No. 20
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
May 14 – 20, 2015
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
The Main Street Project
in Wayne was recently
awarded technical assis-
tance from the Michigan
State Housing Development
Authority.
See page 5.
Romulus Mayor LeRoy
Burcroff has been named
chairperson of the Road
Safety Task Force of the
Southeast Michigan Council
of Governments (SEMCOG).
See page 4.
Students from 88.1 The
Park, the district-owned
radio station in the
Plymouth-Canton schools
will host the annual radio
auction from 9 a.m. until 8
p.m. this Saturday.
See page 2.
A special day of fun-filled
activities is planned during
Farm Fest planned from 10
a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday,
May 16 atMayburyFarm.
See page 2
.
Andy the Ambulance will
make a special appearance
at the Van Buren Township
Fire Station from 5-6:30 p.m.
May 27 to teach children
from4-7 years old about safe-
ty.
See page 3.
Vol. 130, No. 20
Vol. 68, No. 20
Vol. 68, No. 20
Vol. 15, No. 20
Vol. 130, No. 20
Vol. 68, No. 20
Vol. 68, No. 19
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The 40-year-old Westland
Police Station will receive
$2.2million in renovations at
the building on Ford Road
this year, according to Mayor
WilliamWild.
See page 5.
Canton
Township
Supervisor Phil LaJoy
inducted Herb Scott into the
Canton Hall of Fame recent-
ly noting that his volun-
teerism helped improve the
community.
See page 3.
Vol. 15, No. 16
Oliver “Gabe” Henderson
was honored as the
Volunteer of the Year at the
Leanna Hicks Inkster Public
Library recently.
See page 4.
Joseph Thomas, Jr., a 33-year
law enforcement veteran, has
been named as the City of
Inkster InterimPoliceChief.
Thomas was named to the
Inkster position last week and
will replace former chief Vickie
Yost who resigned April 22 in
the immediate aftermath of mis-
conduct in office, mistreatment
of a prisoner and assault
charges filed against Inkster
Police Ofc. William Melendez. A
probable cause hearing on those
charges took place before 22nd
District Court Judge Sabrina
Johnson last week who deter-
mined the case should go for-
ward.
A preliminary examination is
scheduled for Melendez on May
28.
The felony charges came as a
result of an investigation by the
Michigan State Police into an
Inkster police traffic stop in
January during which the driv-
er, Floyd Dent, was dragged
from his 2011 Cadillac and
severely beaten after he failed
to obey a stop sign. Inkster
police reports claimed Dent
drove four blocks before obeying
the lights and siren they
employed attempting to get him
to stop his car. A videotape from
the police vehicle was released
to Dent's attorney and subse-
quently went viral on the inter-
net, bringing national attention
to the incident. On the video-
tape, Melendez, 46, is seen hold-
ing Dent, 57, in a chokehold and
punching him in the head and
face 14-16 times with his closed
fist.
Dent, who spent two days in
the hospital being treated for
injuries sustained in the beating
including a broken eye socket,
protested his innocence on the
drug possession charges filed
against him based on Melendez'
claim that he found drugs in
Dent's car at the scene of the
arrest. Those charges were sub-
sequently dropped by Wayne
County Prosecutor Kym Worthy
after her office conducted an
independent investigation of the
case, including a review of the
videotape and reports from the
state police investigation.
Johnson had earlier dismissed
charges of resisting arrest filed
against Dent when she reviewed
the videotape of the incident.
Dent's attorney claimed that
Melendez planted the small bag
of white powder, later identified
as cocaine, in Dent's car and
then claimed to have found the
drugs.
City names new chief; 2 officers suspended
Wayne police warn of gang robberies, assaults
Thunder rolls into Belleville on Memorial Day
‘116 Candles’
Oldest woman in the
world will celebrate
birthday next week
This Memorial Day, May 25,
the Brown Funeral Home and
Brown Family Center will
sponsor the 9th annual
Thunder Rolls in Belleville.
This is a special tribute to
honor all veterans, especially
those who have made the ulti-
mate sacrifice by giving their
lives to protect our nation.
The ceremony is preceded
by a one-hour police escorted
motorcycle ride through parts
of Van Buren Township and
then
into
Belleville.
Participants in the ride register
and line up for the ride starting
at 11a.m. in the Wayne County
Community College Western
Campus front parking lot locat-
ed just north of the Haggerty
Road/Interstate 94 intersection,
at 9555 Haggerty Road in
Belleville. More than 300 bikes
are expected this year as the
number of riders in the memo-
rial event grows each year,
organizer Kathy Steigerwald
noted.
She said that all makes of
bikes are seen in the ride and
several of the riders are veter-
ans themselves.
"Many proudly fly our
The
Wayne
Police
Department is currently investi-
gating four robberies that
occurred in the community,
according to a recent internet
alert to citizens.
Police officials said that
three of the incidents occurred
in the Westwick Square
Cooperative, located near
Annapolis andVenoy roads. The
other occurred near Attwood
Park, located at 4901 Howe
Road. Two incidents occurred
on Sunday, May 3 and two inci-
dents on Wednesday, May 6.
Police said that all the incidents
occurred in the evening hours.
The victims were approached
by a large group of male sub-
jectswho demandedproperty.
Three of the victims were
assaulted by the subjects and
property was taken from them.
One victim voluntarily gave the
property to the subjects, police
said.
In several of these incidents,
the victims were approached
from behind and knocked to the
ground and their property was
taken. No weapons were used
or reported in the incidents,
which police believe to be relat-
ed.
The group of subjects
involved in these incidents com-
prises black males between the
ages of 18 and 20. A silver
Chevrolet Cavalier or Cobalt
may be involved in the crimes.
All of these incidents are cur-
rently under investigation. The
Wayne Police Department is
asking that anyone with infor-
mation on these incidents, con-
tact the department at (734) 721-
1414.
See
Thunder,
page 3
Jeralean Talley, the oldest person in the
world, will once again endure all the pub-
licity surrounding the annual celebration
of her birthday next week, but if she had
herway, she'dbe fishing.
Talley, who was born May 23, 1899 in
Montrose, GA will celebrate her 116th
birthday this month with her family who
plan to take her out to dinner. Talley was
verified as the oldest living person in the
worldbyGerontologyResearchGroup.
Asked about her longevity, Talley sim-
ply pointed her finger in the air and com-
mented, “Everything comes from above.
Everything just comes from above. Don't
askme, askHim.”
She has suggested in past interviews
that eating plenty of pork is also helpful,
specifically hog's head cheese, a kind of
aspic usually made of pig ears and feet
and containing no dairy products whatso-
ever, despite the name.
She is in reasonably good health,
according to her only daughter, Thelma
Holloway, 77, who now lives with Talley.
She said Talley remains a night owl and is
often awakeuntilmidnight.
The Senior Alliance celebrated Talley's
longevity as the special guest at the annual
meeting of the organization last month.
The Senior Alliance has worked closely
with her and her family so that she is able
to remain in her Inkster home, a
spokespersonnoted.
“Ms. Talley is the embodiment of The
Senior Alliance mission: We empower
people with needs to live with dignity in
the community they choose by providing
available services,” she added.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell spoke
at the luncheon as did Barbara Medvec,
RN, MSA, MSN the senior vice- president
and chief nursing officer for Oakwood
Healthcare, Inc. The Senior Alliance also
presented former Congressman John
Dingell with the annual Legislative Award
during the luncheon attended by a large
crowd.
Talley has lived in Inkster since she and
her husband, Alfred Talley, came to
Michigan in 1935 when he found work at a
Ford factory.
In 1963, she and her husband built the
home in which she still lives. Talley was
widowed in 1988 and she said she never
wanted to remarry.
She worked in a laundry, washing and
ironing clothing when she was younger,
she said, but wouldn't want to ever go back
to that work.
Talley bowled regularly until she was
104 and still loves to fish. While she doesn't
get out socially as much as she did former-
ly, she remains active at New Jerusalem
Missionary Baptist Church in Inkster,
where there is a front row seat reserved
for her every Sunday. She enjoys the Ellen
DeGeneres Show, Wheel of Fortune and
baseball on the radio, according to her
daughter.
But for real enjoyment, she is still wait-
ing for the weather to warmup enough for
her favorite pastime, fishing. Her friend,
Michael Kinloch, takes her to her favorite
spot to fishevery year.
“Maybe in June,” her daughter said.
See
Police,
page 4
Former Inkster
Ofc. William Melendez
Jeralean Talley
Photo by Sean Rhaesa
