Page 1 - Eagle072811

General Motors will invest $392 million in the Romulus PowerTrain Plant following unanimous approval of a tax abatement by members of the city council thisweek.

See page 4.

The 16th Annual Great Lakes Chili Cook Off and Motorcycle Showwill return to the streets of downtown Plymouth this October with evenmore 'hot' classifications.

See page 5.

The location of a new tri-community library remains undecided although a straw poll at a recent meeting indi-cated a location now owned by the state is the popular choice.

See page 4.

Voters in Inkster will be asked whether the city should borrowup to $20million to pay for sewer improvements and choose candidates to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot next Tuesday.

See page 3.

July 12 is a day for the record books inCantonTownship. Defying all odds, not one, not two, but three golfers sunk holes-in-one at the Pheasant Run Golf Club inCanton.

This was a first for each of the three golfers who were all play-ing in the annual Greg Unger Memorial Golf Outing.

Golf Digest magazine report-ed in 1999 that odds have been calculated on sinking a hole in one.

“One insur-ance company puts a PGA Tour

pro's chances at one in 3,756 and an amateur's at one in 12,750,” the magazine reported.

The remarkable feats occurred within an hour of each other. Katie Colligan sunk her hole-in-one on Hole 5, a par 3, on the course followed by Tom Oaks on Hole 12, with a par 3. Andrew Parson achieved his once-in-a-lifetime shot on Hole 17, also a par 3, shortly thereafter, for whichhewon $5,000 in cash. “I've never had a hole in one before and I doubt I ever will again,” said Colligan, a Westland resident. “It was an amazing feel-ing and I am still delighted about it. When it hit the green I felt

good about the shot, but when my friend pointed out that it was still rolling, we all watched it go in. I felt like I had just scored the win-ning touchdown at the Super Bowl.” Colligan won a set of Nike gold club irons with her hole-in-one.

According to Pheasant Run

Head Golf Pro Greg Bores, “Lots of golfers play for years and are never lucky enough to have a hole in one. In over a dozen years that I have worked at Pheasant Run, I can only recall three or four hole-in-ones occur-ring during all the golf outings combined - never three in the same outing. I am elated for the contestants and for the memories that theywill have forever.” Oaks, who lives in Clarkston, has participated in the Greg Unger Memorial Golf Outing for the past eight years never expect-ing to see a hole-in-one, let alone sink one. “Having golfed for the last 20 years, it felt incredible to realize that my ball caught the edge of the cup on the flyer and went in.” He won a Bose stereo systemfor his ace.

Long-time golf enthusiast Parsons' magical hole-in-one hap-

pened just minutes after Colligan's ace. “Hitting a hole-in-one is all the reward a golfer needs, especially when it's done around friends,” the Novi resi-dent said.

This was the 15th Annual Greg Unger Memorial Golf Outing hosted by The Canton Firefighters Charity Foundation, which was originally started to raise money for Greg Unger, a 17-year-old who suffered from cystic fibrosis and was in need of a dou-ble lung transplant, which he was able to receive, funded in part with money raised through the charity foundation. Mr. Unger died 10 years ago and the outing

has since become known as the Greg Unger Memorial Golf Outing.

The foundation continues to give back to the community, with over $100,000 donated to those in need, according toMikeCaruso, a Canton firefighter and organizer of the golf outing. Donations con-tinue to be made to individuals and families who have suffered the devastating loss of their homes and personal belongings due to fire, he added.

“This year's unprecedented three hole-in-ones will go down in the memory books making this successful event even more unforgettable,” he said.”

Both the Northville and Plymouth-Canton school districts have awarded contracts to private firms for transportation services. In Plymouth-Canton, members of the school board awarded a three-year contract for the trans-portation services to Michigan Educational Transportation Services.

The privatization is an attempt to offset part of the $19 million shortfall the district faces for the 2011-2012 school year.

Last year, the budget for trans-portation was $6.4 million. A rep-resentative from the transporta-tion company said that current district drivers would be given pri-ority for the new jobs. The school

district will no longer pay the state retirement rate on wages and the employees of Michigan Educational Transportation Services will work six hours a day, rather than four, to be eligible for benefits.

The district will retain owner-ship of the buses and facilities. In Northville, board of educa-tion members awarded a contract for transportation services to Durham School Services, Inc. for

three years, beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. The move will result in an anticipated sav-ings of $425,000 each year, accord-ing to a statement from the dis-trict.

The privatization contract was awarded after Teamsters Local 214 notified school officials in Northville that proposed contract concessions had been rejected by the unionmembers.

Northville officials have indi-

cated that they will also release requests for bids for the custodial and food services for the district which faces a $12 million budget shortfall during the next two years.

In Northville, as in Plymouth-Canton, the district will retain ownership of the buses, and cur-rent district employees will be given preference in hiring, according to a district spokesman. Drivers and aides hired by Durham will be required to pres-ent themselves for fingerprinting for the purposes of conducting a criminal background check and must have an up-to-date medical

The official grand opening and ribbon cutting for the new dog park in Canton is planned for Aug. 9 and to date, more than 1,000 dogs are registered touse the facility.

See page 2.

Cadet Major Brian Browning, a member of the Wayne Zebras Junior Reserve Officers Corps (JROTC)was named top male cadet in Michigan at the Cadet Leadership Challenge in Alpena recently.

Mark Rowland and Zach Woodworth, also of the Wayne JROTC, were named top cadets in their companies and Rachel Hyams and Ashley Riggle were selected as top first-year cadets. At the challenge, cadets are assigned to one of six companies of 80 cadets.

“Every day I received compli-ments about the conduct and char-acter of our students. Every school inMichiganwith JROTCknows and

respects Wayne. Even though there were 500 cadets from 40 schools, our cadets made up one quarter of the cadets selected to participate in the Alpena 4th of July Parade,” said Steven E. La Haine, senior army instructor, army JROTC battalion at WayneMemorial HighSchool. At theNational Leadership com-petition at Washington, D. C., Wayne cadets placed fourth in the nation. Team members C/1LT Mark Rowland, C/CSM Aimee Papineau, C/1SG Stephanie Hyams, and C/MAJ Brian Browning started the competition on-line in January against 1,200 schools. The final 40 went to D.C., and Wayne finished in the top five for the second year in a row.