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DEARBORN Mid-week edition

PRESS & GUIDEVol. 96No.21 Wednesday, March 13, 2013 Your neighborhood newspaper since 1918 $100

DPS may ask for $76M bondBy Katie HetrickPress & Guide Newspapers

DEARBORN Dearborn PublicSchools may ask voters in Augustfor $76 million in bonds for technol-ogy, construction, maintenance,buses and security.

The 20-year bonds would notincrease property taxes. The 5.81mills would replace other bondsthat are expiring, so homeownerswould not see a change in their taxbills. School board members said

they wanted more details aboutthe bonds. Administrators are hop-ing trustees will vote March 25 topursue a bond so the district canstart promoting and polishing theplan. The recommendation calls forholding the vote during the Augustprimary.

The bond initiative is namedSMART for security, maintenance,additions, renovations and tech-nology and transportation, saidDavid Mustonen, communicationscoordinator.

Of the $76 million, about $600,000would be for security upgradesat schools; $800,000 for groundsand maintenance; $3.6 million forbuses; $12 million for technology;$21 million for roofs, parking lotsand other work; and $38 million foradditions and projects.

Dearborn used to budgetbetween $4 million and $5 milliona year for maintenance and buses,but in recent years that has beenslashed to $1 million, mostly tocover emergency repairs such as

roof leaks, Mustonen said.Thats not the way we want to

do business, he said.The district has not replaced

any of its 100 buses in a few years.The average Dearborn bus is now9 years old, and 10 years is con-sidered the life expectancy beforerepairs start to become very costly,he said.

Meanwhile, the district has seen25 consecutive years of growth

Man sentencedfor assaultinggirlfriend beforeher deathBy Joe SlezakPress & Guide Newspapers

DETROIT AliciaLynn Wilson was seriously

injured several times inbeatings by her boyfriendof nine years, JamesThomas Friedrich, butdidnt go to the police untillast year, her daughter said.

Two months afterFriedrich was sentenced toprobation in a misdemean-or case in Dearborn Heightsinvolving one of the beat-

ings, Wilson was dead on amotel room floor.

Friedrich, 53, was sen-tenced Friday by WayneCounty Circuit Judge

Deborah Thomas to 11months in the WayneCounty Jail and five yearsprobation for assault withintent to do great bodilyharm less than murder. Itwas the maximum amountof jail time he could receive.

Friedrich pleaded guilty

Judge reopens settlementperiod for halal lawsuitBy Joe SlezakPress & Guide Newspapers

DETROIT An attorneyupset over a class-actionsettlement involving

customer deception at aDearborn fast-food restau-rant can speak his mindabout the subject again.

And, because he spokehis mind before a judgeordered him to stop, thesettlement period has beenextended.

Wayne County CircuitJudge Kathleen Macdonaldruled Monday that thesettlement period forthose who ate McChickensandwiches and ChickenMcNuggets that were adver-

tised as halal but werentat two east-end McDonaldsrestaurants will be extend-ed for another 28 days. Thetime period started yester-day and ends April 8. It was

at McDonalds request.The new final settlement

hearing will be at 10 a.m.April 17 before Macdonald.

Halal refers to meetingIslamic requirements forpreparing food. Gods namemust be invoked before ananimal providing meat forconsumption is slaugh-tered.

The class action suitcovers anyone who ate thenon-halal chicken at twoMcDonalds 13158 FordRoad and 14860 Michigan

Ave. since Sept. 1, 2005.They are believed to bethe only McDonalds inthe country to serve halalchicken.

Ahmed Ahmed of

Dearborn Heights suedMcDonalds and fran-chise owner FinleysManagement Co. becausehe ate the falsely advertisedchicken at the Ford RoadMcDonalds. Accordingto the suit, the restaurantserved non-halal chickenwhen it ran out of halal anddidnt tell its customers.

The judge ruled Jan.18 that McDonalds andFinleys must pay $700,000

Construction wellunder way at Union

By Joe SlezakPress & Guide Newspapers

DEARBORN Larry Winokur knowsthe way from Oakland County to Dearborn.

Does he ever.The retired attorney, managing part-

ner of Urban Campus Communities of

Bloomfield Hills, has been visiting theconstruction site of the companys latestcreation, The Union at Dearborn, onceor twice weekly and is thrilled with whathes seeing.

Its an apartment complex at 760 and

780 Town Center Drive across from theUniversity of Michigan-Dearborn andgeared toward its students, though itcant be exclusively for them because itsprivately owned.

U of M-D is the only four-year collegeor university in the state that doesnthave housing on or close to campus.

Ground was broken Sept. 24 on the $30million, 12 1/2-acre project, and the goalis to have it open by Labor Day weekendso students can move in before fall class-

Photo by Joe Slezak

A construction worker labors in the Victors Den, part of The Union at Dearborn.

Photo by Joe Slezak

James Thomas Friedrich enters Wayne County CircuitJudge Deborah Thomas courtroom Friday for his sen-tencing.

PLEASE SEE BOND/8-A

PLEASE SEE SENTENCE/15-A

PLEASE SEE UNION/8-A

PLEASE SEE SUIT/10-A