No. 53
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
Dec. 31, 2015 – Jan. 6, 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 Junior Reserve
Officer Training Corps
(ROTC) program at Wayne
Memorial High School con-
tinues to excel under the
leadership of First Sgt.
(Retired), StevenLaHaine.
See page 4.
A video scheduled to be
used in reproductive health
classes for fourth-grade girls
will be the subject of two
public hearings for parents
ofNorthville students.
See page 5.
The Van Buren Fire
Department recently pre-
sented a check for $9,000 to
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor
as a result of a number of
fundraising efforts by the
department.
See page 2.
Vol. 130, No. 53
Vol. 68, No. 53
Vol. 68, No. 53
Vol. 15, No. 53
Workers at the Romulus
Animal Shelter were able to
return a tiny dog lost for
more than 3 years to his Ohio
family just in time for the
holidays, thanks to a
microchip.
See page 2.
Vol. 130, No. 53
Vol. 68, No. 53
Vol. 68, No. 53
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The appointments of two
city department directors in
Westland will not be
renewed by Mayor William
Wild effective Jan. 31 when
their terms expire.
See page 4.
Canton Township will
once again honor the memo-
ry and legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. with a spe-
cial tribute at 6:30 p.m. Jan.
18 at The Village Theater at
CherryHill.
See page 3.
Vol. 15, No. 24
Troopers from the
Michigan State Police
responded to an emergency
call at 8:50 p.m. Dec. 22
reporting shots fired at the
Canterbury Apartments in
Inkster.
See page 3.
Clean up and repairs are still
under way at the site of a 90
m.p.h. tornado which touched
down at an industrial complex
on Lilley Road in Canton
Township last week.
According to police reports, a
call was received at 6:48 p.m.
Dec. 23 regarding damage to a
business in the area of Lilley
and Joy roads. Police and fire
crews were immediately dis-
patched and when they arrived
at the scene, they observed dam-
age to several vehicles, at two
commercial buildings, an indus-
trial building and several other
structures at the site.
Police said no injuries were
reported in the incident and
Balfor, an emergency clean-up
and repair business, was on site.
The area is adjacent to
Mettetal Airport where much of
the debris from the damaged
buildings landed, including
insulation and building materi-
als. The airport was closed due
to high winds and the necessary
clean up at the site. It is now
open as usual, officials said.
Canton officials stressed that
the tornado, confirmed by the
National Weather Service as an
EF-1 tornado, occurred without
any warning and that the area
was not under a watch when the
stormoccurred.
The weather service con-
firmed that the tornado touched
down at the site from 6:43 until
6:46 p.m. The tornado had a
peakwind of 90m.p.h. according
to theweather service and had a
path length of 2 miles with a
maximumwidthof 300 feet.
National Weather Service
officials confirmed that this was
the first tornado in Michigan
since records began in 1950.
Next week, when the 34th
Annual Plymouth Ice
Festival attracts nearly
100,000 visitors to Plymouth,
there will be a whole new
element to the event.
See page 5.
National Weather Service officials confirmed
that this was the first tornado
in Michigan since records began in 1950.
”
Clean up continues at tornado site
So n’ice
Annual Ice Festival
begins next week
Police contract called ‘landmark agreement’
Chief calls proposed marijuana shop ‘illegal’
Next week, when the 34th Annual
Plymouth Ice Festival attracts nearly
100,000 visitors to Plymouth, there will be
awhole newelement to the event.
“The Ice Festival has been looking for
some charity involvement over the past
few years and we are really excited to
have not just one but three charities work-
ing with us this year,” explained James
Geitzen, the festival director.
This year theweekend event, originally
designed to bring crowds into town during
the cold weeks of January, is planned for
Jan. 8, 9 and 10. The traditional attractions
which are always huge crowd pleasers are
all planned, Geitzen said, along with the
charity efforts and the new premier spon-
sor, FordMotor Co.
“The Plymouth Ice Festival has a long-
standing history of being the largest free
ice festival inMichigan and remains dedi-
cated to the art of ice carving,” Geitzen
said, “and this year the event brings new
excitement with new sculptures, the char-
ity events and the premier sponsorship of
Ford Motor Co.” Ford is sponsoring the
“wildly popular” dueling chainsaw com-
petition and has teamed with Gleaners
Food Bank for a text-to-donate program.
During the event, festival visitors can text
the word FORD to 41444 and Ford will
match their donation to Gleaners, Geitzen
said.
“Locally we have the Plymouth
Community United Way doing a winter
clothing drive. We also have the local
Habitat for Humanity Resale Store
accepting donations and scheduling pick-
ups during the event this year,” he said.
Ford will also sponsor the largest ice
sculpture in Kellogg Park and the Dueling
Chainsaw competition which always
draws a huge crowd, Geitzen said.
“These guys have 15 minutes and a
chain saw to create a piece of art. You
know it is exciting,” he added.
Westland police command
officers have reached a new
contract agreement with the city.
Members of theWestlandCity
Council approved the new
agreement with the Westland
Lieutenants and Sergeants
Association during the Dec. 21
regularmeeting.
The new contract affects the
32 command officers including
two deputy police chiefs and
will be in effect for five years,
according to a statement from
MayorWilliamWild's office.
“With a goal of not only
reducing the number of com-
mand officers within the police
department but also reducing
the city's legacy costs, the new
contract provides for reduced
wages and benefits for new
hires and requires all employ-
ees to contribute to their pen-
sions and health care,” the state-
ment said.
Wild characterized the new
contract as a potential “land-
mark agreement,” and said the
pact provides the groundwork
for a strategic restructuring of
Michigan's 10th largest police
agency.
The Westland Police
Department currently has a
total of 134 employees including
the 32 command staff members,
he said. The goal is to ultimately
build the department during the
next several years by reducing
the command staff to 23 which
would put the span of control at
one command position for every
six employees, Wild said. He
said this ratio is in line with
accepted best practices for
police department manage-
ment. He said the new plan
would be accomplished by elim-
inating nine sergeant positions
through attrition over a 6-year
periodwith the goal of replacing
the sergeants with less-costly
patrolmen as the savings accu-
mulate.
“The new contract also recog-
nizes the city's need to manage
its finances and live within its
means. While the new contract
does provide for slight increases
in paid leave time and wages,
the city will realize a reduction
Stephanie Fischer says she's
been ready to launch a medical
marijuana
business
in
Plymouth Township since last
August but can't get answers
from township officials regard-
ing an occupancy permit for her
site on JoyRoad.
The 31-year-old Ann Arbor
resident said she approached
Township Supervisor Shannon
Price for the third time this
month when she questioned
him at the regular board meet-
ing last week. Fischer said she
wanted to inquire when a task
force meeting, promised by
Price, was taking place and to
“get some answers.”
She said Price told her at the
meeting that he planned to
assemble the task force in the
next two days and agreed to a
personal meeting with her, but
told her the task force meeting
was not open to the public and
she would not be allowed to
attend. Price also told her, she
said, that there were building
code problems with the site
Fischer has established for her
dispensary.
The closed-door session with
Price, township attorney Kevin
Bennett and special counsel
Timothy S. Wilhelm from
Johnson Rosati Schultz and
Joppich took place last week at
township hall to review
Fischer's request. Wilhelm is a
land use attorney and serves as
the city attorney for South Lyon.
Price said Police Lt. Robert
Antal, Planning Director Anna
Radke and Trustee Chuck
Curmi also attended the meet-
ing.
Price said the task force dis-
cussed a way to move forward
considering the current laws,
which he feels, are vague and
raise a lot of questions. Price
has taken exception to Fischer's
plan, which calls for the cre-
ation of growing areas for other
individuals who are also care-
givers. Each grower would have
his or her own plants and
patients. According to state law
each registered caregiver can
provide marijuana for up to five
patients and grow 12 plans for
each patient. Fischer's plan
calls for a growing and cultiva-
tion area in the rear of the
building and a provision center
in the front. “There's nothing in
the state law that says you can't
have 'grow and dispense' togeth-
er,”Fischer said.
“We already told her, 'You
Don Howard
Staff Writer
See
Shop,
page 5
See
Contract,
page 6
See
Festival,
page 5
