Photo by J. Patrick Pepper

University of Michigan-Dearborn senior Jeremy White demonstrates umdbookswap.org, a free Web site he created to connect students for used textbook sales. The site has rapidly been gaining visitors since it was launched in October. White hopes to institute similar sites at other universities.

By J. Patrick Pepper
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — Like many uninitiated college students, University of Michigan-Dearborn senior Jeremy White didn’t give much thought to where he would purchase his textbooks.

Semester after semester, the Dearborn High School grad would head to the on-campus Barnes & Noble outlet, thinking that if his instructors are pointing him there in their syllabi, then it must, of course, be the best place to shop.

Additionally, once he was done with a class, the bookstore was almost guaranteed to provide a market for his used textbooks.

But then one day as a sophomore, White said, he was mugged by reality.

“I had a stack of books to sell back and they just start ringing it up and one after another: Four dollars. Three dollars. Seven dollars.

“I mean, this is stuff that I bought already used that cost me a few hundred dollars. How is it worth nothing four months later?”

He left the bookstore without selling back a single text, despite having no need for the books. He decided it was better to keep them rather than allow the bookstore to resell them to another student for 10, maybe 20 times as much.

Two years later, White hasn’t gone back to the bookstore. And his lingering sense of righteous indignation from that experience has become the driving force behind a Web site he created to give UM-Dearborn students an exclusive market to buy and sell used textbooks.

Launched in October, umdbookswap.org requires a student identification number and password in order to post ads about books for sale. The simple interface includes a searchable database that can be indexed by everything from price to subject matter.

While similar Web based markets – like Craigslist – have existed for years, umdbookswap is unique in that it uses log-in requirements, much in the same way Facebook does, to create more security for users.

“Where Craigslist kind of fails is on the security aspect and (umdbookswap.org) ensures that students will be meeting up with other students,” White said.

When White – who counts computer mathematics and computer science among his majors (philosophy is the other) – conceived the idea, he thought of it as the obvious answer to a glaring problem: It would allow cash-strapped college students to get a market rate for their unneeded books and at the same time create some competition for the campus bookstore.

White took the idea to student government President Shaheed Atiya to gauge her interest in getting behind the project. Atiya was on board immediately.

“When Jeremy came into our office, it was like a savior had come through the door,” she said. “Book buy-back prices are always a big issue between students and the administration, and this was just a perfect idea to kind of work around that.”

Using her connections with university administrators, Atiya arranged a meeting between White and Chancellor Daniel Little back in October to discuss the site.

White said he went to the meeting to “donate” the idea to the university as a free way to promote consumer education among students.

“I told (Little) I wanted it to become a part of the university. You know, to kind of change the status quo on how things are done in higher education. I thought this is something that they would totally want to be involved with,” White said.

But he was disappointed with the answer he received.

“He basically said, ‘I love the idea and I really like the ambition that you’ve shown on this, but we have a business arrangement (with Barnes & Noble),’ and that was pretty much the end of it,” White said.

Instead, Little suggested that White should get involved with some of the student government bodies and work through the usual channels. But that was something White, an Army infantryman and scout sniper in the Iraq war, said he didn’t have time for.

In response to the perceived inaction of the meeting, White and a handful of other students printed out thousands of provocative fliers promoting the Web site and handed them out around campus. On the front of the flier was a stenciled likeness of Heath Ledger’s Joker character and phrases along the lines of “Who’s laughing now, bookstore?” while the back contained a one-page message that read something like a fed-up student manifesto.

“We felt like the school really was straying from the educational mission by allowing this price gouging to go on, so we made tailored the message to reach students who have had enough,” White said.

The message was met with mixed response. Some students praised the stance as someone finally taking action against the “mighty” bookstore, while others criticized the approach as being too subversive and adversarial (which White readily admits).

But whatever the feelings on the promotion, the product has become an undoubted success. Traffic on the site as of last week had increased to an average of 800 to 900 visitors per day, even though books typically aren’t bought or sold much at this point in the semester, and more than 400 books currently are offered for sale.

It is unclear how much or little the site has taken away from campus bookstore used textbook sales, and university administrators were on spring break last week and could not be reached for interview for this story. However, Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management Stanley Henderson said in a statement that the university stands by the bookstore.

“The University of Michigan-Dearborn continues to support our campus bookstore partner Barnes and Noble. Book buy-back procedures and maximizing the amount students receive for used books are areas we consider to be of prime importance,” Henderson said.

White said he isn’t surprised.

“They have made it clear they don’t want to be in on a change that it long overdue, so that’s fine, it can pass them by,” he said.

Although it was originally conceived as a pro-bono service for students – and according to White, will remain free – in recent weeks, the site has started to generate revenue from advertisements placed by other textbook vendors.

And with demand skyrocketing in the early going for the site, White has formed a limited liability corporation, Open Markets LLC, and has started to attract interest from venture capitalists to implement similar versions at other universities.

In coming months he will embark on a promotional tour to college campuses throughout Michigan. Eventually he wants to take the idea nationally and use it to illustrate proof-of-concept to attract capital for other similar products. One example he cited is a site that could connect plumbers or carpenters to buy and sell used power tools.

“What we want to do is facilitate consumer education and comsumer communication,” White said.

“Instead of you selling your used item to the store, who then turns and sells it to the guy behind you in line for twice as much, we’re helping people to make that connection with the guy in line behind them.”

Company attorneys made that contention in a Feb. 25 letter to city officials in response to a January Demolition Board hearing, at which city officials alleged that the foundations had become a public safety hazard. The city required the engineering report if the company wanted to stop the demolition proceedings.

“Regarding the city’s request that West Village Commons LLC (the B-K subsidiary) provide an engineering report, West Village does not currently have the ability to fund such a report,” the letter says.

The pads in question were poured more than two years ago as part of Burton-Katzman’s west downtown West Village Commons project and were supposed to be the site of two six-unit condominium buildings.

But since construction halted on the development, the pads have deteriorated to the point that vegetation now springs from a growing web of cracks and pits across the surfaces.

Attorney Josh Moss of law firm Barris, Sott, Denn & Driker argued that since the Demolition Board hearing, West Village has fixed a perimeter fence that had fallen into disrepair. He said because the repaired fence now prevents access to the site, any public danger that may have existed has been eliminated.

Moss said West Village company officials still believe the foundation is capable of supporting loads from the proposed condominiums. He also noted that the city has not shown that “the alleged defects in the foundations are so serious that they could not be repaired prior to construction for significantly less than it would cost to build new foundations.”

And if the city moves forward with demolition, Moss cautioned, it would be “purposely interfering” with the company’s ability to comply with a court order that it must break ground on 12 condominium units – as well as two midrise buildings — by no later than April 3. The buildings are projected to be worth more than $16 million when, or if, they are finished.

The order at issue was given earlier this year by Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Sapala as part of the city’s ongoing lawsuit against Burton-Katzman and several company executives for failing to complete the project, which was built on a city-owned parcel.

City Attorney Debra Walling on Friday declined to comment when asked what West Village’s apparently weak cash position could mean for the company as it tries to comply with Sapala’s order. But she did say that the company had not submitted any of the typical paperwork that is necessary to start construction.

Police say Alvin Wigley, 53, fired off 15 to 20 bullets with a 9-mm handgun, including one that went through the room’s door and nearly struck two police officers that were standing outside.

Wigley eventually surrendered himself and on March 2 was charged with several offenses, including two counts of assault with intent to murder, discharging a weapon or firearm in a building and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.

A Calhoun County district judge set bond at $200,000 and scheduled a preliminary examination of the evidence against Wigley for March 15.

Police said Wigley told them he was hearing voices, and that he believed someone was trying to get him when he was being arrested. They also found a note inside the room that said, “God delivered me from evil and placed me in Albion, Michigan,” as well as an alarm clock that was apparently cooked inside a microwave oven.

Clare County Sheriff’s Office officials said James Daniel Barkley was on a snowmobile excursion with friends in Garfield Township, about 90 miles north of Lansing, when he lost control of his sled and careened into a tree.

Barkley, 41, was thrown from the machine before it exploded from the impact, according to eyewitness reports. When paramedics arrived he was unconscious and unresponsive.

Barkley was pronounced dead at a local hospital later that evening.

Photo by Denise Cifaldi

Lincoln Park Animal Control Officer Adam Manchester has to work slowly and gently to rescue a blue heron caught in a kite string near Ecorse Creek.

Photo by Denise Cifaldi

LINCOLN PARK — Police received an unusual call for a rescue about 9:45 am Tuesday.

A blue heron caught its wing on what apparently was a kite string in the leafless trees covering the Ecorse Creek near the city limits between Lincoln Park and Ecorse.

Fire Department crews arrived with their ladder truck at the scene, which was near the intersection of Stewart and River Drive The bird was suspended about 40 feet in the air, still alive but very much stuck, police said.

Department of Public Services crews also came with their cherry picker, used to reach tall trees that need trimming. DPS workers were able to cut the tree branch that the string was hung on, lowering the blue heron to Animal Control Officer Adam Manchester, who was waiting on the ground below the traumatized bird with Environmental Officer Denise Cifaldi.

Manchester was able to untangle the bird’s wing and gather it up safely. With its wings outstretched, the blue heron was as tall as Manchester, who expressed surprise at how light the bird was in his arms — “Maybe only 2 pounds,” he said.

The birds can weigh up to around 5 pounds and can have wingspans in excess of 6 feet.

The rescued blue heron was injured enough to necessitate being taken to an animal sanctuary to recover.

The move raises the city’s operating millage to the maximum allowable under Michigan’s Headlee Amendment, which bars municipalities from increasing taxes without a vote of the people.

Headlee also restricts tax increases to 5 percent per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. It forced officials to make the move in order to give taxpayers the chance to approve the balance of the millage needed to try to maintain the existing level of city services for the current budget year.

City Attorney Randall Pentiuk said the council conditionally approved a 1.6- to 2.5 -mill increase on all real and personal property for the fiscal year starting July 10, subject to the successful passage of a May 4 ballot proposal to increase the millage by 3.4 mills – which would authorize an override of Headlee and allow the city to collect taxes at a higher rate.

Councilwoman Betty Priskorn explained it more simply, saying the council had to impose a tax on the residents to let them vote to increase it. She reminded residents that officials don’t know what revenues will look like in the future, and there is no guarantee it will not continue to decrease.

Priskorn also said the loss of state revenue sharing and lower-than-expected landfill revenue were factors. The latter is a result of less waste being taken in, as well as past clients who failed to pay that are being pursued through legal means.

The council intends to rescind the tax increase authorized last week if voters do not approve a corresponding one on their own. Members approved the motion for the conditional tax increase unanimously. Councilman Elmer Trombley said if the millage passes, there will be no layoffs until next year’s budget. City Manager Dean Workman confirmed that the layoffs are on hold for now.

“For the past five years the council has instructed me to balance the budget without raising taxes,” he said, adding that attrition, combining departments and cutting benefits have allowed him to do so.

Workman added that state revenue cuts in the middle of a budget year is a situation the city never has faced before.

Taylor Fire Chief Vince Fedel and Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand

TAYLOR – Vince Fedel, a 23-year veteran of the Fire Department and the chief for the last four years, retired Thursday.

Fedel said he made the decision after consulting with his family, saying he is ready for a less stressful lifestyle. His wife, Connie, is a yoga instructor. Fedel said he plans to pursue a similar career.

At age 45, Fedel is the same age his father, Joe, was when he died from cancer in 1978. Vince Fedel’s goal was to retire from firefighting when he could and pursue other activities in life.

“It’s been inherent in me for 31 years now,” he said. “My dad died when I was 14. I’m now at an age when I can start a new chapter in my life and still have my health.”

Fedel said his father’s death made quite an impression on him and “was probably another reason I was drawn to help people.”

Fedel said he always has been driven toward service-oriented jobs and helping people. He was appointed chief of Taylor’s 61-member department in February 2006. At 41, he was the youngest fire chief in city history.

Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand said Fedel’s retirement was unexpected, and that there had been no prior discussion about him leaving. The mayor said Fedel’s contract expired in December, and that the city had offered an extension.

“I would have been happy if he stayed,” Lamarand said. “I would have welcomed the consistency in the Fire Department and not had that challenge in front of me.

“He said it was a completely personal decision. He thought about it, talked to his wife and thought it was the right time. I’m happy for Vince. He has a great family. He’s at a ripe young age and has a new opportunity to venture off into life and can spend time with his family.”

Fedel has two sons, Jake and Andrew, and a stepdaughter, Kayla. He said in retirement he’s looking forward to attending all of his boys’ hockey games and Kayla’s cheerleading events. He also wants to get more involved in the Fish & Loaves Community Food Pantry, joining his wife in her volunteer efforts there.

Fedel joined the Fire Department in October 1986 as an on-call auxiliary officer. He earned his emergency medical technician license at what then was known as Wyandotte General Hospital and became a full-time fire medic in the department on July 4, 1988.

Fedel was promoted to sergeant in 1990 and to lieutenant in 1994. He became captain in July 1999 and deputy chief a month later. Along the way, he was an engine operator, in charge of the ambulance and the officer in charge of a fire scene.

As deputy chief, he attended the School of Staff and Command at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. During his career, he was active in the firefighters union, holding the positions of secretary, trustee and vice president. He also sat on two bargaining committees and negotiated two contracts.

“I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve done in my career – especially the hands-on aspects of the job,” Fedel said.

The last four years have been marked by:

●The department’s self-contained breathing apparatus grant for $155,000 from the Federal Emergencey Managment Agency, which will give firefighters 25 new breathing apparatus.

●An improved relationship between the city and the Taylor School District, which enabled “Fireman Jesse” Kriebel to work on fire safety issues with school children on a full-time basis.

●Greatly improved labor relations between the city and the Taylor Professional Firefighters Union. Fedel stressed the improvements were a “two-way street” and credited the union’s executive board members for being willing to think “outside the box on a number of occasions.” He noted that the firefighters now compete in several sporting events a year against Taylor police officers to raise money for Fish & Loaves and the police Holly McGeogh Memorial Scholarship Fund.

●Having good grassroots connections with local civic organizations. In one case, members of the Rotary Club of Taylor raised funds, purchased and donated to the Department an all-terrain vehicle for emergency use in large crowd settings. All the city had to do was buy a stretcher in the event that someone needed to be transported through a crowd to a waiting ambulance.

●An improvement in code enforcement in the fire marshal’s division.

●An improvement in customer care. Fedel said fire medics respond to more than 6,000 medical responses a year and receive a great deal of compliments, all for “just doing their job.”

“The customer-service aspect and the quality of care is as high as it’s ever been in this community,” Fedel said. “That’s through nothing I did; it’s inherent in the nature of our responders.”

Despite serving as chief during tough budget times and sometimes finding himself in the middle of disputes between firefighters and the city administration, Fedel said he has been “proud” to serve as

chief.

“When I joined this great department, I would never have dreamed of being named chief,” he said. “Twenty-three years ago, I walked through the doors and applied to the auxiliary department just to see if there was a job that would fit me. I know there are aspects of the job that I will miss.”

Fedel recently completed a term as chairman of the Downriver Mutual Aid Fire Chiefs. He also served on a Wayne County Homeland Security organization. He said he enjoyed working with the staff of U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn) in trying to change the structure of the grant process.

The outgoing chief said he knows the mayor faces the unenviable position of making cuts in the city to balance the budget.

“I feel I’m leaving at a time when the Fire Department is clearly in a safe and respected position,” the chief said. “And I would hope that any concessions across the city workforce are evenly shared.”

He said the last contract accepted by the firefighters union shows that firefighters “are willing to accept concessions to assist the city in its budgetary woes.”

“I’m sure if they are requested to come to the table,” Fedel said, “they will come up with innovative ways of keeping their members working, thus providing stability and an income for all of those with families in the department.

“It seems like we sometimes take firefighters for granted and don’t realize that after helping others all day at work, they have the same issues and stresses that we all have waiting for them when they get home.”

Meeting with fellow firefighters behind closed doors to discuss their concerns about “life traumas and issues” has been an experience he will never forget.

“Responders out there are seeing things weekly and monthly that most people might see once in their lifetime,” Fedel said. “They’re dealing with that and going home and not wanting to share it with their wife or husband and not wanting to tell their kids, all the while dealing with it. That takes a toll. That’s why I’m a huge proponent of stress debriefing. I’ve been fortunate to have fellow firefighters trained by mental health professionals so they can come in and assist firefighters through issues.”

For the last five years, Fedel has been practicing Hatha Yoga. Connie Fedel is the proprietor of Taylor Yoga. In April, Vince Fedel will participate in a nine-week intensive training session in Bikram Yoga in Nevada.

“That’s something I found helps reduce the stress associated with my current position and others, whether they’re doctors, nurses, lawyers or unemployed,” he said.

Most important, he said, is for his family to get around the concept of Fedel being retired from the Fire Department. He may have created a family legacy. His youngest son, Andrew, wants to follow his dad’s footsteps as a firefighter.

“I’m still Vince Fedel,” he said. “I always have been. I just happened to be fire chief. I didn’t take the job for the pomp and circumstance. I always try to defer to the job the guys do.”

A celebration marking Fedel’s retirement was held Thursday at the Midtown Fire Station.

New Taylor Fire Chief Steve Portis

TAYLOR – Steve Portis, a 20-year veteran of the Fire Department, has been appointed chief of the 60-member unit.

One of five candidates for the position, he was appointed chief by Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand. Portis was confirmed Tuesday night by the City Council and sworn in by City Clerk Mary Ann Rilley.

Portis succeeds Vince Fedel, who retired Wednesday as chief and was honored with a plaque from the city’s elected officials.

At age 40, Portis is the youngest fire chief in city history. Fedel was 41 when he was appointed chief more than four years ago.

“I think Steve was the best fit to maintain a healthy line of communication between the administration and the Fire Department,” Lamarand said. “Everybody – including other candidates – has acknowledged Steve’s ability to lead. I believe Steve was the best person to help me work through the financial challenges the city is facing and still maintain the highest quality fire and (emergency medical service) response.”

The mayor noted that Portis’s annual salary is $10,000 less than Fedel’s. The new chief’s fringe benefit package has been reduced, and he will be working without a deputy chief. Deputy Ed Sierota has exercised his right to return to the ranks of the department, and his former administrative position will not be filled.

With the city facing the challenge of reducing the budget by an estimated $10 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year that begins July 1, all of the mayor’s new department head appointees are working for less than their predecessors – and further concessions are anticipated.

Portis called the appointment “an honor” and said he is ready for the challenges that come with the position.

“I think there are a lot of challenges ahead,” Portis said. “I want to be able to provide great service to the citizens, but as chief at this time I also want to be a leader in the department. It’s an honor to lead the men and women we have in the Fire Department right now. We have a great bunch of people, and the city is lucky to have them. It is an honor to serve the citizens of Taylor as well.”

Portis, a Taylor native, is married to wife Tracy and is the father of daughter Madisyn.

He said he wanted to be a firefighter since he was a child because of the excitement that came with the job. He joined the department 20 years ago as a part-time auxiliary firefighter. Six years later, when the city expanded service to provide full-time advanced life support, Portis and many others became full-time firefighters.

Portis has been a fire medic, a sergeant and a lieutenant prior to his promotion to captain in 1999. As captain, he was in charge of interior command at Fire Station 3 on Eureka Road and responded to fires and medical emergencies. Many of the firefighters’ runs at that station are to senior housing centers the Commons at the Villages of Taylor, American House and Maplewood.

Portis graduated from fire academy and was an emergency medical technician when he was hired into the department. Firefighter training is continuous, and most recently he graduated from the Eastern Michigan University School of Fire Staff and Command.

Portis has been a trustee in the Taylor Professional Firefighters Union since becoming a full-time firefighter and served as vice president for five years. He said serving as a union officer allowed him to be involved in reviewing budgets, negotiations and discipline – all aspects he will use as chief.

Portis said helping the mayor reduce the budget deficit while maintaining high-quality personnel to respond to fire and rescue runs will be his top priorities.

“From the elected officials to the Fire Department to the Police Department and all city employees, our main boss is the citizens,” Portis said. “I want to maintain the quality of service to our citizens. My goal is to have the best Fire Department the city can have.”

Photo by Sue Suchyta

The orange sign with the wavy arrow may be unintentionally prophetic, as traffic backups above the Southfield Freeway soon may become as tedious as the slowdowns below. State officials’ concerns over bridge safety resulted in a shutdown Thursday of two of the three lanes of the eastbound I-94 bridge over the Southfield in Allen Park.

By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – Two lanes of the eastbound I-94 overpass above Southfield Road were shut down by the Michigan Department of Transportation Thursday over concerns that the pavement has dropped.

MDOT officials say the drop, estimated at a quarter of an inch to half an inch, could indicate a problem with the bridge’s support. The westbound side of the freeway was not affected.

MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi said Friday afternoon that he expected the ramps and lanes to be reopened at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Department bridge inspectors called for permission to close lanes immediately Thursday afternoon in order to assess repair needs.

E. C. Korneffel Co. of Trenton was awarded a contract for $114,500 to complete repairs over the weekend. The company has 60 years experience with heavy service design and bid, as well as project completion and owner acceptance and recently completed the Greenfield overpass repair over Ford Road in Dearborn.

Vice President Graham Korneffel said Friday afternoon that the project was a “maintenance issue, and that footings did not “drop” because of the recent thaw.

“It’s nothing like that,” he said, adding that while he’s still waiting for a report from company workers, “I don’t believe it’s anything too urgent.”

“Just the highway department doing their due diligence,” Korneffel said, “and with the lack of funding, sometimes some of these things are on a schedule and they take care of them, and sometimes they don’t.

“I don’t think there’s any issue here, and I think the weather’s probably a factor, too.”

He added that vibrations from trucks really aren’t an issue, because the bridge is designed for that.

“The structure’s on pilings and it’s been there about 25 years,” Korneffel said. “It’s on a deep, supported foundation system, and really vibration doesn’t have any kind of an effect here.

“It’s just a maintenance issue is all it is.”

Crews most likely won’t fill in empty spots with blacktop or concrete, he said, though he isn’t sure how they will handle it.

“It’s not really a serious issue,” Korneffel said, “it’s more of a precautionary thing that they are taking care of right now.”

He said he’s not sure what caused the shift MDOT officials noticed, or that there has been one.

Morosi said the Pelham ramp to eastbound I-94 was closed to restrict traffic flow and prevent traffic backups and “road rage” from motorists trying to get onto restricted lanes. Recommended detours for the weekend include eastbound Michigan Avenue and Ford Road to connect with I-94, or Telegraph south to reconnect with I-94.

Morosi believes the shift cited in closing the bridge likely is due to wear and tear over a period 26 years — the bridge was completed in 1984 — that settled the pavement.

“That’s what raised the red flags,” he said. “Essentially we’re not looking at anything catastrophic. We construct bridges with enough redundancy that if one aspect were to fail, the other components of the bridge are built to kind of assist, if you will – if something were to fail.

The interim fix will be to shore up the structure and add some temporary steel I-beams under the bridge.

Morosi said officials looking into what they need to do to replace the bridge or make extensive enough repairs to get “another 36 to 40 years without any issues whatsoever.”

“It’s going to be safe,” he said. “The interim repairs will add substantial support. It’s going to be safe to drive.”

The current mailing of city tax values is incorrect, Councilman James Trombley announced.

Trombley said the tax notices, printed by Wayne County, show incorrect 2010 notice of assessment, taxable valuation, and property classification because officials were given the wrong input file.

“We got a call from Wayne County this morning (March 1),” said Doug Drysdale, director of finance and the City Treasurer’s Department. “They do the printing of our tax form assessment notices.

“They had picked up the wrong file when they took it to the printer, and all of our 2010 values are incorrect.

County officials were in the process of reprinting those assessment notices and mailing them out, Drysdale said. Corrected notices should have been in resident’s mailboxes by Wednesday.

Residents wishing to find out their accurate assessment can find it online using a link posted on the city’s Web site, www.cityofriverview.com.

Drysdale said the correct information appears on the site.

The city Assessing Department can be reached by phone at (734) 281-4224. Drysdale also said officials are taking appointments for Board of Review meetings.