CLINTON – Anthony Kobus, 24, of Tecumseh will serve a seven- to 15-year prison term after  a ruling handed down last Thursday, Oct. 17, in Lenawee County Circuit Court by Judge Margaret M.S. Noe.

Kobus pled guilty in September to driving drunk and killing a Clinton woman in June.
Judith Ekquist, 51, and her son were standing in the driveway of their Billmeyer Highway home getting ready to take a walk on Sunday, June 28, when Kobus, who was drunk at the time, hit the two of them with his vehicle, injuring both. Judith died the following Thursday from her injuries.

Previous reports stated that Kobus apologized to the Ekquist family for what he’d done and said he’d wished he could take it back.

Alan Ekquist, husband of Judith, told the court that he’d witnessed the accident and described watching Kobus’s speeding vehicle strike his son and wife and told the court that he hoped Kobus would be haunted by what he’d done for the rest of his life.
Prosecuting attorney David Hartung requested the court exceed maximum sentencing, noting that Kobus’s license had been suspended previously and that he had text messaged his girlfriend prior to getting in front of the wheel that Sunday telling her he was drunk. Hartung called that an “utter disregard for the law.”

Kobus was given a near maximum sentence.

By DEB WUETHRICH

Tecumseh Products Company announced new board and executive-level appointments on Wednesday, Oct. 7, with Kent B. Herrick, great-grandson of Tecumseh Products founder Ray Herrick being elected Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Edwin L. Buker’s employment as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer was terminated as of October 2, 2009. Buker also resigned as a director upon termination of his employment. James Wainright, currently Vice President of Global operations, has been named acting President of Tecumseh Products and will serve in that capacity while the Board conducts a search for a new president and chief executive officer.

A company press release announcing the changes did not detail the reason for Buker’s termination. Herrick and his father, Todd, were ousted from the company in the spring of 2007. Kent Herrick became a director in April of 2007 as part of a settlement agreement with Tecumseh Products over corporate governance.

At the annual meeting in August, shareholders voted to elect a Herrick Foundation slate of officers to four of the board’s seven seats. Two opposing board members then resigned, leaving only one non-Herrick director, CEO Ed Buker. Shareholders also did not approve a recapitalization proposal which would have consolidated the company’s Class A and B shares and reduced the Herrick Foundation’s voting power.

“The two most pressing challenges facing the board and management team are to return Tecumseh to a positive cash flow and to position it for profitable growth as economies around the globe recover from the recession,” said Herrick in the release.

By DEB WUETHRICH AND CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT

Tecumseh Business and Finance Director Bill Wright updated the Tecumseh School Board Monday night regarding the district’s financial situation in terms of the revised figure from the state. In his report, Wright noted that the state revenue outlook has eroded considerably since the May 2009 Revenue Estimating Conference and when the district adopted its 2009-2010 budget. Wright said the state budget now has a projected deficit of $2.8 billion and the School Aid Fund has a projected deficit of $900 million, or about $562 per student.

Tecumseh Public Schools developed its budget in June and implemented the Senate’s proposal at that time which called for a reduction of $110 per student and the elimination of state aid section 29, declining enrollment.

“Now, on the 101st day of our fiscal year, we appear to finally have a state aid act in place by the legislature,” Wright pointed out in his report. He said the funding allowance was expected to be reduced by $165 per student from $7,316 in FY-2009 to $7,151 for FY-2010 for the district. The gross revenue reduction to Tecumseh Public Schools will be $506,651, however since the district had anticipated a state aid reduction cut of $402,191 and built it into the budget, the net loss from the adopted budget of June 29, 2009 to Tecumseh Public Schools would be $104,460.

“I believe we can weather that storm for this year, barring any other cuts we may see after the January Revenue Conference,” Wright said. Superintendent Mike McAran commended the board for its diligence in budgeting the anticipated $110 cut.
“If not for that, we might never have withstood this cut,” McAran said.

Tecumseh’s 5th Annual Art Bra Auction is Thursday, Oct. 22.  This fundraiser will be held at The Purplepear Tree from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Tickets are $25 and are available at the Evans Street Station and The Purplepear Tree.  All proceeds generated from Tecumseh’s Art Bra Auction will be donated to the fight against breast cancer.  Once again, funds generated from the Art Bra Auction have been earmarked for the new Women’s Health Center, currently being constructed at Herrick Medical Center, in Tecumseh.

Tecumseh’s Art Bra Auction is an evening filled with art, food, music and wine.  Artists throughout the area have been invited to create their interpretation of bra art.  Each piece of art will be assigned a bid sheet and guests attending the event are encouraged to bid on their favorite items.  In the past, artists have submitted work from a vast range of mediums.  Photography, watercolor, woodblock etchings ceramics, collage, and of course wearable pieces of art have all been featured in the auction.  Many of the wearable items will be modeled during the evening.  

For more information, call Paula Holtz at 517-424-6003 or via email at pholtz@tecumseh.mi.us.

Reports are circulating worldwide of a prison sentence handed down Tuesday, Oct. 6, to Clinton resident Patricia Keezer, 53, former manager of Citizens Bank in Manchester.

Keezer, who is the wife of Clinton Township Fire Chief Dennis Keezer, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for embezzling $340,000 over an eight-year period. She admitted in U.S. District Court to having stolen money from the banks starting in 2000 in order to help needy people. Along with giving as much as $2,000 at a time to help people with auto repairs, she reversed bounced-check charges and fees. In addition, previous reports stated that she covered up the embezzlement by preparing false records and by topping stacks of $1 bills with $100 to disguise the value of the bank’s holdings.

Keezer went before U.S. District Court Judge Marianne Battani in the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. Battani called her a “modern day Robin Hood” and told her Robin Hood days had come to an end.

By DEB WUETHRICH

This weekend will kick off Tecumseh’s 16th Annual Appleumpkin Festival with events taking place Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Appleumpkin Committee Chairperson Jan Fox said there will be more than 50 craft vendors.

“We have a huge variety of crafts this year with some really nice selections from jewelry to candles, and salsa to caricatures,” Fox said. She expects approximately 26 food vendors as well, with a couple of new novelties added.

“We’ll have old fashioned sodas like root beer and sarsaparilla, and the Chocolate Lab is coming with a waffle on a stick dipped in chocolate and nuts with whipped cream on it,” Fox said. She said foods would include Greek style, pizza, hot dogs, sausages and Mexican. “And some of our downtown restaurants also will be open.”
Some of the events taking place during Appleumpkin will include:

• Arts and Crafts Show, downtown Tecumseh.
• A Free Antique Street Fair along downtown Ottawa Street.
• Make-It, Take-It Scarecrows at the United Bank and Trust’s booth, northeast downtown parking lot.
• Live music and entertainment, Saturday and Sunday, at the Appleumpkin Stage on N. Pearl Street.
• Scarecrow Contest, displayed downtown on N. Evans Street between Logan and Chicago Boulevard. Visitors may cast votes for their favorites.
• Make-It Take-It Booths with fun crafts for kids, all day both days, in the northeast downtown parking lot.
• Farmers Market on Saturday and Sunday, opening at 9 a.m.