May 28, 2021 People/Dining/Shopping/Events/Culture All defining Livonia
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DR. KATE MACKIE
is kind and joins the hundreds of Livonia residents who have become a part of the campaign for kindness
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On Memorial Day pause to reflect on three Livonia residents who served in the Civil War: The Wight Family
Most of the research for the names on the Wall at the Livonia Veteran’s Park Memorial Plaza was supplied by Sue Daniel, local historian, and long-time Livonia Historical Commission stalwart, supplemented on the Civil War panel by Alan Helmkamp, an amateur enthusiast of the 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment. Most of the Livonia men who fought in the Civil War served in the 24th, the so-called “Wayne County Regiment,” which was part of the famous Iron Brigade. The following information was graciously provided by Alan Helmkamp:
Three names on the Civil War panel were from the same family- William, Wallace, and Gurdon Wight. Following a War Rally on August 1, 1862, at Livonia Center, they enlisted. The first leader of Company K of the 24th was Captain William W. Wight, pictured left, a 45-year-old farmer. His two sons were in his company, Sergeant Wallace W. Wight, 18, and Private Gurdon L. Wight, 19, who also were farmers.
Wallace has the sad distinction of being the first Livonia man killed in action, in the 24th’s first action at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, 1862. From Curtis’ “History of 24th Michigan of Iron Brigade,” 1891:
“It was the regiment’s first fight. Nobly had it stood the fiery ordeal of its bloody baptism without the poor privilege of returning an answering shot. It had won the honor for itself and old Wayne County, but sorrow filled every breast. It was truly a mournful event when the Captain of Company K that night, searched for the trunkless head of his son upon the battlefield, while the canister was whistling above him, and placed it with the young boy’s remains for burial! Lieutenant Birrell and the latter, Sergeant Wallace W. Wight had slept together the night before and laid plans for the day’s contest. Alas, for human hopes! their dreams of youth were brief and they again slept side by side, in bloody graves.”
Gurdon was twice wounded- at the battles of Gettysburg and Petersburg, which ended his service with the amputation of his left leg.
William fought in almost a dozen engagements and was wounded at Gettysburg. He rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel, the highest-ranked Livonian in the Civil War and commanded the 24th for most of the first half of 1864. He is buried in the Livonia Center Cemetery and there is also a headstone for Wallace there (but it is unknown if his remains were returned and reinterned).
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YMCA Building set to become
Livonia Athletic District
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In March of 2020, the YMCA surprised its members and closed its doors nearly 55 years after community leaders joined together to attract the Y to build a facility whose purpose was to attract young families to a young community.
One year after closing the property has been sold and plans are underway for the new Livonia Athletic District (LAD) a concept brought to Livonia by Detroit Rising Development and comprised of various gyms, offices, and wellness spaces,
The typewriter was offered a tour this week by Kirstie Hardy, Development Project Manager of Detroit Rising, who was recently named a Crain’s Detroit Business ’20 in their Twenties’ and is among their ‘2020 Notable Women in Finance.’
The company is partnering with three other investors to acquire the roughly 9-acre property and will invest approximately $1 million into minor repairs and upgrades including installing astroturf for soccer fields in what are now tennis courts.
According to their website, "Detroit Rising Development is a Detroit-specialized development and construction management group focused on the rehabilitation and revitalization of Detroit, making a name for ourselves through innovative concepts and strong partnerships. We believe in Detroit’s rebirth and want to invest long-term. Our goal is to develop obsolete properties in Detroit, add value, and build strong relationships."
Hardy acknowledges that the Livonia project offers them a new approach to their business plan but in a market, they have been looking to be a part of. Hardy explains that they "have been looking for a project that they could renovate and make useful in a community" like Livonia and are currently looking at another property in a similar suburban community."
The facility will be leased out to organizations like soccer clubs, swim organizations, etc. and not expected to be available to the general public to walk in. They are talking with a medical organization to open up an office for sports medicine. Office space will be available for lease for businesses interested in associated wellness programs.
Detroit Rising Development is the group behind projects like "Detroit Shipping Co., a centrally located restaurant collective, beer garden and more—all housed in one unique space made of shipping containers. Projects include Detroit Shipping Co., 444 Peterboro, Pedaler Building, Little Biscuit Brewing Company, Supino’s Pizzeria."
Expect construction to begin in July with completion set for early Fall.
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Stewart is granted three new patents to help protect the lives of those serving in the military
Robert Stewart is President at Innovative Manufacturing Engineering and Vice President, Chief Engineer at AlphaUSA.
The US Patent office has approved three more of his product designs, patent #10,914,556 and #10,921,096 and 11,002,306 have all been granted.
They are all associated with my "Progressive Reinforcement" armor attachment methodology. In summary, when an armored military vehicle is hit by a weapon the armor panels will bend to absorb the impact (like a baseball glove when it catches the ball).
Many times this panel distortion causes the bolts holding that panel to stretch until they break. If enough bolts are broken then the armor panel will come loose or be knocked off.
These patented components allow bolts to stretch until just before they reach their breaking point and then they are precisely engineered to collapse and release the forces on that bolt. So the bolt does not break and the armor panel does not fall off. Several additional components are engineered to be progressively self-sacrificing and further assure armor retention. These are new product designs to help protect the lives of our sons and daughters in the military.
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Okay, I am going to dip my toe into the hot water of the need for an infrastructure bill. The last time I ventured on an issue dealing with what was non-specific to Livonia I got a sharp rebuke from someone I respect who cancelled his subscription to Musings. He came back not long after that.
But America has put off for over 50 years repairing our bridges and roads. Delayed. Kicked it down the road. Call it what you may but I call it neglected.
We can't delay action any longer. And with that it mind of course the cost has gone up and the definition of infrastructure has been redefined many times.
I don't believe that President Biden wants to spend the kind of money over the next ten years that it will take to catch us up. He recognizes that we must do it now with no more delays.
In the last City Mayoral election one of the significant issues was the condition of our roads. It ranked right up there with the number one issue of the campaign.
In the last race for Governor it was the number one issue.
We just keep putting it off and now we must pay the bill, face up to reality. Now or we will be relegated to third world status with bridges crumbling, roads deteriorating, rural America falling behind in access to the internet.
Heck Livonia knew that we needed to maintain our school buildings and the voters supported it overwhelmingly
Let's get behind the President and our Congresswoman Haley Stevens and SAY YES to the infrastructure bill.
This is national discussion month so Musings welcomes and encourages open expression of opinions, whether you agree or disagree with the typewriter.
See Stevens take on the bill below.
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Council returns to
in-person meetings
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The typewriter is happy to report that another step in our return to normal is underway as our Livonia City Council is returning to in-person meetings at City Hall with state and CDC COVID-19 precautions enforced.
The next council regular and study meetings, scheduled for June 14 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively, will be the Council’s first in-person meetings since August 5, 2020.
“With the new guidance from the MDHHS the City Council is very pleased to be able to resume in-person meetings at City Hall,” said Council President Kathleen McIntyre.
“The Council is extremely grateful to our Information Systems Department for making our virtual meetings possible and successful during the past year, but we are ready and anxious to return to our work at City Hall welcoming meeting participants and attendees in person.”
Guidance from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention remains in effect at Livonia City Hall. Social distancing measures and capacity limits are in place for indoor gatherings through the end of June.
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Please share with teachers, students, and parents: Students ages 13 to 18 in the Livonia or Clarenceville School Districts can apply for a scholarship from the Livonia Public Library.
Entries can be video commentary, scripted content, poetry, song, multimedia presentations, interview, skit, public service announcement but must be in a digital video format.
Each entry must focus on one or more of the following themes: Identity, Belonging, and/or Inclusivity. You may discuss what this theme means to you, how you embody this theme in your own life, or how we can foster an environment that brings this theme to life.
Entries should be submitted via Dropbox Transfer to the email address nlomas@livoniapubliclibrary.org starting on June 15, 2021.
The deadline for submissions is 5:00 pm (eastern time, US) on Friday, September 3, 2021. Winners will be announced no later than Friday, September 17, 2021.
If you have questions, feel free to reach out.
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Time to schedule summertime
music "from the heart"
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Haley Stevens on Infrastructure |
Livonia's Congresswoman Haley Stevens statement on the Moving Forward Act, a bill to rebuild American infrastructure while creating millions of good-paying jobs.
“Michigan’s incredible automotive industry put the world on wheels, but our roads and bridges are falling apart after decades of neglect. Our water infrastructure has also failed Michiganders, from the Flint Water Crisis to the Midland dam collapse to widespread PFAS contamination. Meanwhile, Michigan’s public school infrastructure is woefully outdated and our treasured Great Lakes ecosystem is threatened by pollution, erosion, and invasive species.
“These problems all stem from disinvestment in our infrastructure, not just in Michigan but across the country. Our crumbling infrastructure puts lives at risk and hinders economic growth. The Moving Forward Act is the bold, comprehensive approach we need to rebuild America’s infrastructure while creating jobs. This bill would address our most urgent challenges, from fixing our roads and protecting our water supply to safeguarding the future of the United States Postal Service.
“The Moving Forward Act also makes necessary investments in the sustainable, modern, 21st-century infrastructure our nation needs. The bill will spark investment in electric vehicle technology, incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles, increase connectivity by expanding access to broadband, and modernize our electric grid to accommodate more renewable energy.
“These critical infrastructure projects will require the full might of America’s workforce, creating millions of good jobs right here in the United States. As a Member of Congress representing a state that has experienced more than its fair share of infrastructure failures, I am eager to see this bill signed into law so we can begin rebuilding our nation.”
The Moving Forward Act includes:
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The INVEST in America Act, a nearly $500 billion investment to rebuild and reimagine the nation’s transportation infrastructure by fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, improving safety, reducing gridlock, and putting the U.S. on a path toward zero emissions from the transportation sector by cutting carbon pollution, investing in public transit and the national rail network, building out fueling infrastructure for low- and zero-emission vehicles, and deploying technology and innovative materials.
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Invests in schools with the Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which funds $130 billion in school infrastructure targeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that endanger the health and safety of students and educators. This investment will help students get back to school and create more than 2 million jobs to help workers get back to work.
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Addresses structural challenges and upgrades child care facilities by leveraging a 5-year, $10 billion federal investment to generate additional state and private investments in making sure that child care settings are safe, appropriate, and able to comply with current and future public health directives.
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Invests over $100 billion into our nation's affordable housing infrastructure to create or preserve 1.8 million affordable homes. These investments will help reduce housing inequality, create jobs and stimulate the broader economy, increase community and household resiliency in the face of natural disasters, improve hazardous living conditions, and increase the environmental sustainability of our housing stock.
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Protects access to safe drinking water by investing over $25 billion in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and other programs to ensure all communities have clean drinking water and to help remove dangerous contaminants like PFAS from local water systems.
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Modernizes our energy infrastructure for a clean energy future by investing more than $70 billion to transform our electric grid to accommodate more renewable energy, expand renewable energy, strengthen existing infrastructure, help develop an electric vehicle charging network, and support energy efficiency, weatherization, and Smart Communities infrastructure.
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Delivers affordable high-speed broadband Internet access to all parts of the country by investing $100 billion to promote competition for broadband internet infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities, prioritizing those with persistent poverty.
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Modernizes the nation’s health care infrastructure by investing $30 billion to upgrade hospitals to increase capacity and strengthen care, help community health centers respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies, improve clinical laboratory infrastructure, support the Indian Health Service‘s infrastructure, and increase capacity for community-based care.
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Modernizes and strengthens the United States Postal Service by investing $25 billion to modernize postal infrastructure and operations, including a zero-emissions postal vehicle fleet and processing equipment.
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Promotes new renewable energy infrastructure by incentivizing the development of wind and solar on public lands and building a workforce for offshore wind.
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Promotes investments in our communities by spurring private investment through the tax code, through a revitalized Build America Bonds program, expansions of Private Activity Bonds, and significant enhancements to the New Markets Tax Credit and the Rehabilitation Tax Credit.
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