School board member predicts
layoffs as part of fiscal reality

With state aid reduced, the next Grosse Pointe public schools budget will require layoffs, board member Brendan Walsh predicts. 

Walsh outlined the situation at the school board meeting on Jan. 25, a session that also saw staff members reeling over recent queries about the importance of certain human resources positions. read more...

Chamber recognizes eight Pointers
for outstanding accomplishments

Two high school seniors – one from Liggett, one from South – represented hope for the future as they stood on the stage Tuesday night at the War Memorial's Fries Auditorium to receive Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce's Pointer of Distinction Awards.

Youth Achievement

Awards went to Mary Grech from University Liggett and Julia Jacovides from South, each of whom had a list of academic accomplishments, leadership and community service that would have filled the resume of a 20-year college alum.

Grech is student body president at Liggett, served as class president last year, has been a leader in the Casa Maria Community Service Club, helped found the school's Cancer Society Relay for Life, teaches pre-school children at St. Ambrose Church in the Park, played varsity volleyball and won various scholarships and awards for academic achievement, leadership and athletics.

"Mary's goal, in her words, is 'to do something positive every day of my life and leave the world better than I found it,'" said master of ceremonies Ted Everingham, a Park attorney and Chamber board member.

Jacovides earned a 3.95 grade-point average at South as she played in the chamber and symphony orchestras, co-founded Students Against Violence in the Environment that started a new form of recycling at the high school, and took part in the Global Youth Leadership Conference. That conference involved 350 students from more than 50 countries who met in Washington and New York to analyze human rights issues and debate them. When her career with the South women's track and field squad was cut short by an injury she served as team manager and won a scholar-athlete award in 2008.

  read more...

Farms council considers limits
on number of nonresidents in parks

The Grosse Pointe Farms City Council held a work session Monday night to discuss and propose revisions to the city’s park policies.

City Manager Shane Reeside proposed to reduce the number of visitors allowed per resident for picnics or when using community buildings in Pier Park. read more...

Only empty snares for Woods'
coyote hunter, but game's not over

Two weeks ago, the Grosse Pointe Woods city council was told "Grizzly Adams" was working on their coyote problem. A trapper from Varmint Police Inc. in Westland, a firm that had success removing nuisance coyotes from other cities, was hired to stalk the beasts on the grounds of the Lochmoor Club and, it was hoped, remove the animals who had attacked and/or killed two pet dogs nearby.

But the life of a predator is a hard one, and that includes trappers. None of the traps set in the Woods have caught anything.  read more...