals in the
corridor, so DDA members wel-
comed the opportunity to apply
for this grant that would not only
“improve safety throughout
Belleville Road, but also match
the road's attractive streetscape
and promote business develop-
ment throughout downtown Van
Buren,” DDS Director Susan
Irelandnoted in a press release.
The State of Michigan distrib-
utes highway funding (ACT 51
funds) to counties, cities and vil-
lages that have roadway owner-
ship and maintenance responsi-
bilities each year. This year, the
state allocated $6.3 million to
Wayne County to fund one-time
only projects. Funded projects
require a focus upon safety
improvements.
At the April 2 meeting, the
DDA board overwhelmingly
approved the effort to apply for
grant funding. The Van Buren
project was one of only 11 of 38
applicants to be approved for
funding, according to DDA
Director Susan Ireland.
A Northville mother has filed a
complaint with the school district
about a seventh-grade reading
assignment.
The parent has protested spe-
cific passages in the unedited ver-
sion of Anne Frank: Diary of a
Young Girl which her daughter
was assigned at Meads Mill
Middle School. The parent has
requested that the book be
removed from the curriculum and
told several media outlets that she
thought passages in the book
graphically describing the female
genitalia were pornographic.
Those passages, which recount
the author's discovery of her own
changing body during puberty has
been edited from several versions
of the book used in schools. The
unedited version, however, has
been previously criticized by par-
ents and removed from some
school curriculums. A district in
Virginia removed the book in 2010
following parental protests
regarding the explicit passages.
“The problem is the school is
giving seventh graders inappro-
priatematerial andnot explaining
it to the parents,” the parent said.
“If they watch any kind of movie
with a swear word in it, I have to
sign a permission slip,” she added.
There is no obscene language in
Anne Frank's diary, although the
passage in question is explicit in
describing the female anatomy.
“It doesn't mean my child is
sheltered, it doesn't mean I live in
a bubble and it doesn't mean I'm
trying to ban books,” the parent
has insisted to themedia.
Assistant Superintendent
Robert Behnke responded to the
objection by emailing her and
promising that “a committee con-
sisting of parents, teachers, media
specialists and administrators”
would review her concerns
regarding the book.
Plymouth Township officials
approved the first step required
to issue $1.9 million in capital
improvement bonds during a spe-
cial board meeting last week
despite the objections of two sea-
soned trustees.
The proposed bond issue
would be used to fund improve-
ments at the township park,
municipal golf course and Lake
Pointe soccer park.
Township Supervisor Richard
Reaume and Treasurer Ron
Edwards detailed the need for a
park pavilion, amphitheater,
parking lot, footbridge, pathways
and cart paths among other items
to be financed with a bond sale
which will have to be repaid in
estimated $210,000 annual install-
ments of tax revenue during the
next 10 years.
Taxpayers now have 45 days
from the date of the published
notice to object to the bond sale
through a petition process.
Without signatures of about 2,300
registered voters, 10 percent of
the total registered voters, onpeti-
tions demanding a vote on the
sale, the bonds can be legally
issued by the township without
voter approval.
Trustee Bob Doroshewitz was
opposed to the project and
appeared determined to convince
fellow board members that the
$625,000 expenditure for a park
pavilion was excessive and
extravagant.
Reaume explained that the
township had received grant
money and a large donation
which would offset about $200,000
of the cost.
“It's commendable that you
raised $200,000, however, my
opinion this is overkill-way, way
more thanwe need.” Doroshewitz
said. “Originally it was (to be) 100
percent taxpayer donations, now
its 70 percent taxpayer dona-
tions.”
“I don't remember that kind of
numbers,”Reaume said.
“We're trying to make that
building usable for both summer
and winter,” Edwards added. The
pavilion as proposed includes
public restrooms, picnic tables, a
sewer line, interior sink and
The Van Buren project was one of only 11 of 38
applicants to be approved for funding,
according to DDA Director Susan Ireland.
”
$1.9 million bond sale proposed in Plymouth
Township awarded grant to repair roadway
Forwarding address
New location of post office revealed
The Plymouth Post Office will
soon have a new home, but it
won't bemoving too far.
In a letter from Marla J.
Larsen-Williams a real estate
specialist with the United States
Postal Service, the new home of
the current Pursell Station will
be at 885PennimanAve.
That location is only a few
doors from the current site on
Penniman, but on the opposite
side of the street and at the cor-
ner of the intersection of Harvey
andPenniman.
According to Postmaster
Robert R. Alt, there is really no
timeframe for the move as yet as
there is still some “negotiating
going on.”
“There is a great deal involved
in making that site what we call
postal ready,” Alt said. “There
are a few upgrades that need
completed. We need to move our
Post Office Box section, put in
new window operations and
equipment, parking lot striping.
There's a lot to be completed,” he
said.
Alt said he was very pleased
with the new site as it kept the
post office downtown and a part
of the community.
“We will still be a presence
downtown and that is very
important. We want to take care
of our people,” he said. “I think it
was a good choice.”
In her letter, Larsen-Williams
explained to Mayor Dan Dwyer
that the city has 30 days to appeal
the decision made by the Postal
Service for the move of the facili-
ty.
“We believe this new location
will provide the community with
anupgraded, modern facility that
offers a safe working environ-
ment for our employees and the
level of service expected by our
customers,” Larsen-Williams said
in the letter.
A copy of the letter was posted
in the lobby of the post office and
employees there were hopeful
that the move would take place
soon.
“I think if they modernize it,
fix the building up and bring it
up to code, it will be a good spot,”
noted one employee who asked
not to be identified.
“It's close to where we are, it's
convenient for people who walk
here so I think it's probably a
good choice,” another employee
noted.
See
Police,
page 4
See
Grant,
page 5
See
Book,
page 2
Parent protests use of Diary of Anne Frank in school
Trustees were shown this artist's rendering of the proposed amphithe-
ater.
The downtown Plymouth Post Office will move to the corner of
Penniman and Harvey streets.