7/30/2019 News-Herald Front Page May 15

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By Paul RodmanThe News-Herald

SOUTHGATE Theskies might have been grayand overcast, but spiritswere bright and sunny asgardeners kicked off the2013 gardening seasonSaturday morning with avisit to The News-HeraldNewspapers Dig It!Spring Perennial Exchange.

As usual, folks beganshowing up hours before the scheduled 9 a.m. starting time

to get a head start on swapping plants.This was a family affair children in wagons and fam-

ily dogs on leashes prowled the parking lot at the newspa-pers offices at One Heritage Place for that perfect plant.

The morning chill was eased by hot coffee and dough-nuts courtesy of The News-Herald.

Many said that the quality and variety of the plants thisyear were some of the best ever seen at an exchange.

Wayne County master gardeners were on hand to answerquestions and help folks identify plants.

Business was brisk at the master gardener heirloomtomato sale at which more than 30 varieties of tomatoeswere offered.

New for sale this year were worm castings, organic soilamendments guaranteed to give plants a kick start. A hand-

Chilly weatherdoesnt detergardeners fromplant swap

By Alan BurdziakThe News-Herald

DETROIT Authoritiesstill are gathering evidence in

the investigation into an acci-dent Sunday at the JeffersonAvenue drawbridge over theRouge River, Coast Guard Lt.Justin Westmiller said yester-day.

At this point, all possibleoutcomes are still available,he said.

A drawbridge operator hasbeen suspended for allegedlybeing drunk on the job afterthe bridge was closed prema-turely and slammed into a

passing freighter early Sundaymorning.

The bridge over the RougeRiver at the Detroit-RiverRouge city limits sustained

heavy damage and will beclosed indefinitely to vehicleand pedestrian traffic as theArmy Corps of Engineersworks to assess the dam-age, said Cindy NoceriniDingell, deputy chief operat-ing officer for the WayneCounty Department of PublicServices.

No one was injured in theincident. A foreman took theoperator, a 45-year-old woman,for drug and alcohol testing

and then sent her home. Shewill be suspended pending theoutcome of the investigation,Dingell said.

The Coast Guard will lead

the investigation and willwork with the county and theDetroit Police Department.The toxicology screen reportwill be key to whether theoperator will face any charges,Westmiller said.

This investigation is alittle bit unique so were tak-ing it slow and methodical,Westmiller said. As moreinformation arises, well besure to release it.

Dingell also was cautious in

her comments.Until we get the results of

the test, its premature to saywhat will happen, she saidyesterday.

The operator, a 17-yearcounty employee, allegedlywas intoxicated at about 2:15a.m. when she lowered thebridge as a 670-foot freightercarrying 23,000 tons of iron orewas passing underneath.

The Herbert C. Jackson,owned by Interlake Steamship,has minor damage, accordingto the Coast Guard.

A top-to-bottom inspection

The Voice of Downriver North Zone Edition

Southgate, Michigan 48195 Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Downriver

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Wednesdays Weather Inside The News-Herald

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Downriver Life . . . . . . . . . .1-D

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Photo by Alan

Burdziak

TheJeffersonAvenue

bridge overthe RougeRiver at thecity limits ofDetroit andRiver Rougeis closedindefinitelyafter it washeavily dam-aged when ithit a 670-footfreighterSundaymorning.

Photo by Joe Slezak

Firefighters salute before Brian Woehlkes casket is removed from the hearse before his funeral Monday inDearborn. See additional photos on Page 15-A.

Coast Guard: All possible outcomes are stillavailable in drawbridge accident investigation

PLEASE SEE BRIDGE/2-A

By Jackie Harrison-MartinThe News-Herald

DEARBORN Many people whoknew Brian Woehlke, and an over-whelming number of those who didnot, took time away from everythinggoing on in their lives Monday tostand side-by-side to honor him.

Hundreds packed his funeral ser-vice and lined the streets in salute ofthe 29-year-old father and husbandwho died last Wednesday battling astrip mall fire in Westland.

They also were there in support ofJennifer Woehlke, Brians wife, andtheir 13-month-old daughter, Ava.

Jennifer Woehlke is a second-grade teacher at Hunter Elementary

School in the Gibraltar SchoolDistrict. District officials havepledged to support her and herdaughter however possible.

Just about every fire departmentin the Downriver area was represent-ed in an elaborate funeral processionthat took place after a service atthe Church of the Divine Child inDearborn.

The procession came to an end atnearby St. Hedwig Cemetery, whereWoehlke, who had only been with theWayne-Westland Fire Departmentfor 10 months, was laid to rest.

Several fire chiefs expressed theirthoughts after paying their respects.

Eleven firefighters fromBrownstown Township, including

Fire Chief Jeff Drouillard, werein attendance. Drouillard saidwhat people saw Monday was thetrue spirit of firefighters, who area brotherhood and support oneanother. He said it was especiallyimportant to stand together with afallen firefighter who was local.

This was pretty somber,Drouillard said. There are a lot oftraditional things firefighters do thatwere put in place.

Drouillard said there were bagpip-ers playing, as they do in a full fire-fighter funeral service, and firefight-ers saluted at the proper time whenthe hearse came out of the church.

Outpouring of respect, supportshown at firefighters funeral

PLEASE SEE PLANTS/2-A

PLEASE SEE FUNERAL/2-A

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