No. 31
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
August 10 – 16, 2017
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
Jeremiah Webster has
been named to fill to fill the
vacant term on the Wayne
City Council from a field of
15
candidates
who
expressed interest in the
position.
See page 4.
Five of only 18 Lighthouse
Schools in the State of
Michigan are now located in
the Northville School
District with the award to
Winchester and Thornton
Creek schools.
See page 2.
Vol. 132, No. 31
Vol. 70, No. 31
Vol. 70, No. 31
Vol. 17, No. 31
The operator of a Tim
Horton's in Romulus has
been accused of violating
federal law when he refused
to permit an employee to
wear a skirt instead of pants.
See page 3.
Vol. 132, No. 31
Vol. 70, No. 31
Vol. 70, No. 31
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
A 36-year-old man is due
back in court today on
charges he was operating a
methamphetamine manu-
facturing laboratory in the
garage of aWestlandhome.
See page 4.
Janet Brady, 59, is one of
the newest members of the
Canton Township Hall of
Fame and added the Canton
Community Achiever award
toher long list of honors.
See page 2.
Vol. 17, No. 31
Michigan State Police
investigators are asking any-
one who may have informa-
tion about an Aug. 3 homi-
cide at Fast Frank's party
store in Inkster to come for-
ward.
See page 3.
The entire area will be in
the dark for a while Aug. 21,
and the Plymouth District
Library will make the
momentous occasion a little
safer for everyone with a
viewing party.
See page 5.
Entries are now being
accepted for the 8th annual
Belleville Community Art
Show set for Oct. 27 through
29 at the Belleville Yacht
Club.
See page 3.
6-month
probe ends
in arrests
Plymouth Township Clerk
Jerry Vorva has discovered
records showing unauthorized
payouts made by former
Township Treasurer Ron
Edwards that officials say
undermine the township health
care compensation commitment
and couldbe illegal.
Vorva said the payments
totaling nearly $20,000 were
authorized by Edwards and the
funds were deposited into four
individuals' respective health
savings accounts and labeled as
“Retiree
Health
Care
Contributions.”
According to accounting
records and check receipts
obtained by The Eagle under
the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), former Supervisor
Shannon Price, Clerk Nancy
Conzelman, Deputy Clerk
Michelle Lozier and current
and former Deputy Treasurer
Amy Hammye were recipients
of the questionable benefits.
The township practice of
offering health insurance bene-
fits to eligible retired full-time
elected officials is based in part
on their respective years of serv-
ice, Vorva explained. In addi-
tion, Vorva said a program for
supplemental health savings
accounts (HSA), governed by
VantagePoint
Benefit
Administrators, is also available
to employees and subject to eli-
gibility rules.
According to Vorva, the sub-
ject transactions were posted
Nov. 18, 2016 after the General
Election in which both Price
and Conzelman were defeated.
Township records reveal a
check issued by Edwards
payable to Vantagepoint
Transfer Agents, LLC, dated
Nov. 17, 2016, was dispersed just
Don Howard
Staff Writer
There has been no
authorization for this (enrollment)
and we can't find any justification.
”
Payouts to past officials questioned
See
Payouts,
page 5
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, sixth from the left, visited with Wayne officials including, from left, Fire
Chief Michael Stradtner, City Clerk Matt Miller, Personnel Director/Asst. to the City Manager Carrie
Venus, Community Development Director Lori Gouin, Firefighter Adrian Garduno, Firefighter Shaun
Peck, City Manager Lisa Nocerini, Police Chief Alan Maciag, Fire Department Sgt. Robert Caccia, DPW
Foreman Richard Lawrence and Firefighter Kevin Kimmel during her trip to view the Wayne Road Dam
Removal project completed in the city.
Two Wayne businesses
received a very special visitor
last week as U.S. Sen. Debbie
Stabenow dropped in to touch
base with small business owner
and city officials.
Stabenow came to the City of
Wayne last week to take a look at
how more than a $1 million she
fought for in Washington, D.C.
was spent and dropped in at
IKON Computer Solutions and
Karma Coffee and Kitchen while
shewas in town.
Stabenow authored the Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative in
2010 which provided just over $1
million in funding for the Wayne
Road DamRemoval and Habitat
Improvement Project in the
Rouge River near Wayne Road.
The project, completed in 2013,
reconnected approximately 121
miles of river and tributaries to
the Great Lakes system for the
first time in more than a century.
The dam removal opened new
opportunities for canoeing and
kayaking and restored passage
for a variety of fish, including
trout, smallmouth bass, northern
pike and walleye, according to
ecologists.
Stabenow is now leading the
bipartisan effort to stop propos-
als to eliminate funding for the
Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative next year.
She joined representatives
from the Alliance of Rouge
Communities, the City of Wayne,
and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) last Friday at the site of
the completedWayne Road Dam
Removal
and
Habitat
Improvement Project.
“One in five Michigan jobs is
tied to water. It is more impor-
tant than ever to continue invest-
ing in the health of our Great
Lakes and waterways,” said
Stabenow, co-chair of the biparti-
san Senate Great Lakes Task
Force. “This successful project is
an excellent example of how
Great Lakes funding is helping
more Michigan families and visi-
tors enjoy fishing, kayaking, and
canoeing in theRougeRiver.”
The Wayne Road Dam was
built in the early 1900s along the
Lower Branch of the Rouge
River in the City of Wayne to pro-
vide water for firefighting. The 3-
foot-high Wayne Road Dam no
longer served a public purpose
and acted as a barrier to fish and
promoted the accumulation of
sediment and debris behind the
dam, officials said in an applica-
tion for permission from federal
authorities to remove the struc-
ture.
Removal of the Wayne Road
Dam was a priority project for
the Rouge River Advisory
Council, which is committed to
restoring the Rouge River. The
See
Senator,
page 4
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow stopped in to talk with Brian
Ewanciw, owner of ICON Computers,above, and visited Karma
Coffee and Kitchen where she talked with, from left, employee
Sean Royal, owner Jennifer Romero, owner David Romero and
employee Aaron Barton.
A six-month criminal investi-
gation by Canton Township
Police into a high-end retail
fraud operation ended in the
arrest and arraignment last
week of a Detroit pawn shop
owner and one of his employees.
The investigation was a coop-
erative effort between the
Canton department, Michigan
State Police and the Wayne
County Prosecutor's office,
according to police. A search
warrant was executed at the
iPawn Shop on Eight Mile Road
in Detroit on June 12, along with
another warrant at the
Commerce Township home of
Gasswan Usama Gargis, 38, the
owner of the shop.
Police said that more than
$300,000 in new, in-box merchan-
dise, including high-end elec-
tronics, kitchen appliances, gen-
erators and power tools were
recovered, merchandise alleged-
ly stolen from stores in southeast
Michigan, includingCanton.
“The defendants are alleged-
ly responsible for thwarting
approximately $300,000 from
major big box retailers in the
metro Detroit area. These
charges today are the result of
months of tedious and exhaus-
tive work by the Canton Police
Department and the Wayne
County Prosecutor's Office,” said
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym
Worthy in a prepared statement.
“This case should serve as notice
that these wide-scale sales of
stolen goods to pawn shop opera-
tions will be vigorously investi-
gated and prosecuted in Wayne
County.”
Gargis was arraigned on mul-
tiple felony charges onAug. 1. He
is facing one count of conducting
a criminal enterprise; seven
counts of organized retail crime
and six counts of receiving and
concealing stolen property over
$1,000. He also faces two misde-
meanor charges. Gargis could
face up to 20 years in prison if
convicted.
An associate in the pawn
shop, Trisha-Lynette Viado
Razon, 20, of Orchard Lake, was
also arraigned Aug. 1 on twomis-
demeanor charges and felony
charges including five counts of
organized retail crime and two
counts of receiving and conceal-
ing stolen property over $1,000.
She is facing five years imprison-
ment if convicted on the charges.
Judge Kenneth J. King of 36th
District Court set both defen-
dants' a $5,000 personal bond.
Senator visits Wayne dam project
