No. 38
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
September 17 – 23, 2015
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
The cash-strapped City of
Wayne will spend $2.5 mil-
lion during the next 18
months to replace the aging
water meters throughout the
city.
See page 3.
A crowd of golfers is
expected next Monday at
Hilltop Golf Course during
"Resident Appreciation Day"
when Plymouth Township
residents canplay for free.
See page 2.
Momentum is building
among bicyclists from novice
to expert for the Rotary Club
of Northville second annual
Tour de Ville bicycle tour on
Sunday, Sept. 20.
See page 5.
Van Buren Township
Clerk Leon Wright has been
named as a director of the
Michigan Association of
Municipal
Clerk's
Association.
See page 4.
Vol. 130, No. 38
Vol. 68, No. 38
Vol. 68, No. 38
Vol. 15, No. 38
Romulus Police are seek-
ing information about a fatal
hit-and-run accident which
took place early last Friday
morning in the area of
EcorseRoad andBall Road.
See page 4.
Vol. 130, No. 38
Vol. 68, No. 38
Vol. 68, No. 38
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Mayor William R. Wild
will deliver his annual State
of the City address at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 22 at
WestlandCityHall.
See page 3.
A free Community Unity
and Peace rally will take
place in the Canton Heritage
Park Amphitheater from
6:30-9:30 p.m. on Saturday,
Sept. 26.
See page 5.
Vol. 15, No. 24
Top Teens will meet at
noon Sept. 19 at theWoodson
Community and Resource
Center in Inkster, hoping to
join others who share their
interests.
See page 3.
A proposed “malicious com-
munications” ordinance in
Plymouth Township is no more
than an attempt to silence politi-
cal activists and critics of the
current administration, accord-
ing to a growing group of resi-
dents who characterize the ordi-
nance itself as “malicious.”
The legality of the proposed
rules was also challenged by the
director of the American Civil
Liberties Union and State Rep.
KurtHeise, among others.
The proposed ordinance
failed on a first reading last
week by a 3-3 vote of the mem-
bers of the board of trustees.
Supporting the new rules, which
would make it a misdemeanor
to send electronic communica-
tionswhich threaten, intimidate,
harass or annoy the recipients,
wereSupervisor ShannonPrice,
Treasurer Ron Edwards and
Clerk Nancy Conzelman.
Opposing votes were cast by
trustees Chuck Curmi, Bob
Doroshewtiz and Mike Kelly.
Trustee Kay Arnold was absent
fromthemeeting.
Residents who spoke during
the public comment portion of
the meeting were adamant that
the ordinance was a deliberate
attempt to silence critics of
elected township officials. Many
local civic activist groups have
websites on which residents
post information and comments
about board actions. Residents
strongly questioned the motives
of the board members and
accused them of an effort to
silence critics. Price, however,
characterized the proposed
ordinance as an effort to help
stop bullying by use of the inter-
net or social media in schools.
He introduced the new ordi-
nance with a video of six teens
who had been bullied and sub-
sequently committed suicide.
Sandra Groth, a former town-
ship employee, told the board
members they should work on
cleaning up the real bullying
which “takes place right here in
Plymouth Township” before
See
Ordinance,
page 2
Residents in both Wayne and
Westland will soon have a sim-
ple way to donate unused cloth-
ing and small appliances to
charity.
Each city has approved a 4-
year contract with Simple
Recycling, a company that part-
ners with local thrift stores and
does not compete with area
charities such as The Salvation
Army or Purple Heart, accord-
ing to Scott Brady, a representa-
tive of the company.
The new service will begin in
about a month and residents
will be receiving information
packets from Simple Recycling
explaining the items accepted
which are generally limited to
whatever one person can carry
to the curb.
All items must be clean and
dry. Anything that is not accept-
ed will be left at the curb with a
tag explaining the reason it was
not pickedup.
Brady said that items collect-
ed through the weekly pickup at
curbside of items, including
appliances and even small
pieces of furniture, are sorted
and 20-30 percent goes to resale.
Other items of poorer quality or
with more wear, are bundled
and sent to Third World coun-
tries while unusable items are
processed for raw materials.
Simple Recycling will provide
large green bags for the items.
When the bag is picked up,
another will be left for the
homeowner.
Each city will receive $20 for
each ton of recyclable material
collected.
“The City of Westland is cur-
rently diverting one million
pounds of trash annually from
the landfill with our award- win-
ning curbside recycling pro-
gram.
“We anticipate we may be
able to divert another 5-10 per-
cent with this newprogram, said
WestlandMayorWilliamWild.
Parts of it (the ordinance)
overreaches and could lead
to unconstitutional prosecution.
”
Wayne-Westland OK new recycling program
Legality of proposed ordinance questioned
Annual festivals set for this weekend
The largest family celebra-
tion in the city, the Romulus
Downtown Development
Authority Pumpkin Festival,
will begin tomorrow in down-
town Romulus at Historical
Park, 11147Hunt St.
The 18th annual festival is
expected to draw thousands of
participants from Romulus
and southeastMichiganduring
the three-day event.
Highlights include the
Rotary Club sponsored Parade
of Lights tomorrow night, a car
show on Saturday, a tractor
and lawn tractor show on
Sunday, food, children's games
and a host of contests. There
will be pumpkin-themed
events and a lineup of live
musical entertainment all
weekend including headliner
band 50 Amp Fuse tomorrow
night. Many of the activities
are provided at no cost.
The festival also places
emphasis on the history of
Romulus. Therewill be a num-
ber of old-fashioned events for
families and the museum and
other historical structures will
be open for tours.
Hunt Street will be closed
from Goddard to Bibbins dur-
ing the three-day celebration.
Goddard Road will be closed
from Moore Street to the rail-
road tracks beginning at noon
onFriday through the duration
of the three-day festival week-
end.
“We have a new and larger
stage this year with some great
acts lined up. We even have a
second stage to be able to fea-
ture more local talent and per-
formances. The DDA is proud
to continue to support this spe-
cial community tradition,” said
Maria Lambert, director of the
Downtown Development
Authority and co-chair of the
PumpkinFestival Committee.
Some Pumpkin Festival
highlights:
Parade of Lights: The offi-
cial kickoff to the three-day
festival, the parade begins at 8
p.m. at the Romulus High
School rear parking lot, locat-
ed at 9650 Wayne Road and
travels southwest past crowds
of spectators on Tobine Road,
Shook Road and Goddard
Road, ending at Progressive
Hall. There will be dozens of
parade entries - each covered
in lights. The Romulus Rotary
Club, which coordinates the
parade offers $100 cash prizes
for the best entries.
The Annual Victorian
Festival in Northville will take
place tomorrow through
Sunday throughout the down-
town area. The event will take
place from4-10 p.m. tomorrow,
from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Saturday and from 10 a.m.
until 4 p.m. onSunday.
Events and entertainment
are planned for the three days,
including many free activities
for all ages.
The festival will begin with
the third-grade students from
Northville Public Schools
from 9 a.m. until noon tomor-
row. The Ryde Park Carnival
will be open from 4-10 p.m. at
Northville Downs and the
booths along Main and Center
streets manned by nonprofit
groups will be open from 4-8
p.m. offering food and games.
The Shawn Riley Band will
entertain at the Festival
Saloon from 7-10 p.m. tomor-
row and the saloon will be
open from 5:30-10:30 p.m. The
Festival Saloon is located at
the corner of Wing and Cady
streets and admission is $2.
The Victorian Parade will
take to the downtown streets
at 6:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the art fair
will be open from 10 a.m. until
6 p.m. and the non-profit
booths will open from 10 a.m.
until 6 p.m.
A children's bike rodeo is
planned from 10 a.m. until
noon Saturday and the
Victorian 500 pedal cars will
be on display from 11 a.m.
until 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept.
19.
The Hay Bale Maze will
challenge visitors in Town
Square from 11 a.m. until 6
p.m. and the Joel Tacey Show
will begin at 11:30 a.m.
Aballoon twister and a cari-
cature artist will both be
downtown from noon until 4
p.m. on Saturday. The petting
farm from Carousel Acres and
the Game Crazy video game
truck along with the Michigan
Wheelman vintage bicycle dis-
play will also be available
from noon until 4 p.m. The
stiltwalker will be entertaining
crowds from 12:30 until 4:30
p.m.
There will be performances
from the Medicine Man at 1, 2
and 3 p.m. and the carnival
rides at Northville Downs will
be open from 1-11p.m. on
Saturday.
The Kerfuffles Musical
See
Victorian,
page 5
See
Pumpkin,
page 4
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Pumpkin Festival set in Romulus
Northville Victorian Festival begins
