Kroger clears major hurdle - Canton Public Library

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The Observer/THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1996
Fireworks legal battles heat up for
Br RALPH R. EOJITNAW
STAFF WRITER
;The legal tug of war over the
business practices of two Michigan
Avenue fireworks merchants
is heating up again as the calendar
apprpaches the Fourth of
July.
'Judge Ron Lowe of the 35th
District Court ruled Monday,
April 29, that he erred last June
when he signed a search warrant
that led to the seizure of 525
cftses of fireworks from Tri-City
Fireworks June 22. If the Wayne
County prosecutor's office doesn't
appeal Lowe's ruling, the fire-
Treasure from page 1A
Illinois where his family lived.
~0l»t then I started, seeing references
in the paper to Rochester:
And to me Rochester is New
York"
.^ajarper started investigating.
Bk traced the paper to Ulster
County in New York. "I want to
tyll this paper and see if it's still
works will be returned to Tri-
Citv owners Donald and Pat
Linn.
The Linns sell fireworks that
are considered illegal in Michigan,
but ship them out of state,
which is legal under state law
and has been affirmed by a 1989
Ingham County Circuit Court
injunction. Prosecutors believe
Tri-City sells fireworks within
the state.
Canton Township Police Det.
Richard Pomorski bought three
items from Tri-City last year,
which were used to get Lowe to
sign the warrant that he
in business," he said.
The newspaper has only four
pages and the middle section is
devoted entirely to George
Washington. But it is not at all
like today's newspapers. While
Washington's obituary is included
it is not_the-domin^t article
in the middle portion. Instead a
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There should have been lan-.
guage in the search warrant to
protect Tri-CityV right to sell
fireworks outside the state,"
Lowe said.
Neither he, Pomorski, or
Wayne County assistant prosecutor
Ray Walsh, knew ajgout
the law or the injunction
enabling Tri-City to possess fireworks
for sale out of state, Lowe
said.
If he knew then what he
knows how, Lowe said, he would
not have signed the search war-
majority of the news about
Washington is a letter by the
U.S. Senate about the first president
with a response from then-
President John Adams. The middle
section also contains a poem
about Washington written by an
unidentified girl.
The front page of the newspaper
is dominated by U.S. Congressional
news, but it is in resolution
and letter form. Also on
the front is an extract from a letter
from Lt. Col. Henry Clinton
to Lord .Grenville regarding the
movement of troops..
The back page of the newspaper
boasts advertising similar to
today's classified ads. One ad
was to hire an apprentice, another
was to sell a female slave.
There was also a notice that
someone's red bull had strayed,
a lost was watch, and a second
notice from a husband who
declared he was no longer
responsible for-his wife's debts.
Harper figures the newspapen
has been handed down in his
family "My grandparents
CLASS RINGS
rant.
Walsh said the prosecutor's
office will wait to see Lowe's
written opinion before deciding
whether to appeal the decision to
the circuit court.
To be fair to him, to be fair to
everybody, I've got to see what
he writes in his opinion," Walsh
said.
Meanwhile, Burda Bros. Fireworks,
also on Michigan Avenue,
has submitted a request to the
township to have a fireworks display
in 1996.
The permit is not expected to
weren't that old to get the
paper," he said.
Now that he has the newspaper
he's been calling a number of
places to find out what it's
worth. One place told him it was
only worth $20-$50. He doesn't
believe it. He also plans to call
the University of Michigan.
"If it's worth a large amount of
money, I'll sell it. If it isn't, I'll
keep it," said Harper, who also-
from the 1800s, as well as his
grandfather's pocketwatch. "All
of this stuff was in a big pile. I
was at my brother's house and
he said it was just a bunch of old
photographs and he was going to
throw it all out."
Harper is amazed by the condition
of the newspaper, which
appears to be printed on something
similar to a yellow-colored
onion paper. "You can read it as
though it was printed this morning.
I can't imagine there are too
many of these papers in existence."
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Burda Bros, owners Elissa and
Elfin Burda have also been in
court since last June when state
police raided their business on
the same day Canton police raided
Tri-City. Burda Bros, had
been permitting customers to
buy fireworks after paying $1 to
join the American Fireworks
Users Association.
( The Burdas are expected to be
in Wayne County Circuit Court
Friday, May 3, as Judge John
Murphy rules on the legality of
their fireworks association. "If a
circuit court judge declares these
business practices legal under
the law, I'm not going to second
\uess that judge's opinion," said
Lowe last October.
Attorney Hugh -Buck" Davis,
representing Tri-City and Burda
Bros., said Murphy will also rule
on the vagueness of the state
statute banning fireworks and
on whether federal regulations
regarding fireworks take precedence
over state regulations. -
"I've been trying to get somebody
to do (this) for years and
they keep ducking," he said.
Rouge volunteers sought
For the first time in the 11year
history of the. annual Rouge
Rescue river clean-up, a stretch
of the Rouge's tributary system
in Canton Township will be
included this June.
Coordinator David Thomas is
seeking volunteers to pull log-
Kroger from page 1A
1997. Kroger plans to remodel
the existing store at Sheldon and
Ford.
Canton resident Karl Zarbo,
who manages property for
Ramco-Gershenson of Southfield,
and who was recently appointed
to the planning commission, said
that Kroger probably won't give
up its old store because another
supermarket would likely move
in. •
However, planning commissioners
have been more*concerned
with the proposed
appearance of the shopping.center.
In early April they sent
Frankel and company packing
with instructions to make his
design more pleasing to the eye.
"This screams 1970s strip
mall," sdid Commissioner Melissa
McLaughlin.
"It's bland and^ redundant,"
!c Gustafson.
It looks like you're creating a
billboard for the signage," said
Commissioner Catherine Johnson.
Frankel's" architect, Lonny
Zimmerman of Siegal/Tuomaala
Associates of Farmington Hills,
worked with Canton planning
staff and a couple of the commissioners
to create a design more
to the commission's liking..
jams, tires, auto parts, barrels
conveyor belts and plastic sheet
ing from the Tonquish Creek
Saturday, June l.To volunteer
call Thomas at 453-7402, or 973
3582
"We are pleased with the
changes that have been made,"
Associate Planner Judy Bocklage
said.
At first the design had a "horizontal
feel to it," Zimmerman
said, but it has been modified to
incorporate standing seam metal
roof elements, brick, on all
columns and several 'storefront
areas to break up the monotony.
(SantondDbsmrer
"We tried to create an atmosphere
that isn't a series of
repeating elements." Zimmerman
said.
In contrast to the April 2 meeting,
when Frankel appeared
dumbfounded by the commission's
insistence on a pleasing
appearance, Monday's meeting
of minds was cordial indeed.
"One last request," Gustafson
said. "If you overdo on flowers,
that's fine."
Afterwards, commissioners
talked about the difficulty of getting
developers to do what they
want.
Commissioner Bob Wade said
of Frankel: "This looks like what
you told us was your theme, but
it took a huge effort to get there."
Added McLaughlin: "It's just a
matter of stringing them along
for six months."
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