Thursday, March 7, 2013
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the sale did not take action following the State Supreme Court's refusal to hear their appeal.
More than a year and a half after Farmington Public Schools officials approved the sale of the former Eagle Elementary School building to the Islamic Cultural Association, the district has collected $1.1 million in sale proceeds. Assistant Superintendent David Ruhland confirmed Wednesday that the funds were transferred to the district a little more than three weeks after the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lawsuit filed by two district residents. In September of 2011, plaintiffs Eugene Greenstein and Melvyn Sternfeld filed a lawsuit, claiming they would be negatively impacted because they live near the property located in the northwest corner of 14 Mile and Middlebelt Road. Sternfeld, a real estate broker, argued …
42.52895
-83.34051
W 14 Mile Rd & Middlebelt Rd, Farmington Hills, MI
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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Attorney Robert Davis says a high court appeal is under consideration.
After the recent denial of their appeal to an appellate court ruling, the plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the sale of a Farmington Public Schools building to the Islamic Cultural Association (ICA) may take their case to the state's highest court. In an email to Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch, attorney Robert Davis said plaintiffs are looking at asking the Michigan Supreme Court to hear the case. "At the same time," he wrote, "we are continuing to oppose local zoning approvals." Davis represents Eugene Greenstein of Farmington Hills and Melvin Sternfeld of West Bloomfield, who last year sued Farmington Public Schools over the sale. The former Eagle Elementary School building on 14 Mile Road west of Middlebelt Road was sold in November to …
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Camelot Venture Group says the social media giant stole its idea for a button that allows consumers to add items to a virtual wish list.
Farmington Hills private investment group Camelot Venture Group is suing Facebook over a technology that lets Web users create a virtual wish list. PC Magazine reported in October that Facebook confirmed it is testing a "Want" button. Camelot Ventures Group says the feature duplicates its wantbutton.com, released in 2010, which allows companies to build a "Want" button into their websites. The company's website links to a 2011 Business Insider article on wantbutton.com and its creators, Lucky Lefty Group, who told a reporter they were inspired by Facebook's "Like" button. Their "Want" button allows consumers to create wish lists of items from more than 200 participating websites and to follow other wish lists. "The fledgling company is …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Yesterday's oral arguments in the Michigan Court of Appeals lasted just about 20 minutes, Farmington Schools assistant superintendent David Ruhland said.
Farmington Public Schools and the residents suing the district over the sale of the Eagle Elementary School property may know as soon as early October whether a circuit court ruling that dismissed the case will be upheld. The Michigan Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case yesterday morning. Farmington Schools Assistant Supt. David Ruhland attended. "There honestly isn't too much to share," he said. "The oral arguments only lasted a total of 20 minutes." Ruhland said the judges "made it very clear that they were famliar with the briefs that had been filed and understood the facts of the case, and that this was a single issue case, and that was whether or not the plaintiffs had standing." Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Rae …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Michigan Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments at 10 a.m.
Attorneys representing Farmington Schools and residents Eugene Greenstein and Melvin Sternfeld will be back in court Wednesday morning, over the controversial sale of Eagle Elementary School to the Islamic Cultural Association. Greenstein and Sternfeld asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to review the case, after Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Rae Lee Chabot dismissed the case, ruling the two did not demonstrate they would be harmed by sale of the closed building. The suit alleges that retired FPS director of operational services Cheryl Cannon misled Sternfeld when she said that Eagle was not for sale and represented the building as scheduled for demolition, even after the ICA offer. The plaintiffs claimed they would be negatively …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jill Babcock's suit aims to force the state and the owner of Cadillac Place to comply with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Farmington resident Jill Babcock's lawsuit over handicapped access issues at a state-leased building in Detroit alleges a list of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations that her attorney calls "remarkable" Cadillac Place, leased by the State of Michigan and renovated in 2002, houses Babcock's employer, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Governor's office and a number of state commissions, including Disability Concerns. Farmington Hills attorney Richard Bernstein, a noted disability rights advocate who represents her in the lawsuit, said the barriers faced by his client and others include: Even given all that, Babcock said she was willing to work with her employer to get things …
Jill Babcock says the City of Farmington immediately made accommodations when she was appointed to the planning commission. She can't say the same thing about her employer.
Attend a Farmington Planning Commission meeting, and you'll likely see commissioner Jill Babcock, who uses a wheelchair, roll up a ramp to the dais. "I commend the City of Farmington," she said. "From my first meeting, I was met with this inclusive attitude that amazes me." But while the city made sure accommodations were in place, Babcock is still waiting for her employer, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), to do the same. A senior research specialist, she was transferred from Lansing to Cadillac Place in Detroit last fall and quickly found obstacle after obstacle as she tried to get to work. (Read more about the lawsuit and alleged violations.) She tried for months to get the problems fixed, but after she received an …
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Technologically advanced traffic signals which aid the blind and people with disabilities could come to roundabouts as part of the Northwestern Connector project, per the settlement.
Oakland County roads officials agreed to seek approval to install technologically advanced traffic signals at a West Bloomfield roundabout as a result of settlement of a lawsuit contending that pedestrians with disabilities are at danger without such devices. Attorney Richard Bernstein, who lives in Birmingham and has offices in Farmington Hills, contended in the lawsuit that blind and disabled pedestrians were at danger. The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) on Thursday agreed with Bernstein, and said it would seek approval from state and federal traffic organizations on installing High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) beacons at the roundabout at the intersection of 14 Mile and Farmington roads. The move could lead to the …
Sue Burstein
2:12 pm on Sunday, March 10, 2013
@ Art, and @ Darren...just wondering if "persepctive" has anything to do with how these articles are written. Joni is a liberal, and has written that she is a liberal. That is fine, we are all entitled. But, lets face it, our "bent" overshadows how we write even "just the fact, m'aam" articles. When she was with the Observer, and now with the Patch, they were/are always in the tank for whatever … more ›