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No. 29
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
July 18 – 24, 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
Curbside recycling, play-
ground equipment and more
cleanup of the Rouge River
were among the grants
explored by the Winchester
ConsultingGroup forWayne.
See page 6.
Romulus High School stu-
dents can now start college
classes before graduation
through a new program with
Wayne County Community
College District Belleville
campus
See page 5.
The lawsuit filed in Wayne
County Circuit Court by the
City of Detroit seeking the
return of 190 acres of property
from Plymouth Township is
moving forward.
See page 7.
Northville Public Schools
may be getting a $5 per pupil
increase in state funding, but
officials aren't spending the
increase just yet.
See page 7.
The second Annual
Belleville Young Life Golf
Tournament took place June
29 at the Eagle Crest Golf
Course and no one cashed in
on the Atchinson Ford Hole-
In-One.
See page 8.
Vol. 128, No. 29
Vol. 66, No. 29
Vol. 66, No. 29
Vol. 13, No. 29
Vol. 128, No. 29
Vol. 66, No. 29
Vol. 66, No. 29
Carla Thomas will become
the bride of well known local
businessman James. T. Penn,
Jr. in an evening ceremony
planned for late July.
See page 8.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Wayne County Parks
employees turned the Hines
Park-Nankin Mills Area in
Westland into a giant mud pit
playground last Tuesday dur-
ing the 26thAnnualMudDay.
See page 6.
More than 40,000 people
visited the 22nd Annual
Canton Liberty Fest last
month, a record crowd for the
three-day community celebra-
tion.
See page 3.
Vol. 13, No. 29
Mayor Alan R. Lambert praised Romulus
police officers and firefighters for sacrifices
they made leading to approved contracts for
all three public-safety bargaining units.
The contracts - which include no pay
increases - were approved by themembers of
the city council at a recentmeeting.
The members of the Police Officers
Association of Michigan (POAM) and the
Police Officers Labor Council (POLC)
received three-year contracts expiring at the
end of June 2016. The members of the
International Association of Firefighters' two-
year contract expires at the end of June 2015.
Lambert said it was important to get the
contracts settled to continue a strong public
safety presence in the city, to maintain finan-
cial stability in city government and to give
the nextmayor ahead start in the newyear.
“I'm so pleased that we have the police
officers, command officers and firefighters'
contracts settled and they continue to do a
great job protecting our residents,” Lambert
said. “It's quite an accomplishment in these
economic times to have everybody working
together for the good of the community. I
want to thank the city's negotiating team for
working so diligently with the unions to settle
these contracts. Priority one is the safety of
our residents.”
Now, the city has labor peace with all five
bargaining units, including foremen in
AFSCME Council 25 Local 1917 and laborers
and clerical workers inTeamsters Local 214.
Like the earlier settlements, Lambert said,
the police officers and firefighters showed
“no selfishness.”
“Nobody got a raise,” he said. “I think it's
great that everybody understands the city's
See
Contracts,
page 5
One of the newest employees in
the Plymouth Township Police
Department recently filed a lawsuit
in Wayne County Circuit Court
alleging civil rights violations.
Brittany DeFrain, 24, who was
hired in February 2012, has
charged Plymouth Township with
civil rights violations alleging sex
and martial status discrimination.
DeFrain, up until her resignation
on Feb. 15, was a sworn police offi-
cer.
The lawsuit alleges the
Plymouth Township Police Chief
Tom Tiderington ordered a six-
month extension of DeFrain's
required one-year probationary
periodbecause he believed shewas
engaged in a dating relationship
with another employee of the town-
shippolice department.
DeFrain is seeking compensa-
tion for damages for lost wages,
benefits, employment opportunities
and emotional distress.
DeFrain's complaint states that
for many years prior to the extend-
ed probationary period, the town-
ship police chief allowed employ-
ees to engage in dating and martial
relationshipswith each other.
The
complaint
reads,
“Defendant (Plymouth Township)
permitted such relationship to con-
tinue and took no action to regulate
or end them.
“At the time the defendant's
police chief extended plaintiff's
probationary period, no rule pro-
hibited or otherwise regulated dat-
ing or marital relationships
between two members of the police
department.”
DeFrain said she loved her job,
and every since she can remember
always wanted to be police officer
like her father, Mark DeFrain who
retired in 2009 after more than 25
years with the Ann Arbor Police
Department. She is a Canton High
School graduate and 2011 Michigan
State University graduate with
majors in psychology and criminal
justice.
She had completed a 14-week
field-training program with the
townshippolice force.
Additionally, the lawsuit states,
“No male employee of defendant's
police department, including the
male police officer who purported-
ly was engaged in a dating relation-
ship with plaintiff, was subjected to
adverse employment action by
defendant for engaging in a dating,
sexual, or martial relationship with
another employee of the depart-
ment.”
DeFrain resigned on Feb. 15,
2013.
Tiderington had not retuned
calls seeking comment by press
time.
I think it's great that everybody
understands the city's financial
stability is dependent on
them agreeing to concessions.
”
Romulus OKs 3 public safety contracts
”
Police officer files lawsuit against township
More than 100 Inkster resi-
dents gathered last Friday night
for an anticrime forum at
Middlebelt Baptist Church.
The rally, organized by Aaron
Sims, was a response to the recent
number of homicides that have
occurred in the city. During the
Fourth of July weekend, four men
were killed and a woman injured
by gunfire in the city. Inkster
Police Detective Anthony
Delgreco said that the shootings
were probably drug related but
that all the incidents remain
under investigation at this time.
Delgreco confirmed that there
have been 11 homicides in the city
this year and that the reduced
manpower and staffing in the
police department compounds
the problem. Delgreco said that
the police department has been
reduced by 30 officers since
November of 2011 due to budget
cuts in the city. He said the entire
Inkster Police force is down to
about 24 officers.
Friction between current offi-
cers and Police Chief Hilton
Napoleon has been widely report-
ed with the two police unions fil-
ing a complaint of “no confi-
dence” in the chief months ago.
City council members took no
action on the police union com-
plaints.
Sims, who is the founder of
Project We Hope Dream and
Believe, a youth mentoring organ-
ization, told the crowd that the
purpose of the rallywas to encour-
age people to take action by
actively fighting blight, joining
block clubs and working to
improve the city.
“We're not just going to talk
about what we need to do. We're
actually going to task out plans,”
Sims said.
Inkster resident and pastor of
Citi-Praise Church in Detroit
LeonCrawfordurged the crowd to
speak up about crime.
“The no-snitching policy is
going to die tonight. We are each
other's neighbors,” he said.
Crawford said another forum
will be scheduled soon but did not
announce a specific date.
Inkster residents rally against city crime
Motorists and visitors to a 3-mile stretch of
Ford Road can continue to enjoy more than
$130,000 in art exhibited along the roadway until
May of 2014.
The art installations are part of the 8thAnnual
Public Art Exhibition commissioned by the
Canton Downtown Development Authority. The
sculptures were selected by the DDA with the
help of the Canton Cultural Commission Public
Art Committee.
Among the exhibits are Dance of Bliss- by
Mike Sohikian of Virginia. The work is located at
Willow Creek Plaza and is valued at $7,800.
Dance of Bliss ismade of steel and concrete .
Sohikian, a retired ironworker, has been a
member of the Bridge and Structural
Ironworkers Local 55 for 37 years. He has had a
lifetime of love and appreciation for art, but did-
n't begin his art career until 1995. Since then he
has garnered acclaim and numerous prestigious
awards and recognition for his paintings and
sculptures. Sohikian is best known for taking sal-
vaged steel to new heights with impressive and
innovative concepts.
American Rustic- by Todd
Kime of Ohio can be found at
the Willow Creek Plaza. The
pair of figures are valued at
$6,000 each.
Kime has been featured
in Ford Road's Annual Public
Art Exhibition prior to 2013.
Currently enrolled in the
artistic welding curriculum
at Owens Community
College, Kime said,
“From architecture to
art, a passion for the
creative process
drives my work.
Using a wide
spectrum of
materials in various
genres of art, I create art for
other's enjoyment. A sense of whim-
sy is always prevalent in my work.
See
Art,
page 4
Pop art
Sculptures enhance shopping district
Defendant (Plymouth Township) permitted
such relationship to continue
and took no action to regulate or end them.