No. 48
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
December 1 – 7, 2016
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 City of Wayne official
Christmas Tree Lighting
Ceremony will take place
from 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
3 at the Wayne Historical
Museum.
See page 2.
Mark Abbo, of Northville, is
returning to Wayne County
government as fiscal director
for the Wayne County
Commission.
See page 5.
Vol. 131, No. 48
Vol. 69, No. 48
Vol. 69, No. 48
Vol. 16, No. 48
Romulus Community
Schools and the City of
Romulus have joined forces
to help multiple area chari-
ties for the holidays with a
"Stuff theBus" campaign.
See page 4.
Vol. 131, No. 48
Vol. 69, No. 48
Vol. 69, No. 48
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Three new officers have
officially joined the
Westland Police Department
and two veterans of the force
have been promoted to the
rank of sergeant.
See page 2.
Canton Police Sgt. Daniel
Traylor successfully com-
pleted Eastern Michigan
University Police Staff and
CommandSchool recently.
See page 3.
Vol. 16, No. 48
Two Inkster men have
been charged with armed
robbery and attempted mur-
der in a robbery which took
place inDetroit lastmonth.
See page 5.
The best-selling children's
book series inspired the pro-
duction of Junie B. Jones
Jingle Bells Batman Smells
at Barefoot Theater.
See page 3.
Following voters' approval
of two proposals for a new
district library, the project is
moving forward with the hir-
ing of a construction manag-
er.
See page 4.
New Plymouth Township
Supervisor Kurt Heise received
thunderous applause from a
standing-room-only audience
during his official swearing in
last week.
Heise spoke to the assem-
bled crowd of residents, police
officers, fire fighters and town-
ship officials last Tuesday as he
and the other members of the
board of trustees officially
swore to perform their elected
duties.
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley admin-
istered the oath of office to six
of the seven board members,
five of whom are first-time
office holders.
Heise who was elected as a
write-in candidate, addressed
the assembly with an emotional
testimonial calling for “healing,
tolerance and co-operation,”
prompting a standing ovation
fromthe crowd.
“In the last two years I could
not have survived without the
steadfast support of my family.
We have suffered themost nega-
tive, expensive campaign in the
history of this township. This is
a time for healing and healing
takes time,” he said.
Heise praised the team of
professionals who now com-
prise the board of trustees
which consists of four lawyers,
two who have earned Master of
Business
Administration
degrees and a management
executive.
“You sent us here to find
solutions and that is exactly
what we'll do,” he said.
New Township Treasurer
Mark Clinton, who replaced
long-time office holder Ron
Edwards, thanked fellow board
members and “everyone in this
room,” and praised the many
police and fire firefighters in
attendance.
New Clerk Jerry Vorva intro-
duced newly-appointed Deputy
Clerk Sandy Groth who was
credited as one of the residents
who fostered the grassroots
political revolution two years
See
Oaths,
page 3
Don Howard
Staff Writer
The holidays have officially
come to Westland with the start
of the annual Shop and Dine
Holiday Campaign.
The 7th annual campaign is
a six-week multifaceted mar-
keting effort which promotes
the premier shopping district
in the city. “Everything you
want. Everything you need,” is
the slogan which will be pro-
moted with TV and radio com-
mercials thisweek.
The Westland Shop and
Dine district is anchored by the
Westland Shopping Center and
is surrounded bymore than 160
shops, restaurants and services
making it the premier shopping
and dining destination in
WayneCounty, officials said.
Radio ads will be hitting the
metro area air waves, and the
city will also utilize billboards
on major freeways to promote
the campaign, along with a
encompasses a large digital
and social presence.
New this year, Westland
encouraged local businesses to
offer special deals on Small
Business Saturday. As an
added incentive to participate,
the city advertised these sales
on an interactive map at
-
bizsat. There, shoppers could
view a comprehensive list of all
the sales around Westland in
one convenient location.
“Small businesses are a cru-
cial part of the success of our
fantastic shop and dine dis-
trict” Mayor William Wild
remarked, “so when you visit
Westland this holiday season,
tell them the City of Westland
sent you!”
The third piece of the shop
anddine campaign is the $1,000
in 1,000 seconds shopping
spree contest. The contest
went live on Small Business
Saturday, Nov. 26 and will con-
tinue until Tuesday, Dec. 13.
Interested contestants should
visit
to enter to win. Three finalists
will be chosen from the pool of
entrants and they will meet at
11 a.m. at Westland Shopping
Center on Saturday, Dec. 17 to
see who the lucky winner will
be. At that time, one more con-
testant will be picked from the
crowd and the four finalistswill
take turns opening gifts to find
out which one holds the grand
prize of the $1,000 shopping
spree. The winner will then
have 1,000 seconds to spend
$1,000 at one of the Westland
Shopping Center four anchors:
Macy's, JCPenney, Kohls or
Sears.
“We are proud of Westland
Shopping Center and the entire
Shop and Dine District,” com-
mented Wild. “Our city has so
much to offer...our dining
industry is growing, we have
restaurants featuring foods
from around the world. The
stores inside thismall that have
something for everybody from
our anchor stores to our small-
er boutiques. Our Shop and
Dine District not only keeps
our economy going but it is
essential to our quality of life.”
We are proud of Westland Shopping Center and
the entire Shop and Dine District.
Mayor William Wild
”
Singing
the blues
Plymouth native
signs record deal
That heartbreak in Matt
Sauter's songs is the real thing.
In fact, it was a brokenheart
that motivated the 24-year-old
Plymouth resident to pick up a
guitar a few years ago and
begin to write about the angst
he was experiencing when his
first love left his life.
Now, Sauter has a deal for
an album and an early press of
four of his songs will be
released by Original 1265
Recordings early next year.
Sauter said he is still some-
what surprised by his success
as he has been making music
for as long as he can remem-
ber.
“I wanted to do whatever
my big brother Dan was doing
and he played the guitar and
sang. I played the drums for
himwith some of the bands he
was involved in and then start-
edplaying in other bands.”
That led Sauter to his hip
hop days during his time at
Canton High School and after
graduation.
“That was what I did for
years. I really enjoyed hip hop,
but then came the breakup
with my girlfriend. That was
when I picked up the guitar
and really started writing
songs about howI felt.”
Heartbroken and adrift, he
decided to audition for the
prestigious Detroit Institution
of Music Education in Detroit
(DIME), but rather than his
familiar hip hop music, he
decided to take a gamble on
his newsongs.
“I actually auditioned for
them playing the guitar, even
though by then I only had a
couple of songs,” he said. He
began to write songs in earnest
while at the music school,
where he is pursuing a three-
year degree in songwriting. He
had only been a student there
for about a year and a half
when he was picked up by the
record label.
His current music is a mod-
ern day folk-blues mix with
some old-style country.
“I'd say I'msort of amodern-
day Johnny Cash and do kind
ofWillieNelson type songs.”
He has been playing con-
New township officials take oaths
Westland begins Shop & Dine campaign
New Plymouth Township Supervisor Kurt Heise swears his oath of
office administered by Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley before a
standing-room only crowd last week.
Photo by Don Howard
See
Singer,
page 3
Matt Sauter
Photo by Katy Meininger
