Park resident Tom Saunders dies;
was Detroit jazz legend

Cornetist/trumpeter Tom Saunders died Saturday (Feb. 13). He was 71.
 

Saunders, a leading figure of Detroit's traditional jazz scene for more than 40 years, played regularly at jazz festivals throughout the United States and Europe. He was best known recently as the leader of the Detroit Jazz All-Stars. The group was a fixture at Marge's Bar and Grill in the Park, where Saunders was known as much for his sense of humor and prolific joke-telling as he was for his Dixieland-influenced style.  

A lifelong resident of Grosse Pointe Park, Saunders, legend has it, first picked up his brother's cornet at age 7 and never gave it back. The story goes that at 9 he was playing second cornet in his brother's band and at 13 had his own group – participating in battles of the bands at the War Memorial, where he was better known for his mischief than his music.  read more...

Video: Pointers of Distinction
honored at War Memorial

Will Harrah of Pointe Images was at the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce Pointer of Distinction awards Tuesday night at the War Memorial, and captured this video of the evening. 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...

Search continues for missing woman

Divers continued to comb the waters of Lake St. Clair on Monday, searching for Joann Matouk Romain, a Grosse Pointe Woods resident who has now been missing for a week. Police have reported no new developments since Matouk Romain's disappearance from the area around St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church. See story.  read more...

Where is Joann Matouk-Romain?
Family searches for missing mom

There are many faces on Facebook. But there's only one the family of Joann Matouk-Romain wants to see–hers.

The family has turned to viral social networking, on Facebook and Twitter, to help spread the word that their mother is missing, and they want her to come home. They've also put up an additional site, as well.

Ryan Thompson, a family friend, set up the Facebook page to serve as a clearinghouse for information and deflect pressure on the family. "Bring home Joann Matouk-Romain" was posted Thursday (Jan. 14) with the few facts that have been made public since the  disappearance of the Grosse Pointe Woods woman two days previous:

Matouk-Romain was last seen around 7 p.m. Tuesday night, Jan. 12, sitting in the back row at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church on Lake Shore Road in the Farms. Her car was found a few hours later in the church driveway. Police said at the time that footprints leading from the car to the water's edge, along with a mark apparently left by a person sitting down, led them to suspect Matouk-Roman may have jumped or fallen into Lake St. Clair. A search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Farms dive team that night and the following day turned up nothing, and the water search was called off. Farms police said Wednesday night that the matter was being handled by the Woods public-safety department as a missing-persons case.

Thompson said the family strongly rejects the idea that Matouk-Romain was suicidal. 

"We know it was not a suicide," Thompson said. "She lives for her kids. If she could see the agony they were going through now, she wouldn't have have done anything to cause that." read more...

Bledsoe offers toxic toy testing

Unsure about the provenance of some of the gifts left under the Christmas tree? Suspicious of the "made in China" label on others? Rep. Tim Bledsoe is offering a testing program to put your mind at ease.

Bledsoe will host a free toy safety workshop on Jan. 14 for families to learn more about the problem of toxic toys. With many children's products recalled every year by the most popular toy companies, parents are encouraged to bring toys and other children's products for chemical testing by representatives of the Michigan Ecology Center. read more...

Bledsoe backs anti-smoking bill as
Michigan joins national movement

State Rep. Tim Bledsoe (D-1st) joins Rep. Joan Bauer (D-Lansing), left, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and Rep. Lesia Liss (D-Warren) at the signing of Michigan's smoking legislation Dec. 18 at Michigan Brewing Company in Lansing. The new law takes effect May 1 and makes Michigan the 38th state to ban smoking in most indoor places, including bars and restaurants. Bledsoe said: "Banning smoking in public places ensures that all Michigan residents can breathe clean air when they are working or enjoying a night out with their families – and that's a right to which everyone is entitled. Science has told us for years that secondhand smoke is a killer. I'm glad that Michigan is acting now, before more children and people who have no choice but to breathe the dangerous air around them fall ill or die. Today is a big victory for the health of our workers, our families, our communities and our state. This truly is a great Christmas present to the people of Michigan." read more...

Comment: The good times are over; it's
time for schools to face new realities

It is interesting to hear residents say that our schools are important to our community. That is exactly opposite of the truth. Our community is important to our schools. In fact, the schools that are excellent and performing well do so because of the community they serve. It is the families and their structure, their diligence and their effort at parenting that reflects what happens in the schools.

With our property values plummeting, rental and vacant properties spiraling out of control, the makeup of our community and neighborhoods is changing. With job loss continuing, families and households which previously contributed and emphasized good sound educational values in our schools are moving elsewhere, where a living can be made.

For our cities to be attractive to prospective home buyers, first we must have a thriving economy. We don't. Second, we have to have reasonable property taxes. We don't. Third, we have to have stable neighborhoods. We don't. Schools are only important to prospective home buyers when these three qualifications are met. And, guess what? They aren't being met. And, now, the schools are trying to increase property taxes even more.

Our school district should be cutting back, reducing its budget, managing within its means. Yes, the district is receiving fewer tax dollars, and they should, because our homes are worth less. Homeowners are lowering their sale prices just to get out from under a mean job market and move to states with a brighter economic future. read more...

Lochmoor Automotive Group folds;
ex-Chrysler dealer was east-side fixture

“Closed” is scrawled by hand across the service department doors at Lochmoor Automotive Group at 18165 Mack in Detroit. The surrounding lots that once contained dozens of shiny new and used cars stand empty.

Employes in the body shop confirmed that the dealership, owned by the Russo family and a victim of Chrysler downsizing, had shut down on Oct. 9.

The employees said the word on the street was that a McDonald’s franchise would be built on part of the property that extends several blocks along the Grosse Pointe border opposite the City and the Farms. read more...

'Community Conversation' launches
state's 2010 'defining moment'

Local residents came together Monday evening (Sept. 21) to discuss ways of promoting Michigan’s future through a “Community Conversation,” hosted by the Center for Michigan at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Representative Tim Bledsoe, D-1st District, and Andrew Richner, ahairman of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, spoke at the event, which discussed “Michigan’s Defining Moment.” “In 2010 we have a very unique opportunity,” said Kim Johnson, outreach coordinator of the Center for Michigan. read more...