Sterling Heights Sentry

Published February 23, 2011

Although spring is nearly a month away, “kitten season” is gearing up this month, meaning that local shelters may soon be filled to the brim with fuzzy faces needing good homes?.

But until they can find their forever family, help is needed to nurture the babies in their first few weeks, making sure they get the care they need to become good pets.

Published February 16, 2011

Putting the ‘heart’ in community theater

It’s a special group, the Heart of the Hills Players. There is one major qualification for taking part: You’ve got to love making people smile.

You also have to be over the age of 50. The organization is the largest community theater group in the region comprised solely of seniors.

Melanie Lee of Warren, who said she’s a “very vigorous 78-year-old,” feels that joining the group over a decade ago was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

Published February 9, 2011

Through the eyes of a survivor

STERLING HEIGHTS — Where one might see a scraggly weed, Patti Cooper-Koerner sees a plant beautiful in its own right, even if it hasn’t been given the vaunted status of a flower.

But Cooper-Koerner, Sterling Heights’ Artist of the Month for February, acknowledges that she doesn’t see the world like most people do. She revels in the beauty of common things, a gift she credits to a life-altering near-death experience nine years ago.

Published February 1, 2011

Love and learn

Asked to reveal words of wisdom after 50 years of marriage, Ed Lewandowski was quick to reply in exactly the way his wife, Sharon, predicted.

“I don’t have any wisdom,” he quipped. “I’m married.”

But contrary to his claims, the St. Clair Shores resident and his wife, along with other local couples, recently shared some of what they’ve learned along the way as they’ve faced life’s challenges —together.

Published February 1, 2011

Good buy … or money pit?

The right neighborhood. The right price. The right layout, lot and size. It’s the perfect home — or not.

There are a number of major issues that could be lurking under the cosmetically pleasing surface of a home, many of which can be very costly.

That — and liability issues on the seller’s end — is why getting a home inspection has become an essential part of the home-buying process since the late 1970s nationally and the early ‘80s in Michigan, according to Jon Ormiston, president of All Points Inspection in Rochester.

Published January 26, 2011

Macomb County to DWSD: ‘We want our money back’

STERLING HEIGHTS — Is there a money-back guarantee on that?

Late last month, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Anthony V. Marrocco fired off correspondence to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, seeking confirmation on whether contractor Bobby Ferguson received nearly $3 million for work he allegedly never performed on a collapsed Detroit Water and Sewerage Department interceptor near 15 Mile and Moravian in 2004.

Published January 19, 2011

Michigan hotspots provide cold-weather fun

Hibernating is for the bears.

Winter weather doesn’t have to force us to stay indoors and under the covers, counting the minutes until spring. As the flakes fall, Michigan offers healthy opportunities statewide to get out and enjoy the season, with activities from cross-country skiing and snowmobiling to ice fishing.

Published January 19, 2011

Sterling Heights salon gets electrified

STERLING HEIGHTS — Everyone was abuzz about General Motors’ Chevy Volt around the same time Mike and Verna Borsuck were planning the new structure for their Sterling Heights-based Studio 9 Salon.

Inspired, Mike Borsuck added infrastructure for an electric vehicle charging station into the blueprints and applied online to receive a unit for free.

Time passed with no word, and he was unsure whether anything would come of it. But late last year, the charger arrived, just in time for the Volt’s release.

Published January 5, 2011

Housing market trending toward recovery

“Tough” is an understatement when describing the local housing market since 2005.

The ripple effect that unemployment and the ensuing foreclosure crisis has left — and is expected to continue leaving — an unprecedented number of homes on the market, crippling home values and sales across the state.