Sterling Heights Sentry

Published September 11, 2015

Planning Commission rejects mosque’s land use proposal

At a packed Sept. 10 meeting, the Sterling Heights Planning Commission unanimously denied a special approval land use request for a mosque on 15 Mile Road.

According to city officials, the Sterling Heights Planning Commission has the final say on the matter. During the meeting, City Planner Don Mende recommended that the city deny the application for a special approval land use, citing concerns over building size and nonconformity to the residential district.

“The structure would dominate the visual landscape,” he said.

Published September 9, 2015

Local meetings bring leaders together to discuss water contracts

MACOMB COUNTY — The price of water has been a long-debated topic in metro Detroit, and recent meetings involving community leaders and members of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, or DWSD, have shed some light on the issue.

Macomb Area Communities for Regional Opportunities, or MACRO, has held meetings with DWSD representatives to discuss forthcoming contracts in relation to the Great Lakes Water Authority, or GLWA — an arrangement enacted in November 2014 that involves Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties paying annual lease payments.

Published September 9, 2015

Michigan announces it will design own clean energy plan

METRO DETROIT — Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration announced Sept. 1 that the state would develop its own carbon implementation plan to meet the power plant carbon emissions guidelines set for it in President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan.

The Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce power plant greenhouse gas emissions by a third of 2012 levels by 2030, allows states to develop their own plans to reach their respective targets.

Published September 9, 2015

Buyers, sellers should gear up for busy housing market this fall

METRO DETROIT — After a strong summer, the housing market in metro Detroit shows no signs of regressing heading into the fall, although buyers and sellers both could take extra precautions in getting in or out of a house.

For the buyer, real estate agent Jan Hays, with Max Broock in Birmingham, said the market will still look to be a sellers market in the fall, so buyers should be ready to make a bid when going to look at a house and not be afraid to make the call.

Published September 4, 2015

Expect orange barrels with orange trees this fall

Summer may be ending soon, but the construction schedule for two counties’ road commissions will still mostly be ongoing through the fall.

According to Craig Bryson from the Road Commission for Oakland County, a few major road undertakings within the C & G Newspapers readership area are underway but not complete.

The biggest project, he said, concerns the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of 14 Mile and Orchard Lake roads as well as its surroundings.

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Published September 3, 2015

Park to host Pet Parade at Dodge Park Farmers Market

Meows and barks will resound in Dodge Park when the Sterling Heights Parks and Recreation Department puts on a Pet Parade Sept. 10.

The 6:30 p.m. parade will run its route through the Dodge Park Farmers Market, which started up for the first time in June and has operated 3-8 p.m. Thursdays throughout the summer.

Published August 31, 2015

Woman carjacked outside Lakeside Mall

A mall shopper walking to her car Aug. 27 reportedly had her vehicle seized from her at gunpoint, according to Sterling Heights police.

According to Sterling Heights Police Lt. Dave Smith, a 47-year-old Chesterfield Township woman was carrying some items while walking from Lakeside Mall to her car in the parking lot at around 9 p.m.

Smith said the woman noticed a male suspect following her, smoking a cigarette, and the suspect reportedly confronted her as she entered the car.

Published August 31, 2015

State says to watch for invasive beetle on Michigan’s doorstep

METRO DETROIT — An invasive, tree-killing insect working its way across the U.S. is closing in on Michigan, and the Department of Natural Resources is asking residents to be watchful.

The Asian longhorn beetle, first found in New York back in 1996, bores into trees to lay its eggs, which then hatch and bore deeper to the heart of the tree, according to DNR spokeswoman Joanne Foreman.

Published August 31, 2015

Police arrest man after two killed in stabbings

Two men are reportedly dead and one woman injured after they were stabbed at their home Aug. 31, according to Sterling Heights police.

Police said they were sent to a home in the 39000 block of Lea Court, near 17 Mile Road and Dodge Park Road, on a report of domestic violence. Police said the call, which reportedly came at around 1 a.m., was from a woman who said her grandson was attacking them and was out of control.

Published August 31, 2015

Labor Day no excuse to take vacation from safe driving

METRO DETROIT — The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning and police agencies statewide are in the middle of a Labor Day campaign to punish drunken driving and other irresponsible driving behavior.

From Aug. 21-Sept. 7, police promise to be on the lookout for people who appear to be driving drunk or who are not wearing their seat belts as part of a Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

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Published August 28, 2015

Expect some changes at UCS this fall

Just as students accumulate skills and knowledge throughout their years of classroom learning, so is the Utica Community Schools district continuing to adjust how it educates, according to school officials.

Classes throughout the school district are scheduled to begin Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.

Superintendent Christine Johns said students have been registering, and she was at a couple of junior high schools recently.

Published August 28, 2015

Consumers urged to toss food products from local company

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a consumer advisory Aug. 24 regarding products sold at farmers markets and festivals that could pose a potential health risk.

Although no illnesses have been identified, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development spokeswoman Jennifer Holton cautioned consumers to dispose of all products labeled under the brands Brandy’s “Jam”boree-N-More, Brandy & Dutch Weigand or Pier III.

Published August 26, 2015

Eisenhower teacher visits Japan on summer fellowship

A local teacher’s learning didn’t stop over the summer, thanks to a rare fellowship opportunity to engage in cultural understanding across the Pacific.

Eisenhower High School history teacher Henry Rehn was one of 10 U.S. educators who recently took part in the 2015 Keizai Koho Center Teacher Fellowship.

Published August 24, 2015

Get moving on best ways to transport dorm belongings

The arrival of a new school year means that many college students will be hauling their belongings in their personal vehicles in order to move into their dorms. But in doing so, police are advising people to store along some safety tips for the ride.

Sgt. Sam Marzban from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said people should be cautious and not stuff so many things inside their vehicles that they can no longer see what’s around them while driving.

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Published August 19, 2015

Officials reveal plans for Freedom Hill workforce monument

STERLING HEIGHTS — Work will soon take place on a monument to local labor that will be completed by 2016 at Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights.

At an Aug. 11 press conference, leadership from the amphitheater, Macomb County and DTE Energy gathered to discuss the proposed monument, which is known as the “Tribute to the American Workforce.”

Published August 17, 2015

Refinery issues blamed for higher gas prices

Even the lowest oil prices in around six years do not guarantee a cheaper August road trip in Michigan, and experts are blaming it on reports of technical problems at an Indiana refinery.

On Aug. 12, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil hovered around the $43 per barrel mark. Nevertheless, AAA Michigan reported a major recent swing in gas prices — although the state’s gas prices averaged around $2.48 per gallon Aug. 11, that increased to $2.58 per gallon Aug. 12 and to around $2.81 per gallon Aug. 13.

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Published August 16, 2015

Michigan carbon emissions to decrease under Clean Power Plan

METRO DETROIT — President Barack Obama unveiled his Clean Power Plan on Aug. 3, tasking the Environmental Protection Agency with setting goals for carbon emission reduction from power plants and leaving the states to figure out how to reach those targets.

With the reductions, the president hopes to slow carbon pollution into the atmosphere and reduce the severity of global warming in the long term.

Published August 14, 2015

Senator announces legislation to review proposed nuclear waste site

DETROIT — U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, unveiled a bill in Detroit on Aug. 10 that would require an international review of a Canadian power company’s proposal to bury nuclear waste less than a mile from the Lake Huron shore.

If passed, the legislation would invoke the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 between the U.S. and Canada, which would require the International Joint Commission to study the risks to the Great Lakes watershed and the State Department to negotiate with Canada to wait for those study results before approving a waste site.

Published August 13, 2015

Police investigate death of man found in parked vehicle

Sterling Heights police say they are waiting for a Macomb County Medical Examiner’s report after officers reportedly found a deceased man inside a vehicle parked in a drug store’s lot.

According to police, at around 11:45 p.m. Aug. 12, Macomb County dispatch received a call from a woman about a suspicious incident at a CVS Pharmacy parking lot in the 15000 block of Hall Road, near the corner of Hall and Hayes roads in Sterling Heights.

Published August 12, 2015

City vote makes first step toward lantern ban

There were no explosive disagreements among Sterling Heights City Council members when they took their first steps to ban sky lanterns while also asking legislators to repeal changes to the state’s 2011 fireworks law.

At an Aug. 4 meeting, the council voted 7-0 to introduce an ordinance to ban the sale and use of sky lanterns. In a separate vote, the council unanimously approved a resolution supporting two state House of Representatives bills, HB 4725 and HB 4726, that would repeal the state’s current law legalizing the use of consumer fireworks.