DEARBORN

Vol. 96 No.21

PRESS & GUIDE

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 Your neighborhood newspaper since 1918
$ 00

Mid-week edition

DPS may ask for $76M bond

By Katie Hetrick
Press & Guide Newspapers

Think spring
Community enjoys home, garden expo Page 3-A

DEARBORN Dearborn Public Schools may ask voters in August for $76 million in bonds for technology, construction, maintenance, buses and security. The 20-year bonds would not increase property taxes. The 5.81 mills would replace other bonds that are expiring, so homeowners would not see a change in their tax bills. School board members said

they wanted more details about the bonds. Administrators are hoping trustees will vote March 25 to pursue a bond so the district can start promoting and polishing the plan. The recommendation calls for holding the vote during the August primary. The bond initiative is named SMART for security, maintenance, additions, renovations and technology and transportation, said David Mustonen, communications coordinator.

Of the $76 million, about $600,000 would be for security upgrades at schools; $800,000 for grounds and maintenance; $3.6 million for buses; $12 million for technology; $21 million for roofs, parking lots and other work; and $38 million for additions and projects. Dearborn used to budget between $4 million and $5 million a year for maintenance and buses, but in recent years that has been slashed to $1 million, mostly to cover emergency repairs such as

roof leaks, Mustonen said. Thats not the way we want to do business, he said. The district has not replaced any of its 100 buses in a few years. The average Dearborn bus is now 9 years old, and 10 years is considered the life expectancy before repairs start to become very costly, he said. Meanwhile, the district has seen 25 consecutive years of growth
PLEASE SEE BOND/8-A

Man sentenced Construction well for assaulting under way at Union girlfriend before her death
By Joe Slezak
Press & Guide Newspapers

Arts Woman competes with robots

1-D

Photo by Joe Slezak

A construction worker labors in the Victors Den, part of The Union at Dearborn.

DETROIT Alicia Lynn Wilson was seriously injured several times in beatings by her boyfriend of nine years, James Thomas Friedrich, but didnt go to the police until last year, her daughter said. Two months after Friedrich was sentenced to probation in a misdemeanor case in Dearborn Heights involving one of the beat-

ings, Wilson was dead on a motel room floor. Friedrich, 53, was sentenced Friday by Wayne County Circuit Judge Deborah Thomas to 11 months in the Wayne County Jail and five years probation for assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. It was the maximum amount of jail time he could receive. Friedrich pleaded guilty
PLEASE SEE SENTENCE/15-A

By Joe Slezak

Press & Guide Newspapers

DEARBORN Larry Winokur knows the way from Oakland County to Dearborn. Does he ever. The retired attorney, managing partner of Urban Campus Communities of Bloomfield Hills, has been visiting the construction site of the companys latest creation, The Union at Dearborn, once or twice weekly and is thrilled with what hes seeing. Its an apartment complex at 760 and

780 Town Center Drive across from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and geared toward its students, though it cant be exclusively for them because its privately owned. U of M-D is the only four-year college or university in the state that doesnt have housing on or close to campus. Ground was broken Sept. 24 on the $30 million, 12 1/2-acre project, and the goal is to have it open by Labor Day weekend so students can move in before fall classPLEASE SEE UNION/8-A

Sports Tractors take district crown over CHS

1-B

Judge reopens settlement period for halal lawsuit

By Joe Slezak
Press & Guide Newspapers

DETROIT An attorney upset over a class-action settlement involving customer deception at a Dearborn fast-food restaurant can speak his mind about the subject again. And, because he spoke his mind before a judge ordered him to stop, the settlement period has been extended. Wayne County Circuit Judge Kathleen Macdonald ruled Monday that the settlement period for those who ate McChicken sandwiches and Chicken McNuggets that were adver-

tised as halal but werent at two east-end McDonalds restaurants will be extended for another 28 days. The time period started yesterday and ends April 8. It was at McDonalds request. The new final settlement hearing will be at 10 a.m. April 17 before Macdonald. Halal refers to meeting Islamic requirements for preparing food. Gods name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered. The class action suit covers anyone who ate the non-halal chicken at two McDonalds 13158 Ford Road and 14860 Michigan

Ave. since Sept. 1, 2005. They are believed to be the only McDonalds in the country to serve halal chicken. Ahmed Ahmed of Dearborn Heights sued McDonalds and franchise owner Finleys Management Co. because he ate the falsely advertised chicken at the Ford Road McDonalds. According to the suit, the restaurant served non-halal chicken when it ran out of halal and didnt tell its customers. The judge ruled Jan. Photo by Joe Slezak 18 that McDonalds and James Thomas Friedrich enters Wayne County Circuit Finleys must pay $700,000 Judge Deborah Thomas courtroom Friday for his sentencing.
PLEASE SEE SUIT/10-A

Plowed away UM-Dearborn students compete

11-A

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pressandguide

INDEX
Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/pressandguide
Crime Classified Death Notices 2-A 2-B 12-A Entertainment Opinion Sports 1-D 6-A 1-B

The Official Newspaper of Dearborn

4 Sections, 44 Pages

GET BLOGGED!
Everything From Sports and Cooking to Dogs and Finance Can Be Found at

Printed on recycled paper

PressAndGuide.com
Click on Blogs at

Log On. Check It Out And Weigh In.