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No. 35
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
August 28 – Sept. 3, 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
A 15-year-old Wayne
youth may face charges in
the death of a 55-year-old
family friend from Westland
following an Aug. 17 concert
at DTE Energy Music
Theatre.
See page 2.
Voters in Romulus will be
asked to change the city
charter allowing bids for
material purchases by the
city to be published electron-
ically, rather than in newspa-
pers.
See page 4.
Township
officials
refused last week to post-
pone the controversial
amphitheater plan despite a
formal motion from one
trustee and vocal public sup-
port of the delay.
See page 3
.
Northville Township and
the City of Novi have about
45 days left to comment on a
draft of a new City of
Northvillemaster plan.
See page 5
.
Van Buren Township may
join the lawsuit filed by sev-
eral downriver communities
against Wayne County
regarding the use of sewer
funds.
See page 4.
Vol. 129, No. 35
Vol. 67, No. 35
Vol. 67, No. 35
Vol. 14, No. 35
Vol. 129, No. 35
Vol. 67, No. 35
Vol. 67, No. 35
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The Wayne-Westland Fire
Association has received a
$56,250 Assistance to
Firefighters Grant from
FEMA to purchase five ther-
mal imaging cameras.
See page 2.
Summit on the Park com-
munity recreation center in
Canton will close Sept. 1 for
annual upkeep and improve-
ments. The facility will
reopen at 6 a.m. Sept. 6.
See page 5
.
Vol. 14, No. 35
The Inkster Public
Library needs volunteer
help at the upcoming used
book sale to help stock books
and collect sales money dur-
ing the Sept. 4 and Sept. 6
event.
See page 2.
Van Buren Township
Supervisor Linda Combs is con-
fident that much of the contro-
versy surrounding the dumping
of 36 tons of radioactive waste at
theEQ facility inher community
canbe quietedwith information.
Combs said that a meeting is
scheduled at 7 p.m. Sept 2 at
township hall with a representa-
tive from EQ, the operators of
the dump site.
“This is nothing new,” she
said, “we've been aware of this
since it began.”
EQ has announced that the
landfill in Van Buren will sus-
pend acceptance of the low-
level radioactive waste pro-
duced in oil and gas mining
“fracking” operations until a
review of safety procedures is
completedby state officials.
“I am absolutely confident
that they (EQ) are not doing any-
thing to endanger the public,”
she said.
Combs said that the federal
oversight of the permits for
accepting and dumping this
waste are “very strict” and that
other sites inPennsylvania, West
Virginia and Ohio do not meet
that stringent criteria.
Recently, news reports have
claimed that these states have
imposed stricter health stan-
dards and have refused to allow
the disposal of the hydraulic
fracturing or fracking waste in
their states, something Combs
disputes.
“It isn't that other states won't
take this waste, it's that they
can't.”
She added that the waste
emits a very low level of radia-
tion and is nearly undetectable.
She said it does not affect dump
site employees and that the
facility is under federal over-
sight.
State Rep. Douglas Geiss (D-
Taylor), however, said Michigan
allows radiation levels 10 times
higher than surrounding states.
“Michigan allows radiation
levels up to 50 picocuries, which
is 100 times greater than natu-
rally occurring levels,” he said
in a prepared statement.
“Pennsylvania and Ohio limit
their waste to only 5 picocuries.
The dumping in Van Buren
Township is of concern due to
the proximity of this waste stor-
age facility to both densely pop-
ulated areas and to the Huron
Riverwatershed,” saidGeiss.
State Rep. Dian Slavens (D-
Canton) said this week she is
introducing a bill that would ban
the practice of other states
dumping their fracking byprod-
uct in Michigan after it gets
turned away in other states.
The 38-year-old man who dis-
appeared with a 15-year-old
Plymouth girl last October was
sentenced last Friday to 20-30
years in prison by Wayne County
Circuit Court Judge Qiana D.
Lillard. The sentence came as
part of a plea bargain with
Robert L. Messer of Northville
Township who pleaded guilty to
one count of first-degree crimi-
nal sexual conduct, one count of
third-degree criminal sexual
conduct and one count of accost-
ing a child for immoral purposes.
In exchange for his guilty plea,
four other charges were dropped
by the prosecutor's office.
Messer will be required to
register as a sex offender upon
his release from prison and will
have lifetime electronic monitor-
ing after prison.
He is also barred from having
contact with the victim who has
since given birth to a son,
fathered by Messer. He will also
be barred from contact with the
girl's family, according to the
Wayne County prosecutor's
office.
The 15-year-old and Messer
disappeared together last Oct.
27, leaving notes declaring their
love for one another. The girl's
family reported her missing and
following widespread media
reports, a witness saw the pair in
Messer's truck parked in
Washtenaw County. The witness
called police who arrested
Messer at the scene without inci-
dent.
The girl's family said that
Messer had been a friend of the
family and that he attended the
same church as the family.
Family members said it was not
unusual for Messer and the girl
to go on outings together prior to
their disappearance.
Messer has remained incar-
cerated in theWayne County Jail
since his arrest. His trial on six
of the original charges ended
with a hung jury and a subse-
quent mistrial about fourmonths
ago. A retrial had been sched-
uled to begin Aug. 11 just days
before his guilty plea was
entered.
His defense attorney,
Jonathan Jones said that all
sides agreed to the plea bargain.
The ongoing audit of the drug
forfeiture funds of the Plymouth
Township Police Department
required township officials to
provide specific and detailed
information regarding use of the
$1.6 million revenue listed on
the 2012 annual township
report.
Three auditors from the
Chicago office of the Drug
Enforcement Division of the
Department of Justice arrived at
the Plymouth Township Police
Department Aug. 18 to audit the
accounting records of the drug
forfeiture funds.
Plymouth Township partici-
pates in a statewide Drug
Enforcement Administration
task force.
In a letter announcing the
audit sent to Police Chief Tom
Tiderington and Supervisor
Richard Reaume Aug. 1, federal
auditors stated, “The U.S.
Department of Justice Office of
the Inspector General is initiat-
ing an audit of the equitable
sharing funds provided by the
Department of Justice to the
Plymouth Township Police
Department. The objective of
the audit will be to assess
whether equitable shared rev-
enue and property have been
accounted for properly andused
for allowable purposes by your
agency.”
To that end, the auditors
asked for documentation from
years 2012, 2013 and 2014 and
provided a list of 13 separate
categories and or documents
from the scope of the investiga-
tion. In addition, the Regional
See
Audit,
page 3
Those hoping to buy tickets to the Friday
night Taste Fest at the Plymouth Fall
Festival Sept. 5 better act quickly.
The overwhelming success of the event,
managed for the third year by the Civitans
club, has forced the group to limit sales to
only 500 tickets, explained Kathy Turnquist,
the clubmemberwho oversees the event.
“We are very fortunate to have that kind
of crowd,” Turnquist said, “and it just keeps
growing every year. We just had to limit it
because of the amount of food the restau-
rants have to bring.”
The event takes place from 6-8 p.m. next
Friday, Sept. 5, in a landscaped garden in
the lower parking lot at Station 885 restau-
rant in Old Town Plymouth. This year, once
again, Turnquist said, Mark Baldwin
Landscape Design will bring in sod, trees,
plants and flowers to build the garden for
the evening. “Many of the plants and flowers
come from Christensen's. It's really lovely,”
she added.
Station 885 owner Rob Costanza said he
was enormously impressed with the work
the Civitans had done on the event. “I
helped them on the first year, but they have
really stepped up to this, especially Kathy,”
Costanza said. “It's quite a tribute to them
and to the area restaurants that this event is
so popular that now they have to actually
limit tickets.”
This is the third year the Civitans have
organized the event, Turnquist said. The
first year, it rained on the Friday night event
and they still sold about 325 tickets. Last
year, in the great weather, Turnquist said
she was sure the event drew more than 500
people. “We actually ran out of seats and
had to set upmore tables and chairs.”
Costanza will provide full bar service
inside the event along with the Wile E.
Coyote Band. “These are guys who all play
in other bands. They are just fantastic,”
Costanza said. He will keep the bar service
open and the band will continue to play
until 10, he said, for a small after party.
This year, for the $15 ticket, diners can
sample treats from more than 16 local
restaurants including: Bahama Breeze,
Claddagh Pub, Cupcake Station, Elite
Catering, Grand Traverse Pie Co., Happy's
Pizza and Ribs, LaBistecca Italian Grille,
Max & Erma's of Plymouth, Mitchell's Fish
Market, Noodles & Co., Plymouth Roc,
Rocky's of Northville, the Rusty Bucket,
Station 885, Vintners Canton Winery and
ZoupSalad andSandwiches.
Tickets for children 10 and younger are
$5 and children younger than 5 are admit-
ted at no cost.
Tickets are available at almost all the
participating restaurants and at Station 885.
Friday feast
Fall Festival Taste Fest
tickets limited this year
Man faces 20-30 years in child criminal sex case
Federal auditors request drug-forfeiture records
”
I am absolutely confident
that they (EQ) are not doing
anything to endanger the public.
Radioactive waste will be meeting topic