2/28/24 C & G Special Edition — Macomb/Grosse Pointes

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NEWSPAPERS Special Edition

MACOMB OFFICIALS, RESIDENTS SPEAK ON WATER PROGRAM BILLS

MOUNT CLEMENS — As a series of bills that could make water more affordable for Michiganders works its ways though the halls of Lansing, supporters and detractors are taking their cases to the people.

In Mount Clemens on the evening of Feb. 8, a town hall was convened at the Mount Clemens Public Library to discuss the bills that would create a statewide water affordability fund and program, as well as the effects the bills could have on the city’s people. While the Mount Clemens City Commission unanimously passed a resolution against the bills on Jan. 3 at the urging of Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, it was City Commissioner Spencer Calhoun who arranged the meeting.

“At the time (of the vote), I thought we had all of the information,” Calhoun said to open the town hall. “As I talked

to other folks, I learned there’s a lot to this legislation. It’s a much bigger picture, something that affects many people … and so I thought it would be appropriate to get people in the room who know a lot more about this to talk about it, share with the community, hear some feedback and ask any questions that we have.”

Calhoun went on to moderate the meeting, introducing five supporters of the bills who walked through them and how they would affect residents.

The bills (SB 25, 549-554 and HB 5088-5093) would establish a statewide affordability program through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services so low-income Michiganders would only pay up to 3% of household income on water bills. The program would be open to residents earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level, divided into two tiers split at 135% of the federal poverty level. The program would be funded by a $2 monthly charge on all real water customers

Bald eagles seen at Holland Ponds Park nesting area

EXPERTS UNSURE IF THEY ARE THE SAME PAIR SEEN LAST YEAR

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — Local nature photographers have recently spotted two American bald eagles nesting in Shelby Township’s Holland Ponds Park with possible eggs in the nest again.

Last year, the bald eagle nest was reported to the township by a local photographer on March 9, but township officials have seen photos from other photographers taken as early as March 5. This year, they have already been spotted.

Elizabeth Schultz, a nature center coordinator at the Burgess-Shadbush Nature Center, said a few pictures from photographer Dennis LaVergne See

candgnews.com FEBRUARY 28, 2024 Macomb County and Grosse Pointe papers
Nature photographer Dennis LaVergne recently took this photo of two American bald eagles nesting in Shelby Township’s Holland Ponds Park. Photo provided by Elizabeth Schultz Amanda Klein, of United Way, speaks at a town hall in Mount Clemens on Feb. 8 about how a proposed water affordability program would affect Michigan residents.
See WATER on page 9A
Photo by Dean Vaglia
EAGLES on page 11A
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Jeffries, who made his acting debut in this movie, was known as the “Sepia Singing Cowboy” for his baritone singing voice.

BELOW: A number of movie posters can be seen by exhibition visitors.

Photos by K. Michelle Moran

Significant piece of motion picture history explored in ‘Regeneration’

DETROIT — A largely lost but pivotal part of the history of American cinema is being brought to life by a new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971” looks at the films, filmmakers, actors and studios from this period. Originally organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the exhibition runs through June 23. The Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is showing a companion film series that will enable audiences to see some of the movies referenced in the exhibition.

“We are honored to present ‘Regeneration,’ a powerful, inspiring and important exhibition that examines the rich and often untold history of Blacks in American cinema,” DIA Director Salvador Salort-Pons said in a press release. “The exhibition explores the critical roles played by pioneering Black actors, filmmakers, and advocates to shape and influence U.S. cinema and culture in the face of enduring racism and discrimination.”

Rhea L. Combs, director of curatorial affairs for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, was one of the co-curators of this exhibition. She said there was a “parallel history” between the better-known general history of filmmaking and that of Black cinema.

Between 1915 and 1948, more than 150 independent production companies across the United States — including the Maurice Film Co. in Detroit — made what were called “race films,” or films starring Black actors made for Black audiences, at a time when moviegoing was highly segregated. These movies ran the gamut from comedies to Westerns to melodrama.

Ehlers-Danlos awareness helps early diagnosis

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Ehlers-Danlos syndrome causes severe pain and takes a long time to diagnose.

Amanda McLeroy, 32, of St. Clair Shores, who has EDS, searched for 10 years before she finally got her diagnosis around three years ago.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a connective tissue disorder and there are 13 different types. McLeroy described connective tissue as the glue that holds the body together.

“Mine’s not good,” McLeroy said. “It’s falling apart.”

According to the Ehlers-Danlos Society, EDS is caused by genet ic changes in the connective tissue. According to the group’s website, the main mission of the society is to advance and accelerate research and education in EDS and hypermobility spectrum disorders.

Those who have EDS all suffer with it differently, McLeroy said, at different levels of severity.

“The symptoms and issues present different in each of us,” McLeroy said. “Especially because there is 13 types. So you know some are more severe than the other type.”

Nina Fernandez, community support coordinator of the Ehlers-Danlos Society, said the prevalence of EDS is hard to

See MCLEROY on page 4A

SECOND FRONT PAGE 3A/C & G NEWSPAPER MACOMB COUNTY/GROSSE POINTE SPECIAL EDITION • FEBRUARY 28, 2024 facebook.com/candgnews @candgnews instagram.com/candgnews candgnews.com • (586) 498-8000
RIGHT: The cowboy boots worn by Detroit-born actor Herb Jeffries in the 1937 film “Harlem on the Prairie” are one of the artifacts on display in “Regeneration.”
See REGENERATION on page 6A
Amanda McLeroy, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, said it took 10 years to find a diagnosis. Photo provided by Amanda McLeroy

McLeroy

from page 3A

answer. There are multiple studies reporting different statistics. She said at the EhlersDanlos Society, they support separating the statistics into the different types of EDS.

“We know some types of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are rare or ultra rare whereas some are more common,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said the hypermobility spectrum disorders and hypermobile EDS are estimated to be one in 600 to one in 900 and other types are more rare.

Before McLeroy lived in Michigan, she lived in California and started searching for answers there. McLeroy said she started developing chronic pain after her first child.

“I started seeing doctors out there,” McLeroy said. “Nobody knew what was wrong or like why nothing was working that would usually work for normal or would help subside the problem.”

She added she had to keep going to specialists in California and no one had any answers. When she moved to Michigan, someone mentioned going to the University of Michigan hospital system.

“I remember, one day, we drove all the way out there to go to the ER, and I waited in the ER for literally 13 hours,” McLeroy said.

Before this, McLeroy visited the ER before due to severe pain from migraines and other issues. She later said that she deals with chronic pain, popping and clicking throughout her body.

“I deal with different types of pain,” McLeroy said. “Lots of nerve pain, muscle pain, then the joint pain, then the rare forms of headaches, migraines I get.”

After waiting, she finally saw a specialist who was able to identify what she’d been going through.

“When I’d seen the specialist, he instantly knew, I guess by my features as well, about the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,” McLeroy said.

McLeroy never heard of EDS before the diagnosis and started her research after that.

“It took that one special doctor after 10 years of trying to get answers from people,” McLeroy said. “To know what he was doing and then it was confirmed through rheumatologists and genetics. Yeah, I’m really thankful I waited the 13 hours.”

McLeroy said when she looks back to her childhood, she did have signs and symptoms of EDS. She said she saw it in her features such as her hypermobility, bladder

problems and abnormally stretchy skin.

“My parents didn’t. They don’t have any of these health issues and they wouldn’t have known what to look for when I was a kid, but I did have signs,” McLeroy said.

She also said that EDS can skip generations and she could also be the one that started with EDS. Her eight half brothers and sisters as well as her parents don’t have EDS.

She sees 14 specialists because the symptoms of EDS cause other health issues throughout the body.

“For me personally, it’s affected also my GI tract, my muscles, joints,” McLeroy said. “Even my eyeballs. But I look so normal on the outside. So no one knows unless I were to say something because all my problems are on the inside.”

Ever since the diagnosis, she’s been in physical therapy and receives injections.

“Because there’s currently no cure, so it’s more of just managing, I guess, your symptoms,” McLeroy said.

McLeroy said early diagnosis is crucial to EDS.

“It’s just better to know things early on,” McLeroy said. “Because I didn’t know before having children and now, they show signs. So it would have been nice to know all that stuff and do preventive things to not be as severe.”

McLeroy said she wants to bring more awareness to EDS. She said she knows people who haven’t been diagnosed until they were in their 50s or 60s.

“It just needs to be more recognized and taken serious especially in the medical field,” McLeroy said.

She went on to say even though there’s no cure she still has to live with the symptoms.

“It’s just been a little bit of a struggle, I guess, going to all the different doctors and injections,” McLeroy said. “But it’s pretty much all you can do for now.”

Fernandez wants people to know that not everyone with EDS presents their symptoms the same. She said if doctors and people could understand the different presentations that those with EDS could get the help they need.

“You know, not everyone has the same phenotype. It could help lead to earlier diagnosis and better care,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said people should be more aware of EDS and the people who have it.

“I think the more people that know about it the better care people will be able to receive,” Fernandez said.

Call Staff Writer Alyssa Ochss at (586) 498-1103.

C & G NEWSPAPERS MACOMB COUNTY/GROSSE POINTE SPECIAL EDITION • FEBRUARY 28, 2024 4A 0170-2408

CULTURAL EXCHANGE RETURNS MARCH 8

STERLING HEIGHTS — The Sterling Heights Ethnic Community Committee is inviting the public to its 2024 Cultural Exchange 6-10 p.m. March 8 at the Sterling Heights Community Center, 40250 Dodge Park Road. Various ethnic groups will present cultural displays, food, music, dances and more.

Attendees are asked to donate at least $1. Learn more by visiting sterlingheights.gov and typing “Cultural Exchange” in the search bar or by calling (586) 446-2470.

HELLO GIRL WITH LOIS SPRENGNETHER KEEL

WARREN — In honor of Women’s History Month, Michigan storyteller Lois Sprengnether Keel will share the story of Oleda Joure-Christidies at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, at the Arthur Miller Branch Library located at 5460 Arden Ave. Joure-Christidies served as a telephone operator in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was part of the famed “Telephone Girls” brigade in World War I. She later engaged in a 60-year battle to win veteran status.

Registration is required. Register online at warrenlibrary. net or by calling (586)751- 5377.

PAWS AND LAWS

St. Clair Shores City Councilman David Rubello, center, with his beagle, Teddy, joined Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in her Lansing office on Feb. 6 for a ceremonial bill signing for “Teddy’s Law.” The package of bills, sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Hertel, second from left, D-St. Clair Shores, and state Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, to the right of the governor, requires research facilities to offerdogs or cats that would otherwise be euthanized to an animal shelter for adoption, and itestablishes penalties for failing to do that.

Kiwanis, Scouts hosting pancake breakfast

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Kiwanis club of Mount Clemens and Boys Scouts of America Troop 157 are hosting a pancake breakfast and bake sale at Trinity Lutheran Church, located at 38900 Harper Avenue, on Sunday, March 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Proceeds from the event will support local organizations. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children. Advance tickets can be bought by calling (586) 496-3555 or visiting Printing by Johnson at 21222 Cass Ave. in Clinton Township.

HEAR CELTIC TUNES

GROSSE POINTE WOODS — To mark St. Patrick’s Day, the award-winning, 90-member Detroit Concert Choir — under the direction of Michael A. Mitchell — will perform “A Celtic Celebration of Song” at 7:30 p.m. March 16 at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, 467 Fairford Road in Grosse Pointe Woods. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for seniors ages 62 and older, and $10 for students. For tickets or more information, visit detroitconcertchoir.org or call (313) 882-0118.

Police warn of Medicare scam

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — The Shelby Township Police Department recently had reports of individuals who came to residents’ homes claiming to be from Medicare. The Police Department warned that Medicare does not send representatives to your home. Officers were unable to locate the two potential scammers. Police said that residents should not let anyone who claims to be from Medicare into their homes. More information about protecting yourself from scams and deceptive practices can be found at michigan.gov/consumerprotection.

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Regeneration

“I think it’s really about a sense of empowerment and pride and possibility,” Combs said. “There has been a longstanding, rich tradition of African American involvement in cinema since the beginning. … We want to make sure we’re expanding the understanding that this is not a separate cinema — it was working alongside American mainstream cinema.”

More than half of the films made before 1950 no longer exist and the majority of the race films were lost, said Elliot Wilhelm, curator of film for the DIA. Besides chemical decomposition and the fact that the silver nitrate film stock of the time was notoriously unstable, Wilhelm said early film studios believed that once people had seen a movie, they wouldn’t want to see it again — this was long before the era of streaming, cable or even network television. So, Wilhelm said, studios would routinely melt down movie negatives or positives to make new films. And while Hollywood films were usually stored in climate-controlled facilities, the same wasn’t true for those made by the independents, Wilhelm said.

But then there are the exciting discoveries of films thought to be lost, like 1939’s “Reform School,” a film about prison reform that starred Lewis Beavers as a probation officer. A screening of “Reform School” took place Feb. 4 at the DFT.

“During our research, we were able to find it in the archives and have it restored,” said co-curator Doris Berger, vice president of curatorial affairs at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

The exhibition opens with “Something Good — Negro Kiss,” an 1898 short film that contains the earliest known cinematic depiction of Black intimacy. Combs said this film “serves as a counterbalance” to stereotypical depictions of Black individuals in

Hollywood films.

“It was important for us to bring this moment of celebration and joy forward,” Combs said.

The exhibition features almost 200 historical objects — including photographs, posters, costumes, script pages and magazine covers — as well as relevant contemporary artworks, home movies, newsreels and more. Visitors will also see how Black actors like Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee played an important role in civil rights advocacy.

“Regeneration” was about five years in the making, Berger said.

“Part of our mission (at the Academy Museum) was and still is exploring undervalued topics; this was fitting to our mission,” Berger said.

She said the show was a big success in Los Angeles, so they were happy to be able to bring it to additional audiences in Detroit.

Berger said the exhibition demonstrates agency, resiliency and creativity on the part of the Black filmmaking community, along with “the power of what could have been and should have been” during the decades covered in the exhibition.

Wilhelm is thrilled the “Regeneration” series is coinciding with the DFT’s 50th anniversary year.

“This is a story we (as a museum) wanted to be a part of. … This narrative, this story told by the exhibition needs to be told,” Wilhelm said. “What we want to do is tell (visitors) about this missing part of American cinema and African American history. … I believe cinema is extremely important because it’s a storytelling medium that’s seen by a huge number of people.”

Admission to “Regeneration” is free with regular museum admission, which means it’s free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, said DIA Marketing Director Jessica Carreras. She said admission to the films in the “Regeneration” series is free to everyone.

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C & G NEWSPAPERS MACOMB COUNTY/GROSSE POINTE SPECIAL EDITION • FEBRUARY 28, 2024 6A Contact Us (586) 771-0890 www.stgermaine.org 28250 Rockwood St. Clair Shores, MI 48081 Admissionsplatessa@stgermaine.org Principalcmaciejewski@stgermaine.org Let Your Child grow at St. Germaine Catholic School YOUR KIDS DESERVE THE BEST EDUCATION St. Germaine has been in St. Clair Shores since 1964. We are a focused and thriving Catholic school community. We prepare our students for high school, college and beyond by offering a challenging academic curriculum, incorporating spirituality, athletics, the arts, and social development from three year old preschool through 8th grade. THE ST. GERMAINE DIFFERENCE 0244-2408 GROWING TOGETHER IN FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE Register Your Child Now For The 2024-2025 School Year ✔ Small Class Sizes ✔ Affordable Tuition Rates ✔ Challenging Curriculum ✔ Our Graduates Excel in High School ✔ Dedicated and Supportive Teachers and Staff ✔ Extra-Curricular Activities ✔ Safe Environment and Strong Community ✔ Before and After School Care OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, February 21st 6pm-8pm Saturday, February 24th 11am-1pm
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Effort underway to save St. Germaine Catholic School

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Fundraising is now underway to support a parent-led effort to keep the St. Germaine Catholic School in St. Clair Shores open.

According to an email sent Feb. 13 by principal Colleen Maciejewski to the school’s parents, a proposal was made to save the school, which was slated to close by the end of this academic year.

The proposal was written by Michael Kaddis, a parent at St. Germaine.

“I am grateful to Father Joe, the parish financial council, our Family of Parishes and to the Archdiocese of Detroit for their openness to considering this proposal and granting approval for the group to move forward with the process,” Maciejewski stated in the email.

The Rev. Joe Barron said in a letter, sent on Jan. 16, that the school near Martin Road and Little Mack Avenue has been running at a deficit of around $150,000 for many years. He also stated in the letter that the Our Lady of Hope Parish had been subsidizing the deficit, which was possible due to money gained from the sale of the St. Gertrude Campus, but that the funds have run out.

Barron said the other part of the subsidy was taken from the regular operating budget of the parish “often in lieu of paying other bills.”

Efforts were made to lower this deficit over the years “including low salaries for teachers, fundraisers for textbooks and supplies, etc.,” Barron said in the letter.

Maciejewski said in the email that while this proposal does not guarantee the school will stay open, “it does represent an openness from all parties to explore the possibility together.”

“The focus now shifts to ensuring that all parameters set forth in the proposal are met diligently,” the email said. “This includes significant fundraising, adhering to financial guidelines, and meeting enrollment targets, among other requirements.”

The deadline to meet all requirements is March 1. Information was provided at a meeting for parents on Feb. 15, where the details of the proposal were presented.

John Carlisle, who has a seventh grader at St. Germaine and is also an alumnus of the school, said parents received the email about the proposal on Feb. 13. He said they have been working for weeks to come up with a plan to save the school.

“Now, the archdiocese has given us two weeks to try to save the school, and we think we can do it,” Carlisle said.

There were ongoing meetings between the archdiocese and the parents at St. Germaine before the proposal was announced.

“They set the bar high, but I think we can go higher,” Carlisle said.

He said as of now, they need 150 kids enrolled, $150,000 in donations and $150,000 pledged for the future to save the school.

When the potential closure was announced in January, St. Germaine Catholic School had 163 students enrolled in preschool through eighth grade, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Carlisle said donations were not collected previously because they weren’t officially allowed to ask until now. Contributions can now be made online through the Archdiocese of Detroit’s website.

“It’s like a race,” Carlisle said. “Suddenly, the starter pistol went off and we have to start now. But until we had this agreement in place, we couldn’t ask anyone for anything.”

There are no fundraising events planned as of yet due to the suddenness of the information, Carlisle said.

“This came up very suddenly and so we’re scrambling to react to it and come up with ideas,” Carlisle said. “It’s a fluid situation but I think there will be many opportunities for people to contribute.”

C & G NEWSPAPERS MACOMB COUNTY/GROSSE POINTE SPECIAL EDITION • FEBRUARY 28, 2024 8A Dr. Bergeron has comprehensive education, training, and experience in hospital and clinic-based patient care. She excels in all areas of foot and ankle care with specific training and interest in wound care and foot and ankle surgery (including cutting-edge minimally invasive techniques designed to minimize surgical trauma and help patients recover faster). DR. MEGAN BERGERON, DPM Now Accepting New Patients HOSEYPODIATRY.COM 0117-2408 Specializing In: WOUND CARE•DIABETIC FOOT CARE•HEEL PAIN•FOOT AND ANKLE DEFORMITIES•ANKLE SURGERY CLINTON TOWNSHIP 42550 Garfield Road, Suite 103 Just south of 19 Mile Rd. 586.263.4411 STERLING HEIGHTS 44344 Dequindre Road, Suite 420 Just south of M-59 586.275.3000 MOUNT CLEMENS 253 South Gratiot 1 mile north of Metro Parkway (16 Mile) 586.468.5445 Please call me to set up an appointment! Dr. Megan Bergeron, DPM
ABOVE: Plans to keep the St. Germaine Catholic School open were presented to parents at a meeting on Feb. 15. Photo by Alyssa Ochss LEFT: Parents were notified Jan. 16 of the planned closure at the end of this school year. File photo by Patricia O’Blenes
See ST. GERMAINE on page 11A

from page 1A

in the state, which could be increased to $3, and existing programs could continue with the amount paid into them subtracted from the state-level fee. Protections against water shut-offs would be included and reconnecting to water systems would be reduced from a felony to a civil infraction with community services, with fines added on for repeat violations and felonies applied if metering or backflow devices are damaged.

The bills ultimately aim to enshrine water as a human right into Michigan law.

“What it (SB 25) says is this state would be one of the first states leading on this issue,” said Alice Jennings, an attorney specializing in human rights. “(Michigan) would have the ability to say every single agency in the state government should have a plan on how they are going to (ensure) water as a human right.”

While some speakers discussed the history of the bill, how it would affect Michiganders and how it has changed through negotiations, Christy McGillivray of the Sierra Club used her time to blame underfunded infrastructure as the primary cause of high water costs in Michigan.

“We funded the buildout of our drinking and wastewater infrastructure in the middle of the 20th century with federal dollars,” McGillivray said. “That was a massive investment to build a truly core staple of our infrastructure. … We stopped funding it. Almost all of the funding now for our drinking and wastewater systems comes from individual ratepayers.”

McGillivray argued the program would serve as the first step in a larger plan to overhaul water infrastructure funding by lowering the cost of water.

“We’re going to wind up paying for this anyway,” McGillivray said. “Either we take this kind of giant step forward to pay a little bit to lower costs for everyone, or we are all going to be paying more. That debt isn’t going away and instead of paying for infrastructure and making sure we’re getting input to the system from everyone, all of our bills are going to go up because we’re going to be paying for bad debt.”

Once the speakers finished their remarks, the town hall took on a more participatory tone. On one side there were officials from Mount Clemens who had doubts about how effective the bills would be for city residents.

“(In) systems like ours, most residents are not going to hit the usage requirements to be able to leverage this program,” said City Commissioner Erik Rick. “I am con-

cerned that this is just subsidizing very expensive infrastructure areas with the greatest need and calling it an affordability program. … No matter where the (requirement) cutoffs are there’s going to be folks getting the short end of the stick, but right now Mount Clemens is already in a really rough spot.”

Rick’s concern was that residents would use enough water to qualify for the program while paying higher rates once the city joins the Great Lakes Water Authority. He asked that the bills target “the first gallons people are using instead of the last,” focused on subsiding water use for people in need up to a certain point.

State Rep. Denise Mentzer, D-Mount Clemens, a former city commissioner currently representing the 61st Michigan House District, provided the most vocally passionate arguments against the bills among attendees. Mentzer said she would not support the program unless communities were allowed to opt out of funding the program, funds raised by the program remain local to where they were raised and high-volume water users pay a fee higher than the $2 or $3 a month.

Audience members were more supportive of the bills. A number of those who spoke were receptive to the system as a way to provide access to safe water to all Michiganders.

“If it’s happening to one person, that’s too many,” said Joel Rutherford, a Warren resident and the current chair of Michigan’s 10th Democratic Congressional District. “The idea is that when you get to a point, water is a right. Nobody should have to go without water.”

Another audience member, Clair Drake, took issue with opponents of the bills framing the fee of $2 or $3 as a tax and the program as welfare.

“This is basically insurance,” Drake said. “It’s like your car insurance. … Hopefully you don’t have to use it that much, but if you do need to use it, you want to have the insurance. This is an insurance policy for our community, it’s for our state, because state problems are city problems. If we as a state have a problem with people not being able to shower every day, not being able to drink water safely from home … that’s a city problem.”

Mount Clemens City Manager Gregg Shipman spoke about some of the city’s programs to assist residents who have trouble paying their water bills. The city has shifted to monthly billing to allow residents to better track their water expenses, while radioequipped meters can be checked using a phone app. If a residence has a leak, the city will waive the sewer bills for the leak duration. The city will work with residents on payment plans to ensure bills are paid at the cost of waived fees.

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Eagles

from page 1A

captured the eagles.

“I have yet to confirm if it is the same pair as last year. We won’t know if they have eggs until late March, early April,” she said.

Eagle enthusiasts must keep their distance from the birds.

“The nature center would like to remind readers that they must enjoy the eagle nest from at least 450 feet away, with the best viewing spot on the Overlook Trail. This spot is over 800 feet away, so visitors will need to bring binoculars,” said Schultz.

It’s important that people follow all federal guidelines for viewing them in a way that won’t disturb them. This means staying more than 330 feet away and that drones are prohibited within 1,000 feet of the nest. If the eagles were to be disturbed and feel threatened, they could abandon the nest and young,

The eggs that the eagles were sitting on last year did not hatch.

Zac Polzin, assistant nature interpreter with the Burgess-Shadbush Nature Center, said it is possible that this is the same pair, but they were young the first time they were spotted, so that may be why the eggs didn’t hatch last year.

“If successful at rearing young, American bald eagles are known to remain monogamous and come back annually to the same nest. This was likely to them being a young pair and not sitting on them properly while fending off other eagles. They are still around, but we will have to wait until spring if they try again in the same location,” he said.

For questions regarding the eagles and how best to view them, contact the BurgessShadbush Nature Center at (586) 323-2478 during business hours or email naturecenter@ shelbytwp.org. The Burgess-Shadbush Nature Center is located at 4101 River Bends Drive and is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays.

Call Staff Writer Kara Szymanski at (586) 498-1029.

St. Germaine

from page 8A

He also said the good thing about the situation is that if the school is shut down, the money people donate and the money put down by families that register for the school will be refunded.

“Nobody has anything to lose in this. It’s risk free,” Carlisle said.

He said there is still time to enroll at the school.

“We’re not past that date. There’s plenty of time and all of the other school’s deadlines haven’t hit yet, either,” Carlisle said. “So people do have time still to make this their choice.”

He called the school a second home.

“You can drop your kids off there and

know they’re safe,” Carlisle said. “It’s like dropping them off with family members. Everyone takes care of everyone there.”

He said it’s an atmosphere of kindness and nice behavior, where kids who are different aren’t picked on but protected.

“It’s just a very special place, and that’s why people want so bad to save it,” Carlisle said.

In her email, Maciejewski added, “Together, I am confident that we can overcome any challenges and work toward a bright future for our beloved community.”

To contribute to the St. Germaine Catholic School Fund and support the effort to keep the school open, go to os vhub.com/archdiocese-of-detroit/forms/ stgermainefund.

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