No. 34
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
Aug. 31 – Sept. 6, 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
Organizers and sponsors
of the first Downtown Days
in Wayne which took place
July 13-15 are more than
pleased with the participa-
tion and results of the event.
See page 3.
Reconstruction will soon
begin on the Ridge Road
Bridge over the Middle
Rouge Johnson Drain begin
Five and Six Mile roads
which has been closed since
May.
See page 4
.
Vol. 132, No. 34
Vol. 70, No. 34
Vol. 70, No. 34
Vol. 17, No. 34
Planning is under way for
the annual Romulus
Pumpkin Festival set for
Sept. 15, 16 and 17 this year
in Romulus Historical Park
and starting with the Rotary
Parade of Lights.
See page 4.
Vol. 132, No. 34
Vol. 70, No. 34
Vol. 70, No. 34
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Members of the Westland
City Council have awarded
the bid for the new roof at
the senior Friendship
Center onNewburghRoad.
See page 3.
Camp A.B.L.E, a state-
licensed summer camp for
disabled children in Canton
recently received a $500
donation from the Kiwanis
Club of Colonial Plymouth.
See page 2.
Vol. 17, No. 34
Wayne
County
Commissioner Glenn S.
Anderson will be hosting a
Coffee Hour in Inkster with
elected officials from the
State ofMichigan.
See page 3.
The Citivans annual Taste
Fest at Station 885 restaurant
in Old Village will open the
62nd Plymouth Fall Festival
from 6-8 p.m. next Friday.
Tickets are now on sale for
the event.
See page 5.
Members of the Belleville
Downtown Development
Authority agreed to pay the
annual $25,000 dues to the
Aerotropolis project during
theirmeeting in July.
See page 2.
Plymouth residents can
expect to receive an important
phone call this month regarding
recreation opportunities in their
community.
Plymouth Township and the
City of Plymouth have agreed to
a joint survey about the recre-
ation needs of both municipali-
ties.
The recreation survey is
being conducted to gather feed-
back in the Plymouth communi-
ty regarding possible shared
recreational opportunities,
existing recreational activities
offered in the area, and opinions
regarding community parks, nat-
ural green spaces, and recre-
ation facilities, according to offi-
cials from both the city and
township.
The two communities have
agreed to hire EPIC-MRA of
Lansing, an independent survey
company, to conduct the survey.
Calls from the company are
expected to begin Thursday,
Sept. 7 and will be made to both
home numbers and cell phones
of local residents, according to
officials.
The phone survey is part of a
first-of-its-kind city-township
Joint Recreation Master Plan,
which is required by the State of
Michigan for grant funding
every five years.
The Recreation Master Plan
requires public input and
detailed infrastructure descrip-
tions, comparisons to national
recreation standards, communi-
ty facility inventories, as well as
management structure, staffing
and budgeting, officials said in a
prepared statement regarding
the upcoming survey. The public
input process will include input
sessions, as well as direct inter-
viewswith the leaders of various
community-based organizations.
Survey calls will be made
from 4-9 p.m. Sept. 7; from 5-8
p.m. Sept. 8; from noon until 8
p.m. Sept. 9 and 10 and from 5
until 9 p.m. Sept. 11.
Household caller identifica-
tion systems will list EPIC MRA
as the caller while cell phones
will list the incoming call from
(517) 886-1474.
Survey takers will leave a
voice message asking for input
on the Plymouth Community
Recreation Survey if the call is
not answered including a num-
ber to return the call.
Officials said that the phone
survey is being done rather than
an online survey in order reach
out to all demographics of the
Plymouth community. Most
importantly, these calls will
include residents that may not
otherwise go out of their way to
fill out a paper questionnaire or
log into a municipally-spon-
soredwebpage, officials said.
Also, in a typical on-line sur-
vey, results can sometimes be
influenced by large associations
or highly motivated special
interest groups. This in turn
See
Survey,
page 5
A $98 million distribution
center will bring more than 400
jobs to the City of Romulus with-
in the next four years.
Penske Logistics will build a
606,000 square-foot, highly-spe-
cialized distribution center in
the city. Penske follows online
retailer Amazon.comin choosing
a development site in Romulus.
Amazon officials announced
their decision in June to build a
$140 million distribution site in
Romulus, citing the proximity of
the site to interstate highways
and industrial rail service, along
with access to the airport.
Amazon is expected to employ
1,600 people at that newsite.
Romulus
Economic
Development Director Tim
Keyes said the city was very
pleased to have the Penske
warehouse in the city. “We’re for-
tunate enough to have signifi-
cant property ready for develop-
ment,” he said. “Those in need
of space are finding us.”
The Penske development will
be partially funded by a $2.5 per-
formance-based grant from the
State of Michigan. The grant is
based, in part, on projected hir-
ing at the new plant which has
been predicted at a minimum of
403 jobs by 2021, according to the
Michigan
Economic
Development Corporation
which announced the grant last
week. Penske currently employs
724 in Michigan and 27,000 glob-
ally.
The distribution center will
be located at 15520 Wayne Road,
just
south
of
Detroit
Metropolitan Airport and will
“service primarily the Midwest
region of the United States,”
according to documents from
the state economic department.
The facility will serve as storage
and distribution for cold and
frozen products for a client
Penske declined to name.
“We're pleased to be making
this investment and bringing
new jobs to Michigan,” said
Marc Althen, president of
Penske Logistics. “The location
of the facility was ideal for the
needs of our business and we
look forward to breaking ground
on the project this fall.”
The 403 jobs to be created
with the new facility will include
warehouse jobs, forklift opera-
tors and local management,
Penske officials said.
Penske will partner with
InSite Real Estate to construct
the warehouse center whichwill
sign a long-term lease for the
facility.
Among Penske Logistics'
clients are Ford Motor Co.,
which recently presented the
company with a supplier award
following 20 years of global con-
tracts.
Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-
Taylor) lauded the Michigan
Strategic Fund decision to
authorize financial incentives
for Penske to support of plans to
build the new plant. “Michigan
is in a unique situation to reposi-
tion itself as a high-tech corridor
of innovation that relies upon a
skilled workforce,” Hopgood
said. “An immediate financial
investment in Penske Logistics
will help our state achieve long-
term economic stability and pro-
vide our community with good-
paying jobs.”
PenskeLogistics, amajor sub-
sidiary of Penske Truck Leasing,
operates more than 360 loca-
tions across North America,
South America, Europe and
Asia. A leader in supply chain
and logistics solutions, the com-
pany has global sales in excess of
$6.4 billion.
The phone survey is part of a first-of-its-kind city-
township Joint Recreation Master Plan.
”
City, township fund joint recreational needs survey
Perfect pitch
Plymouth native to join Western
Michigan Softball Hall of Fame
We’re fortunate enough to have
significant property ready for development.
Those in need of space are finding us.
”
Second major development comes to Romulus
John and Beth Stewart
agree that athletic ability
skipped a generation in their
family.
Neither of them has lived
up to the reputation of Robert
Stewart, John's father, who
was the starting fullback for
Ohio Wesleyan College when
they whipped the University
of Michigan 33-0, in 1927 dur-
ing the first game ever played
at “theBigHouse”.
Their daughter, Laura
Stewart, however, has lived up
to her grandfather's reputation
and perhaps even exceeded
his athletic honors.
Stewart began playing seri-
ous softball during her years
at Canton High School where
she graduated in 2000. She
played for her freshman, jun-
ior varsity and varsity teams
and she pitched for all three.
She wasn't scouted as a col-
lege player, however, but was
determined to join her college
team and tried out as a walk-
on candidate at Western
MichiganUniversity.
“Her freshman year was
rough,” her mother said, “but
sheworked very hardwith her
coaches. By her junior year,
she helped the team win the
Mid America Conference and
was an All-American Scholar
Athlete.”
“My family was so support-
ive during my time and
Western. My dad really
helped me prepare for com-
petitive pitching by taking me
Laura Stewart
Laura Stewart displays the pitching style that won her a place in
the Western Michigan University Softball Hall of Fame. Stewart
is the daughter of John and Beth Stewart of Plymouth.
See
Pitch,
page 5
