Community Corner

Around the Mitten This Week: MEAP Scores, F-16 Jets on Display, Senator Charged Up About His Chevy Volt

Here's a look of what went on across the region this week, fromhow every community's schools did on the MEAP tests to the opening of the Selfridge Military Air Museum.

Here's a roundup of some of the news and features throughout southeast Michigan in the past week:

MEAP Results Show Ups, Downs, Trends

School districts around Metro Detroit analyzed the results of the MEAP scores released this week. The Fall 2010 results provide comparisons from year to year and school to school on how many students are showing "proficiency" in certain academic subjects. In the   students showed a higher level of proficiency in every grade level and every subject than students statewide, while percentages of students meeting standards were up and down from 2009 to 2010, depending on age and category.  In  looking at the trends of MEAP data gave school  officials a reason to cheer – math proficiency for eighth-graders has risen from 79 percent to 89 percent over the past six years. , eighth-grade math scores also went up significantly from 2009, while reading scores declined a bit.  Check out your own Patch for specifics by district.

Dearborn Patch caught up with outgoing Miss USA Rima Fakih, a Dearborn native and the first Arab American to win the title. As Fakih prepares to pass on the crown this June, she's looking ahead to a trip to Lebanon with her family, as well as a spot on the TV show Tough Enough.

Find out what's happening in Rochester-Rochester Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Have you ever wanted to sit inside an F-16 jet? The   in Harrison Township lets visitors do just that. The museum, which opened Saturday, also features 31 full-size vintage military aircraft from World War I to present day, plus an assortment of military vehicles and missiles. The museum is open on weekends until the end of October, except for when the air show takes place in late August.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) picked up his new four-door, silver Chevy Volt on Friday from LaFontaine Chevrolet in Dexter. Levin, who waited six months to receive his electric car,  said he was eager to drive a new American car with "future technology." The Volt carries a price tag of $41,000 to $43,000.

Find out what's happening in Rochester-Rochester Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

For 43 years, the same family has owned and operated the Paint Creek Market in downtown Goodison. Now, four generations – from 14 to 84 years old – take turns manning the counter at the convenience store, which is a fixture in the community.

A plan to close three Catholic elementary schools – two of them in Wyandotte – and merge them into a new consolidated school in Lincoln Park continued to draw criticism from some Wyandotte residents. About 75 people took their protests downtown to the Archdiocese of Detroit, hoping to halt the merger that's set to take place at the end of the school year.

A new resale boutique for plus-sized women celebrated its grand opening last week in downtown Clawson. Catering to women sizes 12-32, the store offers everything from formal dresses, fancy shoes and blouses to jewelry and purses. 

 

Shelby Township police, parents and schools are on extremely high alert after a strange man approached a fourth child Friday morning and offered the youngster a ride home from school. Residents pitched in on the comments area of the story to contribute exact times and places the man has been seen, and a martial arts studio has offered free seminars to help parents and their children know how to defend themselves against threats. 

In Trenton, tough decisions on the city budget could lead to the layoffs of  three firefighters and four other city employees. Trenton Mayor Gerald Brown submitted his proposed budget last week;  City Council will discuss more at Monday's meeting. 

Before Eva Marie Evola's husband built her a soundproof rehearsal space in their Macomb home, she would stay up until 2 and 3 a.m., long after her three young kids had gone to bed, rehearsing in the home's laundry room. Now the budding opera singer will be performing the role of Ceprano in the Michigan Opera Theatre's production of Rigoletto at the Detroit Opera House this May. 

A Craigslist car trade that went bad resulted in gun shots and an arrest early in the week in Ferndale. The altercation took place after a man wouldn't undo a trade that took place via Craigslist, and the argument escalated to gun fire. No one was injured, but a Detroit resident was arrested and is being arraigned on charges of felonious assault.

 

Drivers on Woodward Avenue will be reminded of the road's pedigree with a batch of new signs planted along the historic avenue naming it "An American Road." The signs were funded by the Woodward Avenue Action Association. Woodward Avenue joins Route 66 and New Mexico's Santa Fe Trail as a road of national importance: Woodward's history predates the city, stretching back when it was the main route between the settlements that would become Detroit and Pontiac.

The Royal Oak school board narrowed its search for the next superintendent to five candidates Friday afternoon. All candidates are Michigan administrators in public school districts. Interviews begin April 11.

The Fenton Hotel Tavern & Grille is known for its fine cuisine – and its spirits. And we aren't talking about the kind behind the bar. There have been unexplained voices, traveling cold spots, phantom contact and hair pulls. 

From inside a locked bedroom, a Brighton Township homeowner called police Thursday to quietly report someone was breaking into her home. State police troopers said they arrived to find a man in the woman's living room. They arrested the 20-year-old from the Brighton area, and found items from the home in his possession.


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