End of the beginning? For years, Matty Moroun has gotten away with virtually anything he wanted, from illegally seizing part of a city park to buying off legislators to prevent construction of a new, badly needed, internationally owned bridge.

Last week, however, something happened he wasn't expecting, thanks to a hero I've never met, Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards. For a year, Moroun and his goons have contemptuously ignored a court order to demolish illegal structures he built on land he does not own. When Dan Stamper, Moroun's top employee, showed up in court, the judge threw him in jail for a few hours.

Edwards didn't let him out till crews showed up to begin work agreed to in the bridge company's contract with the state. That doesn't mean the battle is over. The Ambassador Bridge mogul keeps losing in federal and state courts, but fair play is not in his vocabulary. Moroun, an 83-year-old billionaire, has repeatedly shown he'll do anything he can to serve his greed at the expense of the public interest. Yet finally, someone in authority stood up to him. Next time, let's hope some judge puts Moroun himself in the slam, not merely the Mouth of Sauron.

That would be worth living long enough to see.

> Email Jack Lessenberry