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No. 22
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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May 29 – June 4, 2014
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 staff at Oakwood
Hospital-Wayne took the cele-
bration of Emergency Medical
Services week to a new level
last Friday, dedicating a
plaque in honor of the partner-
ship between the hospital and
EMSworkers.
See page 2.
Officials in the City of
Romulus are preparing to
reopen the 36.6 acre Elmer
Johnson Community Park,
located at 9700 Ozga St. on the
west side of the city.
See page 4.
Celebrating their new reali-
ty cableTV showat E. G. Nick's
last week were the executive
producers of Wine Warriors, a
show based on the challenges
local wine producers face.
See page 5.
The 2nd Annual Main
Street League Women's
Kickball Tournament is
planned for noon until 5 p.m.
Sunday, June 1 at Ford Field
indowntownNorthville.
See page 5
.
Three area non-profit enti-
ties were awarded grants from
The Charles B. Cozadd Rotary
Foundation of the Belleville
RotaryClub this year.
See page 3.
Vol. 129, No. 22
Vol. 67, No. 22
Vol. 67, No. 22
Vol. 14, No. 22
Vol. 129, No. 22
Vol. 67, No. 22
Vol. 67, No. 22
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Wayne and Westland have
announced the merger of the
respective Public Works
Departments under the direc-
tion of Ramzi El Gharib.
See page 2.
Eighth-grade
student
Daniel Li already has a nice
addition to his college fund
after winning a $5,000 scholar-
ship from National Heritage
Academies.
See page 3
.
Vol. 14, No. 22
A formermember of theWayne-
Westland Community Schools
Board of Education will be sen-
tenced inU.S. District Court Aug. 7
on charges of making false state-
ments to federal agents in the
course of a criminal investigation.
John Goci, a Westland resident,
and the owner of U.S. 12 Bar in
Wayne, resigned his board seat
May 9, after he came to a plea
agreement with federal prosecu-
tors. The plea arrangement was
filedwith the court on April 22. He
now faces a $100 special fine, up to
6 months in prison and up to 3
years on probation for his admit-
ted infractions.
Goci was arrested by federal
agents inAugust of 2012 in connec-
tionwith a loan sharking investiga-
tion into the activities of Tomo
Duhanaj, an undocumented alien
resident from Kosovo. Duhanaj is
the owner of Bray'sHamburgers in
Westland.
Federal investigators deter-
mined that Duhanaj loaned thou-
sands of dollars to area residents
of Albanian descent. Those loans
were issued with “exorbitant
annual rates of interest usually
exceeding 46 percent and some-
times exceeding 100 percent”
according to court documents.
Failure to repay the loans was met
with violence, according to investi-
gators.
Goci was questioned by investi-
gators at the time of Duhanaj's
arrest and told them that the inter-
est rate on his loan of $50,000 was
15 percent. An FBI forensic
accountant analyzed paperwork
found in Duhanaj's car by officers
during a traffic stop. Duhanaj was
driving on a suspended license
and officers searched his vehicle.
Documents found in the car
included blank checks from Goci
and one check written in the
amount of $2,700. The FBI
accountant determined that the
interest on the loan to Goci was
more than 45 percent.
Goci, who ran unsuccessfully
for Congress in the 13th District in
2012, was subsequently questioned
by investigators and arrested at his
Westland home. He was released
on $10,000 bond while awaiting
trial.
Duhanaj entered a guilty plea
to charges of making extortionate
extensions of credit and money
laundering in December of last
year. He was sentenced in March
of this year to 41 months in prison
and will be deported back to
Kosovo when he completes his
prison time, according to court
records.
In the plea agreement signed
by Goci, “at the time the loans
were made, Duhanaj and the bor-
rowers both understood that fail-
ure to make repayment on the
loans could result in violence
being perpetrated on them.
Romulus art lovers are inviting anyone with
a bicycle to join in a Family Bike Tour of nine
replica art masterpieces that have been
installed in the city by the Detroit Institute of
Arts.
The tour, which will be led by a guide from
the museum, will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, May
30, in front of the Romulus Public Library,
11121WayneRoad.
Bicyclists will travel to nine of the 10 art
replicas that are part of the DIA's Inside|Out
program in Romulus. In all, organizers say, the
roundtripwill be less than 3miles.
In connectionwith the family event, all bicy-
clists are invited to be creative and transform
their bikes into pieces of art in a contest spon-
sored by the Romulus Recreation
Commission. Those attending will receive
information on an Inside|Out photo contest
and scavenger hunt.
Romulus is the only community in the
Downriver area and Western Wayne County
that has received replica masterpieces this
spring in the Inside|Out program. The popular
program takes framed replicas of master-
pieces normally seen inside the world-class
Detroit Institute of Arts to themain streets and
landmark outdoor spaces throughout
SoutheastMichigan.
The Family Bike Tour is the latest event
planned surrounding the artwork, which will
Michele Harmala, the
unanimous choice for new
Wayne Westland school super-
intendent visited Hicks
Elementary School in
Westland prior to her final
interview.
See page 2.
An early-morning fire
Saturday claimed one life and
displaced a family at Bellridge
Apartments in Van Buren
Township.
According to Van Buren Fire
Chief Dan Besson, the distress
call came into the emergency dis-
patch center at the public safety
department at 3:55 a.m., reporting
the activation of a smoke alarm in
the apartment complex near
Independence and Haggerty
roads. Callers to the 911 line
reported smoke already gather-
ing in the common hallways of
the building, according to official
reports.
When firefighters arrived,
along with several police patrol
cars, a ground floor apartment
was "well-involved with fire and
the windows were beginning to
break out," Besson reported.
Police officers at the apartments
had been pushed back from the
building by the heat and flames
coming from the apartment and
were assisting residents of the 12-
unit complex to evacuate.
Firefighters entered the burn-
ing apartment and performed fire
suppression in conjunction with
searching for possible occupants.
Moments after entering the
engulfed apartment, fire crews
discovered an occupant, still lying
in bed, deceased, according to a
report from Besson. Firefighters
worked to extinguish the fire to
prevent it fromspreading to other
apartments and the scene was
brought under control at 4:52 a.m.
Besson said.
Van Buren Firefighters were
assisted by the Van Buren Police
Department, the Michigan State
Police, and the City of Belleville
Fire Department. Investigators
from the Michigan State Police,
Wayne
County
Medical
Examiner's Office, and the Van
Buren Department of Public
Safety were still on scene several
hours after the blaze was extin-
guished collecting evidence.
The identity of the deceased
resident, believed to be a man in
his 20s, was still being withheld at
press time pending positive iden-
tification by the Wayne County
Medical Examiner and notifica-
tion of the next of kin. The cause
of the fire, which reportedly
began in the kitchen, dining and
living room area of the apart-
ment, remained under investiga-
tionby theMichiganStatePolice.
No other injuries were report-
ed. One family displaced by the
fire was assisted by the Van
Buren Department of Public
SafetyChaplinProgram.
Besson said a preliminary esti-
mate of property damage is in
excess of $75,000.
A surprise drug inspection at the
Plymouth-Canton Educational Park
last week found no illegal sub-
stances in any student lockers at
the three high schools located on
the campus.
The Canton Police Department
conducted the drug sweep at the
educational park in Canton May 21.
School resource officers, in collabo-
ration with Plymouth-Canton
Community School administrators,
were joined by 10 canine officers
and their drug-identifying dogs to
sweep the student lockers located
in the three high school buildings,
according to police reports of the
incident.
The Canton Police Department
in continually working with the
school district to reduce the pres-
ence of alcohol, tobacco and other
drugs in the schools, and conducted
this sweep as a proactive step to
deter teen use of alcohol and other
drugs, officials said.
While there were several posi-
tive indications from the canines,
nothing illegal was actually found
in the buildings, according to police
reports of the effort. One student
was ticketed for Possession of
Paraphernalia, ancillary to the
building searches.
For several years the Canton
Police Department has conducted
decoy operations at local business-
es throughout Canton in an effort to
curb the availability of tobacco and
alcohol to underage youth. The
department plans to continue the
decoy operations and drug sweeps
on a random basis, noted Special
Services Lt. Craig Wilsher. The
objective of the program is to deter
teen drug use while bringing
awareness of the consequences of
drug and alcohol possession, he
added.
“The result of today's drug
sweep confirms the proactive
efforts of the Plymouth-Canton
Community Schools and the Canton
Police Department are making an
impact regarding the presence of
drugs at the high schools,” said
Wilsher. “The zero tolerance
stances taken by the district and the
department will continue to be the
standard,” he added.
For further information contact
the Canton Police Department
Special Services Division, (734) 394-
5402.
See
Art,
page 4
Former school trustee awaits sentencing
Police sweep finds no drugs at high school complex
Early-morning apartment fire claims resident’s life
Artful excursions
Residents can bike
to see museum works
John Goci
Local volunteers in the InsideOut program surround one of the works of art on display outside
the Romulus Athletic Center. The replica masterpiece is “A Woman” by Amedeo Modigliani.