Photo by James Mitchell

By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — The financial viability of Southgate — as described in the mayoral State of the City address — has been the result of work and planning, not luck.

City Council President Karen George introduced Mayor Joseph Kuspa at Wednesday’s luncheon and said that, while all too many southeast Michigan towns struggled, laid off staff or reduced services, “Southgate survived” by a combination of quality employees, grant funds, cost-saving measures including use of clean energy, going paperless at City Hall and cooperative efforts such as this spring’s merging of school and city administration under one roof.

In more specific terms, Kuspa said at the Holiday Inn Banquet Center, 17201 Northline Rd., credit for the city’s ability to weather recent economic storms is owed to many, and it didn’t happen overnight.

“The foundation for growth and stability has been laid,” Kuspa said. “Ensuring that the city of Southgate will not be a victim of the economic crisis, but a benefactor of the new economy.”

The seeds were planted early in Kuspa’s tenure. During his first term in office, the city brought in $1.4 million worth of state, federal and county grants, funds that helped the city avoid the layoffs and service reductions so common in Downriver communities. Another $3 million in grants have been secured since.

“These additional resources have truly provided the opportunity to invest in our future and enhance our tax base,” Kuspa said. “Another important component of a true urban Renaissance.”

The ‘New Beginning’ theme was consistent throughout Kuspa’s address, a luncheon affair sponsored by the Rotary Club of Southgate with proceeds benefitting the group’s scholarship fund. Kuspa reviewed decisions made by city officials in recent years to be proactive in making budget cuts that spared jobs — more than $2 million shaved from the city budget during Kuspa’s first two years in office. Those steps allow a new era to begin.

“Our formula for success … has allowed Southgate to cautiously usher in a municipal Renaissance,” Kuspa said. “A Renaissance fueled by innovation and supported by unity.”

Not all of the news was promising, and a complete economic recovery will take time. For the third consecutive year, Southgate’s budget will need trimming in order to balance. Rather than letting the dire situation prove crippling, Kuspa uses it as a call to arms.

“This financial shock should have edged our city towards a breaking point,” Kuspa said. “Instead it has served as a rallying post for us to come together for the benefit of the people we serve. Our fiscal challenges have demanded courage, which has lead to innovative and creative new ways of providing public services.”

Kuspa applauded the city’s Fire and Police departments for finding ways to bring grant dollars to town and avoid losing first responders from the staff. Last spring, Fire Chief Doug Gildner obtained a $1 million federal grant which allowed the hiring of five new firefighters over a two-year period.

Likewise, the fire and police departments joined in the Downriver Central Dispatch, better connecting them with neighboring towns and decreasing operational costs. Within the municipal complex, an internal lighting grant brought energy efficiency to the buildings that resulted in additional savings.

Similar efficiencies will soon be available to residents, the mayor said.

“The next phase in our energy reduction strategy will include savings opportunities for residential neighborhoods,” Kuspa said. Southgate is one of 12 communities selected to participate in Michigan’s BetterBuildings program, a grant worth more than $1 million to offer energy savings audits and programs for homeowners.

“This will provide even more Southgate homeowners with the opportunity to reduce their energy costs,” Kuspa said. Details on the program are expected to be announced soon.

Kuspa said that the combination of investments and cost-saving measures continue: Road projects including highway upgrades and the ambitious Fort Street reconstruction lay the foundation for bringing new businesses to town; City Hall will streamline operations this spring and welcome the administrative staff of Southgate Community Schools to share the space.

That consolidation provides savings for both entities, an estimated $125,000 annually for the city.

“Our success as a city will require courage to take bold measures,” Kuspa concluded. “Our success as a great city will require us to work within our means and build taxpayer value through shared services and reasoned joint ventures. Our success as a great city will require each and every one of us to work together to the benefit of all.”

Things may never be quite the same as before, Kuspa and city leaders throughout Downriver admit, but the seeds are planted for a new era to begin.

“The old standards and ways of doing business have indeed passed away,” Kuspa said. “We will never return to the way things were just a few short years ago. However, there is real hope and opportunity for those who embrace this new reality and work to reinvent local government. For those that respond proactively, it will be a true Renaissance fueled by necessity, but enhanced by education, innovation, investment, technology and a continued spirit of cooperation.”

“We’re back in business,” Interim Superintendent Nancy Nagle said Thursday, and there were no signs that the previous week’s battle against a virus would continue.

Allen Elementary was closed Monday after more than half of the nearly 350 students called in sick Jan. 20.

Students and some staff began showing symptoms as early as Wednesday of what turned out to be a nano virus, Nagle said.

“It was just a really rapid onset with pretty severe symptoms,” Nagle said. “It’s just going around, and happened to hit a lot of kids over a short period of time.”

Custodial crews disinfected the building twice, Nagle said; on Friday evening and again on Monday in an attempt to assure parents who had “staked out” the building. When classes resumed Tuesday, 30 students were absent, of which 14 were confirmed as having the virus. By Wednesday, attendance was back at normal levels, although two students who said they weren’t feeling well were sent home.

“We do ask parents to keep them home if they’re sick,” Nagle said. “We have to depend on parents to do that.”

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

Emmanuel Paravas, 42, will be tried before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Annette J. Berry beginning May 14. Paravas was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly raping a woman he encountered while on duty in response to a domestic disturbance call.

According to Maria Miller, Wayne County Prosecutor spokeswoman, a scheduling conflict on the part of the court resulted in the postponement of the trial, originally scheduled to begin in December.

In February 2011, Paravas and his partner responded to the La Quinta Hotel on Reek Road, where they intervened in an argument between the woman and her husband.

According to the charges, Paravas returned several hours later to a second hotel where he had taken the woman for safekeeping and sexually assaulted her.

The Pennsylvania woman testified during a preliminary examination in July that she and her husband arrived in Southgate that afternoon, and that she was scheduled to perform as an adult entertainer the next evening. The woman and her husband said during the hearing that she spent much of the afternoon and evening drinking, and did not remember the argument which first brought police to the hotel.

The couple contacted Michigan State Police five days later. In March, Paravas resigned from the Southgate Police department where he had served since 2000.

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

The co-owner of DaSilva’s Pawn and Exchange, 16096 Eureka Rd., called Southgate Police Monday to report that a customer offered sex if the store would not sell a pawned laptop computer. Al Hassan reportedly told police the woman’s daughter appeared to be 9 – 11 years old, and that — in lieu of a $25 payment to keep the pawn ticket active — the woman indicated that both she and the girl would perform sexual favors in return.

The woman reportedly said the comment was meant as a joke, and that she was facing financial difficulties.

Hassan called Southgate Police, who in turn referred the matter to the Michigan Department of Human Services and Children’s Protective Services. Both Southgate Police and state agencies are investigating. Social workers reportedly visited the woman’s house last week without incident.

Southgate Police did not respond to requests for comment prior to press time.

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

The driver, Andrew Giacomantonio of Huron Township, was traveling west on Eureka Road about 5:30 p.m. when he collided with a 2009 Chevy Impala.

“He was driving at a high rate of speed without a headlight,” Southgate Police Sgt. David Fobar said. “He struck a vehicle that was turning from a side street.”

Fobar said that Giacomantonio was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Impala, a
68-year-old Southgate man, was treated for minor injuries and released from Henry Ford Wyandotte Hopsital.

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

Photos by David Warren

If books and language are keys to a child’s future, the Kiwanis Club of Southgate gave the gift of knowledge to local students. More than 800 dictionaries and thesauruses were presented this month to seventh-graders at Gerisch Middle School (below), St. Pius and Christ the King; and to third-grade students from Allen, Fordline, Chorman, Grogan, Northpoint, Shelters (above), St. Pius and Christ the King. Other seasonal service projects include the Club’s adoption of a local family, support to local food pantries during the holidays and time spent ringing Salvation Army bells around town.

Photo by James Mitchell

By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — Computers will certainly help the effort, but it seems appropriate that continued growth of the Southgate Historical Society’s community archives will likely be done the old-fashioned way — by word of mouth spread across the generations.

People may not be aware that the city’s history long predates the relatively recent 1958 charter that defined a municipality. Within the Southgate Historical Museum, 14120 Dix-Toledo Road, maps illustrate the changes made over the decades … and centuries.

“I love maps,” Historical Society President David Warren said. “They say a lot.”

Stories told recall a largely agricultural community, of large farms owned by some of the original settlers. Families from Germany and Prussia plowed mid-1800s fields on property now hosting Southgate High School. There was no “downtown” in Southgate, society Vice President Kay Warren said, as Wyandotte was a carriage ride away for Main Street shopping. As late as 1876, 16 families farmed the tracts that now comprise Southgate, and as the community grew, a school district’s boundaries were drawn based on creeks, not roads.

Keeping track of the memories is the mission of the Historical Society, with an emphasis now on converting papers and photos to digital format, and expanding the search to capture the city’s history.

“History is in the documentation,” Warren said, citing a recent visit from a graduate of Southgate High School’s class of 1967, in possession of several years worth of school newsletters for the society to scan and copy. Warren said that class photos and school yearbooks are among the top items sought by curious visitors.

Other contemporary donations can be found in the military room, side-by-side with the history of a nation. Uniforms and artifacts represent two World Wars, conflicts in Southeast Asia, and a modern set of fatigues recently worn in Afghanistan. Three West Point cadets are represented, as are the 11 young Southgate men who were killed in Vietnam. Warren said the society hopes to partner with military groups and reach out to veterans with stories or photos to share.

The large family home-turned-museum — relocated from it farmland home in 1994 — hosts a variety of treasures and, depending upon a visitor’s age, oddities. Warren said that younger schoolchildren are as fascinated by something called a “phone booth” as more experienced guests are with a vintage 1960 television, the Philco “space-age” special.

Historical hunting in Southgate is a multi-faceted effort: The society is responsible for the lion’s share of the museum’s efforts and collection, while the city-appointed Historical Commission contributes the balance.

Warren said the society is open to working with school groups, geneologists in search of family origins, military groups or other interested participants. The society is administered by a board of 10, with about 40 active members. The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursdays, and the society can be reached at 734-258-7430 or by email at Southgatehistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

(James Mitchell can be reached at jmitchell@bewickpublications.com.)

Photo by Andrea Poteet

Southgate Mayor Joseph Kuspa (center) stopped by Wyandotte’s City Council meeting Monday to present a $100 check to the Wyandotte Goodfellows as part of a longstanding bet he and Wyandotte Mayor Joseph Peterson have on the outcome of the last football game between the two cities each year. The mayor of the city with the losing team makes a donation to the Goodfellow chapter of the city with the winning team. Wyandotte Goodfellows President and Councilman Larry Stec (left) and Councilman and Goodfellows member Todd Browning (right) accept the check.

Photo by James Mitchell

The Southgate Parks and Recreation Department won the city’s second annual department Christmas Tree Decorating Contest last week, bringing in 7-year-old Joey Truel to don the colorful cape and complement the Superman/Wonder Woman trees. Each participating department took this year’s superhero theme and ran with it, filling city offices with evergreens sporting images of Captain America, Spider-Man and other familiar heroes. The winner was announced Wednesday during the municipal tree-lighting ceremony after a panel of volunteer judges viewed the entries Tuesday, and the Parks and Recreation Department was treated to a pizza lunch to celebrate the victory.

Photo by Sue Suchyta

By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE – It’s a dark, rainy Sunday night, and for the next three hours, 26 teens will voluntarily march, drill, practice and obey orders.

The teen percussionists are members of Southgate Anderson High School’s winter drumline, one of the only winter drumlines in the area, and are hard at work preparing for their upcoming seventh competition season.

Drumline Assistant Director John Dusik said the Southgate Anderson drumline members’ ability to have fun sets them apart from other teams at competitions.

“A lot of kids just really like to go out there and… have a lot of fun when they play, and I think that comes out in the music and sets them apart.”

The drumline placed first in the Percussion Scholastic “A” Michigan State Championships in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and finished 12th out of 68 scholastic teams at a Winter Guard International world competition in 2009 in Dayton, Ohio.

Scholastic “A” teams are students from one high school and several middle schools feeding into that high school, with no outside recruits.

The percussion students, in grades seven to 12, work 12 to 20 hours a week in the evening from late November to mid-April preparing for regional and national competitions.

Winter drumline’s stationary front ensemble focuses on melody while the moving battery of drums and cymbals focuses on rhythm.

The stationary front ensemble practices in the band room on mallet instruments like the marimba, vibraphone and xylophone, along with a synthesizer, bells, drum set and an electronic base guitar.

The battery, a moving percussion section practices synchronized moves on the field to create a visual effect with bass drums, cymbals, tenor drums and snare drums.

“Anything at its highest level is fun, and these kids get an opportunity to go on a main stage at Grand Nationals competition… and represent not only themselves but the community,” Director Paul Loos, who arranges the music and designs the show with the input of the drumline staff, said. Loos started with the Southgate Anderson drumline this year, and has worked since 2000 with other drumlines.

He said some of the seniors were with the drumlines when they took 12th place in the Scholastic “A” Winter Guard International, WGI, world semi-finals in April 2009 in Dayton.

This season the winter drumline is scheduled to compete in four regional competitions, Michigan state finals and a world competition.

Matthew Wheeler, a 16-year-old junior, said he has committed much of his time and energy to the drumline. He said he became hooked on drumline in sixth grade when he saw them perform at his middle school.

Because the group spends many hours together working to perfect their routines, they have become a cohesive group.

“We’re all a really tight, close family,” Wheeler said. “All of us respect and care for one another even though sometimes we want to strangle one another. But in the end it all just comes down to the feeling you get after (you do well in) a competition… there’s just no other feeling like it in the world.”

Rachel Bost, a 17-year-old senior, has been in drumline for four years. She said they practice for at least three and a half hours three school nights a week in the beginning of the season, and seven or more hours on Saturdays and Sundays as well as during school holiday breaks as competitions approach.

“It’s really grueling and sometimes I just want to quit,” Bost said. “But when I think about the competitions… especially if we win… you just get this feeling of accomplishment.”
Emily Zaleski, who coaches the front ensemble, said those who succeed at drumline are committed, and have a lot of patience and endurance.

“You’re doing the same eight minute piece of music for months and months and months so you have to be patient… you might spend four hours perfecting three of four measures of music… you can’t let yourself get frustrated.”

Loos said a group’s success also depends on playing music to which people can relate.

“You want to do something rhythmic and difficult… but we want to make it attainable to the student and the person that’s watching the show,” Loos said.

He said he tries to design the music to match the personality of the group each year.

“This group… is very outgoing,” Loos said. “They don’t have a lot of fear.”