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No. 52
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
December 27, 2012 - January 2, 2013
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
A surgical teamat Oakwood
Annapolis Hospital in Wayne
recently performed their first
da Vinci Single-Site gall blad-
der removal through one tiny
incision.
See page 5.
Christmas may just have
taken place, but one Romulus
couple is still thinking about
Halloween and are still col-
lecting costumes for less fortu-
nate children for next year.
See page 3.
Plymouth
City
Commissioners took no action
and made no comments dur-
ing a hearing last week regard-
ing complaints about the Rock
Bar and Grill in downtown
Plymouth.
See page 2
.
January is School Board
Recognition Month, and
Northville Public Schools will
join 552 local school districts
and 56 intermediate school
districts to thank these com-
munity volunteers.
See page 2.
Elwell Elementary School
will be razed at an estimated
cost of $200,000 despite the
questions of two members of
the Van Buren Board of
Education.
See page 4.
Vol. 127, No. 52
Vol. 65, No. 52
Vol. 65, No. 52
Vol. 12, No. 52
Vol. 12, No. 52
Vol. 127, No. 52
Vol. 65, No. 52
Vol. 65, No. 52
Inkster is the site of an ugly
invasion, discovered recently
by a team of volunteers thriv-
ing in the Rouge River accord-
ing to findings of theFriends of
theRouge.
See page 5.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
While the William P. Faust
Public Library is still only
open five days a week, hours
have been expanded during
those days. The library is now
closed on Sundays and
Mondays.
See page 5.
Members of the Westland City
Council have authorized $1.6 mil-
lion to purchase the former Circuit
City building on Warren Road east
of Central City Parkway. Plans are
to rehabilitate the structure as the
newcity hall.
The property is within the Tax
Increment Financing Authority
District and includes a large park-
ing lot. Several other sites were
considered for the new city hall,
including a new construction on
city-owned land behind the
William P. Faust Public Library
and building on the current city
hall land at Ford Road and
Carlson.
The 64,000 square foot Circuit
City property came back on the
market and was recommended as
the best solution to the need for a
newcity administrationbuilding.
Mayor William Wild said the
purchase of the landwas a historic
moment for the community.
“I feel confident that over two
years of due diligence and in light
of the recent city hall survey that
revealed amajority of respondents
favored retrofitting a vacant com-
mercial facility, the city's decision
to purchase the Circuit City build-
ing was the best decision for the
community at this time,” he said.
The location of the Circuit City
building in the tax-capture district
will allow for the remodeling and
renovation without a millage
increase or special assessment to
taxpayers inWestland.
Wild said that the site will also
offer more public meeting space,
rooms that can be used by area
civic and non-profit groups and in
some instances, take the place of
the closed Bailey Center. He also
said other city-services could be
combined into the new location,
linking the WLND cable services
and the building and planning
department.
The current city hall, built in
the 1960s has been plagued with
problems for more than 40 years.
The building was constructed over
an underground streamand stand-
ing water in the basement has
been a constant and unsolvable
problem. The structure has been
determined to be unsound in some
areas and the seeping water
caused problems for storage and
security of records anddocuments.
Plans include the demolition of
the current city hall using funds
from the Downtown Development
Authority. The former Bailey
Center and fire station number
one would also be razed using
DDA funding.
Wild stressed that the project
was still in the planning stages and
that the intent was for the city to
maintain control of the property
onFordRoad.
No new location for the fire sta-
tionhas beenpublicly discussed.
Canton Township Police Lt.
Todd Mutchler has been
selected the new director of
public safety. He will replace
Patrick Nemecek who will
retire at the end of themonth.
See page 4.
The Northville Public School
District received an early holiday
gift this month when it discovered a
savings of more than $1 million in
the predictedbudget.
School board trustees were quick
to unanimously approve a budget
amendment during the Dec. 11
meeting which reflected the savings
which came from a decrease in pro-
jected expenses and a slight
increase in state revenue according
to Assistant Superintendent for
Finance/OperationMikeZopf.
An increase of more than
$729,000 came from the enrollment
of 91 new students and a 2 percent
decrease in anticipated retirement
costs. The increased enrollment
brought enrollment at the fall count
to 7,057, Zopf told the board mem-
bers.
The savings were not long on the
table, however, as about $750,000
will be used to establish a district
health fund, which, in effect, is a
self-insurance plan.
Superintendent of Schools Mary
KayGallagher said that the fundwill
stabilize the expenses district
employees face in the plan and
should result in a savings.
Gallagher said that the budget
variancewas a gooddevelopment.
“This is on one hand great news
fromwhere we thought we would be
to where we are now,” she said.
“The stabilization of the school's
budget has tremendously improved
from the structural deficit point of
view.”
There is pending state legisla-
tion, however, that will have the dis-
trict keeping a close eye on funding,
she said, including the repeal of
industrial personal property tax,
retirement reformand repealing the
cap on charter schools.
The current city hall, built in the 1960s
has been plagued with problems
for more than 40 years.
”
$2.6 million property purchase OK’d
Suspects in U.S. 12 bar
shooting are nabbed
$1 million ‘variance’ found in school budget
Twomen chargedwithmultiple
felonies in a shooting at a Wayne
bar were bound over for trial fol-
lowing their preliminary court
examination last week.
DevonDavis, 21, of Lansing and
Nathaniel Davis, 23, ofMelvindale,
have been charged with assault
with intent to murder, assault with
intent to do great bodily harm and
felonious assault in the shooting
that took place following a fight at
the U.S. 12 Bar and Grill on
Michigan Avenue at about 1 a.m.
Aug. 19.
Police reports indicated that
more than 20 people may have
been involved in the fight at the
bar. The shots came after the alter-
cation had ended. An Ypsilanti
man who was not involved in the
incident was shot in the upper
body and is still recuperating from
those injuries, police said.
The pair of suspects had fled
the scene before police arrived at
the bar the night of the shooting.
They were identified and arrested
after a lengthy investigation by
Wayne police who made the inci-
dent a priority, due, in part, to the
seriousness of the injuries sus-
tained by the victim, who is still
unable towork, police said.
Police reviewed surveillance
videos from the bar, interviewed
numerous witnesses during the
investigation and did recover the
gun that was used in the shooting.
Devon Davis is also charged
with a felony firearm offense as
police allege he fired the gun into
the bar, injuring the Ypsilanti
man. His cousin, Nathaniel Davis,
is charged with assault with a
blunt object in the altercation.
Both suspects are from
Melvindale and were arraigned in
29th District Court and entered
not guilty pleas to the charges.
Firefighters’ contract
approved in Van Buren
Fire fighters in Van Buren
Township have a new union con-
tract, approved by the township
board members and the union
membership.
The Michigan Association of
Fire Fighters contract will be
retroactive to July 1, 2011 when it
officially expired and continue
until June 30, 2014. The agree-
ment was officially approved by
the township trustees at the Dec.
11meeting.
Terms of the new contract
include no hourly pay increases
but do have a four-year progres-
sive pay-scale to the top rate of
$18.40 per hour, which includes
training time. Full-time firefight-
ers will also receive a signing
bonus of $750 and the paid, on-call
fire fighters will receive a $400
payment. In July next year, the full
time fire fighters will receive an
additional $500 payment and the
on-call fire fighters will receive a
$200 payment.
The agreement also provides
Community helps
ailing Canton mom
See
Contract,
page 4
The holidays were a lot
brighter for the Savage family of
Canton Township this year,
thanks to the generosity of the
community.
More than $25,000 has been
raised to help the family and
donations continue to arrive,
according to spokesperson
WendyFayne.
Joanne Savage, themother of
Colin, Jack and Nolan, is fight-
ing a rare cancer, peritonei car-
cinoma, and expenses for the
family, left fatherless with the
death of Joanne's spouse, Pat
Savage, of esophageal cancer in
November of 2011, have been
mounting.
The Canton community has
donated more than $25,000 to
help the family, much of the
money contributed during a
fundraising effort at Real
BarBQ inCanton recently.
According to Fayne, mem-
bers of the Canton Fire
Department attended the event
and donated $1,000. They were
followed by former Detroit
Lions player Charlie Sanders,
now a member of the football
Hall of Fame, who also donated
$1,000. Sanders also gave
Joanne Savage three auto-
graphed footballs for her sons
and a signed jersey for Colin
Savage who wears Sanders' for-
mer number 88 on his Salem
High School football team jer-
sey.
Sanders also invited the
entire Savage family to join him
for a home Lions game in a
See
Help,
page 4
The Savage family