No.19
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
May 11 – 17, 2017
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
Meemic Insurance chose
three
Wayne-Westland
Community Schools district
teachers as Classroom
Makeover winners and pre-
sented each of them with a
$300 check.
See page 5.
Students from Northville
High School will show off
their architectural skills dur-
ing an exhibition of their
projects at The Village
Workshop.
See page 4.
Vol. 132, No.19
Vol. 70, No.19
Vol. 70, No.19
Vol. 17, No.19
Roger Staten of the
Romulus Department of
Public Works shows off the
wooden frame he built, treat-
ed and stained to protect the
new Romulus Animal
Shelter sign.
See page 2.
Vol. 132, No.19
Vol. 70, No.19
Vol. 70, No.19
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Westland officials kicked
off the Healthy Westland ini-
tiative this week, a coopera-
tive venture designed to
proactively address the
main health issues facing
the community.
See page 5.
Preparations are already
under way for the 2017
Liberty Festival in Canton
Township set for Thursday
June 15 throughout Saturday,
June 17 on the grounds of
HeritagePark.
See page 3.
Vol. 17, No.19
Fresh popped popcorn
and a beloved Disney film
will highlight the first-ever
MovieNight at the PD set for
8 p.m. May 26 in the parking
lot at policeheadquarters.
See page 2.
Busch's Fresh Food
Market will partner with
local food banks in the annu-
al 'All ABbout Children Food
Drive', to raise food and
funds to aid children.
See page 3.
The repair of streets in
the Harbour Pointe subdivi-
sion in Belleville will
depend on the willingness of
the 95 property owners to
help pay the $1.7 million
expense.
See page 4.
The City of Romulus will use
new voting equipment this year,
after entering into an agreement
this month with the Michigan
Department of State and Wayne
County.
Through the Help America
Vote Act, the grant will help the
city pay for new tabulator
machines, election management
software and maintenance of
themachines.
“The State of Michigan is
actually moving into a whole
new voting system,” said
Romulus Clerk Ellen Craig-
Bragg. “In order to receive our
new voting equipment, we have
to enter into an agreement with
the state.”
Secretary of State Ruth
Johnson said in a statement that
she wants all new voting equip-
ment implemented by the end of
next year. The state has nar-
rowed down the vendors to
three firms, but is letting the
counties make the final decision
onwhich touse.
“The state has allowed the
counties to decide out of the
three vendors, which voting sys-
tem would best accommodate
that county,” CraigBragg said.
The contracts were approved
in January. The three vendors
are Dominion Voting Systems of
Toronto, Election Systems and
Software of Nebraska and Hart
InterCivic of Texas. Each com-
pany has provided systems that
have been successful in other
states.
The bulk of the funding for
the new equipment will come
from the state or federal govern-
ment. The State of Michigan has
authorized $82.1 million during
the next 10 years to replace
aging voting equipment, which
includes $30 million allocated
from the federal government.
Craig-Bragg said she won't know
the exact cost to the city until
the vendor is selected.
“As of right now there are
some cost-sharing that will
occur, but that's been factored
into the budget,” she said. “They
were asking us to budget an
additional $2,000 per precinct
just to cover any additional
costs, andwe've budgeted appro-
priately to accommodate that.”
Since Romulus has 12 precincts,
the upgrade could cost as much
as $24,000.
The new machines are opti-
cal scan machines in which a
voter marks a paper ballot and
then feeds it through an optical
scanning machine, providing a
paper trail that can be used for
recounts. The new machines
will also have the ability to store
a photo image of each scanned
A plan to reopen Fire Station
No. 2 in Plymouth Township
sparked some heat during a
study session of the board of
trustees last week.
The station has been closed
for more than 5 years following
massive layoffs in the fire
department, reducing the full-
time staff by half, and increasing
reported response times.
Plymouth Township Fire
Chief Dan Phillips has been
conducting civil service exams
and interviewing potential fire-
fighter candidates since January
in an effort to be ready for the
eventual re-opening of the Lake
PointeFireStation.
Phillips wants to hire six
fully-trained professional fire-
fighters, the minimum number
he insists are necessary to safely
manage operations and ade-
quately staff the station which
serves the largest subdivision in
the township. He estimates that
the reopening of the station
could cost total of $550,000,
including salaries and other
costs.
Fire safety was one of the key
elements
in
Township
Supervisor Kurt Heise's election
campaign last year. He told vot-
ers he would make the reopen-
ing of the station a priority.
Heise presented a preliminary
plan to members of the board of
trustees during a study session
last week. The plan prompted
some heated discussion during
a meeting that became con-
tentious.
Heise told the board trustees
that he has negotiated an infor-
mal verbal agreement with
Northville Township Supervisor
BobNix and TownshipManager
Chip Snider regarding staffing
at FireStationNo. 2.
The plan Heise presented
includes hiring three firefight-
ers and staffing the station with
two firefighters from Northville
Township and two firefighters
fromPlymouthTownship.
“Elections are a referendum
where the people say what they
want to see in the community
going forward. I believe public
safety is the number one func-
tion of government…” he told
the board members regarding
the plan which he called “pre-
liminary.”
Veteran firefighters said in
later interviews that they would
like to see the station open but
Heise's plan to join forces with
the Northville Township Fire
Department is flawed, and
could possibly place residents in
danger. Calling it a Band-Aid,
they claim his proposed plan
spreads the firefighters too thin
“when you rob the other sta-
National Poetry Month in April had a
special meaning for Robin Morris-Wilson
who saw three of her original poems pub-
lished in the Lyceum Fine Arts and
Literary Journal, a publication of the
University ofMichigan-Dearborn.
And as Mother's Day approaches
Sunday, she is even more grateful for the
influence of her family, especially her
mother and grandmothers, on her love of
thewrittenword.
Morris-Wilson, a reading major at the
college, grew up in Inkster surrounded by
a family who loved music, reading and
poetry. She said she believes her poetry
and writing is reflective of her upbringing
and influenced by both her family and her
community. Now33, she publishedher first
children's book titled Mama Got Rhythm
and Daddy Got Rhyme, a story about how
jazz influenced rhythm and blues music. It
was only after her book was published that
her great-aunts and a great-uncle began to
share stories about her grandmother's
poetry with her, she said. Her grandmoth-
er, Vondell Bailey, died when Morris-
Wilson was 12 and it was much later that
she discovered some of her grandmother's
poetry tucked away in a box.
“To find her poems and read her
thoughts was truly a gift. Like some of my
poetry, her poems were tributes to family
members and inspirational poems,”
Morris-Wilson said. Her grandmother was
a well-known milliner in the area famous
for her craftsmanship in creating hats.
Her entire family, she recalled, loved
poetry and music. As she was growing up,
her “Granny Josie” as she knew Josie
Odum Morris, gave her and her sister
books for birthdays and other occasions.
Her father, JonnieMorris, an electrician by
trade, wrote and recorded music in the
basement of their home and she still
recalls the sounds of Earth, Wind, and
Fire, Stevie Wonder, Boys II Men, Diana
Ross, and Whitney Houston as a constant
sound throughout the house.
Her mother, Charlene Morris, played
gospel music by The Clarke Sisters and
CeCe Winans while she combed her
daughters' hair.
Morris-Wilson said she likes to write all
types of poetry, humorous, somber, tribute
and introspective poems.
Loving legacy
Author recalls effect of
family on her writing
See
Votes,
page 2
In order to receive
our new voting equipment,
we have to enter into
an agreement with the state.
”
Grant will fund new Romulus voting machines
Charlene Morris, left, Josie Odum Morris, Roslyn Morris, Vondell Bailey and Robin
Morris-Wilson are seen in a treasured family photo.
See
Author,
page 2
See
Station,
page 3
Sorry, I want to get on this, I think the public
demands it and this is what the public wants.
We've got the money to do it.
”
Fire station plan sparks questions
Don Howard
Staff Writer
