The West Bloomfield High School Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 17 was alive with the sound of strings from the school district’s orchestra students and a Grammy-award winning musician. Students from West Bloomfield High School, Abbott Middle School and Orchard Lake Middle School joined Mark O’Connor, a renowned violinist, fiddler and composer, for a special concert program entitled “An American Festival,” a show that was part of a contest won by Abbott students. “The concert was [...]

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has approved a number of recommendations from the township’s Personnel Committee, including reinstating the elections specialist/coordinator position. The board’s decision was made at a Monday, Dec. 12 meeting. In a letter to the committee, Township Clerk Cathy Shaughnessy stated that she chose not to fill the elections specialist/coordinator post when it was vacated three years ago, but that duties in the Clerk’s Office have increased since then. Shaughnessy [...]

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees held a special budget meeting on Monday, Nov. 28, where it was determined that there would be no furlough days for township employees in 2012. The township has observed nine furlough days throughout 2011. The board also approved the township’s drug forfeiture fund budget. Yet to be approved for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget year, which begins Jan. 1, 2012, are the general fund, public safety fund, [...]

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees on Monday, Nov. 14 approved a moratorium on any future purchases or upgrades to the township’s computer software pending a full evaluation of the Information Technology (IT) Department following recent computer server issues. The township’s e-mail system crashed on Sept. 29 and after being requested by the board last month, Township Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste presented a summary report put together by township IT Director Mark Osinski, as [...]

West Bloomfield Township residents approved a renewal and an increase of the township’s public safety millage by authorizing two separate ballot questions during the township’s Tuesday, Nov. 8 election. Township voters approved a 10-year renewal of the township’s existing public safety millage at its current rate of 3.1378 mills, with 7,589 votes in favor (80.61 percent) and 1,825 votes against it (19.39 percent). Voters also approved an 11-year increase in the public safety millage of [...]

An incumbent and a newcomer were elected to fill two West Bloomfield Board of Education seats during the school district’s Tuesday, Nov. 8 election. Current board Treasurer Nelson Hersh was re-elected with 2,416 votes (28.37 percent), which was tops among all candidates. Hersh was first elected to the school board in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. Joining him will be Carol Finkelstein, an Orchard Lake resident who earned 1,860 votes (21.84 percent). Finkelstein will [...]

A Monday, Nov. 7 fight between a freshman male student and junior male student at West Bloomfield High School resulted in a female school security staff member being taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. According to Officer Chuck Mendum, the school’s liaison for West Bloomfield Police, the staff member was apparently inadvertently struck when she tried to intervene. Mendum said when she got in the middle of the fight, she took a couple [...]

West Bloomfield Township police officers, along with members of the South Oakland Narcotics/Intelligence Consortium (SONIC), have arrested two suspects that were allegedly responsible for 25 home invasions in West Bloomfield. The suspects, 30-year-old Jhermack Means of West Bloomfield and 26-year-old Paul Schwartz of Waterford Township, were arrested on Thursday, Nov. 3 after allegedly breaking into a home in West Bloomfield and coming out of the house with goods in hand. Both men were under surveillance [...]

The West Bloomfield Township Parks and Recreation Commission approved its 2012 operating budget at a commission meeting held on Thursday, Oct. 27. According to updated ledgers provided by the commission, West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation’s proposed 2012 budget projects total revenues of about $4.7 million, while the total amount of expenditures is projected at $5.41 million, leaving a $745,445 deficit and decreasing the department’s fund balance from $2.87 million to $2.12 million. Among the biggest [...]

The West Bloomfield Educational Foundation (WBEF) awarded $10,000 in grants at the West Bloomfield Schools Board of Education meeting on Oct. 24. Prior to the meeting, the WBEF reviewed 41 grant applications that were submitted by a deadline of Oct. 7. Out of the 41 application, 16 were awarded funding. The biggest grant was for $2,500 and was awarded for a project called “E-books for Kids.” The money will be split with Ealy, Scotch and [...]