By CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT

The Lenawee County Superintendents Association met Friday at the Lenawee Intermediate School District TECH Center for a press conference to discuss the state of educational finances in Lenawee County and let the public know that change is needed to keep schools viable. Superintendents from throughout the county attended, including Tecumseh Supt. Mike McAran, Britton-Macon Area School Supt. Chuck Pelham and Clinton Community Schools Supt. David Pray.

Adrian Public Schools Supt. Chris Timis opened the meeting by outlining the impact of job loss in the area on school funding. He noted that the trend in school funding has been that the gap between inflation and the amount of school funding received has widened since 2000, with inflation rising steadily as revenues have remained stagnant.

“What’s happened over the years is the dollars have decreased more and more,” he said.
Since the adoption of Proposal A in 1994, districts have relied on the state to carryout the funding of schools with revenue sources coming from state taxes, including income tax and sales tax. Prior to that, districts provided about 68 percent of their own funding through local property tax levies. As the economy has taken a nosedive, so have revenue sources that provide the basis of school funding. Timis showed that tax revenues dropped 19 percent for the 2008/2009 school year from the previous year and continued to drop another 9.9 percent for the current school year. He said that a 1.4 increase is expected for 2010/2011 but that doesn’t come near making up what’s already been lost. Similar drops were shown in almost all of the other revenue sources.

“It’s impacting local districts because all of our money comes from the state for the most part,” said Timis.

By CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT

Among the many artists set to begin teaching classes through the newly formed Community Arts of Tecumseh (CAT) is Tecumseh native Chuck Gillies, a professional illustrator who has painted images of such notable athletes as Brett Favre, John Elway and Michael Jordon. Gillies will teach a four-week Saturday course throughout April on painting with acrylics, sharing his step-by-step process of adding color to illustrations and drawings.

“Phenomenal,” CAT co-director Martha Melcher said of bringing someone of Gillies’ caliber in to teach courses. “We are hoping people realize how special this whole venture is. We have phenomenal teachers like Chuck. We really want to be a high caliber art center. Right now, we offer mostly visual arts, but we want to be in all aspects of the arts. There needs to be a place for people to come together and share ideas.”

Gillies, who came to CAT through his friendship with co-director Jean Lash, is pleased to return to Tecumseh and offer support to the arts community in the area. This isn’t the first time he’s contributed his talents to giving Tecumseh programs a boost, however. He also donated a piece of his work to the first CIS of the Tecumseh Area Art Affair.

“She [Lash] asked me if I wanted to teach a class, and I felt it was an honor to be a part of this because this is my hometown. I love Tecumseh,” said Gillies.

By CRISTINA TRAPANI-SCOTT

The Tecumseh Big Band played as close to 100 community members and leaders gathered to break ground on the Tecumseh Business and Technology Campus east of downtown during a ceremony held Monday.

Among those who attended were members of the Eaton family, former owners of the property that was purchased by the City of Tecumseh in 2004. Also in attendance were Seventh District U.S. Congressman Mark Schauer, 57th District State Rep. Dudley Spade, Senator Cameron Brown’s representative, Nancy Jenkins, and Lenawee County Commissioner David Stimpson as well as neighboring community leaders.

Tecumseh City Mayor Harvey Schmidt gave the address and introduced the city council and city staff. He told all present that the purchase and development of such a business park was more than 40 years in the making and started when former Mayor Harold Easton and Eaton Farm patriarch at the time Arthur Eaton came to an agreement. Schmidt said, Eaton told Easton back then that the city would have the opportunity to purchase the land when the family was ready to sell it. In recent years, Arthur’s son, Meryl, served as the family’s liaison as the family and the City of Tecumseh negotiated the sale of the property. Meryl said after the ceremony that he and the family are pleased to be involved in helping Tecumseh progress into the future.

Tecumseh’s varsity girls bowling team was overcome with emotion after winning its third-straight Division 2 State Championship in Canton on Friday, March 5. The Indians were well represented in the stands with a large following sharing the emotional experience. The very next day, Tecumseh senior Kara Richard (l) won the Division 2 Individual State Championship. See Sports for complete story.

It’s time to fight back against cancer. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Lenawee Community has set the 2010 event date for August 13-14 from 3 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Christian Family Centre Park in Adrian.

The world’s largest grassroots fundraising movement, Relay For Life mobilizes communities throughout the country to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and provide participants with an opportunity to fight back against the disease. Relay brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, faith-based groups –  people from all walks of life – all aimed at furthering the American Cancer Society’s vision of creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

“Relay For Life provides an environment for everyone in our community to join in the fight against cancer,” said Cynthia Pepple, Community Representative. “It is truly inspiring to witness the cancer survivors in our community celebrating their victory over the disease. The Luminaria Ceremony gives us a time to remember those who have been impacted by this disease. The event also features a Fight Back ceremony where participants and community members will be able to make a personal commitment to save one life from cancer this year.”

Participants at this year’s Relay For Life will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fight back by enrolling in the American Cancer Society’s third Cancer Prevention Study. Individuals may choose to participate they are willing to make a long-term commitment to the study (which involves completing follow-up surveys periodically over the next 20-30 years), are between the ages of 30 and 65 years old and have never been diagnosed with cancer.

Donations can be made to this local Relay For Life event, and participants can start a team, by visiting www.relayforlife.org/lenaweecountymi.

A drunk driving arrest Saturday night turned out to be anything but routine for the Tecumseh Police Department. As a result, the department has asked an out-of-county law enforcement agency to review the incident.

Ninety minutes before the 1:30 a.m. arrest of Lenawee County Sheriff deputy Kelly S. McCrate, the deputy was seen driving his vehicle by Tecumseh Police officer Darrin Briggs, who reported that McCrate’s Jeep Wrangler was weaving around 12 a.m. from Cairns Street to the Tecumseh Plaza, where he met the driver as he exited his vehicle. McCrate first denied drinking, but then acknowledged he “messed up” and was dealing with personal problems. Despite a PBT that resulted in a BAC (blood alcohol level) of .19, Briggs drove the driver to the McCrate home on Kaiser Road in Tecumseh Township with no arrest.

McCrate had his 18-year-old daughter, Tyler, drive him back to the plaza to retrieve the Jeep, despite her objections, according to the report. In an attempt to take back roads home (Tyler followed her father’s Jeep while she drove a Ford Taurus) McCrate lost control of the Jeep on Matthews Hwy. near Munger and rolled the vehicle into the ditch on the eastside of the highway. Subsequently, Tyler lost control of the Taurus and slid into the opposite ditch. Neither was injured, and roads were reportedly snow-covered and icy.

Tecumseh Police officer Chad Rogers responded to the accident call and received permission from the sheriff’s department to handle the incident, which was outside the local department’s jurisdiction. McCrate had walked to his father’s home on Matthew’s Hwy., where he was interviewed by Rogers. The deputy was transported to Herrick Medical Center for a blood test to determine the BAC and then lodged at the Lenawee County Jail on charges of OWI.