A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
December 31, 2015
Calendar of events
Blankets are needed
Plymouth Community United
Way is holding a Blanket Drive in
support of the homeless commu-
nity through Jan. 15.
Blanketsmust be new, or hand-
made, and can be dropped at the
PlymouthCommunityUnitedWay
office. The address is 960 W. Ann
Arbor Trail, Suite 2, Plymouth, MI
48170.
For more information, call
Randi Williams at (734) 453-6879,
ext. 7 or e-mail
Museumseeks volunteers
The Wayne Historical Museum
is seeking volunteers to help with
various jobs including tour
guides, display assistants and pro-
motions.
Training will be provided and
volunteers can choose their
schedules andhours.
Applications are available at
the museum from 1-4 p.m. on
Thursday and Friday. For more
information, call (734) 722-0113.
Fill the Truck at festival
In addition to the ongoing col-
lection of new blankets for the
homeless and needy, the
Plymouth Community United
Way, Blackwell Ford and the
Plymouth Ice Festival are hosting
a Fill the Truck event during the
Jan. 8-10 downtown ice festival.
Organizers hope to fill the bed
of a new F-150 pick up truck from
Blackwell Ford with the largest
amount of new winter wear to be
collected for those in need during
the event. Organizers said they
hope to set a record for donations
for the collection of new or hand-
madehats, gloves and scarves.
The items will be give to agen-
cies serving the homeless and low
income throughout the area.
The United Way booth will be
located onPennimanAvenue dur-
ing the festival for donations.
United Way is also hosting a free
cocoa bar from11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
on Saturday, Jan. 9 at the offices,
960W. AnnArbor Trail, Suite 2.
Legislator hosts coffee hours
State Rep. Julie Plawecki (D-
Dearborn Heights) announced
today the schedule for her
January coffee hours. Plawecki
invites residents to join her to dis-
cuss their thoughts and ideas
about how she can best represent
and address the needs of her con-
stituents.
Coffee hours in January will
take place: from9-10 a.m. Monday,
Jan. 11, at Mr. Mike's, 6047 N.
Wayne Road in Westland; from
10:30 until 11:30 a.m. at the
MaplewoodCommunity Center, in
GardenCity and fromnoonuntil 1
p.m. Jan. 11 at the Inkster Public
Library, 2005 Inkster Road in
Inkster.
Residents can call Plawecki
toll-free at (844) 347-8011 or email
her
at
.
Blood drive planned
The American Red Cross has
planned a blood drive from 11
a.m. until 4:45 p.m. Jan. 12 at
Plymouth City Hall, 201 South
MainSt. InPlymouth.
To schedule an appointment or
for more information, visit
with the
sponsor code PCH or call (313)
549-7052.
Inspire Theatre
presents lady pirates
Inspire Theater will present
The Lady Pirates of Captain Bree
weekends from Jan. 29 through
Feb. 14 at theWestland Center for
the Arts, 33455 Warren Road in
Westland.
The play features the crew of
the Kala Mae in their swashbuck-
ling musical tale of Captain Bree
and her lady pirates roaming the
Seven Seas in search of adven-
ture, love and laughter.
Curtain time is 7:30 on Fridays
and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on
Sundays.
Tickets, priced at $16 for the
musical comedy, are available by
calling (734)751-7057 or access
InspireTheatre.com.
Daddy Daughter dances set
Come dance the night away at
the City of Plymouth Recreation
Department 5th annual Daddy
DaughterDance.
The dances will take place
from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 5 and
Feb. 6 at the Cultural Center
ReceptionRoom.
Music will be provided by a DJ
from Dramatic Dimensions
Entertainment. Light refresh-
ments and snacks will be served.
Semi-formal, dressy-casual attire
is recommended and the event is
suitable for all ages. Advance
ticket purchase is required
because space is limited and no
ticketswill be sold at the door.
Register with the City of
Plymouth
Recreation
Department, 525 Farmer
P l y m o u t h ,
-
ation.
For more information, call
(734) 455-6620.
Eagles planMardi Gras
The Van Buren Eagles are
planning a Mardi Gras 2016 party
beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday,
Feb. 20 at the Eagles Hall, 9961
Beck Road in Van Buren
Township.
The event will feature an all-
you-can-eat buffet dinner served
from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Music will
be by Monsieur Guillame and His
Zydeco Hepcats. Tickets are $15
in advance and $20 at the door, if
available.
For information and reserva-
tions, call Keith and Ginger
Bruder, (734) 461-2498.
DreamCreatures on exhibit
The Village Theater at Cherry
Hill will present "Dream
Creatures," a mixed media solo
exhibition featuring the works of
TookGallagher through Jan. 31, in
theGallery@VT.
Displayed works include col-
lages, plaster cloth sculptures,
and hand sewn items turn into
dreamlike creatures based on the
images the artist has seen emerge
from the layers of paper, paint,
and cloth that were used in her
pieces.
Gallagher is a self-taught artist
whose inspiration comes from
many sources, including song
lyrics, fairy tales, dreams, and
misheard snippets of passing con-
versations, according to a pre-
pared release.
This multi-media art exhibit at
the Gallery@VT is free and open
to the public from 10 a.m. until 2
p.m. Monday - Friday and during
public performances at the the-
ater. The Gallery@VT is closed
onholidays.
The Village Theater at Cherry
Hill is located at 50400 Cherry
Hill Road in Canton. For more
information, call (734) 394-5300 or
visit
org.
of up to nine command positions
as officers retire over the next
few years. This agreement will
have a positive impact on the
city's pension and OPEB (Other
Post Employment Benefit) liabil-
ities in the future and will help
us achieve our overall goal of
putting the city in the position to
be able to hire additional patrol
officers and get more cops on
street without the need for ask-
ing for a public safety millage,”
commentedWild.
The agreement that is effec-
tive through December 2019
reduces or eliminates the
allowances that longer-serving
employees receive and creates a
lower tier of paid leave time.
The new contract also requires
all employees to contribute
toward their pensions and as
mandated by Michigan P.A. 152,
cost sharing for health care. Pay
increases are tied to theWPOAM
Patrol and Dispatch contract and
provide for 2 percent raises in
2015 and 2016 with no further
pay increases negotiated,
although a wage re-opener for
the WPOAM unit will occur in
2017.
“Similar employee cost shar-
ing and lower wages and benefits
for new hires are now in effect
for department directors, and
the supervisory, AFSCME, patrol
and fire unions,”Wild continued.
“Upon reaching age 65, retirees
will be taken off the city's health
insurance and will receive a
stipend instead to purchase
Medicare Advantage plans of
their choosing. New hires will
receive a health care savings
plan as their retiree healthcare.
Both changes are expected to
lower the city's other post-
employment benefit liability for
these employees that is a future
cost to the city and affects the
city's bond rating,” he concluded.
KyleDawley, WLSApresident,
said the membership felt the
new terms and conditions in the
agreement were fair.
“We are pleased to achieve a
new five-year contract that we
believe is fair and that addresses
the needs of our members while
helping the city manage its
finances and ensure residents
receive high quality service from
the police department,” he said.
Contract
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