Longtime teacher wants to go out at top of her game See Page 1-B

Students bring Supervisor didnt say appointee too clean drinking water to Haiti old to serve See Page 3-B See Page 3-A

Lacrosse coach built successful athletic program See Page 1-C

VOL. 62, NO. 1

Saline Reporter
THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2013
Virtually every organization and agency within Washtenaw County responded in some way to the Dexter tornado.

The

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Council OKs Faurecia tax break

By Jim Pruitt
Heritage Media

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Make sure to click on www.heritage.com around the clock for the most in-depth coverage. See our Most Viewed story, Video Game Review: Is The Walking Dead really the game of the year?

Concerns over how the elimination of the personal property tax could affect tax abatements nearly derailed a request by Faurecia in Saline. The Saline City Council eventually approved the request unanimously, but not without some conversation over the merits of awarding a tax break in light of new legislation recently passed in the lameduck session of the Legislature. Council members had to be convinced the city was not cutting its own throat by approving the request. Faurecia, which purchased the former Automotive Components Holdings plant on Michigan Avenue earlier this year, plans to invest more than $85 million into the site by June 1, 2014, according to city documents. The investment will modernize the facility and enable the company to better serve its customers, namely Ford Motor Co. The city extended several tax abatements Faurecia inherited from ACH in October. The agreement will give the company a 50 percent tax break on its investment, despite the company not planning on hiring any new employees. The plant will likely shed about 800 workers through buyouts, retirements and other options to get down to the preferred level about 1,100 workers. No one will be booted from the plant, Faurecia officials say. Some on the City Council were concerned about recent legislation the Republican-controlled Legislature passed. The new law sets out to eliminate personal property taxes, which is revenue collected on furniture and equipment at a business.
PLEASE SEE FAURECIA/3-A

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Mural connects Saline school, community

Heritage Medias Top 12 stories of 2012

Dexter tornado No. 1 story across county
By Sean Dalton
Heritage Media

The people living in the Dexter area have built a community by forging bonds to improve their overall quality of life and to make the area a great place to live not to prepare for any major disaster. All the same, the communitys strength played a key role in the immediate reaction to and recovery from the devastating F3 tornado that touched down on March 15 and damaged more than 200 homes, some of

which are still in the process of being rebuilt or repaired. The tornado and the communitys response make it Heritage Medias No. 1 story of 2012. Virtually every organization and agency within Washtenaw County responded in some way, proving the communitys strength and laying the groundwork for future emergency response not just in Dexter, but across Washtenaw County. You dont think about where you are going to store the 100 cases of water that Lowes wants to give you, said Assistant Village Manager Courtney Nicholls. Managing donated resources, directing eager volunteers (or holding them back initially when their helpfulness could

put them in harms way), reaching residents when your electronic means of communication are hamstrung by lost power these are some of the experiences that local government officials have learned from. The hope is that there wont be another incident of such magnitude in the county, but the Dexter area and its partners in the tornado response at the Washtenaw County Sheriff s Office, the Michigan State Police and the county government walked away wiser and more prepared. One example is we have our server for email off site so when the power (in the village) goes down, we can access it
PLEASE SEE TOP/2-A

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Mural extension taking shape at SHS

By Jim Pruitt
Heritage Media

Typically when students are spotted painting on the walls at school, there is cause for concern. But at Saline High School, painting on walls leads to good grades. In teacher Janet Hughes mural class, students are hard at work completing the second section of a mural project that began five years ago. When the new high school opened, the walls were all white, so the idea was to create a mural about the community, Hughes said. She talked to the school

administrators, baseboards were added and the mural project was approved. The first panel was devoted to the city of Saline and featured many homes, businesses and landmarks in the area, including the Curtiss Mansion, Dairy Queen and Rentschler Farm. Turning the corner on the first floor hallway off the main entrance at the school, students can be seen filling in the lines of the second section. We knew we wanted to stay with the community, but this time we wanted the community and the school, Hughes said.
PLEASE SEE MURAL/3-A

Jamie Rudisill (left) and Rachel Hysong (on ladder) work with other students on a new mural at Saline High School.
Photo by Jim Pruitt

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