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No. 51
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
December 26, 2013 – January 1, 2014
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 State Wayne Theater
has been chosen as the
Business of the Year in Wayne
andwas honored by theWayne
Chamber of Commerce during
a recent luncheon .
See page 4.
Women of the American
Progressive Association (APA)
helped put together a free
Thanksgiving dinner at the T.J.
Coleman Community Center
and served everyone who
attended.
See page 3.
A court case seeking the
return of a $559 late fee on a
water bill from Plymouth
Township Treasurer Ron
Edwards was dismissed on a
legal technicality last week.
See page 5.
The Northville man
accused of torturing a 23-
month-old child left in his care
accepted a plea deal from the
Wayne County Prosecutor last
month.
See page 2.
A 38-year-old Van Buren
Township man is facing first
degree murder charges in the
death of a woman found dead
in his home by police respond-
ing to a call last week.
See page 3.
Vol. 128, No. 51
Vol. 66, No. 51
Vol. 66, No. 51
Vol. 13, No. 51
Vol. 128, No. 51
Vol. 66, No. 51
Vol. 66, No. 51
The Inkster Task Force is
organizing Celebrate Inkster, a
tribute to Martin Luther King
Day and the beginning of
BlackHistoryMonth.
See page 4
.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Several last minute shop-
pers in Westland Shopping
Center got a pleasant surprise
last week when they were pre-
sented with gift cards from
MayorWilliamWild.
See page 4.
Canton
Firefighters
responded to three home fires
started as accidents fromunat-
tended cooking in the kitchen
last week.
See page 2.
Vol. 13, No. 51
Romulus Mayor LeRoy
Burcroff got some very good news
last week when General Motors
announced the planned invest-
ment of about $493 million in the
Powertrain plant located in the
city.
“I received a call the day
before, giving me a heads up that
the announcement was coming,”
Burcroff said. “It's very good news
for our community. GM is one of
our largest users in the city, so for
us, this is huge.” The announce-
ment of the $1.3 billion expansion
plans came from GM North
American President Mark Reuss
who spoke at the Flint Assembly
plant where the company will
invest an additional $600 million,
mostly for a new paint shop. GM
will also spend $121 million at the
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly
plant for a logistics optimization
center, $31 million at the Toledo
Powertrain plant, and $29 million
at theBedford, INcasting plant.
In Romulus, the funding will be
used to install a new assembly line
to construct a 10-speed automatic
transmission for future vehicles,
Burcroff said.
GM and Ford Motor Co. have
been collaborating on nine and 10-
speed transmission to improve
fuel economy following the suc-
cess of Chrysler which has a new
nine-speed transmission in the
JeepCherokeemodel.
In addition to the transmission
line, theRomulus plant is slated to
be expanded to allow for the pro-
duction of a six cylinder engine.
“I think this is an indicator of
some economic recovery through-
out Michigan and in this region,”
Burcroff said. “This is important
for us and is a real shot in the
arm.”
Burcroff said that the city has a
service agreement with GM
regarding public safety and other
city services and this added invest-
ment in the city from a stability
standpoint was especially good
news, particularly coming at this
time of the year.
“We understand that this will
retain and create about 654 jobs,
so that means a great deal to the
whole area,” Burcroff said. “It's
important to any community to
have healthy industrial users, and
this is an example of the stability
of GMhere inRomulus.”
“These investments are a sign
of our confidence in our workforce
and our UAW partners that have
given and tried so hard and in our
vehicles and the continued
demand for excellence in each
one of the products,” Reuss told
the assembled crowd, which
included Gov. Rick Snyder, at the
official announcement of the
expansionplans.
Motorists from throughout the
area received some early Christmas
gifts last week, although it may be
many months before they see the
benefits.
After years of effort, Canton
Township finally received word last
week that improvements to Ford
Road will be funded by the state. In
addition, improvements to Cherry
Hill Road, from Canton Center to
Beck, will be funded by the state,
National Heritage Academies and
the Plymouth Canton Community
SchoolsDistrict.
For several years, Canton
Township officials have been
attempting to secure federal fund-
ing to correct the traffic problems
on Ford Road, labeled one of the
most congested and dangerous traf-
fic areas in the state by law enforce-
ment and traffic safety agencies..
Four attempts to secure federal
grants to remodel the I-275 inter-
changes, both north and south, off
Ford Road were unsuccessful, but
last week, theMichiganDepartment
of Transportation approved nearly
$5 million for improvements to Lotz
Road. That plan will pave and
extend Lotz to allow traffic to get
back to Ford Road fromCherry Hill
and provide a smoother drive for
those traveling south on Cherry
Hill. Included in the funding is $2.8
million for improvements to Ford
Road, including the interchanges,
between I-275 and Haggerty Road.
There has been no date announced
The Plymouth Township Fire
Department was on the receiving
end some much-needed gifts last
week as executives from
Honeywell Turbo Technologies
presented them with specialized
highperformance gloves andboots.
The company, based in
Plymouth, provided $8,000 worth of
boots and gloves, enough to outfit
the 12 remaining full-time firefight-
ers in the department as part of the
company Hometown Solutions pro-
gram.
The Honeywell manufacturing
technology division inDayton, Ohio
produces specialized products and
gear for firefighters.With theTurbo
Technologies division located in
the township and part of the local
business community, the company
was asked to present the citizen-
ship award on behalf of
Honeywell's Hometown Solutions
community grant program.
Executives from Honeywell,
Plymouth Township Supervisor,
Richard
Reaume,
and
CongressmanKerryBentivolio pre-
sented the fire service gear to Fire
Chief Mark Wendel in a ceremony
at FireStation 1 lastWednesday.
Wendel said he was very appre-
ciative of the recognition by the
We understand that this will
retain and create about 654 jobs,
so that means a great deal to the whole area.
”
After years of effort, Canton Township
finally received word last week that improvements
to Ford Road will be funded by the state.
”
See
Roads,
page 2
See
Donation,
page 5
GM to invest $493 million in Romulus
Major roadwork planned for Ford Road, Cherry Hill
Honeywell donates gear to Plymouth Fire Department
Sounds of
the season
An annual tradition at the Noon
Rotary Club in Plymouth is the
holiday concert provided by the
choir and orchestra from the
Plymouth Canton Educational
Park. This year, students in the
Festival Choir which includes
the 30 top male and female
singers from the choirs at the
three high schools on the cam-
pus, were directed by Jennifer
Kopp, who has been with the
Plymouth Canton Community
Schools for 14 years. Catherine
DePentu, who has been with the
school district for 17 years, con-
ducted the Symphony Strings,
which includes the top 50 stu-
dent musicians at the educa-
tional park. Student teacher
conductor Corey Bergman was
on hand to help direct the con-
cert which included many holi-
day standards and favorites of
the season during the luncheon
meeting at the Plymouth
Community Center.
Plymouth Township Fire Chief Mark Wendel, left, thanks Honeywell
Vice President Tony Schultz for the new fire gear while Congressman
Kerry Bentivolio, right, looks on.