VOL. 29, NO. 35 THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2013

50¢

The

SPORTSBelleville Tigers football preview

See Page 1-C

COMMUNITYEnd of summer, fall calendar for Wayne County See Page 1-B

Weave the Web:Make sure to click

on www.heritage.com around the clock for the most in-depth coverage. See most popular story ... “HTC One is a well-built smartphone.”

Check out our video:

■ First episode of “Beyond the Badge” is now online.

Click on the “jobs” tab on the home page of our website or go directly to http://jobs.heritage.com.

Join us on Twitter: Become a Belleville

View follower. Click on the Twitter tab on the home page of our website or go directly to http://twitter.com/BellevilleView.

The Belleville View is looking for Community Bloggers!

If you live in the great-er Belleville area and are interested in writing about local events, news and views or even your own interests and hob-bies, please contact Michelle Rogers at mrogers@heritage.com.

The Marketplace: Local ads are just

a hop away at the MIcentral.com market-place. While you are there, you can check out all the special supple-ments of Digital First Media newspapers in Michigan. Click on “mar-ketplace” on the home page of our website or go directly to www.market-place.micentral.com.

h e r i t a g e . c o m

Printed on recycled paper

Editorial Page 6-ACalendar Page 2-ADeath Notices Page 14-ASports Page 1-C

News Tip Hotline: 248-745-4613

INDEX

By John Turk& Laura ZoochiFor Heritage Media

VAN BUREN TWP. — A Bloomfield Township man who died Monday night after being hit by a semi while allegedly trying to cross a busy high-way has been identified.

George Orley, 20, was identified by his father, and his autopsy is currently underway, said Mary Mazur, spokeswoman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The 20-year-old was struck and killed by a semi tractor-trailer around 10:30 p.m. Monday on I-94 between Rawsonville and Belleville

roads, according to Michigan State Police.In between accepting calls and visitors

Tuesday, Randy Orley, the 20-year-old’s father, conveyed that the incident was very raw. However, he did confirm that his son — a University of Michigan student, according to a matching LinkedIn profile — was a founder of what appears to be a Detroit charity application and website called 313 Certified LLC, found at 313certified.com.

Police reports have indicated that a witness told authorities Orley parked his 2012 Acura along the right shoulder, exited the vehicle and tried to walk across I-94 into oncoming traffic.

A semi tractor-trailer traveling eastbound

on I-94 attempted to avoid him but was unable and struck him in the center lane. He was pro-nounced dead at the scene by Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office investigators.

State troopers are continuing to investigate the incident. Michigan State Police have not yet released further information on the fatal accident.

According to George Orley’s LinkedIn profile, he was also a Detroit Pistons Summer intern for Palace Sports and Entertainment. It also lists that George graduated in 2011 from Cranbrook Kingswood High School in Bloomfield Township.

Bloomfi eld Township man killed by semi on I-94 in Van Buren Township

Offi cials defer adoption of budget cutsBy Jerry LaVauteHeritage Media

VAN BUREN TWP. — The Board of Trustees had a 35-minute discussion Aug. 20 about potential budget amendments and the role and responsibilities of the supervisor and deputy supervisor.

Officials met July 29 to discuss several actions to reduce costs and put the budget on better foot-ing, and identified $444,000 of cost reductions or deferrals to their spending plan for 2013.

When the issue returned at the August meet-ing, the proposed savings had been pared to $291,000. But it looked as if the item would quickly be approved, having been discussed a second time in the previous day’s work study meeting.

But when Supervisor Linda Combs asked if there was to be any discussion among board members on the issue, Trustee Jeff Jahr, expressing surprise that other board members

hadn’t raised the issue, asked Combs about the job title change from executive assistant to deputy supervisor for Karin LaMothe.

Jahr recalled that, only the day before, Combs had planned to make the change, but had noticed that the proposal was missing from Tuesday’s board packet — LaMothe would remain an executive assistant.

Combs explained that she had called the Michigan Townships Association earlier that day, and learned from them that no job title change was necessary in the amended budget — LaMothe could remain an executive assistant, but would retain the privileges of a deputy supervisor, in charge of the township’s daily operations in Combs’ absence.

But LaMothe could not, according to the MTA, chair a board meeting or vote as a board member in Combs’ absence.

Other officials recalled being caught off-guard when Combs made the change earlier this year, when LaMothe was appointed and sworn in

as the township’s deputy supervisor, the town-ship’s first, according to Jahr.

Combs had provided about a 45-minute notice via email to other elected officials of the swear-ing-in.

Combs, who has acknowledged and apolo-gized personally to the other elected officials for the communication faux pas, nonetheless insisted that, according to the MTA, it was her prerogative to appoint a deputy supervisor with-out first obtaining board approval.

After the discussion, the issue and the adop-tion of the budget amendment was deferred until the next meeting on Sept. 3 for further discussion. The board voted 6-1 to defer, with Combs in dissent.

Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media. Follow his blogs “Pa’s Blog” and “The Eye of the Storm” at http://jlavaute.blogspot.com. He can be reached at glavaute@gmail.com or call 1-734-740-0062.

Owen Intermediate School faculty members win Lego contestIn July, Owen Intermediate teachers Virginia Falk and Peter Ten Broeck prepared entries for the 8th Annual Ann Arbor District Library Lego Contest. The day long event featured entries from age categories from preschool to adult. Judges evaluated each entry and the public voted for their favorites. Falk was awarded first place in the adult cate-gory and Ten Broeck took home both an hon-orable mention and the people’s choice award. Falk, Owen’s art teacher, created a sculpture-in-the-round featuring Koi fish and an egret wad-ing in marsh grass. Ten Broeck, a 5th grade math teacher, created a 4 foot tall tower made of black and white bricks and featuring flames, horses, owls and other architectural features.Photo courtesy of Van Buren Public Schools

1A1A

Some restrictions apply.See dealer for details

New Car Special2012 Ford Escape XLT

$17,999

Used Car Special

9800 Belleville RdBelleville, MI 48111Exit 190 just off I-94 (734) 697-9161

www.atchinson.net* A/Z Plan Pricing. 10,500 miles per year. Includes Factory and Renewal Rebate. Requires

$2,000 due at signing plus taxes and plates. With Approved Credit.**A/Z Plan Pricing. All rebates to dealer. May require Ford Credit Financing.

Plus taxes and fees. May require trade-in.

2013 Ford Fusion SE

$186 per month. 24 months up to $2,500 in rebatesBuy for $19,786

www.yostsandandgravel.com

45697Ecorse Road

(South Side) 1 Block WestBelleville Rd.

734-697-1183

Labor DayWeekend Special

8 YARDS DELIVERED

YOST SAND & GRAVELBELLEVILE AREA ONLY

TOP SOIL

$100