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July 25, 2013
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I
NKSTER
- R
OMULUS
- W
ESTLAND
Mother Nature outraces 2 babies to hospital
Romulus council to revamp fireworks ordinance
A high speed trip and a police
escort weren't enough to get
Romulus residents Renesha
Chandler and Deonte Ritchie to
the hospital on time. Despite their
best efforts, their first daughter,
Adore, was born on the side of the
Southfield freeway last Friday
morning.
"I didn't think I'd ever have to do
anything like that," said Ritchie,
who delivered the baby in the back
seat of aMitsubishi.
Renesha said she woke up at
about 3 a.m. Friday. She had been
in discomfort the day before, but
didn't know how close she was to
having her baby. Her due date was
Saturday.
"I didn't know I was in labor," she
said. "I thought I was just having
cramps."
Driven to the hospital by her
mother, the speeding car attracted
the attention of a law enforcement
agency-they are not sure which
one. The police stopped them and,
when they saw her condition in the
back seat, offered to escort them to
the nearby Oakwood Hospital &
Medical Center in Dearborn. They
only got another 50 yards or so
when they had to pull over because
littleAdorewas onherway.
"There were no doctors, no hos-
pital-just me," said Ritchie.
Fortunately, the delivery was a
smooth one and newmom, dad and
baby were soon on their way again
to Oakwood-at a regular rate of
speed. Doctors there released
themthe next day.
Chandler said she wanted to
thank the police agency, and said
they'd try to prepare better for their
next child.
"Now that I know what a con-
traction is, I'll be heading to the
hospital on time," she said.
That was the first of two road-
side deliveries to come to Oakwood
last week. On a recent Sunday,
Inkster residents Astonida Thomas
and Brandon Westbrook tried to
make it to the hospital on time.
Thomas was in the final stages of
labor when Sgt. Brian Glatfelter of
the Wayne County Sheriff's
Department pulled them over for
speeding. EMS was called to the
scene, but did not arrive in time
and Westbrook helped with the
delivery.
The new babies and their moth-
ers are all doing fine, Oakwood offi-
cials said.
The City of Romulus will look
into a local ordinance controlling
fireworks, after several residents
complained about the excessive
noise leading up to the Fourth of
July holiday.
City Councilman William Crova
made the motion to have the city
attorney investigate what could be
done in the wake of an expanded
state law that made more of the
pyrotechnic displays legal.
“We'll look into it, obviously,” he
said.
Residents complained about
the volume of the explosions, the
number of days they went on and
the hours at which their neighbors
lit off the fireworks.
Jim Vernagen made the initial
complaint, saying the excessive use
of them upset his ill wife and
forced a confrontation with his
neighbors. He urged the council
members to enact an ordinance
abolishing all fireworks.
“Lansing has stuck this down
our throats, but we don't have to
live with it-we shouldn't have to
livewith it,” he said.
Other residents complained
that the fireworks have been an
issue throughout the month of
June, often disrupting the peace
until the early hours of the morn-
ing.
Craig Plank, Romulus resident
and mayoral candidate, suggested
the use be limited to the day of the
community fireworks display and
the actual holiday.
The Michigan Legislature
approved a law last year legalizing
the use of fireworks and the sale of
them in Michigan. Since then
many communities have enacted
legislation limiting their use to the
day of, the day prior to and the day
after major holidays like the
Fourth of July andMemorial Day.
CouncilmanWilliamWadsworth
said he was disappointed with the
new law and said he hoped
Romulus would be able to find a
way to provide some relief for resi-
dents.
“It wasn't necessary to give
everyone the 'biggest bomb' on the
street, but that's just what they
(Lansing) did,” he said.
Deonte Ritchie and Renesha Chandler are all smiles after the birth of their
first daughter, Adore, in the back seat of a Mitsubishi.
Westland flooding lawsuits settled
Murder suspect nabbed in Canada
Westlandwill pay $5.1million to about 500
residents whose homes were flooded with
raw sewage in 2010 and again in 2011,
according to attorney StevenLiddlewho rep-
resented the homeowners in a lawsuit
against the city.
The lawsuit ended with a negotiated set-
tlement last week. Residents should receive
the payments in the next few weeks, Liddle
said.
Raw sewage flooded homes during heavy
rains in June of 2010 andMay of 2011.
Canadian law enforcement officials
have confirmed that they will be sending
a suspect in an Inkster homicide back to
the area to face charges.
Ali Mohamed Elatrache, 25, of
Dearborn Heights, is awaiting extradition
fromToronto He will face charges of first-
degree murder, felony murder and stalk-
ing in the death of a 72-year-old man at
Cherry Hill Manor apartments in Inkster.
He was apprehended by the Peel Region
Police and the Toronto Fugitive Team
within 36 hours of the crime, according to
Inkster Police Detective Anthony
Delgreco.
Delgreco said that at about 9 p.m. July
18, a woman returned to her apartment
and found her father, with whom she
lived, dead. Initial examination at the
scene determined that the death was a
homicide and when Delgreco spoke with
the woman, she told himher ex-boyfriend
had been threatening to kill her and her
father for some time.
Evidence presented to the Wayne
County Prosecutor's Office resulted in a
warrant on all the charges, Delgreco said.
Further investigation into the suspect
indicated that he had fled the country to
Canada, he added.
He contacted the Canadian authorities
who arrested the suspect at a motel in
Toronto.
“This shows what great cooperation
between witnesses, police and prosecu-
tors cando,”Delgreco said.