NEWSPAPERS n o i t i d E l a i c e p S
MAY 29, 2024 candgnews.com
Oakland County papers
Volunteers and staff at Spaulding for Children help make a past holiday party at First Baptist Institutional Church in Detroit a great time for foster children and families. Photos provided by Spaulding for Children
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard addresses a May 13 town hall meeting at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills.
Sheriff hosts town hall to address high-end home robberies BY MARK VEST mvest@candgnews.com
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — A recent town hall meeting drew more attention to an issue that has been a source of concern for some Oakland County residents going back at least as far as last year. More than 200 people attended a meeting at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills May 13 to address concerns about international organized gangs that have been targeting affluent neighborhoods in the county, according to a press release from state Rep. Donni Steele. “Obviously, the Bloomfields have been very much in the crosshairs, Birmingham, Novi, Franklin,
Farmington, Hills, Oakland Township, Rochester. I mean, you can name a bunch of them, but, obviously, the Bloomfields have been very much part of the targeting,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at the event. He said that two teams have been arrested in Oakland County. “All seven were from Chile and violated the Visa Waiver Program.” He said that just the Chilean gangs alone are estimated to have more than 100 teams in the country of three-six people each. He said they study homes with cameras and trail cams to research their targets. “Sometimes they’ve used trackers on cars, and See SHERIFF on page 7A
Foster Care Month highlights need for loving homes, support for foster children BY MARY BETH ALMOND malmond@candgnews.com
METRO DETROIT — Around 10,000 children in Michigan are currently in foster care, but the need for loving homes remains constant. Foster mom Michele Austin decided to open up a foster closet in her own home in 2013 to give other foster families access to items that she knew foster kids needed. “When my very first foster child came to me, he didn’t have anything, so I started talking to family and friends and opened up the closet in my home to help other foster families,” she said. The closet grew by leaps and bounds, and in 2018 the See FOSTER on page 10A