No. 37
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
September 13 – 19, 2018
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
Wayne businesses and
residents have until Sept. 24
to register to in the annual
Scarecrow Show which will
take place throughout the
downtown area.
See page 4.
The Color My World Color
Run/Walk will begin with
check-in at 10:30 a.m.
Saturday at Northville High
School.
See page 5.
Vol. 133, No. 37
Vol. 71, No. 37
Vol. 71, No. 37
Vol. 18, No. 37
The 21st Romulus DDA
Pumpkin Festival is set for
Sept. 21-23 but those wishing
to enter the several contests
during the weekend need to
act quickly.
See page 3.
Vol. 133, No. 37
Vol. 71, No. 37
Vol. 71, No. 37
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Sixteen
community
organizations in Westland
will be receiving $20,000 in
contributions from the
Blues, Brews and Barbeque
event this year.
See page 4.
Eva Davis, now the direc-
tor of the Canton Public
Library, grew up in the town-
ship visiting the facility she
nowmanages.
See page 2.
Vol. 18, No. 16
Rogers Park, a full-length
feature film which stars
Inkster native Antoine
McKay, will be shown Sept.
26 at the State Wayne
PhoenixTheatre.
See page 5.
The First Step office in
Plymouth will soon see reno-
vations and upgrades thanks
to a $100,000 grant from the
Margaret Dunning Founda-
tion.
See page 2.
The Belleville Area Lions
Club members will provide
Kidsight, a free vision
screening test from 10 a.m.
until 3 p.m. Sept. 22 at the
Belleville Area District
Library.
See page 3.
What appears to be a politi-
cal game of musical chairs con-
tinues in the council chambers
at Wayne City Hall following the
resignations of two council
members and the city attorney
and the ongoing legal wrangling
between the two mayoral candi-
dates.
At the regular meeting last
week, CouncilmanRyanGabriel
resigned his position, just two
months before it would expire.
Gabriel refused any comment
on his reasons for the resigna-
tion. He was first appointed to
the council in November of
2015.
Two weeks ago, Councilman
Tom Porter offered his resigna-
tion and delivered an impas-
sioned speech from his place in
the audience. Gabriel cast the
only vote in favor of accepting
Porter's resignation which was
rejected by a vote of the other
members of the council. Last
week, Porter returned to his reg-
ular seat at the council table.
City attorney Breeda
O'Leary-Brassfield also resigned
from her position with the
municipality. Despite a recom-
mendation from 29th District
Court Judge Laura Mack urging
the council to continue with the
current legal firm, the hiring of
a new firm recommended by
City Manager Lisa Nocerini was
approved by a 4-2 vote of council
last Tuesday.
The three resignations were
apparently sparked by a recent
independent report which sug-
gested mismanagement and
potential legal jeopardy in city
hall. During his comments
regarding his resignation,
Porter was critical of the “leak-
ing” of the report and soundly
chastised whichever member of
the council had made the find-
ings of the independent investi-
gator public. His sentiments
were seconded by Councilman
John Rhaesa, a current mayoral
candidate who was highly criti-
cal of the dissemination of the
report. Rhaesa, along with civic
activist Robert Boertje and
attorney Scott Ruark, were
recently successful in having his
”
See
Conflict,
page 4
Northville will return to a
bygone age when the commu-
nity steps back in time Sept.
14, 15 and 16 during the annu-
al HeritageFestival.
Formerly the Victorian
Festival, the event continues
to celebrate the history of the
community. Organized by the
Northville Chamber of
Commerce, the weekend
begins with the traditional
Victorian Parade at 6:30 p.m.
Friday.
Costumed participants will
begin on Cady Street and walk
to Wing up to West Main. They
will walk down West Main to
Linden and parade up to
Dunlap to Center Street. They
will walk back down Center
Street to Cady where they will
disperse.
There will be a program
from third-grade Northville
school students throughout
town beginning at 9 a.m. and
the Victorian Saloon, located
at the corner of Cady andWing
streets will be open from 5:30
until 11 p.m. featuring the
music of the Shawn Riley
Band.
More than 20 non-profit
booths will be open along East
Main from5 until 8 p.m. Friday
and the Kids Zone with inflat-
ables and rides will be open
from6 until 10 p.m.
Saturday will begin with
the Northville Kiwanis
Pancake Breakfast from 8
until 11 a.m. at the corner of
Cady andWing streets.
There will be a History
Hike at Maybury State Park
and theMaker Faire Car Show
and Beer Tent will be open
from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at The
Village Workshop, 455 East
Cady St. behind the Northville
CarWash.
The craft market on North
Center, the non-profit booths
and theKids' Zonewill open at
11 a.m.
Free horse and carriage
rides will be available from
noon until 3 p.m. during the
weekend traveling through
historic Northville neighbor-
hoods. Eclipse Vintage
Baseball will take place at 1
p.m. at FordField.
Back to the 80s will take
place in Town Square with an
80s tribute band from 5-7 p.m.
Saturday along with a big hair
contest and a photo exhibit of
Northville in the 80s.
The daily stage entertain-
ment during the weekend will
include jugglers, puppets,
comedy, magic and other per-
formers both Saturday and
Sunday.
Sunday will include a tent
revival by the Northville
Baptist Church at the corner
Three new businesses will
bring nearly $20million in invest-
ment intoWestland.
Members of the Westland City
Council approved the new proj-
ects during the Sept. 5 regular
meeting.
The site of the former Kmart
on the southeast corner of Wayne
and Cherry Hill roads will be
renovated into a UHaul Smart
Mobility Center. The site at 165
South Wayne Road has been
vacant since Kmart closed the
store inMarch of 2017.
Members of the city council
approved a special land use and
renovation permit for the pro-
posed UHaul Smart Mobility
Center at the 11.548-acre site
which includes 435 feet of
frontage on Wayne Road and 685
feet of frontage on Cherry Hill
Road. The redevelopment of the
site will include 101,517 square
feet of climate controlled storage
in the former Kmart building, a
retail center in the former Kmart
Auto Center building, as well as
truck-share, car-share, bike share
services and electrical vehicle
charging stations. The project
represents a $10 million invest-
ment into the current site loca-
tion, according to city officials.
Council members also
approved a proposed 27,799
square foot addition to the exist-
ing 11,550 square foot building
that formerly housed Fire
Mountain Restaurant, located at
34615 Warren Road in the city
Shop and Dine District. The
addition will allow the remodel-
ing and renovation at the current
building into a banquet facility.
The 39,308 square foot building
will be constructed with a brick
exterior with burnished block
accents, representing a $10 mil-
lion investment, according to
plans presented to the council
members.
Also approved was the rezon-
ing of vacant land located on the
north side of Van Born Road,
west of Inkster Road. The 1.45-
acre site will be re-zoned for gen-
eral commercial use to accom-
modate the construction of a
9,180 square foot commercial
building for use as a Family
Dollar store.
Controversy continues at Wayne City Hall
Westland OK’s $20 million in plans
Time travel
Heritage Festival celebrates Northville history
Police
arrest
armed
robber
City attorney Breeda O'Leary-Brassfield
also resigned from her
position with the municipality.
See
Festival,
page 6
In what was described as a
stunning investigative effort,
Northville Township police
working with the Michigan
State Police and multiple
local area police agencies
arrested a 27-year-old suspect
less than 24-hours after the
armed robbery of the CVS
store located at Five Mile and
Sheldon roads Saturday night.
Police report the suspect, a
township resident, was arrest-
ed without incident in a town-
ship apartment complex at
about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
This was the second armed
robbery of a CVS store in less
than one week. On Sept. 4, the
Northville Township CVS
located at Six Mile and
Haggerty road was robbed at
about 10 p.m. by a masked
gunman dressed in black and
carrying what witnesses
described as a long gun.
According to police
reports, the latest robbery
occurred Saturday night at
the store located at 44300 Five
Mile at 9:40 p.m. The suspect,
wearing red and black cloth-
ing, a facemask, a hood and
gloves produced a handgun
and demanded money from
the clerk. The store was open
and no customers were inside
at the time. There were no
reported injuries.
Responding officers who
arrived within minutes
encountered the fleeing sus-
pect and chased the man on
foot into a wooded area
where they lost sight of him.
K-9 police dog units from
Livonia and Novi were dis-
patched to offer assistance. In
addition the Michigan State
Police Aviation Unit provided
an aerial search with a heli-
copter. Additional assistance
from police agencies in
Northville,
Plymouth,
Plymouth Township and
Canton and Livonia all
proved futile at that time.
Police say the suspect was
seen a second time in the
same area-hours later; this
time he was shirtless. Again
the participating area police
agencies at the scene were
See
Robber,
page 5
Don Howard
Staff Writer
