Jerry LaVaute Omnibus week of April 12

The following was posted by The View Staff Reporter Jerry LaVaute:

My calendar for this week looked even from a distance to be a challenge, and it’s proving to be such.

Monday evening found me covering the Milan City Council meeting, in which the city’s withdrawal from a four-community fire department is being considered.

I have found that public safety issues are hot-button items in the communities I’ve covered.

With the audience at near capacity in the meeting room, city officials and residents alike exchanged ideas pro and con. Tempers generally were controlled, and several city officials thanked the attendees for their input.

On Tuesday afternoon, I covered an “Animal Magic” show at the Bessie Hoffman Elementary School in the Lincoln Schools District.

Mark Rosenthal treated about 300 children in two different shows to visits from several exotic animals, but one of the favorites was a friendly Great Dane whose name was “Trip,” so named because the family often trips over him at home.

On Tuesday evening, I covered the Sumpter Township Board meeting, in which the next step was approved for a $91,000 project for a new larger water main for a township subdivision. If and when the project is fully approved, seven homeowners will be affected, whose tax bills will increase by $67 each month.

I just returned from a photo session at the Sumpter Country Festival fairgrounds, where Belleville resident Bob Balderston is painting cartoon murals on the 190 foot fence adjoining the fairgrounds. The effort adds a lot of color to what was a plain white stockade fence. People who attend the Sumpter Country Fest on Memorial Day weekend will be pleased by what they see.

Tonight, I go to Troy to receive an award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Three other Heritage newspaper reporters also will receive awards.

The award is for either a news story that I published last December 17, comparing police compensation in four different communities, including Van Buren Township, or about the column that I wrote that complemented the news story. I’ve gotta say, I’m excited.

My ongoing news coverage of three communities has proved to be interesting. I’m able to see budgets being developed, reviewed and approved for Van Buren and Sumpter townships, and for the city of Milan.

And, occasionally, I see items that don’t reconcile, or things that one community is doing that may be helpful to another. I’m able to use my contacts in government to let them know items that may be of interest.

Speaking of contacts, my Facebook audience grew by leaps and bounds recently when my wife Jan linked me with many of her friends on Facebook. Thanks, Jan.

Tomorrow, I interview Milan school officials about their plans for the school’s prom on May 15.

And Saturday will find me at the Fred C. Fischer Library in Belleville, covering the swearing-in of the new Belleville Area District Library officials. I learned last night that the state has approved the change that removes the library from Wayne County governance, and controls the library's funding and operations at a local level.