No. 18
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
May 3 – 9, 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
Members of the Wayne
City Council agreed to place
a request for 1 additional
mill on the Aug. 7 primary
election ballot to support the
local library.
See page 4.
The Northville Historical
Society will host a program
about Early Organized
Crime in Detroit this month
with speaker Professor
JamesBuccellato.
See page 2.
Vol. 133, No. 18
Vol. 71, No. 18
Vol. 71, No. 18
Vol. 18, No. 18
Members of the Romulus
City Council joined the judi-
cial staff to break ground on
the new $17 million 34th
District Court project last
Monday.
See page 2.
Vol. 133, No. 18
Vol. 71, No. 18
Vol. 71, No. 18
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Members of the Wayne-
Westland
Board
of
Education have agreed to
place a bond issue on the
November ballot to support
the financial needs of the
district.
See page 4.
Canton will once again
focus a spotlight on arts and
culture during the 8th annu-
al Canton Acts of Culture
Week, presented by the
Canton Commission for
Culture, Arts andHeritage.
See page 3.
Vol. 18, No. 16
State Rep. Jewell Jones
(D-Inkster) took part in
Youth Government Day in
Springfield, Ill., recently.
See page 2.
Spring Clean Up Day in
the City of Plymouth and
Household Hazardous Waste
Day in Plymouth Township
have both been set for
Saturday, May 12.
See page 5.
A Belleville tow truck
driver is accused of stealing
and using the credit and
bank cards of the victimof an
auto crash last year.
See page 3.
Earlier this month citing
safety concerns, officials from
the Wayne County Road
Commission and Wayne County
Parks abruptly ordered three
Hines Parkway bridges closed.
Two of the closed bridges are
located in Plymouth Township
and the bridge at Hines
Parkway is the main emergency
route for the township fire
department fromStationOne.
At the time of the closure, in
a bulletin addressed to Tupac
Hunter, Wayne County chief of
external affairs, Wayne County
Public Services executive
Bernard Parker stated that
Michigan Department of
Transportation (MDOT) inspec-
tion report stressed the closure
of the two bridges “due to shear
cracks at the concrete corbel
members which support the
middle concrete slab.”
“The warning signs are
already there” the report read.
Twenty days later, without
explanation, after 'road closed'
signs were posted at the
Haggerty and Wilcox intersec-
tions, Parker, in an email,
advised Plymouth Township
officials that the Parkway drive
hadbeen re-opened.
“After completing a detailed
inspection, the weight restric-
tions for three Hines Drive
bridges have been updated and
the bridges will be open…” read
the press release.
However, the county
imposed a new 3-ton vehicle
weight restriction that will force
township fire and emergency
vehicles to take a time-consum-
ing detour through a residential
area. An average car weighs 3
tons, an average large pick-up
truck or SUV, unloaded, weighs
5.4 tons, according to manufac-
turer's statistics.
Township Fire Chief Dan
Phillips said the new weight
restrictions would hamper the
response time for residents in
the northeastern part of the
township, including Lake
Pointe subdivision. Phillips said
the department has had a years-
long established detour through
Hines Park because of the prob-
ability of trains blocking the
crossing atHaggertyRoad.
“There's no doubt the bridge
detour is adding to our response
time. ,” Phillips said.
Questions to Parker last
week about the MDOT inspec-
tion findings and the safety of
bridges superstructure were
deferred to Wayne County
Communications Director
See
Bridges,
page 5
There's no doubt
the bridge detour is
adding to our response time.
”
Four Democrats and a lone
Republican hope to become the
state representative from the
16th state district which
includes all of Wayne and part
ofWestland.
Current State Rep. Robert
Kosowski is term limited leav-
ing his seat without an incum-
bent. He is seeking election as
the state senator from the 6th
District which includes
Westland, Belleville, Romulus, a
Buren Townshp and several
Downriver communities. The
four Democrat hopefuls are
Jacob Johnson of Wayne and
Kevin Coleman, Bill Johnson
and Mike McDermott, all of
Westland. The lone Republican
candidate is Jodi Rice-White,
also ofWestland.
Voters will eliminate three of
the Democratic candidates dur-
ing the Aug. 7 primary election.
The top vote getting Democrat
will face Rice-White in the gen-
eral electionNov. 6.
Coleman, 34, is a former
Westland City Council member
who challenged incumbent
William R. Wild during the last
mayoral election. Bill Johnson
is a long-time and current mem-
ber of the Westland council
while McDermott and Jacob
Johnson are first-time candi-
dates.
Rice-White has previously
unsuccessfully sought public
office as a member of the
Livonia Public Schools Board of
Education and the office of
WestlandCity Clerk.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Bridge weight limits impact fire response
Acting out
Young environmentalist
continues efforts, education
5 file in race to become state representative
Two people died and eight oth-
ers were injured in a fire at the
Woodland Villa Apartment com-
plexSaturday night.
Fire and police responded to
the fire at the three-story com-
plex at about 11 p.m. April 26.
Officials said preliminary investi-
gations indicated that the fire
started when a second-floor ten-
ant fell asleep after using his
stove. He woke to find his kitchen
on fire and fled his apartment
sustaining second and third-
degree burns.
The fire spread to the third
floor unit above where firefight-
ers discovered the bodies of Ben
Kelley, 27 and Lisa Back, 21, in
the rubble left in the structure
after the roof collapsed.
The engaged couple were to
be married in October, according
towitnesses.
Environmental activist and
Plymouth native Madison
Vorva found her life's work
very early in life. She also
found the frustration many
young people experience.
“When you're 11-years-old,
not many people take you seri-
ously,” she told a Plymouth
Noon Rotary audience April
27. “I was very lucky to have
teachers and parents ... who
tookme seriously.”
Vorva, who achieved
national attention for her envi-
ronmental activism when she
was a pre-teen Girl Scout, is
continuing her efforts to pro-
tect the rain forests and the
global environment, particu-
larly from deforestation har-
vesting of products like palm
oil.
Vorva, now 22, and a recent
Pomona College graduate in
environmental studies, told
Rotarians and their guests
during the Fridaymeeting that
palmoil harvesting is linked to
child labor, slave labor, and
land grab conflicts. The land
conflicts particularly impact
women in other countries neg-
atively, she said, as many
women lack land ownership
rights.
Her initial ecological efforts
were prompted, she said, by a
filmshe sawat theHenryFord
museum while she was a first-
grade student about Dr. Jane
Goodall, who became one of
her rolemodels andheroes.
As a Girl Scout, Vorva stud-
ied orangutans, including
those from Indonesia and
Malaysia. Teachers at New
Morning School of Plymouth
Township and her Scout lead-
ers encouraged her to do
research and speak up.
Vorva discovered that the
Girl Scout cookies sold at that
time used palm oil that wasn't
harvested from sustainable
plantations as an ingredient.
She started a letter-writing
campaign, including one sent
to the chief of the Girl Scouts
of theU.S.A. inNewYorkCity.
The form-letter response
she received from New York
didn't deter her, she said, and
she did more research and
continued her written cam-
paign.
Goodall, who also received
a letter from the young Girl
Scout, declined to sign a peti-
tion but advised Vorva to learn
more. Goodall, now 84,
pressed Vorva to dig deeper
on the issue and continue to
pursue her goals.
Vorva realized she needed
to work with businesses and
advocacy groups to bring
about change. She had started
work on her Girl Scout Bronze
award, and in 2011 Vorva gar-
nered the Forest Hero award
from the United Nations. As a
sixth grader, Rhiannon
Tomtishen joined Vorva on
her project to eliminate palm
oil use inGirl Scout Cookies.
Their efforts were eventual-
ly successful and were fea-
tured in People magazine and
TheWall Street Journal.
She's proud that she and
others have helped bring com-
panies such as Kellogg's of
Battle Creek, Wilmar and
Cargill to adopt deforestation-
Julie Brown
Special Writer
See
Vorva,
page 5
Environmental activist Madison Vorva speaks to the Plymouth
Rotary Club members.
Photo by Dave Willett
See
Fire,
page 6
Apartment blaze claims lives of 2, injures 8
Fire destroyed several units at Woodland Villa apartments
Saturday.
Photo by Becky Wilson-Reed
