Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

DETROIT (WWJ) – The Head Start program has been given a big federal boost to expand the program for hundreds of children.

 

The Wayne County Head Start program has been awarded a new federal grant worth approximately $2.3 million annually.

 

The five-year funding plan allows for the enrollment of 318 additional children from Detroit’s northwest side, zip code 48219, through April 2017.

 

The grant will allow for an expansion in services, programming and resources to be administered by The Children’s Center of Wayne County (TCC), one of the largest comprehensive and responsive frontline human service agencies, having served thousands of children since their founding in 1929.

 

“We are thrilled to partner with Wayne County to offer The Children’s Center Head Start Academy to families with 3-5 year old children residing in the 48219 neighborhood. Serving the needs of the whole child and their family empowers them to shape their own future,” added Debora Matthews, President & CEO of The Children’s Center of Wayne County.

 

While classes were scheduled to be September 10,  registration information or eligibility requirements, interested parents may reach out to The Children’s Center of Wayne County (TCC) directly at (313) 481-5114.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/17/wayne-county-head-start-program-awarded-11-5m-for-expansion-into-detroit/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

DETROIT (WWJ) – The Detroit Science Center is “one large step closer to opening its doors” after a $500,000 donation from ITC Holdings Corp.

 

Board members the newly renamed “Michigan Science Center” of have been hard at work securing dollars to reopen the cultural attraction since it closed last September amid a financial crisis.

 

“As the Detroit Science Center, it touched hundreds of thousands of children and parents each year. Now, as the Michigan Science Center, it will expand its influence statewide, encouraging an interest in math and the sciences, enlightening the minds of students throughout the state. It’s important to remember that today’s youth will be tomorrow’s workforce of engineers and technical operators in the electric transmission industry,” Gregory Ioanidis, president of ITC Michigan, said in a release.

 

Over the past several months the Michigan Science Center has achieved a number of significant milestones including commitments and donations of more that $2.5 million. Other donors include The General Motors Foundation, The Ford Foundation, Penske Corporation and the Manoogian Fund.

 

“These milestones are critical to our efforts to open the Michigan Science Center,”  Tom Stephens, chairman of the Michigan Science Center board, said in a release. “The Board of Directors has been focused on completing all of the steps of the Michigan Science Center Recovery Plan. One of the steps we are currently working on is developing an opening strategy for the facility.”

 

Stephens said possible reopening dates for the  science center stretch from as early as November into the first part of next year. He said visitors can go to www.michigansciencecenter.org to keep up with all the center’s latest updates.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/18/detroit-science-center-one-step-closer-to-opening-its-doors/

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Category: News Briefs Written by Pride of Detroit

September 16, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) reacts after being hit in the head against the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Candlestick Park. The 49ers defeated the Lions 27-19. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

 

http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2012/9/17/3345668/49ers-lions-score-recap-2012

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit police say an off-duty officer was shot at as he pursued a robbery suspect after he snatched jewelry from people heading to church.

 

It happened around 6 p.m.  Sunday at the Neapolitan Church of Deliverance, near Mack and McClellan, on the city’s east side.

 

Reports say a man with a gun approached parishioners and grabbed a gold necklace from one of them. The off-duty police officer and other churchgoers chased him — with the thief shooting at them. The officer returned fire, but the robber escaped in a silver Pontiac Grand Am.

 

The parishioners were not injured, nor was the officer. It’s not know if the robber was hit.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/17/churchgoers-robbed-thief-shoots-at-off-duty-detroit-police-officer/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

 

DETROIT (WWJ) – One of the top trending topics on the Internet Monday morning is the high price of gas.

 

According to AAA Michigan, the average price of gas is up 4.4 cents this week, averaging $4.01 per gallon. In Metro Detroit, the average price for self-serve regular rose two-tenths of a cent, with the average at $4.05 per gallon. The statewide average is 27.7 cents more than last year. The current price of gas is 30.0 cents higher than the same time last year.

 

The AAA Michigan survey shows that the highest gas prices statewide are in the Ann Arbor area, with self serve regular selling averaging $4.08 per gallon.

 

The lowest gas prices are in the Saginaw/Bay City area where gas prices are averaging $3.89 per gallon.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/17/gas-prices-are-up-again-this-week/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WWJ) – A two-year-old boy is taken along on a high-speed chase Monday morning. Police catch the prime suspect and take him into custody.

 

WWJ Newsradio 950′s Mike Campbell reports from the scene that there’s about a dozen squad cars in the parking lot of an office building on Lahser, near Northwestern Highway, along with a smashed up red, older-model Toyota — possibly a Corolla — on the back of a wrecker.

 

Police say the child was not injured. A sheriff’s deputy was driving him back to his mother in Pontiac. The man in custody is reportedly related to the boy.

 

No word on what started the chase. Police are investigating and are searching the area around the car.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/17/man-in-custody-after-taking-2-year-old-on-high-speed-chase/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

DETROIT (WWJ) – There’s another court date looming — but a big change is going into effect for Detroit police.

 

Effective today, cops in Detroit are working 12-hour days, although a court hearing on the issue is scheduled for Tuesday. The change also comes with a 10-percent pay cut, all of which Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee says is needed to keep more of the city’s 1,500 cops on patrol while taking a budget cut imposed by Mayor Dave Bing in his effort to get the city’s overall finances in line. This was part of the deal with the state to avoid appointment of an emergency financial manager.

 

What cops have said is that they don’t mind working the longer hours; what they do mind is not getting the overtime for those hours.

 

WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBS Detroit.com will continue to follow this story and will provide updates as they become available.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/17/detroit-police-now-working-12-hour-shifts/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

FENTON (WWJ) - Fallen West Bloomfield police officer Patrick O’Rourke will be laid to rest Friday, escorted by thousands of mourners including friends, family and fellow members of the force.

 

A funeral Mass was held at 10:30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Fenton for the 39-year-old father of four who was killed by barricaded gunman Ricky Covey, reportedly distraught at a divorce and impending eviction from his home.

 

WWJ Newsradio 950′s Marie Osborne reported that several eulogies followed the service.

 

“Perhaps the most poignant moment — Amy O’Rourke is at the podium inside this church holding into her 8-month-old son, Steven, saying that her husband’s undercover name when he was in narcotics was John Paul after the late pope. And she says that she believe that he is in heaven right now having an awfully great conversation with Elvis, an idol of his,” Osborne reported.

 

“She told everyone in the congregation that they had soon hoped to have date night. They never go to that, and she said I hope you all take advantage of date night with your spouses and your families the way that Patrick O’Rourke did not have the chance.”

 

Burial will take place later in the day at Fenton’s St. John Cemetery.

 

West Bloomfield Police Chief Michael Patton said O’Rourke, a 12-year veteran, was one of his best officers — one of the “rocks of the department.”

 

Patton said it was the end of his shift, but O’Rourke rushed to the domestic call, and was shot through the neck when a gunshot rang through a wall inside the home.

 

He was known as an excellent police officer but was also a family man.

 

Judy Fisher of Farmington Hills first met Amy O’Rourke, Patrick O’Rourke’s wife, mother of his four young children — and a neonatal intensive care nurse when her son was born prematurely 10 years ago. And Fisher has never forgotten Amy O’Rourke’s kindness.

 

That’s why Fisher joined hundreds of people waiting in line to pay respects to Amy’s husband. “She is really the angel that saved by son and for this to happen to such a wonderful person is just mind-boggling,” Fisher said.

 

Others, like Eric Jillback, waited in line to honor O’Rourke’s profession.

 

“Sometimes I think we take them for granted and we can’t take them for granted, this is a very unique profession and these guys need to be thanked every day that they do their job,” he said.

 

Officers from neighboring departments stepped in to patrol West Bloomfield on Friday, so all its officer could attend services.

 

“They’re all emotionally hurting right now, because they lost one of their best,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “Anything he needs, from patrols, to support, we’re there.”

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/14/thousands-attend-funeral-for-fallen-police-officer/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

DETROIT (WWJ) A new $2.1 billion budget was cleared Thursday by the Wayne County Board of Commissioners – but that’s not good news for everyone.

 

WWJ NewsRadio 950′s Rob Sanford reported there are complaints some of the cuts could reduce public safety to a dangerous level.

 

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy reportedly said she plans to sue to get a temporary restraining order to stop cuts in her department because if the spending reduction went through as is, she would have to lay off nearly half her legal staff.

 

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon has also been critical of the budget, claiming he would have to free some prisoners in order to bring down costs under the new budget. Initially, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano requested department heads to cut budgets by 20 percent, but the overall budget declined only 2 percent — to $542 in the upcoming fiscal year from $533 million.

 

It’s unclear how cuts will be made in individual departments, but Napoleon requested $105 million to run his department, including jails, and was given $85 million.

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/14/officials-say-new-county-budget-could-endanger-law-enforcement/

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Category: News Briefs Written by WWJ

 

DETROIT (WWJ) The tragic story of a teen who initially said he was grabbed from a Detroit school and sexually assaulted by two strangers at an abandoned home is evolving.

 

And police have leads on the alleged perpetrators.

 

The Detroit Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit updated the story with a statement that says, “This does not appear to be a random act, and the victim may have known the two male suspects.”

 

Investigators added they’ve identified a person of interest and are “actively searching for that person.” At the same time, police would not confirm a sexual assault had actually happened, saying the allegation is still being investigated.

 

The incident happened at 2 p.m. Thursday, when the 13-year-old said someone knocked on the door of his school in the area of Lakepointe and Courville and grabbed him when he answered the door. Neighbors later reportedly saw him stumbling down the street with his hands tied, and without pants.

 

Anyone has any information on this incident can call Sex Crimes at  313-596-1950  or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP    

 

 http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/09/14/police-boy-who-cried-rape-school-grab-knew-attackers/

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