Month: July 2015

Crash victim an 8-year-old Adrian boy

An eight-year old Adrian boy, Dominic Leffler, has been identified as the victim who lost his life in a head-on collision on U.S. 223 west of Blissfield Friday afternoon in Palmyra Township.

According to a news release from the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department, he was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Jacob Leffler, 32, Adrian, that was westbound and allegedly crossed the center line and struck a vehicle driven by Shawn Finley, 22, Adrian. Dominic Leffler, was airlifted to St. Vincent’s Mercy Medical Center where he later died. Morissa Leffler, 27 and Jacob Leffler were also airlifted to St. Vincent’s Mercy Medical Hospital, Toledo. Another passenger in the car, Deegan Leffler, was later taken to St. Vincent’s and is reported in good condition, according to the police news release. Morissa Leffler was in critical condition on Saturday. Morissa Leffler remains in critical condition.

Finley and his passenger, Kendra Teater, were also transported to the hospital. Teater was in critical condition. Four helicopters landed at the scene and transported patients.

Palmyra, Blissfield and Madison townships fire departments all responded as well as the City of Adrian to the scene.
The Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by Blissfield Police and the Michigan State Police. The crash remains under investigation.

Child dies after U.S. 223 head-on crash

Police confirmed Saturday morning that a child has died as a result of a crash on U.S. 223 west of Blissfield in Palmyra Township Friday afternoon. According to Corporal Benjamin Oram of the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department, two vehicles apparently hit head-on in the curve in front of Amerigas, about four-tenths of a mile west of Grosvenor Highway. Four helicopters along with ground ambulances transported six patients to area hospitals.

Sgt. Mike Crater of the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the child had died. Another victim was in surgery Saturday morning. No other information on the victims or the crash is being released until possibly early afternoon, Crater said.

A Michigan State Police accident investigator along with the Palmyra, Blissfield and Madison township fire departments and the City of Adrian Fire Department were at the scene.

The road was closed from about 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Four choppers take victims in Friday U.S. 223 head-on crash

By Melissa Burnor

Two vehicles crashed apparently head-on Friday. In the photo, one of the four helicopters departs with an injured victim. Copyright 2015, River Raisin Publications, Inc.
Two vehicles crashed apparently head-on Friday. In the photo, one of the four helicopters departs with an injured victim. Copyright 2015, River Raisin Publications, Inc.

Five people were transported to hospitals – four by helicopters – after an apparent head-on crash on U.S. 223 west of Grosvenor Highway Friday afternoon. Rescue, fire, and police were dispatched at 2:25 p.m. Witnesses at the scene said a westbound vehicle appeared to cross the center line and struck an eastbound vehicle.
Corporal Benjamin Oram from the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office said a total of five people were transported. One was taken to ProMedica Bixby Hospital, he said. Four other patients were taken in separate helicopters, some with critical injuries. Three helicopters left at approximately 3:20 p.m. A fourth landed after the first three left and took a patient towards Toledo at 3:50 p.m.
Oram said the road would be shut down for a significant amount of time while an accident investigation was conducted. Police had the road shut down for about two hours with traffic able to get through at about 4:30 p.m.
No other information was available.

Blissfield downtown on National Registry of Historic Places

The Blissfield DDA/Main Street has announced that the National Park Service has approved the addition of the downtown Blissfield historic district to the National Registry of Historic Places. On July 10, the director of the National Park Service announced the acceptance of Blissfield’s nomination application.

The official designation on the National Registry of Historic Places means that Blissfield property owners can take advantage of federal tax credits when considering improvements in the district, according to Patricia Rayl, Blissfield DDA/Main Street director.

Blissfield’s district, comprised of 44 contributing buildings, and eight non-contributing buildings, is an unusually large district for the NRHP. A contributing structure means it was built during the “period of significance.”

For Blissfield, the period of significance is between the 1870s and 1960s. The first brick commercial buildings, on what is now the 100-block of West Adrian Street, were erected after a fire in the mid-1870s, and the Jipson-Carter Bank at the corner of Lane and Jefferson Streets was remodeled in 1968.

“This is awesome,” said Barb McHenry, member of the Design Committee. “We, as a village, have known we were worthy of an historic designation. Now, everyone in the United States will know. This means we have even more reason to strive to restore and keep our historic buildings intact. The potential tax break on future historic updates and repairs on these buildings doesn’t hurt, either.”

The NRHP is maintained by the National Park Service, a division of the US. Department of the Interior. Properties in the historic district are eligible for federal historic tax credits.

“Grants from other agencies are also easier to qualify for with the historic designation,” Rayl said. “This means a lot to the future of Blissfield, as many people specifically search out historic places to shop and visit. This gives us huge bragging rights, and a national platform to promote our town.”

The listing on the registry was made possible by a grant from the Michigan Main Street Center. The grant allowed Ruth Mills to be hired to do the research and put the application paperwork together on Blissfield’s behalf. Mills is an architectural historian at Quinn Evans Architects, a firm with offices in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Madison, Wisc., and Washington, DC.

Michigan Main Street Center is a division of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

A couple of festival activities shift spots

As the clock ticks down the the start of the 2015 River Raisin Festival, a few changes have been made to accommodate some activities. According to festival officials, the decision to move the Saturday tractor pulls to the Heritage Tractor Pull site on the south end of Jipson Street was made Tuesday evening. Although they hoped to be able to use some of the west side of the park for loading and unloading tractors to the track, rain Tuesday made that area of the park too wet to use.
Two other changes to keep in mind before attending the festival.
* Bingo by the Blissield Athletic Boosters from 4-8 p.m. Saturday has been moved to the picnic shelter near the shuffleboard courts in Ellis Park.
* The Garden Train sponsored by the Blissfield Model Railroad Club (also open for tours during the festival) will be set up in the pavilion near the Ellis Park playground west of the softball diamonds.

Please check back with www.blissfieldadvance.com or www.blissfield.net for more updates.

River Raisin floodwaters receding

As the River Raisin continues to recede remnants of the flood still remain. As of 3:30 a.m. Thursday the river was still about 3.5 inches above its banks in Blissfield, according to readings reported by the National Weather Service. It is predicted the river will drop another eight inches by 6 p.m. today. Several large logs still remain near the U.S. 223 bridge with one very large log that appears to be approximately three feet in diameter wedged along the south side of the bridge. The current reading available of the river puts it at 682.3 feet above sea level.

Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson Kari Arend said motorists can expect the bridge to remain at two lanes for at least two days.

“The water has to recede enough for us to get under and inspect the bridge,’ she said.

The north side of the bridge especially needs a thorough inspection according to Arend.

MDOT opened up just two lanes of the four-lane bridge Tuesday on the south side only with one lane for both eastbound and westbound traffic.

By police order, Bachmayer and Ellis parks remain closed until further notice. Blissfield Police Chief Dale Greenleaf said even though the water is receding it does not mean the parks are fit to use.

“Everything needs to be washed down and decontaminated,” he said. Equipment and structures need to be inspected.

Greenleaf said the park is closed to vehicles and pedestrians as long as the police lines are across the entrances.

“We will move as quickly as we can,” he said to reopen the facilities.

Arend echoed the same sentiment for the bridge.

“We are at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Arend said.