Archive - Mar 2009

The Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) is the place to be Wednesday, April 1, at 7 p.m. as the Tecumseh Downtown Development Authority, Tecumseh Center for the Arts and the Tecumseh District Library host a National Poetry Month celebration and poetry slam.

I talked to Tecumseh Marketing Director Shelley Lim, and she said the slam is only a small component of the evening and she hopes to see people there to read during the open mic session. Also reading will be the winners of the Tecumseh Art Trail Poetry Contest. The slam poems should be inspired by the sculptures on the Tecumseh Art Trail, but Shelley said that poets can read any poem for the open mic session. 

The TCA is located at 400 N. Maumee Street in Tecumseh. 

It gets interesting every once in awhile to enter a meeting held in public and find every seat taken. Fortunately for me, a small table is reserved for members of the press at the primary meetings I cover. (Not always so lucky in the parking lot.) At last week's Tecumseh school board meeting, the agenda included two items of great interest to the community: a vote on bids for a proposed $2.1 million athletic complex, and discussion on moving from semester to trimester scheduling. Not only were the chairs taken, people lined the back and side walls. I could see people leaning in at both the back door and the one up front near the board members. I don't know how many were in the hall. A fair number of this audience was kids. One of the defenders of block scheduling was high school senior Tim Montrief, who said he was "an ambassador" for the kids at THS (and did a great job, by the way). Several teens crept into the board room and sat on the floor during a Power Point presentation by a school improvement team on the subject. Obviously, these were areas of concern and interest for many in the community and I have wondered, along with some community members, why the meetings aren't scheduled for a larger venue when a larger-than-usual crowd is likely to have such interest. It's not that diffiult to anticipate at least some of those occasions based on topics to be covered. Seeing seats filled still surprises me at times because when I look up from my "reserved" table not only at school board meetings, but City Council meetings as well, I often see just a smattering of people. Occasionally at City meetings, we members of the press are the only audience, and sometimes we're joined by a few department heads whose issues might be up for discussion.

Sadly, another of Clinton's historic structures has met its fait. The culprits have been found and they will most likely pay, but that won't bring the old structure back. I'm not a lifelong resident of Clinton. I only lived there briefly, but I did have a chance to see the building from the inside, to see the thick beams and the old, heavy milling equipment left by previous owners. Having once worked at a Pro Hardware, I could appreciate the True Value, hardcore guerilla DIYers' kind of hardware store that it was, even if the extent of my DIYing has most often amounted to a sloppy coat of paint. 

Some might say it was just an old building, and it was that, but at one time it was somebody's dream and livelihood. There is life in that. 

I know there are Herald readers who remember going there, and I, for one, would love to hear the stories and memories of the old building. Even if you never went there, give me your general thoughts on historic buildings in this area. 

PHOTO BY JIM LINCOLN 

By DEB WUETHRICH

With a 5-1 vote before a standing-room only audience of more than 100, the Tecumseh School Board accepted a series of bids for the construction of a new athletic field complex at Tecumseh High School on Monday night. Board member Lou Englund was absent. Board member Jason Sines opposed the motion. Following the meeting, Sines said, “As I’ve pointed out at other meetings, I have some financial concerns about being able to afford it,” he said. He stuck to his guns in his belief that there could have been more exploration of the options before moving ahead with the new structure. “I just would have liked to have had more time to look at fixing the old facility first,” he said.
Prior to the vote, board members pointed out that the resolution did not include technology or weight room equipment, restrooms or concession stands, demolition of old bleachers or other items that still will need attention at some future date.

Sines made an attempt to amend the motion to accept the bids. “Have we really looked at this artificial turf when concessions and bathrooms aren’t on there? It’s like we’re sacrificing a lot of usability in those areas just to have artificial turf,” Sines said. He suggested that the motion be amended to exclude the artificial turf so that those dollars might be better used toward concessions and/or bathrooms. The motion failed for lack of a second.

CLINTON — The Clinton Police Department is planning to seek warrants from the Lenawee County Prosecutor for the arrests of one adult and two juveniles from Tecumseh who are allegedly linked to the fire that destroyed the historic Atlas Feed and Grain building in Clinton Thursday, March 12.

Clinton Police Chief Michael Randolph said he was unable to release the names of suspects, but that the warrants are being sought for arson.

The Clinton Fire Department was called to the Atlas Feed and Grain property after 6 p.m. on the day of the fire. Crews from Sand Lake, Manchester, Chelsea, Adrian City, Madison Township and Ridgeway worked to contain the fire in less than two hours, but the building was a total loss.

Investigators from the Michigan State Police Fire squad brought in accelerant-sniffing dogs and determined last Tuesday that arson had caused the fire. A charge of willfully and maliciously setting a fire to property valued at more than $20,000 is considered a felony in Michigan and can carry up to 10 years in prison with fines amounting to as much as three times the value of the property.

CLINTON — Acting on a tip, Office of Monroe Narcotics Investigations (OMNI) officers assisted by Tecumseh and Clinton police raided a home in Water Wheel Estates in Clinton finding an active methamphetamines lab.

Police arrested David Alfred Gibbs, 53 of Clinton on charges of delivery and manufacture of an illegal substance, possession with intent to sell methamphetamine, operating and maintaining a drug lab, maintaining a drug lab with hazardous waste and operating and maintaining a methamphetamine lab in close proximity to other homes.

According to OMNI, Gibbs has an extensive record of drug arrests and was last released from prison in May of 2008. The mobile home, which was owned by a relative of Gibbs’s, will be condemned and destroyed following further investigation of the property.