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DOWNTOWN05.18
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Metro Detroit Organized Crime: Then and Now The history of organized crime in Detroit has evolved and morphed as additional crime entities have developed, which still remain as powerful entities today, just in different manifestations, representing a variety of different ethnicities and cultures.
LONGFORM
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Michigan’s DEQ has an ongoing effort to investigate vapor intrusion and indoor air quality when gases from volatile chemicals in contaminated soil and/or groundwater move through the soil and into buildings.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
10
There are two legislative efforts in Lansing which will further diminish the role of the Department of Environmental Quality when it comes to its mission to protect the quality of life in Michigan.
CRIME LOCATOR
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A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Rochester and Rochester Hills, presented in map format.
THE COVER
OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL
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The latest on congressional campaign donations; which district might shift Democratic; the GOP attorney general primary race; a new commercial low for accidental congressman; plus more.
The Rochester Farmers market, which opens Saturday, May 5, and runs each Saturday through October, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Farmers Market is located at the corner of E. Third and Water streets, one block east of Main Street. Downtown photo: Laurie Tennent.
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Dr. Ora Pescovitz
MUNICIPAL
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Rabid skunk warning; Rochester Hills fire rating improves; the new Rochester budget; smoking restricted; more on the Rochester fire department study; Carson’s store to close; plus more.
SOCIAL LIGHTS
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Society reporter Sally Gerak provides the latest news from the society and non-profit circuit as she covers recent major events.
ENDNOTE
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State must increase dump site tipping fees to bolster funding for DEQ inspection efforts, and the importance of special event fees to reimburse the city for its expenses.
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PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Hillary Brody Anchill | Dana Casadei | Kevin Elliott Sally Gerak | Austen Hohendorf | Bill Seklar Judith Harris Solomon | Joyce Wiswell | Julie Yolles PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Jean Lannen | Laurie Tennent | Chris Ward Laurie Tennent Studio VIDEO PRODUCTION/CONTRIBUTOR Garrett Hohendorf Giant Slayer ADVERTISING DIRECTOR David Hohendorf ADVERTISING SALES Mark Grablowski GRAPHICS/IT MANAGER Chris Grammer OFFICE 124 W. Maple Birmingham MI 48009 248.792.6464 DISTRIBUTION/SUBSCRIPTIONS Mailed monthly at no charge to homes in Rochester, Rochester Hills and parts of Oakland Township. Additional free copies distributed at high foot-traffic locations in Rochester and Rochester Hills. For those not receiving a free mail copy, paid subscriptions are available for a $12 annual charge. To secure a paid subscription, go to our website (downtownpublications.com) and click on “subscriptions” in the top index and place your order online or scan the QR Code here.
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FROM THE PUBLISHER ichigan has a storied history when it comes to protecting the environment, dating back to the late 1800’s, but in recent years the mission of the state agencies charged with this task appears to have become obscured.
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Our place in the annals of environmental programs and laws has generally been driven by our citizens, starting with the Michigan Sportsman’s Association’s push for over a decade for creation of state game wardens back in 1875. Then in the early 1900’s there was the push to preserve forestry from decimation by the lumber industry that lead to the creation of the first forest reserve, and the work of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) in 1948 to strengthen pollution laws. The late 1960’s and into the 1970’s were marked by voter approval of clean water bonds, and another push by MUCC and citizens for the bottle return regulations. And then there was creation, during Gov. William Milliken’s administration, of the historical Michigan Environmental Protection Act, along with wetlands protection and restrictions on phosphorous pollution. But the tide seems to have turned in the last decade where the state appears more concerned with the growth of the business sector, oftentimes at the expense of the environment. Part of the blame for this shift in emphasis falls to the current administration of Gov. Rick Snyder, who came into office in 2010 and announced that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would be “working in partnership” with the business community. That sent a message for DEQ personnel and served as a green light for anti-environmental forces in the state legislature to push ahead with some legislation that frankly would have been vetoed by past governors. Add to that mix the message sent from Washington D.C. with our current administration to roll back any protective orders from the past administration and that serves as more red meat for the Republicans in Lansing to think they are on the right track. The shift in emphasis helps explain two pieces of legislation that are currently moving in Lansing that illustrate my point. The first is a package of Senate bills sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Casperson from the 38th District that encompasses most of the Upper Peninsula. Casperson would be best described as a Tea Party member who has gone over the edge. His clarity of thought was best displayed when he attempted a congressional run years ago and was part of the birther movement that claimed President Obama was not born in this country. Casperson’s legislation (S.B. 652, 653, 654) would create an Environmental Rules Committee that would oversee all rule-making by the DEQ. I know, it is a long-standing complaint of some conservatives that all government environmental regulators are guilty of overreach when it comes to generating rules to implement legislation passed by state lawmakers, but the devil is in the details when you look at the Casperson proposal. The 12-member committee comprises the directors of the DEQ, Department of Health and Human Services and the chief executive officer of the Economic Development Corporation. These three persons or their designees would be non-voting members. Each would be able to select a qualified science advisor to work with the committee.
Also created would be a permit appeal panel and an advisory board off scientific experts. This legislation was passed at the end of January by the Senate on a party-line vote of 33 yeas, 26 nays. In case you are wondering, local Senators Marty Knollenberg (R-Birmingham, Bloomfild Hills, Rochester Hills and Rochester) and Jim Marleau (R-Bloomfield Township) voted in favor of the bills which have now moved to the Michigan House and could face a vote before lawmakers go on summer recess. I won’t belabor the issue, but I think the current system of rule-making and legislative override works relatively well. The proposed new system is clearly designed to allow business to have an inordinate say over what rules will be written, which I don’t think serves the public well. Macomb County Senator Steven Bieda (D) probably said it best when he compared the new system to “putting the fox in charge of the hen house” while tipping “the scales of justice in favor of biased special interests.” As an interesting side note, the Environmental Justice Work Group – created by Gov. Snyder to make policy recommendations to “further increase the quality of life for all Michiganders” – has recommended that he veto these bills if they reach his desk. The second example of legislative intent to ease restrictions on business is House Bill 5638 sponsored by Representative Aaron Miller (R-Sturgis) that would basically make it easier for business to withdraw water of 100,000 gallons or more daily by bypassing the current DEQ modeling tool as part of the permit process. Applicants would be allowed to provide their own report from their own experts to attest that streams and aquatic life would not be impacted. Currently those hoping for a permit have to submit information for an interactive online evaluation by using a Withdrawal Assessment Tool developed in 2008 by scientists at Michigan State University, University of Michigan, U.S. Geological Survey and the state of Michigan. Under the Miller proposal, applicants can find their own expert and if they determine there is minimal or no impact, then a permit is automatically granted. The DEQ can, within two years, contest a withdrawal at which time results of five pump test would be submitted so the department can determine the impact. Just the opposite of what should be happening when any permit is issued that could have environmental impact. Oh, I almost forgot. In the case of permits for withdrawals for agricultural operations – the largest user of water in the state – all information as part of the permit approval process and operating records would be exempt from the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. So the application process would be secret, in essence cutting out the public for being involved in the approval process or any method of monitoring ongoing withdrawals and related impact problems. Framers of this bill claim that the secrecy is necessary for homeland security due to possible “terrorist” threats. I am not convinced that communicating with local lawmakers in Lansing will do much good, but I provide the email addresses regardless to the senators and representatives for our area: Sen. Marty Knollenberg (R), senmknollenberg@senate.michigan.gov; Sen. Jim Marleau (R), senjmarleau@senate.michigan.gov; Rep. Mike McCready (R), mikemccready@house.mi.gov; Rep. Tim Greimel (D), timgreimel@house.mi.gov.
The remaining members would include representatives from the following industries: solid waste management, small business organization, public utilities (electric), oil and gas industry, medical profession, and a statewide agricultural group. The last spots would be filled by a rep from a statewide environmental group, local government and then a rep from the general public. No more than six members appointed by the governor could be from the same political party.
Personally, I plan on writing directly to Gov. Rick Snyder (governersoffice@michigan.gov) to ask that both of these legislative efforts get his veto if they reach his office.
Rules generated by the DEQ for enactment of legislation that have a potential impact on business would have to be approved by a majority of the nine voting members of the committee.
David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com
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CRIME LOCATOR
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Sexual assault
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These are the crimes reported under select categories by police officials in Rochester and Rochester Hills through April 26, 2018. Placement of codes is approximate.
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OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL Oakland Confidential is a periodic column of political gossip/news, gathered both on and off-the-record by staff members at Downtown newsmagazine. We welcome possible items for this column which can be emailed to: OaklndConfidential@DowntownPublications.com. All sources are kept strictly confidential. The gossip column can be viewed at OaklandConfidential.com. HILLARY-LITE: Following the Democratic convention in April, Michigan Democrats have their endorsed slate of candidates, and it’s an all white woman slate, beginning with Gretchen Whitmer for governor, Jocelyn Benson for secretary of state and, after a bit of an inter-party skirmish, Dana Nessel for attorney general. Nessel, the attorney who helped win the battle for same sex marriage, is considered a progressive Democrat, and will be the first LGBT attorney general if she’s elected. She battled more traditional Democratic candidate Pat Miles, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District, for the party endorsement, an African American former Harvard classmate of President Obama who had UAW and other union support. Miles dropped out of the race, but Whitmer will still see primary challengers – entrepreneur Shri Thanedar, Abdul El-Sayed, formerly with Detroit Department of Health and Wellness, and businessman Bill Cobbs. Some are concerned that in their efforts to reach out to progressives, Dems are forgetting about African Americans, a traditional Democratic base. Oakland University political science professor Dave Dulio said Democrats should be careful about who they choose. “If more progressive Democrats come out of the primary process, it will make it more difficult in the general election for a centrist Democrat to win,” he cautioned. “The more ideological extreme candidates that are endorsed, the harder it is for them to pick up votes from the center in the general.” ALL ICING, NO CAKE: Michigan Attorney General candidate and state Senator Tonya Schuitmaker’s (R-Mattawan) attack on House Speaker Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt) for apparently not doing enough to oppose Common Core in Michigan, appears to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. In a campaign video paid for by Schuitmaker, she questions whether Leonard – who also is running for attorney general – is “all SCHUITMAKER hat and no cattle” because he hasn’t sponsored a bill to repeal Common Core and allowed a voice vote on its LEONARD passage in the House in 2013. The southern phrase is curious considering it was Schuitmaker who gaveled in a voice vote on the bill in the Senate while giving her support to the bill. The ad, while great sizzle for the campaign trail, has no steak. CHASING DOLLARS: The race for congressional seats is in part a question of money, not to mention field operations. So here’s the lowdown (Cliff’s Notes style) on who raised the most in the first quarter of 2018 (and total to date) based on reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission. 11th District Democrats: Suneel Gupta, $407,110 ($934,511); Tim Greimel, $225,856 ($554,879); Haley Stevens, $185,058 ($842,537); Fayrouz Saad, $138,400 ($515,262); Dan Haberman, $58,894 ($259,367, including a $100,000 personal loan). 11th District Republicans: Lena Epstein, $145,094 ($1,486,035, including personal loan of $990,100); Klint Kesto, $110,781 ($255,616); Rocky Raczkowski, $99,620 ($199,620, including $100,000 personal loan); Mike Kowall, from February 2-March 31, $75,619 ($157,619, including $82,000 personal loan). 8th District Democrats: Elissa Slotkin, $801,000 ($1.7 million); Christopher Smith, $19,612 ($77,185). 8th District Republican: Mike Bishop, $456,777 ($1.55 million, including $86,399 personal loan and roughly $1 million in PAC donations). 9th District Democrats: Ellen Cogan Lipton, December 15-March 31, $501,102 ($501,102); Andy Levin, $386,358 ($510,927); Steve Bieda, $128,802 ($128,802); Martin Brook, $16,000 ($23,767). 9th District Republican: Candius Stearns, $20,264 ($129,000, including a $94,500 personal loan). STREET TALK: Some politicos have looked at state Sen. Mike Kowall’s financial report for his congressional run for MI-11, and are saying that he is having a tough time raising money. “To be competitive against (Lena) Epstein, he’ll need much more money. She’s the 800-pound gorilla in the race downtownpublications.com
– she’s the person to beat in this and will have all the resources,” Lansing political consultant Joe DiSano said. The big unknown about Epstein is what kind of an organization she’ll have, and what kind of ground game. An insider said that Kowall, who has run many a campaign, has already assembled an experienced finance team, campaign manager, an experienced overall manager who has been running a PAC over multiple states for Paul Ryan, has a ground plan, and the dollars he raised in the first quarter after getting in the race KOWALL in early February were all before his first fundraiser. Observers also note that Kowall’s current Senate district covers nearly half of the llth District, so he is much better known than other hopefuls. The one insiders say should be worried is Rocky EPSTEIN Raczkowski – “who is kinda like the proto-Trump. He will not be able to compete because Epstein will just grind him up.” Others agree, with one saying Raczkowski would never drop out “because his ego won’t let him.” SNAKE EYES: Once you see it, it’s hard to unsee it. We’re talking about an ad tea party Republican Kerry Bentivolio has created in an effort to retake the 11th Congressional District – the one he “accidentally” became congressman of from 2013 to 2015, after former Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Plymouth) somehow forgot to get enough qualified signatures to run, leaving Bentivolio the only one in the race in the then-firmly Republican district. David Trott quickly made mincemeat of him in 2014, and Bentivolio, a veteran and part-time reindeer farmer, has been trying to regain his 15-minutes of fame ever since. The ad calls Bentivolio the “Washington snake hunter,” has him reaching into a bucket by a BENTIVOLIO pond and pulling out two real snakes and then superimposing Rachel Maddow and Nancy Pelosi’s heads on them, saying, “You drain the swamp, I’ll hunt the snakes.” He has approved the ad. Unfortunately. See it for yourself – youtube.com/watch?v=Jev5SRFkNMs. GOING 40: The race to fill the local 40th District state House seat, currently occupied by Rep. Mike McCready, who is term-limited, is currently a picture of two different parties. On the Republican side, there’s limited buzz, with four confirmed candidates before the filing deadline when Downtown went to press, Mike Banerian, Malissa Bossardet, Paul Taros and Joe Zane, and David Wolkinson is also a likely candidate. Word is that Bloomfield Township trustee Michael Schostak is not going to run. Taros, an accountant, was waiting until after tax season to get out on the campaign trail, although he has received almost $50,000 so far in contributions – in loans from himself. Bossardet has raised MCCREADY $26,715 as of January 31, having loaned herself $25,000, and given the campaign a total of $33,000 in in-kind donations. Word is she is sending out postcards and going door-to-door. Zane ended the year with almost $14,000, $10,000 of which is a loan from him. Banerian looks like the only one actually raising some dough – $33,315. The two Democrats, Nicole Bedi and Mari Manoogian, aren’t letting grass grow under their feet in this typically Republican district, actively raising money and pressing the flesh. Bedi, who ran – and lost – to McCready in 2016, has been seen out at events, and raised $21,000 as of endof-year 2017. Manoogian had an even more successful 2017, taking in about $42,700. SAY MY NAME: As state Rep. Mike McCready (R-Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, West Bloomfield) turns his sights to his next challenge, running for state Senate in the 12th District, he is facing a fourperson primary for the district that runs from Bloomfield Township, Franklin and Beverly Hills to Clarkston, Oxford, Independence Township and Lake Orion. “We did a survey, and my name is well-known south of M-59,” McCready, a former Bloomfield Hills commissioner said. “North, I have my work cut out for me. I’m focusing on those districts.” Who he thinks is his main competitor, state Rep. Jim Tedder (R-Clarkston, Waterford, Independence Township, Lake Angelus), has no name recognition outside of Clarkston, insiders say, with Tedder focusing his attention currently on his home base and Lake Orion. Also running in the Republican primary are Terry Whitney and Michael Molnar. The winner will face whoever prevails among the Democrats – Rosemary Bayer, Jeremy Ross Haines and Kate Logan.
DOWNTOWN
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FACES Kris Schaedig irst beginning her work on a fine arts degree in the 1980s, Kris Schaedig put a career in the arts on hold to raise a family. Now the longtime Rochester resident and art instructor at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts is finishing her masters degree at the Art Institute of Chicago. "I always drew, even when I was a child growing up in Rogers City. I went to a Catholic school there, and the nun was an artist and was very encouraging. She was an inspiration to me," Schaedig said. "Originally, I went to Central (Michigan University) for art, but got sidetracked and went into a social work field. I realize that wasn't what I was supposed to be doing, and had three children. I knew I would go back and finish that degree, and 20 years later I did." Schaedig earned her fine arts degree from Wayne State University and started teaching classes at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts nearly a decade ago. She is currently spending her summers finishing her masters degree from the Art Institute of Chicago. Outside of teaching and being a student, Schaedig is a working artist, with her work on display throughout the Detroit area, Chicago and, of course, the Paint Creek Center for the Arts. "I used to do a lot of portraiture painting and I teach a figure drawing class. I was always interested in that, but I have gotten away from that in the last couple of years," she said. "It's kind of weird what graduate school does to you. For 20 years I was a painter and I was a drawer. But I started working with old family textiles and how they illustrate the passing of time, especially tablecloths and bedsheets." Using the aged textiles and adding embroidery, paint and other materials to techniques to address the passing of time, the works are a collection of history from objects we revere and the life contained with the objects. Schaedig draws attention to the holes and stains the textiles have collected over time, allowing the objects to become relics and containers of memories "It happened accidentally," she said. "I was at my mother's and there were all these old sheets. I wondered who had repaired them. Who made the buttonholes in the first place. They collected all of these memories of everybody who used them." Like patina that collects on the surface of old metal objects, the imperfections acquired by textiles become part of the aging process, with Schaedig using different techniques to draw attention to those small markers of time. "I had a duvet cover from my great grandmother. She made every buttonhole by hand. It's probably from the 1930s. That really affected me," she said. "Finally, it wore out, but it's interesting just how people took care of things. It took more time to make something, and things lasted a long time, so the materials had time to gather some history. Things today are poorer quality. It's a disposable culture." Schaedig's latest work was recently on display at the Ellen Kayrod Gallery in Detroit. She also is part of Mother Art: Revisited, a collaborative of artists in Chicago based on a group of women artists that formed in the 1970s. "It shows you that it's never too late to follow your passion," she said of her return to art. "I didn't want to be an old lady and have these regrets."
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Story: Kevin Elliott
Photo: Laurie Tennent
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VAPOR CONTAMINATION DEQ ONGOING EFFORT TO MONITOR INDOOR AIR BY KEVIN ELLIOTT tate health officials on March 1, 2018, notified the Oakland County Health Division that vapor from solvents associated with the dry cleaning and automotive industries was discovered in Franklin Cleaners and other businesses located at the Franklin Village Plaza, on Franklin Road in Franklin. As a result, several of the businesses were encouraged to temporarily and voluntarily close or be forced to be evacuated.
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"We are notifying the public out of our duty to inform of potential health risks," Oakland County Medical Director for the Oakland County Health Division Pamela Hackert said at the time of the business closures. "Not everyone gets sick from breathing these vapors. Health risks vary dependent on the level and length of exposure in addition to the health of the individual. If you have health concerns, talk to your doctor."
Further investigation revealed the vapor contamination was coming from a storage tank found in a crawl space of the building that contained at least 45 gallons of an unknown volatile organic compound (VOC). The discovery led to the mandatory temporary closing of five shops at the plaza. ir quality testing indicated the solvents included tetrachloroethylene, a chemical used in the dry cleaning and automotive industries, both as a stain remover and metal degreaser. Also called tetrachloroethene and perchloroethylene, the chemical is commonly referred to as PCE. Investigators also discovered the presence of trichloroethylene, or TCE, another chemical associated with dry cleaning and degreasing, as well as petroleum byproducts from a former gas station at the location. The chemicals may contaminate soil and groundwater. Vapor from the contaminated soil may then enter the air inside of a building and cause harm to the inhabitants breathing the air. Long term exposure to the chemicals may lead to various health issues, including color vision loss; changes in mood, memory, attention and reaction time; birth defects; and some types of cancer. While the chemicals are commonly used in the dry cleaning industry, health officials said neither PCE or TCE are used at the Franklin Village Plaza location, as the store sends items to another location for actual dry cleaning. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has stated Franklin Cleaners is not responsible for the vapor intrusion as they conduct dry cleaning or store chemicals on site. Rather, officials with the DEQ said the contamination was linked to businesses that had operated at the location more than 30 years earlier. The discovery was a result of the DEQ's ongoing statewide efforts to investigate vapor intrusion and indoor air quality resulting from known contamination sites. Vapor intrusion occurs when gases from volatile chemicals in contaminated soil and/or groundwater move through the soil and into buildings through cracks in the floor, walls, and gaps around service pipes. In outdoor air, these vapors are often diluted to harmless levels. When trapped in an enclosed space like a home or building, these vapors can collect and impact the indoor air quality and pose a risk to health. "We knew there was an old gas station there and a former dry cleaner," said Paul Owens, district supervisor with the DEQ's Remediation and Redevelopment Division. "We found some contamination and these chlorinated solvents associated with an old dry cleaner." The DEQ began taking indoor air samples at the Franklin Village Plaza site in February, but the department's investigation into contaminants at the site started more than a year earlier. Investigators with the state's environmental department had been looking into potential contamination at the plaza since July 2016. The DEQ at that time collected and analyzed 35 private drinking water supply samples. While none of the samples exceeded state thresholds for drinking water contaminants, environmental regulators continued to suspect contamination at the site due to past business uses at the location in or around the 1930s through 1970s. In May of 2017, the DEQ requested and received permission from property owners to access the site to conduct further sampling, including soil borings, water-monitoring wells and air pins to measure contamination vapor in the air. In October, the DEQ finished surveying the subsurface or contaminants. In late 2017, the DEQ collected about 80 soil samples, 27 groundwater samples and 23 vapor samples. In January 2018, the DEQ collected water samples from the Rouge River, and evaluated additional soil and groundwater samples near the plaza. "Beyond the soil and groundwater, we did soil gas samples underneath and around the building," Owens said. "That had high levels. The next step was to do indoor air quality samples, and those showed problems." In February 2018, the DEQ collected indoor air samples from four of
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the five businesses in the Franklin Village Plaza that were later forced in March to evacuate. Despite the discovery, business owners, staff and customers were unaware they had been exposed to potentially harmful vapors. Instead, the work was the direct result of a push by the DEQ to investigate more than 4,000 sites throughout the state where there is a potential for vapor intrusion, including more than 400 in Oakland County. Despite the health risks associated with vapor intrusion sites, the vast majority of potential sites are unable to be tested due to a lack of funding. "It's a workload issue," Owens said. "In Oakland County, we have about 530 sites that could have potential for vapor intrusion risk. We don't have resources to investigate or look into all of those. "There are about a dozen we are working on where the risk may be higher, and we are working on those." While health and environment regulators have known for decades about the dangers of vapor intrusion, toxicologists have just gained a new understanding about PCE and TCE in recent years, spurring a push for locating and mitigating sites contaminated with those solvents. "Part of it has to do with what we know about vapor intrusion that we didn't understand before," Owens said. "The levels of TCE and PCE are lower now than 10 or 20 years ago." Michigan's threshold criteria for vapor intrusion of PCE and TCE has been lowered in recent years, with the state's official vapor intrusion guidance document currently being updated. The update to the state's vapor intrusion criteria comes at the same time as a push to investigate potential sites. "That push came from 2016, as our knowledge of toxicology of solvents and the way it transports through the ground increased, and our realization that current science says there is lower levels that can be an inhalation risk," said Josh Mosher, assistant division director for the DEQ's Remediation and Redevelopment Division. "It's a much more difficult pathway to find than say, drinking water, where you can put someone on bottled water until you figure it out. It's hard to tell someone not to breath. "You have to do these quickly, and if vapor is found at certain levels, you have to evacuate people from homes or businesses." The DEQ officially recognized the vapor intrusion pathway in 1998, and formally promulgated generic criteria for vapor intrusion under Part 201 of Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act in 2002, which governs the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties in Michigan. Part 201 addresses liabilities associated with owning and operating contaminated properties in Michigan while simultaneously encouraging their redevelopment and reuse. roundwater and/or soil concentrations of volatile organic compounds, such as TCE and PCE, are currently used to determine whether the risk of contaminants in indoor air is acceptable. Exceeding the criteria in one or more samples at a location is sufficient to require remedial measures under Part 201 of Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. In 2010, the Michigan Legislature amended Part 201 to, among other things, require the DEQ to update the cleanup criteria rules to take into account recent scientific information. In 2014, a Criteria Stakeholder Advisory Group was created to make recommendations. Additionally, four Technical Advisory Groups were formed to address specific technical elements of the revised cleanup criteria. In November of 2016, the DEQ identified more than 4,000 sites where potential vapor intrusion may be occurring. Of those some 4,000 sites, the DEQ identified about 402 in Oakland County. Of those 402 potential sites, there are 13 in Birmingham; 12 in Bloomfield Township; two in Bloomfield Hills; eight in Rochester; and 16 in Rochester Hills. Officials with the DEQ said potential vapor intrusion sites listed in 2016 don't necessarily have a vapor intrusion pathway. Instead, those locations on the list may have had current or past uses that are typically associated with vapor intrusion, or may have known
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contamination that could be associated with vapor intrusion. Meanwhile, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December 2016 included PCE and TCE to its list of 10 chemicals that are undergoing risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The evaluations are intended to determine whether a chemical presents an unreasonable risk to health or the environment under conditions of use. As part of the process, the EPA must evaluate both hazard and exposure, excluding consideration of costs or other non-risk factors. Both PCE and TCE are already subject to various state and federal regulations and reporting requirements. For instance, PCE falls under the federal Toxics Release Inventory as a reportable chemical under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, meaning that certain quantities at a location must be reported to the county's emergency management and preparedness department, which then shares that information with the state. Both chemicals are also regulated under the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. In January 2017 and December 2016, the EPA published two proposed rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act, including one to ban commercial use of TCE in vapor degreasing, and the other to ban use of TCE in commercial and consumer aerosol degreasing and as a spot cleaner in dry cleaning. The actions means the EPA is proposing to prohibit commercial use of TCE for those purposes. The EPA plans to issue one final rule addressing the TCE uses in both proposed rules. Meanwhile, the EPA is still in the processes of conducting risk evaluations on both TCE and PCE. Considered a human carcinogen, the U.S. accounted for 24 percent of the global demand for TCE in 2014, second only to China, which accounted for about 52 percent of the global demand. About 83 percent of TCE is used as an intermediate in the production of certain refrigerants. About 14.7 percent of TCE is used as a degreaser for metal parts, with only about 1.7 percent used as a spot remover in dry cleaning, as well as aerosol products, according to an EPA report published in 2017. The use of TCE as a dry cleaning solvent lasted from the 1930s to the 1950s, when it was found to attack cellulose acetate dye in clothing. However, it's still used as a textile spot remover, including in dry cleaning products to remove water and oil-based stains. TCE has various other uses, including use in the decaffeination of coffee. While a ban on using TCE in food processing was proposed in 1977, it wasn't enacted. Among TCE's varied uses, it was also used as a solvent for the extraction of natural fats and oils such as palm, coconut, soybean, olive, corn and other foods until 1952. xposure to TCE is most common by breathing vapors in homes and buildings from contaminated soil or groundwater beneath them. TCE vapors found underneath or near a building can enter the air of a building and reach harmful levels, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Women who are or might be pregnant are particularly advised to avoid exposure to TCE, which may cause serious health problems for the fetus. While health experts say it only takes a few days for an average person to get rid of TCE in their body, chronic or short-term exposure may be problematic. A risk assessment of TCE by the EPA published in 2014 identified cancer risk concerns and short-term and long-term non-cancer risks for worker and occupational bystanders at small commercial degreasing facilities and dry cleaning facilities that use TCE-based solvents. In all cases, the main route of exposure is inhalation of the chemical. However, the EPA found TCE to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. The findings, the EPA states, were based on strong cancer epidemiological data that reported an association between TCE exposure and the onset of various cancers, primarily kidney, liver and immune system, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Additional studies, including rodent cancer studies, support TCE's classification as carcinogenic.
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Non-cancerous health effects indicate adverse health effects to the kidneys and liver, as well as the nervous system, immune system and reproductive system. PCE, also commonly called Perc, is a colorless, nonflammable organic solvent used in dry cleaning, degreasing and a process solvent for desulfurizing coal. It was also used extensively as an intermediate in the manufacture of chloroflurocarbon (CFC) refrigerants until most CFCs were banned in 1995. PCE's primary use is not as a chemical intermediate, specifically as the raw material for hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and produced as a co-product, along with other chlorinated hydrocarbons. he EPA considers PCE to be a likely human carcinogen, based on experimental animal studies. Rats and mice dosed with PCE orally or via inhalation exposure had increased incidences of kidney, liver and lymphoid tumors. Human studies also have suggested an association between PCE exposure from drinking water and cancer. Short-term exposure can result in irritation to the skin, eyes and upper respiratory tract. Headache, dizziness, drowsiness, ataxia and mood changes have been reported from acute inhalation to PCE. Higher levels of PCE exposure may result in coma and seizures. The EPA states that dry cleaning workers exposed to PCE had deficits in short-term memory tests for visual designs, reaction times, perceptual function, attention and intellectual function. While the two chemicals aren't the only ones associated with vapor intrusion pathways, they are two of the most commonly linked to the issue, Owens said. And, despite the risks posed by vapor intrusion sites, Michigan currently lacks a dedicated funding source to address the problem. "We do have something called Refined Petroleum Funds, which goes toward old gas stations or petroleum Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites," Owens said. "Those do cause some vapor intrusion problems, but unfortunately, a lot of vapor intrusion problems come from these chlorinated compounds, and we can't use that funding unless (the contamination) is co-mingled." About one cent per gallon of gasoline sold in Michigan is used to fund investigating and mitigating leaking underground storage tanks that involve petroleum products. The state estimates about 7,200 such sites across the state. Rules to address petroleum contaminated sites is found under Part 213 of the Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. However, funds from the Michigan's Refined Petroleum Fund can't be used for Part 201 sites unless petroleum-based products are also suspected at a location. "If it's just a chlorinated compound release alone, we have to use a different funding pot," Owens said. Owens said the investigation into vapor intrusion at the Franklin Village Plaza originated from a former gas station at the site, which allowed the department to use money from the state's refined petroleum fund. "We did an investigation there to see if there were threats because we knew there were drinking water wells in Franklin," he said. "Then we found this issue with chlorinated compounds when we were out there investigating." In February 2017, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder proposed providing about $4.9 million for the state's Vapor Intrusion Program to replace exhausted funding formerly provided by the state's Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI) bond, which provided funding for the state's Part 201 sites. The legislature provided about $1.3 million to fiscal year 2016-17 for the program, which supported about four full-time positions and contractual work to address some 4,000 potential vapor intrusion sites. For fiscal year 2017-18, the legislature authorized $1.7 million for the program, including a testing lab and one additional full-time position, said Sylvia Renteria, an assistant budget officer for the DEQ. "The new full-time position is a lab scientist that was added to do more air quality sampling," she said. In 1998, Michigan voters approved a $675 million general obligation
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bond, the Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI), to fund environmental, health and natural resources protection programs. Of the $675 million approved for the CMI, $570 million is earmarked for environmental protection and clean-up programs overseen by the DEQ. About $100 million of the funding is dedicated for Natural Resources Protection programs overseen by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The remaining $5 million is earmarked for health protection programs under the Department of Health and Human Services. By law, CMI bond spending by the DEQ must include $335 million for response activities at facilities; $50 million for waterfront improvements; $25 million for remediation of contaminated lake and river sediments; $50 million for non-point source pollution prevention and control projects or wellhead protection projects; $90 million for water quality monitoring, water resources protection and pollution control activities; and $20 million on pollution prevention programs. Of those activities, all $335 million dedicated for cleanup and redevelopment, which includes vapor intrusion pathways, has been spent or earmarked for projects, according to the House Fiscal Agency. nyder, in January, announced a proposal to invest $79 million annually to clean up contaminated sites in the state. The proposal would tap the state's landfill dumping fund, raising the fee from 36 cents per ton to $4.75 per ton. The funds would fund environmental protection efforts, essentially replacing the state's Clean Michigan Initiative Bond, which has been virtually exhausted. "Michiganders deserve a smart and safe plan to ensure the protection of our environment and public health – today, tomorrow and for generations to come," Snyder said in January when rolling out the proposal. "This proposal implements a comprehensive approach to cleaning up contaminated sites while addressing best practices for managing waste and recycling efforts, taking us another step forward in our work to build a stronger environmental foundation for Michigan's future." The governor's office said the proposal would mean an average increase of $4.75 per household annually. Of the estimated $79 million the increased dumping fees would generate, about $5 million would be used to remediate and redevelop existing and future contaminated sites. That would equate to about 300 sites each year across all 83 counties, including those with vapor intrusion issues and other contamination. About $9 million of the proposed funds would be used to enhance solid waste planning for local governments; $15 million to increasing recycling; $5 million for water quality grants, including beach monitoring, reducing phosphorus in Lake Erie and removing contamination from rivers, lakes and streams; and about $5 million for Michigan's park infrastructure. The proposal, dubbed the Clean Environment Initiative, would generate about $73.9 million more annually over the current $5.1 million generated through solid waste disposal fees, commonly referred to as tipping fees. The proposal would add about 20 new full-time employees for environmental cleanup and brownfield redevelopment. The DEQ's Renteria said the state's current tipping fee of 36 cents per ton is the lowest in the region. Raising that amount to the proposed $4.75 per ton would bring Michigan to a comparable rate in the Great Lakes region. "Funds that the legislature provides is one piece of the puzzle," she said. "Cleanups are also supported by the state's bottle bill funding through the cleanup and redevelopment fund. That is the largest piece of 201 funding in terms of operation." Sean Hammond, deputy policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council, said the governor's proposal is the first permanent solution proposed to address vapor intrusion. "Vapor intrusion isn't a new issue, but it's a new focus for Michigan," Hammond said. "Franklin is one site, but there have been others in the west side of the state, including an apartment building. The focus at these cleanup sites has always been making sure the public doesn't access soils and to stop contamination from getting into the groundwater, but we are seeing that these chemicals are migrating
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into the ground and coming back as vapors. That has also happened at sites where cleanup has happened, so that number of 4,000 sites is probably accurate, if not low. We've always said the site numbers need to be looked at again and reworked. Vapor intrusion was something we didn't really consider until recently. The thought of how they are getting there is sort of a new problem to tackle." In terms of money, Hammond said there's not adequate funding to address the potential vapor intrusion sites identified by the DEQ. Since spending all of the available CMI funds, Hammond said the state has no money left to address the problem. That's where he said the governor's proposal offers a long-term solution. "We think it's a solution and it's a positive solution," he said. "It's the first time in a long time a real solution-orientated proposal was put out there that is stable. We see this as a truly sustainable funding source going in, opposed to relying on bonding." Both TCE and PCE are commonly associated with dry cleaner operations, which also are a common location for vapor intrusion. However, many municipalities are pushing to restrict dry cleaning operations to industrial areas, rather than commercial areas. "Nobody wants (dry cleaning) processing plants anymore unless they are in the right spot. Most businesses have a plant in an industrial area, then have outlets," said Rochester Deputy City Manager and Director of Planning and Economic Development Nik Banda. "Not many dry cleaners have processing on site." A revision of zoning ordinances underway in Rochester restricts dry cleaners from operating processing plants around areas surrounding the downtown area. Banda said the zoning restrictions are intended to keep processing plants to industrial areas. "I would think most communities would want to push processing into industrial areas, not commercial," he said. While Banda said there are some dry cleaning and other locations where known contamination are located, it's typically not a vapor intrusion issue unless the soil is disturbed. Such cases are different than the vapor discovered in Franklin, which wasn't coming from beneath a building's foundation. Rochester Hills Planning Director Sara Roediger said that city also has ordinances restricting the location of processing plants. Such uses, she said, require conditional use permission from city council, which would also require approval from the city's planning commission and a public hearing. "Anytime there's a use that may have some impacts, we have a series of performance standards they have to meet," Roediger said. "For example, gas, noise, light and anything of that nature, like our sound regulations. That would apply to odors or other things our performance standards would regulate." Officials in Bloomfield Hills said there aren't zoning restrictions or special use requirements for dry cleaning processing in the city. irmingham city spokesman Kevin Byrnes said dry cleaning processing is permitted in all of the city's business districts, including the downtown area. However, processing locations would require a special use permit in the city's recently created TZ-3 zone, which serves as a transitional district between some residential and commercial areas. Additionally, Byrnes said there are specific city codes in place to prevent contamination from occurring at processing locations. "With the codes and new technology, we have some provisions in place to stop that from happening," he said. Bloomfield Township Planning Director Patti Voelker said the township doesn't restrict where processing plants may locate or require special use permits, but did say the township has a rigorous site plan review process that involves engineering, police and fire, as well as consultants, if needed. As a result, she said any such concerns about processing locations would be addressed during the approval process. Owens with the DEQ said of the more than 400 sites with potential vapor intrusion issues in Oakland County, there are probably about a dozen that are considered "high priority." Of those
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Potential vapor intrusion sites in the greater Rochester or Birmingham/Bloomfield area, he said two are considered high priority. One of those sites is located at the Rochester Hills Plaza, in the 1300 block of Walton Boulevard, associated with dry cleaning operations at the location. "On-site, there is a risk of vapor intrusion, and further evaluation is needed to determine the nature of that risk," he said. "Off-site, the vapor intrusion risks are unknown and further characterization and evaluation is needed." The other location is the former ITT Automotive site in Rochester, at or about 400 Water Street, along the Paint Creek. About $2 million in environmental cleanup and mitigation is underway at the site, which will house a 45,000 square-foot office building and be home to developer Frank Rewold & Son. That project includes about $1 million in CMI funds for cleanup, which includes TCE and other contaminants stemming from historic industrial uses at the site. wens said the former industrial property has contaminated soil and groundwater present, and will need to be managed to support the future development of the property. Total cleanup costs at the site are expected to be more than $2 million, which is being funded through a brownfield redevelopment plan, that allows the cost to be shared by the city and the developer. A new focus on vapor intrusion sites means additional costs for the state, as well as potential property owners. As the state formulates new criteria for vapor intrusion pathways, those looking to conduct property acquisitions may need to take extra precautions, said environmental attorney Todd Fracassi, a partner with Southfield-based Pepper Hamilton LLP. "There are certain things you want to make sure you do to ensure you're not in that liability chain," Fracassi said. "It can get costly in the remediation, as well as the mitigation measures, such as vapor barriers or capture systems. Those may not be horribly expensive, but it can interrupt and change operations and have business impacts." From a buyer's perspective, having an environmental site assessment conducted provides a history of the property's use and can help determine if there is a potential for contamination. Having such assessments done serves to protect the property owner from liability later if contamination is found. Phase I environmental assessments and additional baseline environmental assessments are also used by the DEQ to find potential contamination. "Those look at past uses, and they send the reports to us, which gives them liability protection," Mosher with the DEQ said. "They may also identify new releases or conditions that the department didn't know about.” When contamination is found, the DEQ works to mitigate the risk as quickly as possible with their current funding. Mosher said the department looks to locate any responsible parties, but focuses on alleviating the problem first. "The remedies aren't that expensive," he said, "it's the upfront costs that are expensive. Finding a path is the more expensive part." At the Franklin Village Plaza, the DEQ worked to remedy the situation by installing high-tech air monitors and air scrubbers, as well as removing the source of the contamination. The DEQ said no liable party has been located for the cleanup, meaning the process was funded by the state. By late March, two of the five businesses at the plaza were reopened, including Franklin Nail and Spa and Franklin Cleaners. All businesses in the plaza were required to use temporary air filtration devices 24 hours a day, pending the installation of a permanent system. By April 11, four of the five businesses closed had been reopened, including Tailoring and More. Fritz and Friends chose to close for good.
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The following is a partial list of sites that were identified in November 2016 as potential vapor intrusion sites. Inclusion in the list means the DEQ believes there is potential for vapor intrusion to occur at the site based on environmental assessments and/or former or current activity at the site. Vapor intrusion hasn't necessarily been identified at the sites.
BIRMINGHAM • 2400 East Lincoln Road, (future site of The Sheridan Retirement Community), construction site; • Birmingham Cleaners, 2531 West Maple, dry cleaner; • Birmingham Cleaners, 1253 S. Woodward, dry cleaner; • Douglas Cleaners, 1794 W. Maple, dry cleaner; • Douglas Cleaners, 900 N. Old Woodward, dry cleaner; • Grant Street Cleaners, 1190 Grant Street, dry cleaner; • LaFontaine Cleaners, 152 W. 14 Mile Road, dry cleaner; • North Eton Cleaners, 217 N. Eton, dry cleaner; • One Hour Martinizing of Birmingham, 33989 S. Woodward, dry cleaner; • Rosman Cleaners, 651 S. Adams, dry cleaner; • Weisman Cleaners of Birmingham, 875 S. Worth, dry cleaner; • Wesch Cleaners, 33633 Woodward, dry cleaner; • Woodward Brown Assoc. (Balmoral building), 34901 Woodward, site inventory.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS • Pearl Cleaners, 65 W. Long Lake Road, dry cleaner; • Janet Davis Cleaners, 3645 W. Maple, dry cleaner.
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP • • • • • • • • • • • •
BH Town and Country Cleaners, 1607 S. Opdyke Road, dry cleaner; Birmingham Cleaners, 2503-2531 W. Maple, dry cleaner; Bob White Cleaners, 970 Long Lake Road, dry cleaner; Costco Wholesale, 2343 S. Telegraph, site inventory; Dryclean Depot, 2527 Telegraph Road, dry cleaner; George E. Mitchell Cleaners, 1085 W. Long Lake, dry cleaner; J Cleaners, 3260 South Blvd., dry cleaner; Lois Gross Cleaners, 6570 Telegraph Road, dry cleaner; Miraclean Dry Cleaners, 42646 N. Woodward Ave., dry cleaner; One Hour Martinizing, 4262 Orchard Lake Road, dry cleaner; One Hour Martinizing, 43227 Woodward Ave., dry cleaner; Townsend Cleaners, 2531 Maple, dry cleaner.
• • • • • • • •
Sunrise of Rochester, 500 E. University Dr., site inventory; Collins & Orion roads residential wells, 4429 Orion Road, site inventory; Colony Cleaners, 1020 N. Main Street, dry cleaner; ICM Plastics, 6875 Rochester Road, site inventory; ITT Automotive, 301 E. Third, site inventory; Norgetown of Rochester, 111 S. Main Gateway C., dry cleaner; Rochester Elevator, 303 E. University, site inventory; Village Cleaners, 134 Main Street, dry cleaner.
ROCHESTER
ROCHESTER HILLS • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Adams Cleaners, 3164 Walton Blvd., dry cleaner; Cici Cleaners, 829 E. Auburn Road, dry cleaner; Gino's Dry Cleaners, 2044 Auburn Road, dry cleaner; Great Oaks Laundry & Dry Cleaning, 1436 Walton Blvd., dry cleaner; Hamlin Cleaners, 1978 Rochester Road, dry cleaner; Hampton Cleaners, 2968 Rochester Road, dry cleaner; Kingston Development, 1805 Hamlin Road, site inventory; Lee Sunrise Cleaners, 290 W. Tienken Road dry cleaner; MGM Cleaners, 2995 Crooks Road, dry cleaner; North Hill Cleaners, 1463 Rochester Road, dry cleaner; One Hour Martinizing, 2063 S. Rochester Road, dry cleaner; One Hour Martinizing, 1444 Walton Blvd., dry cleaner; Rochester Hills Plaza, 1400 Walton Blvd., (1436 & 1444 Walton included), site inventory; • Spring Hill Cleaners, 2945 Walton Blvd., dry cleaner; • Town & Country Cleaners, 321 S. Livernois, dry cleaner; • Village Cleaners West, 2244 Crooks Road, dry cleaner.
•Source: Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
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Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz r. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz is a woman on the move. Slowing down doesn’t seem to be in her vocabulary, especially given her day job, President of Oakland University. “Pretty much from the moment I arrive until the moment I go to sleep, I’m non-stop busy doing wonderful and exciting and challenging and fascinating things,” she said. “Every day is different but really wonderful.” Dr. Pescovitz, who has been in the position since last July, has big plans for the university, and isn’t one to doubt, especially after you take a look at her very impressive resume. First, there’s her medical degree from Northwestern University, where she earned Distinguished Alumni Awards from both the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern University. Then there’s her 21-year career at Indiana University, during which time she was Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs at IU’s School of Medicine, President and CEO of Riley Hospital for Children, and interim Vice President for IU’s Research Administration. This was followed by a stint at the University of Michigan as the university’s first female Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Health System CEO, before becoming Senior Vice President and U.S. Medical Leader at Eli Lilly and Company. She’s also a pediatric endocrinologist and researcher who has published more than 190 papers and books, and a sought-after speaker on topics ranging from healthcare to women’s issues. While Dr. Pescovitz has been a scientist, physician, and seasoned administrator, all of which she said helped her prepare for becoming OU’s president, the role that helped her prepare the most? Being a mom. “Being a parent, I believe that my most important role is to create an environment in which my children can be nurtured and thrive and eventually reach their maximum potential,” she said. “Parents try to ensure that their children will succeed and thrive and actually exceed what they did. You want your children to excel.” During her time as OU’s president she hopes she can help OU excel as well. She thinks Oakland University has great potential, like change the world kind of potential. Its part of what attracted her to the job in the first place. The William Beaumont School of Medicine didn’t hurt either. “I’m really excited about our potential to leave a lasting impact on the world,” she said. Dr. Pescovitz hopes to improve the university in terms of academic excellence and student success. She also wants to leave a mark on the region through quality of life, economic impact, and the difference they make in people’s lives. She wants her students to graduate and change the world, which has already begun. “While we’re already doing really, really well, I believe we have room to do even better,” Dr. Pescovitz said. “What excites me is knowing that we can raise the bar even higher.” And she doesn’t mean just at OU, but at colleges and universities across the state. “I think that if we improve at Oakland we’ll be having a positive impact on the state’s higher education status,” she said. “And I see Oakland as a place that if we move the bar of the needle here we will be moving the bar of the needle in the rest of Michigan.”
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Story: Dana Casadei
Photo: Laurie Tennent
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Unique one of a kind home on private gated 1 acre lot with extensive gardens and built in pool. Large gourmet kitchen with commercial grade appliances, excellent garage space, great home to raise a family on a private lot within walking distance to town. Located at 147 North Lane, Rochester, offered at $849,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
Great room split ranch with finished walkout basement backing to Stoney Creek Metro Park, finished walkout features 4th bedroom, 3rd full bathroom, open entertaining area and large storage room; great floor plan with Owner's suite on one side of home. Other 2 bedrooms other side of home. 57183 Willow Way, Washington Township. Offered at $509,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
MODERN TRADITIONAL WITH 10 CAR GARAGE ON 3.5 ACRES
COLONIAL ON PRIVATE 2.6 ACRES MINUTES FROM STONEY CREEK PARK
A once in a lifetime opportunity on this almost completely rebuilt colonial with 7,400 sq. ft. of living space, 10 car garage parking, carriage house apartment. Additional out building, home is like brand new. Located in the heart of historic Romeo at 439 Morton Street offered at $2,264,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
Excellent condition cedar colonial with finished walkout basement on very private 2.6 acre lot in highly sought after Lockwood Hills community, excellent home to raise a family or a great location for an estate home walking distance to Stoney Creek. Located at 58070 Cyrenus, Washington Township. Offered at $529,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
CRYSTAL CREEK STUNNING DESIGNER SHOWCASE HOME
FINISHED WALKOUT TO BUILT-IN POOL ON ALMOST AN ACRE LOT W/POND
Stunning designer showcase 1 1/2 story home with fully finished walk-out on heavily landscaped lot in the highly sought after Crystal Creek Community. Custom Schoolz design floor plan built with only the finest materials and craftsmanship, awesome entertainer's floor plan featuring large gourmet island kitchen with chef grade built-in appliances. 4898 Shimmering Creek Drive, Washington. Offered at $899,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
Custom built Georgian colonial w/finished walkout to built-in pool on private almost acre lot w/pond, 4.5-car garage & circular drive, all high end finishes throughout, entertainers huge gourmet island kitchen w/commercial grade appliances, all bedrooms have private baths, finished walkout w/wet bar and wide open entertaining area, extensive landscaping with waterfall, awesome yearround sun-room overlooking private yard, This is a great home to raise a family! 1683 Chieftan Circle, Oxford Twp. Offered at $999,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
DOWNTOWN ROCHESTER-WALK TO TOWN
FINISHED WALKOUT ON 2 ACRE PRIVATE WOODED LOT
Absolute mint condition decorator showcase, walking distance to downtown, awesome private backyard with fireplace. Home has been almost completely remodeled last couple years and is ready for immediate possession. Located at 633 1st Street, Rochester. Offered at $479,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
Designer showcase colonial in highly sought after North Oaks Development. Home features an entertainer's gourmet island kitchen w/Quartz counter tops & built-in commercial grade stainless steel appliances, home was almost completely updated last few years, huge dual level cedar deck overlooking private wooded yard that extends 400' behind home. 1589 Scenic Hollow Rochester Hills, Offered at $819,000. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-5326700 x114
1.5 ACRE IN ESTATE IN GATED COMMUNITY
SPRAWLING CUSTOM RANCH WITH BUILT IN POOL
Over 10,000 sq. ft. of finished living area in this custom built home with walkout to fabulous in-ground pool on private 1. 5 acre lot backing to creek. Garage parking for 6 cars. Fantastic opportunity, offered at $1,199,900. Located at 6532 Cornerstone Lane, Rochester. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
3,715 sq. ft. custom built great room ranch with built-in gunite swimming pool on over 1/2 acre private lot with creek backing to woods and The Orchards Golf Course (no neighbors behind home). Home features all high end finishes throughout, entertainer's gourmet island kitchen with built-in commercial grade stainless steel appliances, custom woodwork & trim throughout home, travertine floors in foyer, hallway & kitchen; awesome owners suite with designer bathroom, huge unfinished daylight basement with many possibilities. 6532 Pond Drive, Washington Township, $859,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
GREAT ROOM RANCH WITH FINISHED WALKOUT ON 1.25 ACRES
FINISHED WALKOUT PRIVATE YARD IN CLEAR CREEK SUBDIVISION
Excellent condition great room ranch with finished walkout basement on 1.25 acre private lot, renovated kitchen with granite counter tops and built-in Viking Appliances and cathedral ceilings with sky lights, nice large great room, year round sunroom overlooking private yard. Nice quiet community just north of town. 3.5 car garage. 4535 Valley View, Rochester Hills. $599,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114
Very clean well cared for 5 Bedroom, 1 1/2 story home with a fully finished walkout basement to heavily landscaped private yard with basketball court. Home features over 6,000 sq. ft. of finely appointed living area, all high end finishes throughout, all bedrooms have bath access, dual wrought iron staircase to 2nd floor, hardwood flooring entire 1st floor, lots of crown molding, vinyl clad windows; finished walkout has 2nd kitchen with additional full bath and theater room. 1372 Clear Creek, Rochester Hills, $769,900. Call Tom Zibkowski 586-532-6700 x114.
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ORGANIZED CRIME IN DETROIT THEN AND NOW BY LISA BRODY
ement shoes. Swimming with the fishes. Code of silence. Going to the mattresses. Shakedown. Rat, mobster, soldier, made man, don. Garbage business, waste management business. Hit. Whack. Golden Age. Rico. Whether we learned these terms from numerous viewings of “The Godfather” or bingewatching “The Sopranos,” we all think we're experts on the mob, the Mafia, or organized crime. Yet, despite the prevalence of popular culture, the reality of organized crime in America is much more nuanced than a Mario Puza novel or an HBO series, with a rich and distinct history. That history has evolved and morphed as additional crime entities have developed, leaving organized crime to remain as powerful entities
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today, just in different manifestations, representing a variety of different ethnicities and cultures. Since its beginnings in this country, Detroit has been a major hub of organized crime activity, which is defined as transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals who engage in illegal activity for money or profit. While the Mafia falls into the category of organized crime, they are not the only group, and are not synonymous with organized crime, as the Mafia are Italian organized crime families. There are others. Situated on the border of Canada, between New York City and Chicago, the Mafia, coupled with a group of Jewish thugs who became known as the Purple Gang, helped Detroit become one of the strongholds of organized crime in this country.
In the 1920s, when Prohibition was the law of the land, Detroit was the fourth largest city in the country, with a population of over 1.5 million people. Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 until 1933, was a nationwide constitutional ban, via the Eighteenth Amendment, on the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. However, in Michigan, liquor became illegal three years earlier than the rest of the country – in 1917. The reason? Henry Ford, who owned the River Rouge plant in Dearborn, wanted a sober workforce and backed the 1916 Damon Act, which prohibited the use of alcohol beginning in 1917. By 1919, the Damon Act was declared unconstitutional, mostly because judges wouldn't support it, taking a lenient view of offenders – just in time for the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to take effect, which, along with the separate Volstead Act – which provided the methods for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment and defined which “intoxicating liquors” were prohibited – and which were excluded, such as for medicinal or religious purposes. or bootleggers, the Damon Act and the Eighteenth Amendment were heaven sent, and the prohibition of alcohol, combined with a large and prosperous workforce in Detroit from a growing automobile industry, helped create the rise of the Mafia and other organized crime groups. After all, just because liquor was forbidden didn't mean people didn't want it just as much – or even more. Speakeasies, blind pigs and gin joints burgeoned, with those who could afford to flocking to them. They became glamorous and exciting places to be seen at, and as the Gilda Lehrman Institute of American History noted, while pre-Prohibition saloons rarely were welcome places for women, “the new world of nightclubs invited both the bob-haired 'flapper' and her 'sheik' to drink cocktails, smoke, and dance to jazz.” In 1918, with Michigan having enacted the Damon Act, Detroit was the first city in the country with a population over 250,000 to go dry. At the time, there were approximately 1,800 licensed saloons. By 1925, in the depths of Prohibition, it's estimated there were about 25,000 blind pigs in the city. “Ultimately, only a small percentage of liquor distributors found themselves arrested. But even this limited number of accused – there were approximately 65,000 federal criminal actions in the first two years of Prohibition – was enough to cripple the justice system. Prisons grew crowded, and judges tried to incentivize quick 'guilty' pleas by promising very small fines. And if a liquor seller did wind up on trial, juries filled with liquor drinkers were often reluctant to find the defendants guilty; only about 60 percent of cases ended with a conviction,” reported the Gilda Lehrman Institute of American History. The exception included those who were “connected.” “During this period both the Chicago and New York underworlds often grabbed the headlines of major newspapers with their own beer wars and gangster escapades, yet the Detroit underworld in many ways was worse,” said Detroit organized crime expert Scott Burnstein. “Detroit's proximity
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to Ontario, Canada, made it an opportune place for rumrunners and smugglers. By the midtwenties, an estimated 500,000 cases of Canadian whiskey were coming across the Detroit River every month.” The Canadian government, which had temporarily banned the use of alcoholic beverages, had still approved and licensed distilleries and breweries to manufacture and export alcohol. The port of Windsor, directly across the Detroit River from Detroit, was an easy boat ride for smugglers going back and forth, evading authorities. According to Shannon Saksewski, author of “Awesome Mitten,” “By some accounts, around 75 percent of the alcohol distributed in the United States during Prohibition came through Detroit. Detroit was nicknamed 'Whiskeytown.'” In addition, beginning in 1917 with the Damon Act, with Detroit's closeness to Ohio, bootleggers imported whiskey from – and to – Toledo, which then found itself traveling south. Mark Gribben noted that part of what allowed the rise of many bootleggers is that like other major cities at the beginning of the 20th century, Detroit's immigrant neighborhoods were impoverished, leading some to become breeding grounds for crime and violence. The most notorious organized crime members of the early 20th century started off not as high end smugglers, but as petty thieves and shakedown artists, whether in the Hastings Street neighborhood known as Paradise Valley in Detroit's lower east side, where most of the Purple Gang's central members arose from as the children of Jewish immigrants, or in the Eastern Market neighborhood and Wyandotte area, where the first Sicilian Italian criminals moved to and gained their foothold. “During the great wave of immigration between 1880 and 1920, many Italian and Sicilian people left their homelands for U.S. shores,” Burnstein said. “Along with many hardworking and law-abiding new Americans came Old World criminals. These Italian and Sicilian gangsters were either looking for greener pastures or were forced to leave their homeland because they were wanted by the authorities.” He said that prior to Prohibition, these criminals caught police attention due to an extortion racket which was very popular among small time criminals as well as members of the Mafia and the Camorra, a similar gang out of Naples. Their scheme was to write an anonymous letter to a prosperous member of the community threatening to murder him or his wife, kidnap their children, or to destroy their place of business if certain extortion demands were not met. Since most of these local targets not only didn't trust local police, they were superstitious – there were lots of examples in the Italian community of what happened to people who ignored these letters, and it wasn't pretty. Burnstein noted that the extortion racket become so widespread in most large U.S. cities that they had special squads in their police departments to deal with these crimes in their Italian communities. This racket was sometimes used, Burnstein noted, by Salvatore and Vito Adamo, Sicilian immigrant brothers who arrived in Detroit around 1900. “Starting around 1905, the Adamo brothers
were leaders of a Mafia gang on Detroit's lower east side that preyed on the Italian community, and that most likely constituted the first semblance of modern day organized crime in the Motor City,” Burnstein said. “The Adamo mob was involved in the typical ethnic underworld rackets of the time, which included making beer and wine, extorting protection money from local citizens, and the Italian lottery.” Vito lived in Wyandotte, while Salvatore, who was known as Sam, headquartered his operations out of Eastern Market. The first threat to their authority came around 1910 with the arrival of three other Sicilian brothers, Antonino, Salvatore and Gaetano Gianolla. Burnstein said there was a brief shaky peace between the two Mafia factions, but the Gianolla brothers, who he said became known in local underworld circles as the Triumvirate of Terror, began chafing under the Adamos' rule. The Gianollas' controlled all the rackets downriver from their produce business, the Wyandotte Fruit Company, and by 1911, expanded their empire into the Eastern Market empire and other east side neighborhoods the Adamos' had been controlling. “It was not long before open warfare broke out,” Burnstein said. “The gang war lasted approximately two-and-a-half years, from 1911 to 1913, and left dozens of bodies in its wake from both sides of the conflict. The Gianollas eventually claimed victory in the vicious street battle by murdering both Adamo brothers as they walked together at the corner of Mullett and Russell streets in Eastern Market in November 1913.” Peace, such as it was, lasted amongst the mafiosos, until 1917, when there was another allout street war for supremacy between the Gianollas and one of their enforcers, Giovanni “Bloody John” Vitale. “The war was jumpstarted when Antonino ‘Tony’ Gionolla ordered the murder of Sam Bosco, a close friend and trusted associate of Vitale's, over a dispute,” Burnstein said. “When the Vitale faction attempted to hijack a load of liquor belonging to the Giannola brothers, the Giannola/Vitale gang war officially began.” ver the next four years, Burnstein said, over 100 men were killed in the turf war. By October 1920, when it was over, all of the major leaders of both gangs had been killed. A peace conference called after Thanksgiving that year led to a division of territory that appears to continue to this day – and is believed to have led to the name “La Costa Nostra” in the community, meaning, “this thing of ours,” based on the secret Mafia Sicilian organization. “Salvatore 'Singing Sam' Cattalanotte, a respected Giannola advisor, presided over a meeting of the minds and helped forge a peace agreement,” Burnstein said. “Territory was divided among what would become known as the Eastside and Westside Mobs, with former Gianolla lieutenants Joe Zerilli and William 'Black Bill' Tocco leading the Eastsiders and Chester 'Big Chet' La Mara, a long time counsel to Cattalanotte, heading the Westsiders.” Cattalanotte was the head of Detroit's
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Sicilian Mafia during Prohibition, and he organized the remaining Mafia factions in Detroit, along with friends and relatives from St. Louis, under a liquor combine that became known as the “Pascuzzi Combine,” according to records kept by Joe “Misery” Moceri. At this same time, a bunch of Jewish street thugs grew to become one of the most notorious and vicious organized crime groups in the country before flaming out. Originally known as the Oakland Sugar House Gang, they became known as the Purple Gang, although the origins of the name are subject to debate. urnstein said that around 1917, the original group of 18 to 20 predominantly Jewish boys who were from the old Hastings Street section of Detroit's lower east side had become neighborhood nuisances. “They rolled drunks, beat up other youngsters, and extorted money from local merchants. This teenage street gang would eventually evolve into one of the most notorious underworld groups of the Prohibition era.” “Perhaps the most ruthless bootleggers of their time, they may have killed over 500 members of rival bootlegging gangs during Detroit's bootleg wars,” said historian and author Kathy Weiser. “Bootlegging netted the Purple Gang millions of dollars, but the mob was also involved in extortion, hijacking and jewelry thefts. The Purple Gang also attempted to run gambling rings in Detroit, especially among the African American population.” As for the name, legend has it that one Hasting Street shopkeeper complained to another, “These boys are not like other youngsters, they're tainted. They're like the color of bad meat, purple.” “Yes,” said the other shopkeeper, “they're a purple gang.” Burnstein, though, said the name most likely evolved during a period of labor strife known as the Cleaners and Dyers War, where one of the Purple Gang's terror tactics was to throw purple dye on clothing, in order to force tailor shops to join the union. But they made their real reputation in Detroit's underworld of organized crime as hijackers who would steal whiskey from other mobs and kill everyone who was hauling the load, along with cutting themselves in on the profits that other gangsters made from gambling, prostitution and drug dealing. “Their signature move was to hijack vehicles that were moving liquor over frozen Lake St. Clair, kill the drivers,and steal their cargo. As their business became increasingly lucrative and their violence became known, the Purple Gang approached untouchable status. No one would testify against them for fear of their wrath. At the same time, since they stole from rival outlaws, the police often turned a blind eye,” Saksewski said. While mentored early by Charles Leiter and Henry Shorr, the leaders of the original Purple Gang were Abe, Joe, Ray and Isadore Burnstein, four brothers who played different roles – Abe as underworld diplomat and Joe and Ray enforcers. Scott Burnstein said he learned growing up they were his grandfather's
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uncles. “But it wasn't until I was in law school, doing an internship with the Illinois Attorney General's office looking into Chicago mob cases, that I began to wonder about the Detroit mob,” he said. Purple gang members and their sycophants hung out at a bathhouse in northeast Detroit, the Oakland Avenue Bath House, which has always been known as The Shvitz, where they'd get a massage, eat a steak and meet to conduct business. “The Shvitz was an ideal place to meet and discuss schemes without having to worry about the people you were doing business with wearing a wire, since everyone was in towels and the humidity prevented the government from bugging the place,” Burnstein noted. By 1925, flush with cash and egos having grown from their success in bootlegging, the Purple Gang had expanded into other illegal endeavors. They began to be hired out as hitmen, and took part in the Cleaners and Dyers War, where Abe Burnstein joined up with the president of the Detroit Federation of Labor, Francis X. Martel, to form the racketeercontrolled Wholesale Cleaners and Dyers Association, Burnstein said. Their argument was that this union would stabilize prices in the cleaning and dying industry. “Armed Purple Gangsters would attend the monthly association meetings and collect the dues.” If the dues were paid on a regular basis, no problem. However, if a plant owner refused to join, there would be big problems, such as chemicals put into clothing that would cause garments to burst into flames when pressed, truckloads of laundry hijacked, and drivers even beaten to death. “Between 1925 and 1928, hundreds of thousands of dollars were extorted from the Detroit area cleaning industry,” Burnstein said,with at least two union business agents taken for rides and shot in the back of the head, their bodies tossed into the street. In March 1927, a mob war blew up between Italian, Irish and Jewish bootleggers over territory, with the Purples fighting a vicious turf war with the Licavoli brothers, who led the River Gang, and were part of the Eastside Mafia gang. “The Purple Gang was exceptionally violent, constantly at war with other gangs and each other,” said Saksewski. “Newspapers would often carry stories of gang murders on both sides of their conflicts. Too many openly violent crimes caused a string of convictions of Purple Gang members, while the intra-gang violence between different members damaged the gang's organization and its abilities to control its turf. “The Purples ruled the Detroit underworld for approximately five years, from 1927 to 1932, and had almost complete immunity from police interference as witnesses to crimes were terrified to testify against any criminal identified as a Purple Gangster,” she continued. “However, jealousies, egos and intra-gang quarrels would cause the Purple Gang to selfdestruct.” In 1931, an intra-gang dispute ended in the murder of three Purple Gang members by other members of their own gang at the Collingwood
Manor in Detroit, in what was a set-up. The three were shot to death by Harry Fleisher, Irving Milberg and Harry Keywell, who were later tried, convicted and sentenced to life terms for first degree murder. “By 1935, most of the significant leadership of the Purple Gang was either dead or in prison after committing what police say were over 500 murders in a decade span,” Burnstein said. “A meeting was called between the Detroit area Mafia bosses and the Burnstein brothers. It was agreed at this conference that the Italian mob would take over the former Purple Gang's rackets.” Burnstein noted it was a peaceful transition of power, with little ethnic rivalry in Detroit's underworld. Abe Burnstein remained a powerful player until his death of a heart attack in 1968, running bookmaking and loansharking operations, and often considered a de factor consigliere to mob bosses Joe Zerilli and Black Jack Tocco. “Hotel receipts from the era that the Detroit Police recovered after his passing indicate that Zerilli and Tocco had been fitting the bill for him to reside in a penthouse suite at the Book Cadillac (hotel) since the 1940s,” said Burnstein. The Italian mob, the Mafia, now known as the Detroit Partnership, has kept its head low and operations quiet since that period of time, but have been no less busy. The Detroit Partnership remains one of the original 24 crime families in the United States, but its organization and impact is greatly reduced. “The mob definitely still exists. The last time the Italian Mafia made a lot of headlines was the end of Prohibition, with the crosstown mob wars of 1930-31,” Burnstein noted. “Par for the course, it's in the shadows. It operates with the mantra of, 'Make money, not headlines,' which it has for the last 80 years or so.” ince the division of the Mafia between Joe Zerilli and William 'Black Bill' Tocco, the Italians, the “family,” “have been the picture of success, stability, functionality and diversification,” Burnstein said. A huge way they have achieved that is through a creed, put down by Zerilli and Tocco and followed by those who have taken over for them, today allegedly Jack Giacolloni and Anthony La Piana, to always marry within the family, according to Burnstein. “Zerilli and Tocco put down an edict when they took over in 1931 – everyone had to intermarry,” Burnstein said. “So if you turned, you're turning on your brother, your uncle, your nephew. Violence brings headlines – which they don't want. But intermarriage, within blood family as well as the crime family, is more difficult to resort to violence.” Burnstein said in 2018, the Italian mob in Detroit makes their bread and butter in gambling and loan sharking, “and throw in some extortion and narcotics trafficking.” But the key thing the Italians have done to differentiate themselves from their predecessors, as well as other crime families and gangs, is they have immersed themselves in the white collar business world. Besides the
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edict to intermarry, the other decree set down is that every one (male) in the next generation had to have a college degree so they could infiltrate the world of white collar businesses. “All of the guys have gone on and have college and business degrees – business and accounting degrees,” Burnstein said. “They're above the fray, more educated, more polished.” It's also provided for greater business diversification for the Mafia into a variety of different big businesses, Burnstein noted, either owning, backing, or being involved in restaurants, food wholesale, produce companies, meat packing, construction industry and sanitation. It also allows for opportunities to launder illegal profits through legal entities. “It's incredibly rare in organized crime circles around the country, versus other cities, many mobsters here are corporate rich, not just mobster rich,” Burnstein said. “They have gotten rich in legitimate businesses, and are wealthy way beyond mobsters.” He noted that when Jack Tocco died in 2014, “he was worth tens of millions of dollars – that's not normal in the day and age of mobsters.” In metro Detroit today, besides the Mafia, the key underworld players are Chaldeans, Russians/Albanians, and bikers. “There hasn't been a Jewish mob since the Purple Gang,” Burnstein said, although “there are individual Jews who are still around, bookmakers, narcotic traffickers, labor consultants.” owever, Paul Walton, chief deputy prosecutor with the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, said “Organized crime has become more decentralized – it's less defined by ethnicities and more by common goals. Social media has allowed them to be more decentralized. The advent of the internet has really changed things. Originally, organized crime used to be defined by geography, ethnicity. Now, with the internet, they really cross lines and boundaries.” He did note that the Rizzo investigation, where waste management boss Chuck Rizzo has been investigated and charged with corruption, “falls into a classic organized crime situation. But that's Macomb County.” That does not mean that there are not certain groups, or gangs, that are more prevalent in southeastern Michigan. Burnstein noted that in 2018, “The Chaldeans are the big players. The Albanians and Russians act as hired muscles, and then do their own thing in their communities. And then there are the bikers.” “The Chaldean mob was created in Detroit by Iraqi refugees,” Burnstein said, with the 1970s a big era for them. A key player has been Lou Akrawi, who was involved with a political coup in Iraq against Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath party, and fled to Detroit. He is currently locked up and fighting deportation as part of a large scale sweep by immigration authorities in May 2017 that netted more than 100 Chaldeans with criminal records who are in the U.S. illegally.
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“He's a force of nature of a human being,” said Burnstein, who is in touch with Akrawi. “He was in Battle Creek. They've pushed him around, and he started a hunger strike, and he's now in Florida.” Akrawi started his organization in the 1970s along Norman Dabash, called “King Hulk,” as he was the owner of the Powerhouse Gyms. “Lou mentored Norman,” Burnstein said. “Hand-in-hand, they lorded over the Chaldean mob, until Lou got locked up in 1996 and convicted of manslaughter.” He was released in 2016. In the late 1980s, an underling of Ray Jihad, split off from Lou along with some other relatives, and there was a street war within the Chaldean community that lasted from 1988 to 1993, with a number of dead bodies in its wake, including Chaldean mob prince Harry Kalasho, Ray Akrawi’s first cousin and closest companion, in February 1989. He was also Lou's nephew and surrogate son. His killing was considered a turning point in the Chaldean mob war, leading to more murders – and targeted investigations by the feds. Ray Jihad, owner of Target Sports, was ultimately charged in Kalasho's murder, but was acquitted. Shortly after he got off, his father, Adnan Jihad, was shot in the back of the head outside his diner. Kalasho's cousin, “Baby Ray” Akrawi, was charged, but was released before he could be brought to trial. Today, 30 years later, they all allegedly work together, and Ray Akrawi is a revered figure in the Chaldean underworld, according to Burnstein. “All the young kids look at the 1980s as the era they had all the power, all the money and they were notorious,” Burnstein said. The Chaldeans are allegedly involved with gambling, loan sharking, extortion and drug trafficking in the form of legal and illegal marijuana. The Russian mob is believed to consist of as many as 6,000 different groups, according to “Russian Organized Crime.” Stephen Mallory, an organized crime expert, said, “Criminals of these various groups are either former prison members, corrupt officials and business leaders, people with ethnic ties, or people from the same region with shared criminal experiences and leaders.” By 2009, Russian mafia groups were said to have been located in over 50 countries, and in 2010, had up to 50,000 members. In the United States, their base is said to be in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. “The contacts we have had in Oakland County (with the Russian Mafia) have been out of state, and/or out of the country,” said Walton from the prosecutor's office. He noted that while there may well be Russian groups locally, the FBI handles those cases. The FBI did not return numerous requests for comment. “Our organized crime abilities are limited, because of Title 3 – we in Michigan cannot conduct phone surveillance, like wiretaps, like in other states, so we can't listen in to help build a construct,” Walton said. “It's only federal law enforcement (the FBI) under federal laws that can do that, and they're not going to do state investigations.” On June 17, 2017, the FBI, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection and New York Police Department arrested and charged 33 Russian mafia members and affiliates with extortion, racketeering, illegal gambling, firearm offenses, narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, credit card fraud, identity theft, fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices, murder for hire conspiracy and cigarette trafficking. In other words, they're involved in everything. ccording to reports from law enforcement, it was one of the first federal arrest against a Russian mob boss and his underboss. But their specific connections in the Detroit market are unknown, or unreported. Another big group in Detroit which acts like a mob are biker gangs. “Detroit has always been a hub for underworld biker activity,” Burnstein said, noting the two very prominent gangs, who are rivals, are the Highwaymen and the Outlaws. The Highwaymen, he said, are a homegrown gang, founded in the late 1950s, by “Big” Max Barnes. The Outlaws were founded in the l970s and 1980s in Chicago, and developed a significant presence in Detroit by its leader Harry “Taco” Bowman. “He's arguably the biggest biker boss in America, so Detroit gained a lot of caché in the biker world,” Burnstein said, when he located here. Burnstein said Bowman had a vicious reign, “But he was beloved by his loyalists and feared by his enemies.” He prevailed in racketeering and murder. He was indicted for those crimes in 1997, and was on the run for two years before being found in Sterling Heights. He has been locked up since 1999. “Bikers traffic in drugs – cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and pills,” Burnstein said. “A big new racket for all the gangs today is to extort legal pot grows. They find people who have legal licenses to grow pot and demand a cut.” Walton said the prosecutor's office occasionally sees cases dealing with bikers. “They're often defined as geographically where the clubs are located,” he said, noting some were located in Pontiac. “Some (bikers gangs) are defined by the kinds of bikes they ride. Some are white supremacists. Some are running narcotics. “We have prosecuted them – often systemic from a shooting or murder, and then get involved from there,” he said. “We and the sheriff have a Violent Crime Task Force, headed by the FBI, where we investigate gangs. Sometimes it's systemic gang activities, more of the national gangs like MS13, which I would call them involved in organized crime, as they deal in human trafficking and narcotics on a national scale. But we only get involved if there's a specific crime.” Walton, like Burnstein, noted the significant change in organized crime activity overall is the effort to move their illegal trafficking and other activities into legitimate businesses. “They're trying to all be shelled under very legitimate businesses,” Walton noted, “even trafficking opioids under medical licenses. They're working to become legitimate.”
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FACES Lori Blaker ori Blaker has traveled all over the world for work, but this May she’ll be heading to Norway for a very different reason: to accept the 2018 Oslo Business for Peace Award. Blaker, CEO of TTi Global, is one of three recipients receiving the award this year. She’s the only woman honoree and is joining a very small list of honorees from the U.S. So how did it feel to find out she was getting what’s considered the Nobel Prize for business? “To me, it was just validation that we’re on the right track and we’ve been on the right track all along,” Blaker said. TTi Global was founded by Blaker’s parents in 1976. After being hired as the company’s first full-time employee, Blaker worked her way through a number of different positions before taking over the company’s training division in 1990. Then, her father died suddenly in 1992. Soon after, Blaker took over management of the entire organization. After becoming CEO, she decided to take the company global, opening the first of their international expansions in China in 1994. Now, the staffing, recruiting, and consulting firm operates in more than 24 countries on five continents, including their headquarters in Bloomfield Hills. The company recently moved there after spending nearly 40 years in Rochester Hills. “My mom, a handful of years back, looked at me and said, ‘You know, your dad could have never done all of this,’” Blaker said. “So that was a really nice pat on the back to hear.” Blaker has opened every single one of their international offices, including the retail Automotive Service Center and Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan. They have also developed a few programs in India that teach women projects that they can build and sell from home, like solar lanterns. “I always say, ‘If you can educate a woman, you educate a nation,’” Blaker said. “Because an educated woman is going to make sure that her children are educated. That’s how we stop this whole vicious circle.” She also thinks that more organizations and companies should get involved, and she’s not suggesting everyone do something overseas. They can do it in their own backyard, and it doesn’t have to be financially draining or time consuming. “It’s important to me as a business leader…if I don’t lead by example then who is going to follow?” she said. “I just think it’s important for all of us to make an impact somewhere.” The reactions Blaker gets from women when she goes places shows she’s making some pretty big impacts around the world. What often happens with her schedule will be to go to say a school, speak a few words, and then leave. But she very rarely leaves right away, often finding herself mobbed by girls who want to talk to her. Blaker shares her story with them, how she was a single mom of four boys and struggled. She’s the first to admit there were times when it was hard to get food on the table and shoes on their feet. “To tell your story, it gives them hope. Sometimes, that’s all they need because they give up,” she said. “They think, ‘How am I ever going to be able to achieve those dreams?’ When they see someone that’s actually done it and it hasn’t been an easy path, I think it, hopefully, gives them the strength to persevere and do what they are meant to do.”
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Story: Dana Casadei
Photo: Laurie Tennent
MUNICIPAL Former dump site eyed for apartments
Rochester settles suit with dental clinic By Kevin Elliott
By Kevin Elliott
Plans to clean up a former illegal landfill in Rochester Hills moved forward on Monday, April 23, as city council unanimously approved amending a court issued consent judgement and a brownfield redevelopment plan for a 28-acre parcel of land at the northeast corner of Hamlin and Adams roads. The property, known historically as the Christiansen Adams Landfill, was the site of an illegal dumping grounds that operated from the mid1950s to the mid-1960s. Located on Hamlin Road, across from the recently renamed Innovation Hills city park, pollution at the site included thousands of contaminated barrels left at the site, some of which caught fire in the 1980s before being removed. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) conducted $4 million in remediation work at the site before eventually running out of money and stopping work. While a subsequent environmental study found the contamination hasn't leached into the adjacent city-owned property, thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil remain on the 28acre site. In the mid-2000s, a developer proposed conducting cleanup operations at the site and rezoning the land to allow for a mixture of commercial office and retail developments at the site and along Hamlin Road. The city initially rejected the plan, resulting in a lawsuit and consent order issued to allow for cleanup and rezoning to allow for about 100,000 square feet of office development and approximately 72,600 square feet of retail space, said Rochester Hills Planning Director Sara Roediger. In March 2017, the Goldberg Companies announced its intent to purchase the land and approached the city with an alternative plan that would include more extensive environmental cleanup operations and the construction of a luxury apartment development, Legacy Rochester Hills, consisting of about seven buildings with about 368 luxury apartments. In order to develop the land as proposed, the city and developer would still need approval from the court to amend the previous consent judgement. The cleanup plan would 36
he city of Rochester has reached a $2.5 million agreement to settle a lawsuit filed against the city by the owner of a proposed downtown dental clinic that had been in the works since 2011. The plaintiffs, Lilly Investments, in 2011 went before the city's planning commission with plans for building Dentists on Main at 600 N. Main Street. However, a series of disagreements between the parties caused the project to stall for several years, leading to a lawsuit against the city in 2014. Among the issues in the case were claims that the city refused to lift a stop-work order on the project or make a final decision on the project unless the applicant, dentist Louis Leonor, agreed to pay a $40,000 fee and waive any legal claims against the city while the city kept hidden their own legal expert's favorable review of the project. Lilly Investments’ attorney, Brad Hughes, told a federal appeals court in September of 2016 that the city had held up a final decision on the project for more than three years in an attempt to have his client pay the $40,000 or waive his legal rights. The case ended up in a federal appeals court after the Oakland County Circuit Court refused to hear the case, finding that all matters to alleviate the case hadn't been taken at the local level. The appeals court overturned the decision, sending the case back to the Oakland County court. The city announced on Monday, April 23, that it had settled the case, leading to its dismissal on April 17. The settlement is for $2.5 million, with the city paying $1.2 million from its general fund and the city's insurance provider paying $1.3 million. Rochester City Manager Blaine Wing said that when approving the project, the city incentivized the property owner to retain and preserve the front portion of the building in exchange for a waiver of onsite parking that would normally be required for a dentist office use. He said the result fell short of the city's expectations, and while the planning commission worked toward a resolution, the property owner filed suit against the city. Claims included equal protection violations, civil rights violations, due process violations and breach of contract. "The city takes its fiscal responsibility and stewardship of the public's money very seriously," Wing said. "The city has many wonderful things going on with new housing, huge developments coming in, and a great amount of momentum and civic pride. To continue with litigation, spend more city employee and leadership time and resources, and risk additional public dollars with a potentially bad decision based on matters that occurred over four years ago is not productive and contrary to how the city wants to move forward with such things as development, infrastructure and other community enhancements. "It was unfortunate that the city was dragged into this litigation on the cusp of the property owner obtaining approval, but the city council looks forward to concluding this matter."
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also need approval by the DEQ. Further, the city's planning commission and city council would need to approve site plans regarding construction. City council's approval cleared the way to present the proposed plan to the court and DEQ. Four members of the public spoke on April 23 in opposition to the proposed project. Among their concerns were increased traffic and density the project would bring, as well as concerns about the level of cleanup that would occur at the site, including the possible accumulation of methane gas from the former landfill.
City council members and environmental consultants representing the Goldberg Companies had lengthy discussions about how dirt and dust would be during the cleanup process at the site; the installation of monitoring equipment and methane gas ventilation measures; as well as the higher level of cleanup that would be required at the site as a residential development rather than the commercial development that has already been approved by the court. In terms of cleanup operations, the plan would split the site into two main parcels, with Parcel A cleanup
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taking about three to four months, and consisting in the removal of about 43,668 cubic yards of contaminated soil, associated groundwater, and backfilling the soil; removal and disposal of another 1,500 cubic yards in specific hot spots; the installation of a passive vent system below all residential buildings; and a longterm maintenance and operation plan. Parcel B, where the contamination is the highest, would take about seven years to complete, and include the removal of an additional 23,185 cubic yards of soil, groundwater and backfilling; the installation of a 1,400-foot hydraulic barrier around the landfill; a clay backfill wall on the western side of the landfill; a two-foot thick clay slurry wall on the eastern and northern sides; a twofoot thick clay cap over the landfill area; and a 30-year operation and maintenance plan. The plan also calls for landscape buffers adjacent to the residential properties. Developers said the proposed plan would include about $12 million in cleanup and encapsulation work to contain contamination at the site, which currently doesn't have such containment measures. Under the previously approved plan, the developer would be required to spend about $3.5 million on remediation efforts. Councilwoman Stephanie Morita, whose personal property abuts the proposed development, said she and her family opted not to accept about $3,000 in funding the developer is proposing to offer to adjacent property owners so that she could remain a part of the process without the appearance of any improprieties. "The expectation is that there will be no dirt in the road or that adjacent pathway," Morita said in regard to efforts to keep contaminated dirt contained to the site. "If I see it, I will wake that mayor up at two in the morning, whether he likes it or not. If I'm telling you this now before you even cut down a tree, you can imagine what will happen after."
City adjusts fees for non-profit activities Fees that went into effect in January of this year in Rochester that are intended to recoup costs the city incurs when non-profit groups host special events will be lowered for those groups and phased in over the next two years, following a 05.18
City council confused by new budget By Kevin Elliott
ochester City Council members on Monday, April 23, expressed confusion and frustration about a proposed $38 million budget for the upcoming 2018-19 fiscal year, which starts on July 1 and runs through June 30 each year. Rochester city councilwoman Ann Peterson took issue with several items in the proposed budget, including a proposed 15percent pay raise for the city's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) director Kristi Trevarrow, and the inability to make clear sense of totals as presented. "When you are starting to break down a budget and looking at each line item and you really can't add up what total costs are unless you start looking at it, it becomes very clear that we're not transparent," Peterson said. "Without being transparent, I can't make a good decision moving forward with these items." Rochester Mayor Pro Tem Kim Russell also said she had difficulty making sense of the figures as presented. "There are some things I would like some clarity on in the budget," she said. "This does fall on the shoulders of the taxpayers. We have increased revenues of about 20-ish percent, and we have about $5,000 left to go back into the general fund." Russell said the way the budget was presented makes it difficult to determine where incomes and expenditures balanced out in various funds. She also requested the budget include proposed and actual budget amounts from previous years, as well as changes represented by percentages. That sentiment was echoed by councilwoman Nancy Salvia, who said she also spent several hours over the weekend analyzing the proposed budget and was left with many questions. "I'm also having a hard time with the budget process," she said, asking about staffing figures presented in the budget. "I am a business person and a numbers person, but I feel like we are being given this and being told, 'OK, just go ahead and approve it. You have to, it's in the charter.'" Under the current budget schedule, the city is expected to have a final budget prepared and published by Friday, May 4, with a full presentation and adoption by Monday, May 14. Wing said this year's budget process was more challenging than in years past as the city has recently transitioned to new financial software, has new staff, and two new council members. He said staff and council have been working on the city's budget over the past six months, concluding discussions on April 9. The proposed budget was completed and presented to council on Friday, April 20. Items approved by council included $5,295 for a two-percent increase for paid on-call firefighter pay; about $10,000 to fund a five-year contract to provide fiber-optic cable services to city hall; about $22,100 to replace police patrol vests; $22,400 for replacement of fire station bay doors on the south side of the fire department; about $25,000 for non-union wage adjustments; $20,000 in audio/video equipment for city hall; about $500,000 in transfers from the general fund to the street and road repair funds for repairs and improvements. While overall revenues are expected to increase by about 20 percent, he said expenditures are proposed to increase from nearly $27 million to about $38 million. Those increases include a 623percent increase in water and sewer loans for planned projects, or from about $1.2 million to $8.5 million. Wing said the city's general fund expenditures are expected to be about $13.6 million, with a slight surplus of about $5,000. The overall fund balance is projected to be about $7.2 million, or about 53.2 percent of annual general fund expenditures. Councilman Ben Giovanelli, who works as a certified public accountant, said the city's new software system is a vast improvement over the past system, but presented some issues in terms of adjustments, and that some confusion appears to have been from that transition. Still, he said he believes the council should return to a process that includes more budget workshops where each department head presents their proposed budget to council. Council ended the discussion without taking any formal action. The budget will be revisited at council's May 4 meeting.
R request at the Monday, April 23, city council meeting. City council in March of 2017 approved increasing the percentage non-profits must reimburse the city for services it provides during special events from 10 percent of the cost the city incurs over $1,000 to 75 percent of the cost over $100. The measure was intended to recover a portion of the tens of thousands of dollars in city-provided services it provides to non-profits using city property for city events each year. Rochester Police Chief Steve Schettenhelm said in late 2016 that the city provided more than $175,000 in services to non-profits in 2013 through 2015. While city council members last year agreed to increase fees to non-profit organizations, the council debated for months prior as to the fee amount and whether the new fees would apply to all non-profits. Council last year also considered establishing five signature events, during which no other special events in the city would be permitted. Those events included the city's Christmas parade, the Big Bright Light Show, Heritage Days, Art and Apples, and Fire & Ice. However, council opted to forego the signature event designation and treat all special events equally, including the application of the fee schedule. Some non-profits, at the time, said the increases would create a hardship on them and threaten to end some key events that benefit the city, such as the Paint Creek Center for the Arts' Art and Apples festival, and the annual Christmas parade, which is now overseen by the Greater Rochester Regional Chamber's Foundation. While the new fees were approved in March of 2017, the increases didn't go into effect until January 1, 2018, in order to give non-profits time to seek sponsorships or other means of addressing the new fees. Despite working to address the increases, representatives from the Greater Rochester Regional Chamber's Foundation and the Paint Creek Center for the Arts on Monday, April 23, told city council members the fees could jeopardize the events. The representatives requested the city reduce the fees from 75 percent to 50 percent, and phase the full force of the fees in over the next two years. City council members obliged the requests, altering the fee schedule to require non-profits to provide 25
percent of costs over $100 incurred by the city in 2018 and 50 percent of all costs over $100 in 2019. Councilwoman Ann Peterson and councilman Stuart Bikson initially opposed the fee increases in 2017. Peterson on April 23 said she reviewed previous discussions on the issue and said it appeared there was a lack of a real conclusion on the matter. She suggested lowering the fees to as much as 15 to 20 percent to see how they would impact events in the city. Mayor Pro Tem Kim Russell said she felt the suggestions by the nonprofit organizations were a good compromise. Councilman Ben Giovanelli said he supported the new changes, but said the city should have a policy requiring non-profits to provide their financial information to the city when requesting special events that will lead to added costs to the city. "Nobody wants to kill Santa," he said, referring to the desire to support the Christmas parade and other events. "Usually when organizations come before council asking for money, they bring financials... I'm in favor of this because we have to do something and it gives them more time to kick the can down the road." Giovanelli also said the fees must apply to all non-profits and not provide relief to just some organizations. "Right now, there are about 100 non-profit events each year," he said. "It's like trying to pick which kid I love more. It's super unfair."
Better rating received for fire department The Rochester Hills Fire Department has received an improved insurance classification from the Insurance Services Office (ISO), a leading independent source of information about property/casualty insurance risk. The ISO's Public Protection Classification (PPC) program helps to establish fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties by analyzing relevant fire suppression capabilities within communities. The city joins seven other Michigan cities with a class two rating, which may lower insurance rates for residential and commercial property owners. Insurance policy holders can contact their provider to determine how the new
Future of fire department discussed By Kevin Elliott
ity administration will take until fall 2018 to mull staff and funding options for the Rochester Fire Department following a study in March that found the department is unable to meet response times prescribed by the National Fire Protection Association, city council determined at their meeting on Monday, April 23. The finding was part of a report compiled by an ad-hoc committee tasked with assessing the department's current and future needs, and one of several challenges the department is facing. At the heart of the issue is the department's current staffing and operation model, which relies on paid, on-call firefighters to staff the department. Because firefighters are oncall, the department isn't staffed at the station with firefighters on a 24-hour basis, meaning firefighters respond to fire calls from their homes or other locations when they are on call. Firefighters must drive to the fire station, suit up and then drive appropriate fire apparatus to the location of the emergency, eating up valuable response time. Rochester Fire Chief John Cieslik said while the time it takes firefighters to respond from the fire station are in line with national standards, total response times are lagging in areas farthest from the station due to the time it takes firefighters to get to the station from the initial time of the call. The lag, he said, is due to the fact that many of the firefighters don't live and/or work in the city, as was often the case in the past. The committee determined the current structure isn't sustainable into the future, as response times will continue to lag and become longer. To address the issue, the committee presented alternative staffing models, ultimately suggesting the addition of bringing on three full-time positions and three new part-time firefighter positions, for a total of nine additional firefighters to man the station at all times. Cieslik said the option would likely cost an additional $600,000 annually. A public hearing on the fire study was held on Monday, April 23, during Rochester City Council's regular meeting. During the meeting, Rochester City Manager Blaine Wing said he and the chief would look into staffing and funding options and report back to council this fall, likely in September. Some members of the public questioned how the proposed change would be funded, and whether the additional funds would come directly from the city's general fund or whether a new fire millage would need to be proposed. Council members also voiced their opinions and some said they hoped the report didn't alarm residents. "We don't want to make this a fear factor, because that's not the case," Rochester Mayor Pro Tem Kim Russell said, implying that overall response times in the city were adequate. She also stated she would like to see additional data regarding response times. Councilman Dean Bevacqua said he believes the department could rely on additional mutual aid response from surrounding communities to improve response times, and that the longer times noted in the report were anomalies, rather than the standard. Cieslik refuted those assertions, saying that response times are predetermined based on the location where firefighters live and work. "What I would like for council to understand is that when we get a call for a fire and it takes us 15 minutes to get there, and you live up on Miner's Run, it's going to take us 15 minutes to get there," Cieslik said. "I can't make it in 11. Can't make it in seven. It's going to be at least 15 minutes, regardless of whether we have city or association employees. The issue has to do with where the people are coming from and where they have to go." Committee member Terry Crockett said assurances that response times overall are adequate aren't true, and that such statements are attempts to play to the audience, rather than a realistic look at the issue. Rochester Mayor Rob Ray said the city can't rely on mutual aid alone to improve response times, as doing that would be asking surrounding communities to meet a public safety responsibility that falls upon the city of Rochester.
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classification may effect premiums. The new rating takes effect on July 1, 2018. The city previously held a class four rating, awarded in 2011. The improved classification comes on the heels of a significant investment in the city's fire stations, equipment, staff and training. A charter amendment passed in 2104, along with strategic budgeting practices, funded and increased staffing, apparatus and upgrades to each of the city's five fire stations over the past several years. Station number four, on Walton Boulevard, is the final station to benefit from an update, with renovations expected to be completed this fall. "This is a tremendous achievement for our city," said Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett. "Only 45 percent of communities in the state and fewer than five percent of communities nationwide have received this classification. I'm incredibly proud of the accomplishments of Chief Sean Canto and his staff, and the priority our city council has placed on fire and emergency services. "The improved rating not only speaks to the city's ability to suppress fires, it has a tangible benefit for Rochester Hills residents and business owners. Effective July 1, 2018, they all have the opportunity to reduce their insurance premiums." According to the ISO, a community's investment in fire mitigation is a proven and reliable predictor of future fire losses. The analysis is based on a combination of a department's first alarm responses, including factors like personnel, apparatus and training, the water supply system, emergency communications capabilities and other factors. "We're committed to continuous improvement and building the best department in our region and beyond," Canto said. "This new classification proves that we are moving in the right direction. I'm thrilled with the commitment and progress of this team."
Rochester smoking restrictions approved Smoke shops and vaping outlets will be prohibited along Main Street and University Drive, as well as several other locations in downtown Rochester under ordinance revisions approved by the city on Monday, April 9, to curb underage uses and exposure to tobacco and tobacco related products.
The measures stem from discussions in 2017 about efforts to stub out underage use of e-cigarettes and vaping following a presentation to Rochester City Council members by Rochester Police Department School Liaison Officer Amy Drehmer about the popularity of the items among high school students. Those discussions resulted in increased penalties in May of 2017 for underage use of e-cigarettes and vaping products, as a moratorium on retail sales and land uses involving vaping products in multiple tenant commercial buildings. The moratorium was extended in November of 2017 as the city's planning commission explored ordinance revisions to address the issue. Rochester City Attorney Jeffrey Kragt said on February 26 that planning commissioners approved sending two ordinance amendments to city council for consideration. Those proposals, he said, addressed general smoking regulations in the city, as well as policy considerations regulating businesses whose main purpose is the sale of smoking products, including tobacco, oils, vaping products, smoking equipment and related products. "The discussion on vaping uses expanded to include other smoking regulations," he said. Rochester City Council on Monday, April 9, unanimously approved the second and final reading of the ordinances. In regard to the city's general smoking regulations, planning commissioners set a prohibition against smoking any substance within multiple tenant commercial, retail and industrial buildings. The proposal would also prohibit smoking or vaping use by employees and patrons within 25 feet of any entrance, open windows or exterior ventilation systems. Further, businesses would be responsible for removing all smoking related refuse on the property, including from all entryways and other areas open to the public. The ordinance would add a new section to the city's code of ordinances that would build on the state's Smoke-Free Law of 2010. Specifically, the ordinance states, "At the time of the enactment of the Smoke-Free Law, other types of smoking, such as hookah, vaping and e-cigarettes, were either not in existence, or were in their infancy, or simply not prevalent. ... city council has been presented with significant
evidence and concern from its police department of the wide use and abuse of such methods of smoking by younger individuals. Such use often involves not always knowing what products, chemicals and substances are being ingested. Having a significant distance between schools and establishments that sell smoking products and equipment is desirable in an effort to reduce the access of such products to underage persons." To that purpose, the ordinance will prohibit businesses whose principal use is the sale of such products from locating in a building that fronts or has an address on University Drive or Main Street; or is within 500 feet of a school; Elizabeth Park; Halbach Field; Howlett Park; Municipal Park; Scott Street Park; the Rochester Hills Public Library; or the Rochester Avon Recreation Authority (RARA). Additionally, the ordinance will prohibit businesses whose principal use is selling smoking products or equipment from permitting persons under 18 years of age to enter without a parent or guardian. Smoking products include, but aren't limited to, tobacco, nicotine substances, hookahs, oils, vapor products, smoking herbs, electronic cigarettes, hookah pipes, vapor cartridges, bongs, rolling papers and other products. Kragt said the proposal allows the city's planning commission to determine what a business's principal use is, based on several factors, including whether the items are the main products being offered for sale, the ratio of likely sales compared to other products, how the products are advertised or offered for sale and other information. City councilwoman Ann Peterson questioned whether the ordinance's reference to the required distance from a building to smoke would apply to pedestrians who happen to be walking past a business, which an owner wouldn't be able to regulate. Kragt said the ordinance wouldn't pertain to those pedestrians. Peterson also asked how the 25foot rule would be determined and enforced. Kragt said code enforcement officers and police officers could enforce the rule, but in general, the city is simply looking for compliance, if the proposed ordinance were approved. "They don't immediately issue a ticket," he said. "They work to make them more aware of the issue and downtownpublications.com
Rabies found in Rochester Hills skunk he Oakland County Health Division on Wednesday, April 18, issued a warning to residents about a confirmed case of rabies in a skunk that was removed from Rochester Hills. Leigh-Anne Stafford, health officer for the county health division, urged residents to stay away from wild animals such as skunks, bats, raccoons, foxes and stray cats and dogs. "Our natural instinct is to befriend and pet an animal that seems friendly or help one that is injured," Stafford said. "But as a rule, avoid stray and wild animals to protect yourself against rabies." Stafford advised that if an animal is found to be behaving strangely, call the Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center at 248.391.4102 for assistance. If bitten by any wild animal or animal unknown to you, wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical attention immediately. To report an animal bite, call the Health Division at 248.858.1286. "Rabies is present in our communities and is most often found in bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes," Stafford said. "People and their pets need to be careful to avoid encounters with unfamiliar animals." The rabies virus is found in the saliva of infected animals and is spread through bites or scratches. There are simple steps everyone can take to protect themselves from rabies: have pets vaccinated regularly; don't handle stray, wild or dead animals; and call local animal control experts if an animal is acting strangely, including having problems swallowing, exhibiting excess saliva, biting at everything, or having trouble moving. The Health Division also suggested keeping pets indoors or supervised to limit their exposure to wild animals; using a leash when walking dogs or keep them in a fenced yard; not feeding or putting water outside for pets; and keeping garbage securely covered.
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take care of it. If this passes, I'm sure the DDA and PSD would make it well known."
Barnett gives upbeat state of city address Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan K. Barnett on Wednesday, March 28, gave his 12th annual State of the City address at Stoney Creek High School to talk about good news over the past year and preview things to come. In keeping with his use of themes each year, and an agenda packed with an evening of entertainment, this year's state of the city address was given under the guise of a concert theme dubbed "Signed Sealed Delivered World Tour." Barnett has a longstanding reputation as mayor of blending the address with humor and entertainment, earning the term "governtainment" by the Michigan Municipal League. This year's address began with a drum line performance followed by a guitar-wielding Barnett being suspended from the theater rafters and lowered onto the stage to Stevie Wonder's "Signed Sealed Delivered" being played by the evening's house
band, "The Rhoedes Band." Dressed in a white blazer and black T-shirt straight out of Miami Vice, Barnett said the show would be a musical explosion before introducing musician Kevin Ottenbacher, who played the national anthem on electric guitar. While the presentation of the address always follows an entertainment theme, the message once again focused on the successes of the city that make it a premier place to "live, work and raise a family." Among the accolades the city earned in 2017 Barnett highlighted were recognitions the city earned as the safest in Michigan, according to SafeHome.org and Neighborhood Scout; a ranking by USA Today that found Rochester Hills as being the best city in Michigan to live in, and 14th best in the country. Barnett also noted the average home value in the city has gone up from about $194,000 in 2013 to about $276,000 in 2018, with only four foreclosures in the city in the past year, bringing the foreclosure rate down 93 percent since 2010. In terms of business success, he said seven new high-tech companies invested more than $11 million in
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the city in 2017, bringing the number of companies in the city to more than 1,600, employing more than 35,000 people. He also noted the city's low unemployment number, which at 2.9 percent is 43 percent below the national average. Additionally, Barnett said the city saw another banner year for retail development, with many new businesses opening in 2017 and 2018. To illustrate the city's high-tech businesses, Barnett played a video taken of a drive he took with Paul Fleck, founder and CEO of Dataspeed Inc., in one of the company's autonomous vehicles. Barnett recognized the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, which is under contract to provide public safety services to the city, and the expanding staff of the city's fire department. He also thanked the community for its support of Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy David Hack, who is recovering from critical injuries he sustained when he was struck by a motorist while working an accident at Rochester Adams High School earlier this year. In addition to homes, business, and safety, Barnett said the city's quality school system draws residents who want to raise their families in Rochester Hills. Likewise, he spoke about the city's investment in roads and infrastructure, including its parks. And, for the second year in a row, Barnett spoke about work being done at Innovation Hills, the city's newest park, which received more than $1 million in donations over the past year. "And we aren't leaving tonight until we raise another million," Barnett said, cutting to a phony shot of chained auditorium doors. As with other state of the city addresses in the past, Barnett honored two people or entities with Community Excellence Awards. This year's recipients were actress and singer Jana Kramer, originally from Rochester Hills, and businessman Ziad Kassab, who founded the DMan Foundation, which offers therapy and recording studio time to people with disabilities. The event, which ran about one hour and 40 minutes, is intended to bring together business leaders, residents and government officials to hear the community's highlights and planned initiatives. 39
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BUSINESS MATTERS New pilates studio A new Pilates studio has arrived in Rochester Hills, as father and daughter Thomas Babineau and Brandi Freeman have teamed up to open Club Pilates, 131 S. Livernois. Considered one of the largest pilates franchises in the nation, the new 2,400 square-foot studio is one of three new Club Pilates locations that will open this year, with locations set to also open in West Bloomfield and Troy. The family is also remodeling locations in Novi and Beverly Hills. “I was contemplating retirement at 57 and looked at different businesses. I started a conversation with Brandi over a year ago and she was at the point she was taking some time out of the work force,” Babineau said. “We went to a discovery day at Club Pilates, and it seemed to make a lot of sense to both of us. This was something we could get aligned with and behind because it is a passion. And it’s easy to promote because we believe in it.” Freeman said she was looking for a career change and wanted to do something related to health and fitness. “The idea is to make reformer pilates accessible to everyone,” she said. “Having a studio with 12 reformers makes the price point available to everyone.” The studio will offer about 50 classes per week by certified instructors. The studio also offers private and semiprivate training. Club Pilates offers four class levels and eight signature group class formats that utilize a variety of equipment, including Reformers, EXO chairs, TRX, Trigger Point, springboard and barre. Trainers must undergo a proprietary 500-hour teacher training program designed to thoroughly and safely teach group classes.
Classic pizza arriving The “King of Pepperoni” is bringing a new pizzeria to the Rochester area with a new Green Lantern Pizza, 1366 Walton, Rochester Hills, expected to open by late summer, said franchise owner Todd Kovacic. The carryout location will be the sixth Green Lantern Pizza location, and the first in the area, with other locations in Madison Heights, Clinton Township, Sterling Heights, Macomb and Royal Oak. Started more than half a century ago, the pizzeria was begun by Thomas and Irene Vettraino at an old farmhouse downtownpublications.com
bar equipped with a green lantern. The business was taken over by the founders’ children and is known for its old-fashioned pizza and bold pepperoni sliced in-store. Kovacic got into franchising the pizzerias after working for General Motors for 23 years. “I got hooked up with the family and honed in on the pizza business,” he said. “They liked my operational background and trusted me.” The Rochester Hills location will be the third opened by Kovacic, who is in the process of remodeling the store from a virtually empty box.
Change to Normandy Optical The staff and doctors at Normandy Optical, 137 S. Livernois, in Rochester, took over the former Fox Optical late last year, with the official name change and switch now complete. The full-service eye center has four optometrists on staff and provides a full array of services, including exams, eyeglasses, frames, contact lenses, eye surgery consultation and more. Brands carried by the new store include designer frames. The new location adds to Normandy Optical locations in St. Clair Shores, Shelby Township and Sterling Heights.
First cookie and ice cream Interior and exterior construction work at Dino’s Cookie Dough Bar, 111 E. University Drive, in downtown Rochester, is underway as co-owner Dino Prapas revamps the former Krazy Greek restaurant into a new dessert destination aiming to open by mid-June. Opened more than 40 years ago as a Greek-style restaurant by George and Barbara Prapas, their son Dino said the new restaurant will feature 16 flavors of edible cookie dough and another 16 flavors of ice cream to allow for some creative desserts. “Its different. It’s trendy,” he said. “Hopefully, everyone will come in and try it to check it out.” Along with a menu overhaul, the property is receiving a new exterior facade, with the flat roof replaced with a gable facade to give the store an illusion of a second story on the outside and providing a cathedral ceiling for the dining room. A new storefront window along University, along with a faux chimney and new lighting, paint and fixtures will give the restaurant a new style to match its unique menu. The edible cookie dough bar concept
is the first of its kind to the county, Prapas said, who hopes the menu will help make it a dessert destination spot.
New jeweler in town Catalina Jewelers, 346 N. Adams, Rochester Hills, has opened a store at the Village of Rochester Hills. The new store offers a nearly endless selection of jewelry and watches. The full-service jeweler offers custom and retail jewelry, in-house repairs, appraisals, engraving, pearl restringing, insurance replacement, inspections and cleaning and more. The new store is also a certified gold buyer.
Paint Nail Bar Luxury nails with a fume-free, nontoxic environment and a high level of customer service is the focus of Paint Nail Bar, 116 W. 4th Street, in downtown Rochester. The new nail bar, which is due to open by early May, is billed as a “luxury nail affair,” by owner Angie Nobile. “It’s a newer concept in nail care,” she said. “We specialize in a higher level of customer service, and there are no toxins in the materials we use,” she said. The new nail bar will offer a relaxed atmosphere with high safety and sterilization standards, and will be available for special events, such as fundraisers, birthday parties, bridal showers and other gatherings. The location is Nobile’s first entry into the beauty market, but she has been an entrepreneur for more than seven years, opening multiple locations of Xtend Barre, including Xtend Barre, 1484 N. Rochester Road, in Rochester Hills. Nobile is a former member of the MSU Dance Team, and still dances jazz and tap styles, performing once a year with the Rochester Area Recreation Authority.
Designer resale shop A national women’s resale boutique has moved into the greater Rochester area with the recent opening of Clothes Mentor, 1180 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the shops carry like-new designer clothing at up to 70 percent off of retail prices, with all apparel, shoes, jewelry and accessories in “gentlyused” condition. The new location is the third to open in Michigan and the 146th in the country since 2006. “We’re excited to add Clothes Mentor
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of Rochester Hills to the family,” said Clothes Mentor Chief Operating Officer Chad Olsen. “We’ve had great success in Michigan with our stores in Novi and Portage, so we couldn’t be happier to see a third store open there.” Local owner Carolyn Web got into the resale shop business after leaving a pharmaceutical wholesaler as vice president of planning. The mother of three said she decided to leave the corporate word and explore entrepreneurship.
Wine at home store The AR Workshop, 256 N. Adams Road, in Rochester Hills, has opened a Fieldstone Winery and Hard Cider Tasting Room at its location at the Village of Rochester Hills. Recently celebrating its one-year anniversary at the Village location, AR Workshop offers various DIY workshops using mixed media for home decor, parties and design. The boutique also offers retail products for sale, including wood plank projects, wood-framed signs, canvas, metal and chalkboard products. The space now offers a tasting room featuring wine from the Fieldstone Winery, 223 S. Main, in downtown Rochester. The Rochester Hills tasting room location features a sample of some of libations offered at the Rochester-based winery.
Tech move A leading global supplier of technologies utilized to improve safety efficiency and connectivity of commercial vehicles, with a location in Rochester Hills, will be relocating its North American headquarters to Auburn Hills. A spokesman for Wabco, 2770 Research Drive, in Rochester Hills, said the move is expected to occur in late July, but that the building and about 50 employees at the Rochester Hills location will continue remanufacturing operations. Other employees at the Rochester Hills location will be relocated to the Auburn Hills location. The headquarters will house about 200 employees when it opens, including some at the Rochester Hills location and another in Troy. Business Matters for the Rochester area are reported by Kevin Elliott. Send items for consideration to KevinElliott@downtownpublications.com. Items should be received three weeks prior to publication.
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PLACES TO EAT The Places To Eat for Downtown is a quick reference source to establishments offering a place for dining, either breakfast, lunch or dinner. The listings include nearly all dining establishments with seating in the Rochester area, and then some select restaurants outside the immediate area served by Downtown.
Rochester/Rochester Hills 112 Pizzeria Bistro: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 2528 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.289.6164. 2941 Street Food: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 87 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.606.4583. Alex’s of Rochester: Italian, Greek, & American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.852.2288. Antoniou’s Pizza: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 918 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. 248.650.2200. Avery’s Tavern: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2086 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.270.4030. B Spot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 176 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.218.6001. Bangkok Cuisine: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 727 N. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.8841. Bar Louie: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, 10 or more. Liquor. 1488 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48307. 248.218.5114. Bean and Leaf Café: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 439 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.601.1411. Bigalora Wood Fire Cucina: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, parties of 8 or more. Liquor. 6810 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.218.6230. Big Boy: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations. 3756 S. Rochester Road., Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.852.5540. Also 90 E. Tienken Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.601.7777. Bologna Via Cucina: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 334 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.3300. Buffalo Wild Wings: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1234 Walton Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.651.3999. Chadd’s Bistro: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations. 1838 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.293.0665. Chapman House: French-American. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations recommended. Liquor. 311 Walnut Blvd., Rochester. 48307. 248.759.4406. Cheng’s Restaurant: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 2666 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.9450. Chicken Shack: BBQ. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 213 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48307. 248.656.1100. Chili’s: Tex-Mex. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No
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reservations. Liquor. 2735 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.5281. Chipotle Mexican Grille: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2611 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.402.0047. Also The Village of Rochester Hills, 84 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.402.0047. Chomp Deli & Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 200 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 888.342.2497. CJ Mahoney’s Sports Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 3260 S. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48307. 248.293.2800. CK Diggs: American & Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2010 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.853.6600. Clubhouse BFD (Beer-Food-Drink): American. Lunch, Saturday & Sunday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations, 10 or more. Liquor. 2265 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.289.6093. Culver's: American. Lunch and Dinner, daily No reservations. 92 E. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills, MI, 48307. 248.293.2200. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit: Barbecue. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 1418 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.266.6226. Downtown Café: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 606 N. Main, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.6680. Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 2972 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. 248.606.4519. Five Guys Burgers & Fries: American, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2544 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.299.3483. Georgio’s Pizza & Pasta: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Italian. 117 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.601.2882. Gold Star Family Restaurant: American & Greek. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 650 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.652.2478. Golden Eagle: American. Lunch, Sunday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1447 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.6606. Grand Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 12 Marketplace Circle, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.289.1350. Half Day Café: American. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. 3134 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.1330. Hamlin Pub: American. Breakfast, Sundays. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1988 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.656.7700. Hibachi House Bar & Grill: Japanese Steakhouse. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 335 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.266.6055. Honey Tree Grille: Mediterranean. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2949 Crooks Road, Rochester, 48309. 248.237.0200. Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1186 W. University Drive, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.651.3527.
Johnny Black Public House: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1711 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.606.4479. Kabin Kruser’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. No reservations. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily. 306 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266. Kerby’s Koney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. 2552 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.844.8900. King Garden: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1433 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.656.3333. Krazy Greek Restaurant: Greek. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 111 E. University Drive, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.0089. Kruse & Muer In the Village: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 134 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.2503. Kruse & Muer on Main: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 327 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9400. Lebanese Grill: Lebanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2783 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.606.4651. Lino’s Restaurant: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 50 W. Tienken Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.656.9002. Lipuma’s Coney Island: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 621 N. Main Steet, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9862. Lucky’s Prime Time: American. Weekend Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, weekdays. Liquor. 1330 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.656.8707. Main Street Billiards: American. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 215 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.8441. Main Street Deli: Deli. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, Thursday, Friday. No reservations. 709 N. Main Street, Rochester, MI 48307. 248.656.5066. Mamma Mia Tuscan Grille: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 543 N. Main Street, Suite 311, Rochester, 48307. 248.402.0234. Mezza Mediterranean Grille: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor at The Village location only. 1413 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.609.2121. Also The Village of Rochester Hills, 188 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills. 248.375.5999. Miguel’s Cantina: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 870 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5371. Mitchell’s Fish Market: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 370 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.340.5900. Mr. B’s Food and Spirits: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 423 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.6534. Noodles & Company: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 184 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.5000. North Shack: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 990 E. Auburn
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Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.853.3366. O’Connor’s Public House: Irish Pub. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 324 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.608.2537. Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.9200. Olive Garden: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2615 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.853.6960. Paint Creek Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 613 N. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4205. Panda Express: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3105 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.853.9880. Panera Bread: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 37 S. Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.601.2050. Also 2921 Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.853.5722. Also 2508 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.853.7430. Park 600 Bar & Kitchen: American. Weekend Brunch. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. Royal Park Hotel, 600 E. University Drive, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.2600. Paul’s on Main: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 630 N. Main Sreet., Rochester, 48307. 248.656.0066. Pei Wei: Asian Fusion. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1206 E. Walton Boulevard, Rochester, 48307. 248.601.1380. Penn Station East Coast Subs: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 146. S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.601.4663. Penny Black Grill & Tap: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 124 W. 4th Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.841.1522. P.F. Chang's China Bistro: Asian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 122 N. Adams Rd., Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.923.7030. Pudthai & Sushi: Thai & Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 2964 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.6890. Qdoba Mexican Grill: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1198 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.608.2603. Also 3014 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.844.3668. Ram’s Horn: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1990 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.651.7900. Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 134 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48037. 248.659.8267. Red Knapp’s Dairy Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 304 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.4545. Red Lobster: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2825 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.8090. Red Olive: Mediterranean & American.
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Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1194 Walton Boulevard, Rochester, 48307. 248.656.0300. Rochester Bistro: American-Continental. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 227 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.923.2724. Rochester Brunch House: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 301 Walnut Boulevard, Rochester, 48307. 248.656.1600. Rochester Chop House: Steakhouse & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 306 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266. Rochester Diner & Grill: American, Greek & Italian. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. 1416 E. Walton Blvd., Rochester Hill, 48309. 248.652.6737. Rochester Mills Beer Co.: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 400 Water Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.650.5080. Rochester Tap Room: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6870 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48306. 248.650.2500. Seasons of India: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 6866 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.413.5742. Shish Palace: Mediterranean. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. 165 S. Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5464. Shogun: Japanese. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 173 S. Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5386. Silver Spoon Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6830 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.652.4500. Soho: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2943 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.289.1179. Sumo Sushi & Seafood: Japanese & Korean. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, 24 hours in advance. Liquor. 418 N. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.601.0104. Tapper’s Pub: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 877 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.852.1983. Tim Hortons: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 940 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.656.8292. The Jagged Fork: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 188 N. Adams, Rochester Hills, 48306. The Meeting House: American. Weekend Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4825. Too Ra Loo: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 139 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.453.5291. Tropical Smoothie Café: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2913 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.852.4800. Val's Polish Kitchen: Polish. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations. 224 E. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.293.2660. Wayback Burgers: American. Lunch &
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Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1256 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5746. Also 2595 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.844.2717. Willoughby’s Beyond Juice: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 120 E. 4th Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.841.1670.
Troy Capital Grille: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2800 West Big Beaver Rd., Somerset Collection, Troy, 48084. 248.649.5300. Cafe Sushi: Pan-Asian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1933 W. Maple Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.280.1831. Kona Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30 E. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48083. 248.619.9060. Lakes: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 5500 Crooks Rd., Troy, 48098. 248.646.7900. McCormick & Schmick’s: Steak & Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2850 Coolidge Hwy, Troy, 48084. 248.637.6400. Mon Jin Lau: Asian. Lunch, MondayFriday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1515 E. Maple Rd, Troy, 48083. 248.689.2332. Morton’s, The Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 888 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.404.9845. NM Café: American. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2705 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.816.3424. Ocean Prime: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2915 Coolidge Hwy., Troy, 48084. 248.458.0500. Orchid Café: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. 3303 Rochester Rd., Troy, 48085. 248.524.1944. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.816.8000. Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2919 Crooks Road, Troy, 48084. 248.614.5390. Ruth’s Chris Steak House: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.269.8424. Steelhouse Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1129 E. Long Lake Rd., Troy, 48085. 248.817.2980.
Birmingham/Bloomfield 220: American. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 220 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.2220. Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.865.9300. Bagger Dave's Legendary Burger Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No
reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.792.3579. Beau's: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4108 W. Maple, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.626.2630. Bella Piatti: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 167 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.494.7110. Beverly Hills Grill: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. No reservations. 31471 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills, 48025. 248.642.2355. Big Rock Chophouse: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 245 South Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.7774. Bill's: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Daily. Reservations, lunch only. Liquor. 39556 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.646.9000. Bistro Joe’s Kitchen: Global. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Sunday brunch. Liquor. Reservations. 34244 Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.0984. Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Call ahead. 3607 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township. 248.642.4000. Cameron’s Steakhouse: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 115 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.1700. Churchill's Bistro & Cigar Bar: Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.4555. Eddie Merlot's: Steak & seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 37000 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.712.4095. Elie’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 263 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2420. Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 323 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.0134. Forest: European. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 735 Forest Avenue, Birmingham 48009. 248.258.9400. Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday and Sunday. No Reservations. Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham. 248.712.4050. Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 201 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4369. Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner daily; Sunday brunch. Reservations. Liquor. 39475 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.792.9609. Luxe Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily; Late Night, 9 p.m.-closing. No reservations. Liquor. 525 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.6051. Mandaloun Bistro: Lebanese. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30100 Telegraph Rd., Suite 130, Bingham Farms, 48025. 248.723.7960.
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MEX Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. 6675 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.723.0800. Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 588 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.3122. Roadside B & G: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1727 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7270. Salvatore Scallopini: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 505 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.8977. Social Kitchen & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, parties of 5 or more. Liquor. 225 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4200. Streetside Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. Reservations, Lunch only. Liquor. 273 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.645.9123. Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American. Dinner. Monday-Saturday. Sunday brunch. Reservations. Liquor. 55 S. Bates Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.731.7066. The Franklin Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 32760 Franklin Rd, Franklin, 48025. 248.865.6600. The Rugby Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5999. Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 203 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6278. Townhouse: American. Brunch, Saturday, Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.5241. Triple Nickel Restaurant and Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 555 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009. 248.480.4951. Vinotecca: European. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.6600.
North Oakland Clarkston Union: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 54 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346. 248.620.6100. Holly Hotel: American. Afternoon Tea, Monday – Saturday, Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 110 Battle Alley, Holly, 48442. 248.634.5208. Kruse's Deer Lake Inn: Seafood. Lunch & dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7504 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346. 248.795.2077. Via Bologna: Italian. Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 7071 Dixie Highway, Clarkston. 48346. 248.620.8500. Union Woodshop: BBQ. Dinner, Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday – Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 18 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346. 248.625.5660.
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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Here is the update on the recent social scene. Many more photos from each event appear online each week at downtownpublications.com where readers can sign up for an e-mail notice when the latest social scene column is posted. Past columns and photos are also archived at the website for Downtown.
Eton Academy Auction
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1. Larry Bluth of Bloomfield, Nicolena Inniss-Stubbs of Detroit. 2. Arlyce Seibert (left) of Bloomfield, Pete & Paula Pullen of Royal Oak. 3. Amy & Dan Loepp of Birmingham. 4. Gen Dirksen Durda (left) of Rochester, Tom & Karen Hartle of Birmingham. 5. Anthony Muñoz of Mason, OH, Sonia Ajluni Pastore of Bloomfield.
Erin Go Bra(gh)
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1. Kathy Broock Ballard (center) of Orchard Lake, Jennifer Margherio (left) and Alex English of Bloomfield. 2. Renee Godin (left) of Farmington Hills, Patti Prowse of Bloomfield, Elyse Foltyn of Birmingham, Roz Jacobson of Bloomfield. 3. Janet Boitos (left) and Cheryl Bournias of Bloomfield. 4. Leslie Luciani (center) of Birmingham, Suanne Patek (left) and Julie Hines of Bloomfield. 5. Kay Ponicall (left), Dana Brophy and Helen Reasoner of Bloomfield.
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The St. Hugo Auction A Night with the Stars chaired by Kristen Bujoll attracted 400 St. Hugo of the Hills grade school loyalists ($100 & $145 tickets) to Orchard Lake Country Club. The sold-out evening saluted the Oscars and celebrated the real stars of the school – the children. A strolling supper and silent auction bidding preceded the live auction and a Paddle Raise to sell 500 gold stars with funds earmarked for security improvements. Emcee/auctioneer Channel 95.5 Mojo in the Morning’s Joey Namou generated good natured competition among the bidders. Post-auction diversions included dancing to the music of DJ Jonathan Napper and burgers and bubbly at the Afterglow Party. Thanks also to generous sponsors the annual event raised approximately $200,000. Erin Go Bra(gh) More than 100 of Kathy Broock Ballard’s girlfriends gathered at the Village Club for her fifth annual St. Patrick’s Day themed happy hour charity event. Their donations – new bras for the clients of Grace Centers of Hope and CARE House – and the abundance of emerald-colored party favors provided entertaining décor at the very proper Bloomfield Hills club. The venue is special to the hostess whose grandmother was one of the club founders. The merriment was interrupted only briefly for Kathy to thank all for their generous (giggle giggle) support.
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Sally Gerak Eton Academy Auction “(Before our two sons came to Eton) my life was dismal,” auction chair Nicolena Inniss-Stubbs told the 345 people gathered at the Birmingham school for its annual fundraiser. She went on to describe the “insane” struggle students who learn differently and their families face at traditional schools. “Now at night, we can play games at home,” she said happily, adding that the tuition is “no joke” and that she could not afford Eton if scholarships were not available. Students Daphne Dougherty, Jaidyn Elam, Cole Kuchman, Isabella Drysdale, Anthony Pattenaude, Zoe Zinchook and Tyler Cook also testified about their success at Eton. Senior Madison Crippen said she changed schools three times before Eton. Now she’s in the National Honor Society and headed to college at Saginaw Valley State to become an RN. Other highlights included NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz’s remarks that inspired dedicated giving pledges in excess of $75,000 for the scholarship fund; a silent auction that included great student art and raised some $50,000; auctioneer Wade Leist garnering $99,250 for 13 live auction packages; the red carpet welcome and walkway of student stars in keeping with the party theme . Thanks also to record sponsorships ($285,000), the Lights, Camera, Auction! Gala raised an estimated $450,000.
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Sing Out 4 Kids What started 13 years ago as a karaoke night to benefit a coalition including FAR Therapeutic Arts and Recreation, has been exclusively FAR’s event for five years. They have tweaked the format and found a great home – the Townsend Hotel. Two hundred supporters ($125, $150 tickets) gathered there for a casual, toe-tapping Friday night that included super food stations, drinks and a small silent auction ($6,000) before folks settled in for the program emceed by Fox-2’s Roop Raj. It 05.18
featured a concert of wonderful music by Steve Acho, Greg Stryker, FAR clients Angelina and Laura, Mark Richardson, and opera singers John and Gillian Riesen; a mini live auction conducted by Gregory Bator; and giving dedicated to scholarships that began with $5,000 from Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation. Counting the $25,250 for scholarships, the event chaired by Karla Sherry and Anna Giammarco raised more than $50,000 to enrich the lives of FAR’s special needs participants. ORT WINGO Since 1995, ORT has been raising funds for its education mission at a women’s bingo party. It’s now dubbed WINGO at the Club to salute its new home (for the second year Knollwood Country Club) where the strolling dinner and service were splendid. In addition to sipping, supping and socializing before the bingo started, the 360 ladies (tickets $54 - $116) had to decide which of the 30 raffle prizes worth at least $50 they preferred to win. The bingo program was emceed by event chairs Joy Levran, Carly Sanfield and Jennifer Teper and ORT regional director Nicole Miller. Ten bingo rounds with prizes valued at $100 or more generated lots of happy squeals. An added highlight was the talk by a 15-year-old boarding student from the school in Israel that Detroit ORT has renovated. The popular ladies-only event raised more than $60,000. Beyond Basics Annual Event Here’s betting that the 200 literacy supporters ($150 - $500 tickets) at the Detroit Athletic Club were bowled over by new Detroit Public Schools superintendent Dr. Nickolai Vitti. “Literacy is a civil right,” he declared when accepting the “Literacy Chair” for him and his wife at Beyond Basics’ annual fundraising dinner. His own dyslexia and that of their two sons inspires his understanding of the problem and his determination that “...DPS is going to be obsessed with literacy.” BB Partner of the Year UHY Advisors Michigan CEO Tom Callan spoke for many when he said that he loves Dr. Vitti’s passion. Other highlights of the program emceed by PNC’s Gina Coleman were a Keith Famie film about BB and remarks by BB alum Elijah Craft (“If you are going to be president you have to know how to read”), board chair Jack Aronson and board member Jack Krasula, who led pledging that downtownpublications.com
Sing Out 4 Kids
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1. Karla Sherry (left) of Bloomfield and Anna Giammarco of Northville. 2. Lew & Lynn Lindsay LaPaugh of Rochester Hills. 3. Denise (left) & Bob Moore of Birmingham, Paul and Diane Widlak of Bloomfield. 4. Mike Brennan (left) of Birmingham, Bob Kaiser of Grosse Pointe. 5. Abe Larde (left) of Birmingham, Jim Weissenborn of Bloomfield.
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1. Carly Sanfield (left) of Birmingham, Jennifer Teper and Joy Levran of Farmington Hills. 2. Jody Astrein (left) and Laurie Weinberger of Birmingham, Jodi Dunsky of Bloomfield. 3. Caryn Zeitlin (left) of Bloomfield, Sylvia Wolf of W. Bloomfield. 4. Sara Lipson (left) and Emily Pomish of Bloomfield, Jackie Issen of Birmingham. 5. Julie Nelson-Klein (left) of Bloomfield, Marcie Canvasser of Franklin.
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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Beyond Basics Annual Event
totaled $71,000. Pam Good also made it a point to acknowledge the family of the late Dr. Joanne Wagerson with whom she co-founded BB 16 years ago. The event raised $200,000 to turn struggling students into readers.
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1. Pam Good (standing) and Jack Krasula of Bloomfield, Rachel (seated) and Dr. Nickolai Vitti of Detroit. 2. Jack (left) & Annette Aronson of Bloomfield, Billy & Melanie Mena of Sterling Hgts. 3. Tom & Pam Callan of Bloomfield. 4. Janice Tessier & Bob Gregory of Rochester Hills. 5. Kathy Raglan (left) of Rochester, Denise Ulrich of S. Lyon, Tim Wagerson of Birmingham.
Brother Rice Irish Nite XLI
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1. Alyson (left) & Mike Brown and Megan Maderosian of Birmingham. 2. Karen (left) & Roger Denha of Beverly Hills, Michelle Lievois of Bloomfield. 3. Diane (standing) & Paul Widlak of Bloomfield, Julie (seated) & Richard Penington of Beverly Hills. 4. Cathie Weissenborn and Chuck Taunt of Bloomfield. 5. Jim Weissenborn (left) of Bloomfield, Al Fracassa of Warren, Charlie Dillon of Birmingham, Phyllis Fracassa of Warren.
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Brother Rice Irish Nite XLI Most of the 41 Brother Rice High School fundraising auctions have been held in the school gym. But this year school loyalists, 400 strong, gathered on St. Patrick’s Day at Birmingham Country Club to bid, banter and imbibe. Among the guests were retired football coach Al Fracassa and retired principal John Birney. Both were greeting alums who now have sons of their own at the school. Lively fellowship reigned throughout the club where multiple rooms provided separate venues for multiple activities – raffles ($13,500), wine pull ($3,000), silent auction ($81,000), buffet with carving station. But partygoers crowded into the main dining room for the live auction conducted with good humor by school president Tom Reidy and principal Ed Okuniewski. The top dollar item ($10,000 for the private plane round trip Fly Away for nine people for a two-three night trip) brought the auction total to $60,000. Combined with the $10,000 Paddle Raise income and generous sponsors, Irish Nite XLI grossed more than $300,000. Sharin’ O’ the Green Detroit’s historic (since 1834) Most Holy Trinity Parish St. Patrick’s Day Celebration traditionally attracts people from all over the metropolitan area. They know whatever they drop in the collection basket will benefit the parish medical clinic, legal clinic, food pantry and clothing closet that serve the neighborhood needy. And for more than 50 years, a luncheon held at the nearby Corktown IBEW Hall has added “green” to the charity kitty. This year approximately 1,000 people attended the Mass and 450 of them had tickets ($40) for the sold-out lunch. Familyfriendly diversions included a band, Irish dancers and a magician. And three Good Samaritans – John Lenihan, Mary Ellen King, and Alfred Mirabitur – were honored for extraordinary volunteer dedication to the outreach ministries. For the first time, a late afternoon Mass was followed by the Young Adult Happy Hour. It drew another 75 revelers who lingered well past the advertised 7p.m. close. The two socials, chaired by Maureen Miller Brosnan, grossed about $120,000 for the parish’s charities. 05.18
West Point Founders Day Dinner The West Point Society of Michigan (WPSMI), which conducts a leadership, ethics and STEM skills program for Detroit area youth, saluted the Military Academy’s 216th anniversary at the Founders Day Dinner chaired by Jim Suhay ’66. It attracted 190 ($75 ticket) to the Auburn Hills Marriott and featured Pat Locke ’80 as guest speaker. She recalled how the impressive appearance and demeanor of the soldiers camped near her very humble home during the 1967 Detroit riots inspired her decision to apply to West Point. As the first African American woman to graduate from West Point, she has dedicated her retirement to improving life skills of underserved youth. The evening was accented with traditions and toasts. Among those applauding were 20 future cadets who were cheered when they were introduced. Len Dixon ’73 was awarded the WPSMI Distinguished Member of the Year award and emcee/WPSMI president Tom Lynch ’82 shared some Irish humor because it was St. Patrick’s Day. However, in typical military style, the dinner ended on schedule. Women’s Fund of Rochester Representatives of the Women’s Fund of Rochester recently presented a $7,500 grant to Career Dress at the non-profit’s Pontiac boutique where low and moderate income women who are actively seeking employment can select professional attire. Career Dress has 10 dedicated volunteers. Last year they dressed 320 women. The Women’s Fund grant will go towards bus passes and gas cards to get the women to the boutique, to their job interviews and, hopefully, to economic independence. Women of Tomorrow Dinner “We would be nothing without you,” Women of Tomorrow Executive Director Jill Harris said to the mentors among the 200 guests ($175 tickets) assembled at the Detroit Athletic Club for the organization’s second annual fundraising dinner chaired by Florine Mark and Anne Parsons. Paula Tutman emceed the program that featured inspirational remarks by board chair Ellen Hill Zeringue plus a WoT participant and a graduate, the first in her family to go to college. A candlelight procession of the current high school graduates earned them a standing ovation before the presentation of five extraordinary people: Leader downtownpublications.com
Sharin’ O’ the Green
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4 1. Msgr. Chuck Kosanke (left) of Detroit, Mary Ellen King of Northville and John Lenihan of Bloomfield, Maureen Miller Brosnan of Livonia and Alfred Mirabitur of Novi. 2. Liz Siver (center) of Birmingham, Brian & Sara Bell of Beverly Hills. 3. Kevin (left) and Maureen Gill and Heather and Thea Venner of Bloomfield. 4. George Hanzel (left) and Colleen Coyne of Bloomfield, Amy and Mia Carroll (in front) of Birmingham, Christi and Sydney Hanzel of Bloomfield. 5. Chris Moore and Dean Askounis of Bloomfield.
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West Point Founders Day Dinner
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1. Pat Locke (left) of Springfield, VA, Charles Phipps of Gibraltar, Jim Suhay of Birmingham. 2. Tom & Kate Lynch of Bloomfield. 3. Michelle Chemiecki of Waterford, Walter & Francie Oehrlein of Bloomfield, Barbara Suhay of Birmingham. 4. Martha (left) & Nick Demiro of Bloomfield, Jon & Sue Tellier of Grand Rapids, Kim Sokol and Ken McHenry of W. Bloomfield. 5. Pam Good and Jack Krasula of Bloomfield.
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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Women’s Fund of Rochester
Awardees Marla Drutz, Gina Coleman and Nick Gnau and Mentors of the Year Judith Trepeck and Joanne Faycurry. Thanks also to generous sponsors, a cocktail hour silent auction, a two-item live auction and pledging for scholarships ($22,500), the event grossed more than $172,500. Proceeds will support the mentoring and scholarship program that pairs 130 highly accomplished women with more than 1,000 at-risk girls in 49 Metro Detroit public high schools for inspiration, motivation and guidance.
1 1. Sue Upton (left) and Kathy McCarter of Rochester, Toni McConnell and Karen Lockman of Rochester Hills, Erika Kruse of Oakland Twp and Kathy Bogdziewicz of Rochester.
Women of Tomorrow Dinner
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1. Anne Parsons (standing) of Detroit, Gina & Derrick Coleman of Beverly Hills. 2. Florine Mark (left) of Farmington Hills, Brooks Patterson of Clarkston, Marla Drutz of Bloomfield. 3. Judy Trepeck (left) of W. Bloomfield and Joanne Faycurry of Bloomfield. 4. Emily, Tom & Laurie Cunnington of Birmingham. 5. Richard Greer & Lori Blaker of Metamora, Nick & Stephanie Gnau of Northville.
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Figure Skating in Detroit Reception “I can do anything...falling down is not the end of the world...I’m a master at setting goals...(I will be in) the 2026 Olympics,” eight-year-old Layla Wagner confidently told the 155 guests ($50 - $10,000 tickets) gathered in The CUBE at the Max & Marjorie Fisher Music Center. They assembled to celebrate the organization for girls of color that combines the power of education and leadership with the discipline of figure skating to build champions in life. It is completing its first year in Detroit after being singularly selected for expansion by its 20-year old “sister” Figure Skating in Harlem. The reception program emceed by WDIV’s Kimberly Gill was packed with highlights. The Michigan Women’s Foundation and Liz (Punsalan) and Jerod Swallow’s Detroit Skating Club were honored for critical support. Amway’s Candice Matthews was thanked for adding three years of FSD support ($75,000) to her 15 years of support for FSH. Detroit Director Dr. Geneva Williams and Champions Committee co-chairs Meryl Davis and Alissandra Aronow cited how FSD is transforming lives. But the icing on the cake was special guest/Supremes original Mary Wilson, a 20-year supporter of the Harlem program. She reminisced briefly (“Detroiters are the greatest people in the world”) before singing three Supremes hits with audience members joyously joining her on stage as back-up singers. The event generated more than $50,000 to help get girls off the waiting list for FSD’s after school program. Women’s Division Project HOPE Tea As harpist Onita Sanders made beautiful music and Dior artists applied touch-ups, 68 ladies ($65, $75, $100 tickets) sipped and socialized during the Hats Off to New members Tea Lidija Grahovac chaired at the Townsend. Sue Nine, honorary chair 05.18
with Maggie Allesee, spoke about Tea and Project HOPE traditions. Spring fashions from Nina McLemore were modeled to great approval. Guests also shopped at displays by Artloft and international hat designer Luke Song. The latter sold 14 creations and donated one to the raffle. Habitat for Humanity Women Build To ring in its fifth year, Habitat Oakland’s Women Build Team hosted a Welcome Home luncheon at The Community House. Led by WB founder/entrepreneur Johnna Struck, 177 Habitat for Humanity advocates heard Laura Miehls talk about traveling the globe to build with Habitat Global Village and moving testimonials from four partner homeowners detailing the improvement in their lives created by homeownership. The WB team is committed to a world where everyone has a decent place to live. New team members are welcomed with open arms. Each contributes $500 annually, and, from August through December, participates in the actual construction alongside the future owner. To make homeownership possible for an area family the 2018 fundraising goal is $100,000. McCann Worldgroup Gala McCann Worldgroup Global President Diversified Agencies Bill Kolb welcomed about 175 guests to the lobby of his Birmingham offices for food, fun and to raise some cash for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan (NKFM). A silent auction offered tempting packages (raising $24,000) and a Giving Tree offered ornaments for purchase. Folks paused their cocktail hour chatter to hear kidney transplant recipient Shannon Brink’s expression of gratitude “...for my new chance at life.” Participants from Shannon’s five-person kidney transplant chain attending the gala included her donor Todd Ramsdell from Kalamazoo and her friend SarahRae Andreski. The host, who is chairing the Kidney Walk on Sunday, May 20, also invited all to walk with him at the Detroit Zoo. Send ideas for this column to Sally Gerak, 28 Barbour Lane, Bloomfield Hills, 48304; email samgerak@aol.com or call 248.646.6390. downtownpublications.com
Figure Skating in Detroit Reception
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1. Alissandra Aronow of Ann Arbor and Meryl Davis of Birmingham. 2. Liz (left) & Jerod Swallow of Birmingham, Sharon Cohen of NYC, Sandra & Chuck Jacobowitz of W. Bloomfield. 3. Patricia Rodzik (left) of Bloomfield, Carolyn Cassin of Grosse Pointe and Peg Tallet of Pleasant Ridge. 4. David & Carrie Aronow of Bloomfield. 5. Maggie Allesse (left) of Bloomfield, Kailee and Lakyla Buchanan and Kyla Bevelle of Detroit.
Women’s Division Project HOPE Tea
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2 1. Lidija Grahovic (left) of Bloomfield, Contessa Bannon of Beverly Hills. 2. Rosemary Bannon (left) of Beverly Hills and Bettina Gregg of Bloomfield. 3. Carol Lee Markley (left), Joan Gaston and Carol Shaya of Bloomfield. 4. Bonnie Jobe (left) of Bloomfield, Cynthia Ohanian of Beverly Hills. 5. Lidija Grahovic (left) of Bloomfield, her daughters Dr. Marija Grahovic of Franklin and Ivana Grahovac of Santa Monica, CA.
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ENDNOTE
Governments role in vapor contamination long-buried chemical tank discovered in April beneath a Franklin Village dry cleaner, suspected of leaking harmful vapors into nearby businesses that had gone undetected for decades, illustrates the need for the state to step up measures to protect residents from thousands of sites with the potential for similar pollution. The chemicals, known commonly as TCE and PCE, often associated with some dry cleaning and certain degreasers, are some of the latest chemicals to come under the scrutiny of state and federal health and environment regulators, and are considered a human carcinogen associated with several types of cancer and other health problems. Officials with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) say there's more than 4,000 sites in the state that have the potential to be contaminated with the chemicals, including more than 400 in Oakland County. While they don't expect to find contamination at each of those potential sites, many thousands more people may be unwittingly exposed to the chemicals from the vapors they produce that can permeate into air inside of buildings. The DEQ is now taking steps to tackle the backlog of inspections needed at potentially contaminated sites in the state. However, current funding allows for only a fraction of those sites to be inspected. Funded in part by the state's bottle deposit law and former Clean Michigan Initiative bond funds passed by voters in 1998, the bond has since run its course, and little money is left for investigation into these contaminated sites. While lawmakers have appropriated about $3
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million over the past two years to begin tackling the problem of contaminated sites, there remains a lack of dedicated funding for the problem. Outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder – perhaps learning a lesson about contamination from the Flint water crisis – is now proposing a fix that would address environmental cleanup and other remediation and redevelopment issues in the state. Dubbed the Renewing Michigan's Environment initiative, the proposal would provide $45 million annually to the DEQ for environmental cleanup, brownfield redevelopment and the addition of 20 full-time employees to support the program. Funds would be generated by raising the fee amount the state collects for the disposal of solid waste, commonly known as "tipping fees." The proposal, which in late April was still in a state Senate appropriations subcommittee, would raise the fees from about 36 cents to $4.75 per ton. The increase is one we believe lawmakers should support. The proposed increase would be on-par with other states in the region. The current average is about $5.30 per ton, with surrounding states all higher than Michigan’s. Michigan's low fees make it a dumping ground for others' trash, with about 25.5 percent of the state's solid waste coming from other states or countries. The proposed fees would equate to an increase of about $4.75 per household annually. That's a fair price to pay for what is proposed in return. In addition to addressing thousands of potential vapor intrusion sites, the funds would be used to address other contamination, including more than a dozen confirmed sites
contaminated with PFAS, a chemical used in some firefighting foams that have led to a bevy of health issues in the state. The state proposal would be key in addressing the issue of vapor contamination. However, local municipalities should also consider taking steps to limit contamination in the future. That can be done without state approval through zoning ordinances and requirements, a step that many municipalities are already taking by either restricting or requiring special use permits for dry cleaning processing centers and other industrial uses that involve potentially harmful chemicals. We are pleased that new commercial districts in Rochester have specifically restricted dry clean processing centers around the downtown area; and Rochester Hills requires special use permissions from the planning commission and city council for such industrial uses. While Birmingham allows such uses in all its business districts, the city placed restrictions in its latest transitional district zones that fall between residential and commercial areas. Such zoning restrictions or special requirements ensure that businesses have less potential to affect surrounding businesses or residents. It also allows a municipality to make sure that any business using potentially harmful chemicals is taking the necessary precautions. While the state, nor this publication, intend such precautions to be an indictment of the dry cleaning businesses or others using TCE, PCE and other such solvents, we do believe in the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Not only will such prevention help to ensure human health, it may help to reduce clean-up costs in the future.
Recouping costs for special events in city ochester updated its special events ordinance in March 2017, in an attempt to recapture large expenditures by the city in assisting special events held by non-profit organizations throughout the year. At the time, city officials estimated Rochester had spent more than $175,000 from 2013 through 2015 to support special events, including costs related to the use of city property and support services. Rochester Police Chief Steve Schettenhelm at the time said about $8,500 in services is used each year to support the city's annual Christmas parade and about $18,500 annually to support the Paint Creek Center for the Arts Art and Apples event. In an attempt to recoup costs, city council elected to increase the amount non-profit organizations must reimburse the city. The increase, which this publication supported at the time, raised the reimbursement rate from 10 percent over the first $1,000 provided by the city to 75 percent over the first $100 in services
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provided by the city. The policy isn't out of line with those of many neighboring communities, and is appropriate as the city grapples with financial restraints that force tough budget decisions for other needs in the city. Further, the increased fees didn't go into effect until January 1, 2018, giving non-profits concerned with the increases time to plan for increases, which some said could prove to be a hardship. Despite attempts to plan for the increases, representatives from both the Paint Creek Center for the Arts and the Greater Rochester Regional Chamber's Foundation, which sought sponsorships for the parade, requested on Monday, April 23, that council lower the percentage non-profits must contribute to 50 percent, with increases phased in over two years, stating the increase has been a hardship – and that the events were in jeopardy. City council members, hearing that, as well as the potential to impact some of the other
estimated 100 annual non-profit events held in the city, obliged the request, and voted unanimously to amend the fees. Under the new fee schedule, all non-profits will need to pay 25 percent of all costs the city incurs over the first $100 in 2018, and 50 percent of costs over $100 in 2019 and beyond. While we supported the initial fee increases passed in 2017, we understand the concerns nonprofits are experiencing. The adjusted fee schedule is a fair compromise, and will still provide the city with recoupable expenses, while not threatening events that are a valuable asset to the city. Yet, non-profits must realize that events are very costly for communities to host as well. They must reciprocate with transparency by offering financial records on the organization and event when making requests to the city. They may find their openness will be met with more receptiveness in return.
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