Problems, COVID, delay Maple construction
The long-scheduled Maple Road reconstruction project which was tentatively slated to be complete for a reopening of the road around Labor Day, then mid to late September, is now expected to be complete in late October due to unexpected construction challenges and an outbreak of COVID-19 amongst the road crew.>>>
New five-story building gets design plan okay
A new five-story mixed-use building for the site of the old Mountain King restaurant and an adjacent abandoned bank building received unanimous final site plan and design review approvals from the Birmingham Planning Board on Wednesday, September 23. >>>
City to explore platforms to engage public
Following a commission request, Birmingham city management intern Melissa Fairbairn gave a presentation on public engagement platforms at the city commission meeting on Monday, September 21, with commissioners then requesting staff to move forward with more research on the Bang the Table platform. >>>
Birmingham police, administrators receive raises
The Birmingham Police Officers Association (BPOA) union came to an agreement with the city of Birmingham for a three-year contract that includes a two percent raise in the first year, unanimously approved by the city commission on Monday, September 21, at which time they also approved two percent salary increases for department head and administrative/management personnel. >>>
Birmingham bringing students back to class
At a board of education meeting which began on Tuesday, September 15, and continued on to Thursday, September 17, Birmingham Public Schools trustees approved, by a vote of 5-2, a plan to begin to bring students back to class in a phased in plan. >>>
Township child caught in sexual exploitation case
Based on a Bloomfield Township police department investigation from over the summer, a 48-year-old male resident of Ellis, Kansas was arraigned on Friday, September 18, on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and aggravated internet trading in child pornography in Ellis County, Kansas, and given a $1 million cash bond. >>>
Teens beat man on scooter for going too slow
Birmingham police were dispatched to the area of Eton and Lincoln Streets the evening of Friday, September 18, after they received calls about that several male teens were beating a man on a scooter. >>>
Lights, heat lamps vandalized at Dick O'Dow's
An employee at Dick O'Dow's restaurant in Birmingham arrived to work on the morning of Monday, September 21, to discover multiple items on the back outdoor patio had been damaged. >>>
Thieves ransack home, steal jewelry
An evening out by Birmingham residents led them to discover their home had been broken into, ransacked and several pieces of jewelry stolen. >>>
Cash, credit cards stolen from car
Two credit cards and cash were stolen from an unlocked car that was parked outside Roeper Middle School in Birmingham on Thursday, September 17. >>>
Resident falsely told he's winner of sweepstakes
A Bloomfield Township resident discovered they had been the victim of identity theft and reported it at the police station on Saturday, September 19. >>>
Collar stolen from local pet store
Bloomfield Township police responded to the Pet Supplies Plus store at 2057 S. Telegraph Road on Thursday, September 17, after employees saw a man steal a pet collar. >>>
A man reported to Birmingham police that his bike and lock were stolen on Saturday, September 19. >>>
Numerous items taken from storage unit
A Bloomfield Township resident discovered several items had been stolen from a storage unit in the basement of her apartment building in the 400 block of N. Fox Hills Drive, and called Bloomfield Township police on the afternoon of Saturday, September 19, to report it. >>>
Downtown newsmagazine has launched a membership campaign for donations to the publication to allow us to remain strong and grow while still remaining free to most homes in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area. Publisher David Hohendorf’s letter to the local community explains the background on the membership effort. >>>
Pandemic vote: ballots to start coming this month
“Vote early and vote often.” That tongue-in-cheek election phrase, believed to have first been uttered in 1856 by John Van Buren, an attorney and son of President Martin Van Buren, as an anti-slavery Free Soil Party leader, although it has also been attributed to Chicago gangster Al Capone, the Tammany Hall political machine leaders of the 1860s, and even Nazi leaders when seizing of power in 1933. While voters today can't “vote often,” this year in particular they are being encouraged to vote early. And it is being portrayed not as a scam, other than by a few, but as a civic duty. >>>
Go green: local communities’ sustainability efforts
While most people have been literally assaulted in the past several years with headlines about climate change and the national debate over what is often referred to as the “green movement” and what should become codified sustainability policy for the country, there's a much quieter effort or evolution underway in the state of Michigan and, more specifically, Oakland County. >>>
Michigan Rep. Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, West Bloomfield) might be running for re-election to return for a second term to represent the House’s 40th District, but she clearly has an open road to bigger and brighter roles down the road – which is why state and national Democrats definitely have their sights on her. >>>
