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No. 35
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
August 30 - Sept. 5, 2012
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
Candidates interested in
serving on theWayne-Westland
Community Schools Board of
Education have until 4 p.m.
Sept. 5 to submit their letter of
interest or resume.
See page 3.
Members of the Romulus
Rotary Club are seeking par-
ticipants in the 2012 Parade of
Lights, scheduled for 8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 14 as the official
start to thePumpkinFestival.
See page 2.
Yes, they've 'gone green' but
no, that doesn't apply to the
pasta dinners members of the
Rotary Club of Plymouth A.M.
will be dishing up in Kellogg
ParkSept. 8.
See page 5.
The Schachern family of
Northville will take part in the
American
Diabetes
Association national event,
Step Out: Walk to Stop
Diabetes Sept. 15 at the
Detroit Zoo inRoyal Oak.
See page 5.
Incumbent Van Buren
Township Supervisor Paul
White, defeated by 50 votes,
has requested a recount of the
ballots which removed him
fromtheNov. 6 election.
See page 4.
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Vol. 12, No. 35
Vol. 127, No. 35
Vol. 65, No. 35
Vol. 65, No. 35
Inkster police are asking for
help from any witnesses to a
shooting on Middlebelt Road
last Friday evening.
Aman in his 20s, was struck
by the gunfire and killed.
See page 3.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The
new
Cellular
Connection in Westland cele-
brated the store opening last
week with a live radio broad-
cast, a ribbon cutting and a
contribution to the Westland
Firefighters.
See page 3
.
John Goci, vice-president of the
WayneWestlandSchool Board and
a former candidate be Congress,
says that he expects to the vindi-
cated and cleared of all accusa-
tions that he lied to federal agents
during their investigation of a
crime.
Goci was arrested last
Wednesday at his Westland home
by federal agents. He is now free
on a $10,000 unsecured personal
bond, he said, while he awaits his
next court date set for Sept. 12. He
could face up to five years in
prison, if convicted of the offense.
His arrest came in connection
with the arrest two weeks earlier
of Tomo Duhanaj, the owner of
Bray's Hamburgers on Ford Road
in Westland. A federal investiga-
tion into Duhanaj began last May.
Federal investigators said they
found a check from Goci payable
to Duhanaj among the evidence
seized from his vehicle during a
traffic stop.
In the court documents,
Duhanaj is chargedwith operating
a loan sharking business targeting
native Albanians charging up to 45
percent interest and using vio-
lence to collect on the debts.
Prosecutors allege that he loaned
$30,000 to Goci at the 45 percent
interest fee. Those charges against
Duhanaj were dropped by federal
prosecutors last Thursday. U.S.
Assistant Attorney Kenneth
Chadwell said, in a court filing,
that the government needed more
time to obtain evidence against
Duhanaj. Prosecutors also said in
In an effort to cut down on
complaints and to improve
public safety, the Canton
Township Board of Trustees
enacted an ordinance to curb
theuse of fireworks recently.
See page 4.
See
Charges,
page 3
Times have changed remarkably since Mike
“Taters” Williams returned from his service in
theVietnamWar.
Evidence of those changes were never more
clear than when a woman of Vietnamese
descent recently approached Williams at the
VietnamWar Memorial in Washington D. C. and
huggedhim, thanking himfor his service.
Williams is a disabled veteran fromRomulus
who has suffered from post-war mental-health
issues since serving in the Army in both the
Korean andVietnamwars.
But his state of mind improved after some of
his closest friends organized a 1,500 mile motor-
cycle ride----more than half in the rain----to the
nation's capitol where they all visited the
Vietnam Wall, Arlington Cemetery and other
sites dedicated to veterans, in an effort to help
himheal.
TheRomulus-based bikers take a destination
trip every year, but this ride was planned specif-
ically for their friend Williams, who wasn't even
sure he was up to visiting the Vietnam Wall
when they embarked on the ride. Overwhelmed
with emotion when they arrived, Williams said
that as soon as he touched the wall, he felt a
sense of closure that had been lacking for
decades.
“As I walked down and had my hand on the
wall, it felt like I could feel everybody's soul or
feel everybody that had passed,” Williams said.
“I did get some release fromit. It was amazing.”
The famous wall contains the name of
Ride On
Motorcycle trip to
D.C. helps ease pain
See
Wall,
page 2
School official denies federal charges
TV veteran
Canton reservist
appears in Ford
Motor commercial
When the Ford Motor Co. commercial
flashed on the TV screen during the new
Stars Earn Stripes program this month, peo-
ple across the country had the same reaction:
“That'sErin.”
They're right, that is Erin T. Meadows of
Canton Township, a current reserve officer
and a 22-year member of the Navy who
appears in the 30-second commercial
designed especially for the NBC Stars Earn
Stripes show. Meadows, who is a senior para-
legal at Ford Motor Credit Co in Dearborn,
answered an email from the Ford Veterans
Network Group earlier this year seeking peo-
ple who had served in combat areas for a
casting call for the commercial. She was one
of the veterans selected to appear in the
'Thank You' spot which will appear once dur-
ing eachepisode of the show this season.
She has been back home for about a year
after being involuntarily mobilized for a one-
year tour in Afghanistan and figured the com-
mercial couldn't be any more difficult than
that duty. She spent four years on active duty
with the Navy when she first enlisted and
then joined the Navy reserves. She recently
reenlisted for six more years, so unless she
gets a promotion, will end her military career
after 28 years, she said.
She was forced to leave her husband, Jim
and daughters, Kendall, then 10, and Taylor,
then 7, when she was sent to Afghanistan
almost two years ago, whichwasn't easy.
“Thank heaven for technology,” she said,
“we couldSkype and e-mail.”
Meadows said that it's difficult to describe
the situation in Afghanistan without instigat-
ing a political discussion but that she would
say, “The media does not always portray the
situation accurately.”
For the Stars Earn Stripes commercial,
she needed a photo of herself in uniform and
her dog tags along with a photo of herself at
work. During the initial casting call, she stood
in front of a camera and responded to ques-
tions about a variety of subjects. The next day,
she received a call to show up for filming the
commercial.
She joined the Navy rather than finishing
See
Veteran,
page 4
Erin T. Meadows spent a year in Afghanistan after being involuntarily mobilized as part of the
Navy Reserves.
Erin T. Meadows of Canton Township appears in a Ford Motor Co Thank You commercial
during the Stars and Stripes program.
Mike “Taters” Williams of Romulus touches the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. for the first time.
Photo by Pat Malloy
John Goci