From Jan. 18, 1996 edition: 12-week, police-news black to Independent newspaper finally ends

We are looking back at the Jan. 18, 1996 edition of the Belleville-Area Independent and the big, front-page headline that reads: “VBT news blackout over.”
The 12-week police news blackout to the Independent ended on Jan. 16, 1996 after Van Buren Public Safety Director Mark Perkins read a statement indicating all news agencies will receive news in the same manner.
The statement came during the regular board meeting of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, when the Independent spoke to the board on the issue, as promised in the open letter published on the front page of the Jan. 4 edition.
The discussion of freedom of the press, the Constitution, and the adversarial relationship of the Independent to the township government lengthened the meeting about an hour.
After Director Perkins read his statement, John Lange of Westland asked for clarification. “Will Rosemary be given the same information as the other papers?”
Perkins replied, “Certainly.”
Lange explained he has been considering moving to the township.
Also in that edition of the Independent was the copy of a letter from State Rep. Deborah Whyman in which she asks the state attorney general to offer an opinion on the news blackout.
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On page two of the Jan. 18, 1996 edition, there is a police report of Van Buren Police arresting a man in the Juniper and Quirk road area who was lurking in the bushes next to the house of a family who had just left on vacation. The blue vehicle he parked in the drive turned out to be reported stolen in Dearborn, according to police.
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A story about Mo Cheaid, the owner of Haggerty House, tells of him opening the business formerly known as Roxy’s and before that as Rogalle’s.
Also, a story on page 3 tells of Bill Wolters, who graduated from Belleville High School in 1966, and had recently moved his flourishing go-kart business from Ypsilanti into the building he knew so well, right across from BHS. He said he remembers sitting in the classrooms across the street from his new business location, never dreaming what the future would bring. His businesses there were Stoney Creek Motorsports and Birel USA.
The building formerly housed the Atchinson Ford dealership and Barber Dodge, before it was leased by Morgan’s Collision.
Wolters, who said he was a cut-up in high school, went to Eastern Michigan University where he got a business education degree. He taught part time at Henry Ford Community College and became a permanent substitute at BHS.
Although the story doesn’t mention it, Wolters also is a highly praised military veteran.
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A long letter from Vesta Losen also was printed on the failings of the Van Buren Public Schools board of education, especially when it voted to include abortion as a method of birth control in its High School Health Class.
She said although abstention is listed, so were birth control devices, which she said was confusing for a student.