Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 2

WEDNESDAY August 4, 1999 nEdON-STATE I DETROIT Teachers complain to David Adamany about working conditions, pace 6b NOVI PRIMARY ELECTION Challengers to face off in November, pace 3b Roadwork Faith Charity2 RegionState Obituaries ON THE WEB www.freep.com phone 248-586-2600 Section 01II1 1 Mama i AN INSIDE TRACK Storied avenue labeled a Michigan Heritage Road; plans in works for continuous identity from Detroit to Pontiac WOODWARD WINNER HISTORIC ROADWAY style cited in ouster Some on Troy council felt left out 0 Royal Oak: Shrine of the Little Flower, founded in 1926, now Pontiac: General Motors Truck Assembly Plant I. 1 I BirnisnghamA I vNj I I Mile VCV tiwm Hjnlmtiton Or Wr, 1 WmSs Park By AMBER ARELLANO FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Troy City Manager James Bacon's handling of two. high-profile cases the General Motors tax abatement and a proposed theater were typical of problems that led the City Council to dismiss him Monday night, In both cases, some council members contended that Bacon acted with little input from the council or without advising them of his decisions. In the GM case, for example, Bacon discussed Warren's proposed $90-million tax abatement with GM representatives and recommended that Troy approve the deal without notifying the council, one member said Tuesday. The council voted it down twice.

"Some of our guys felt it wasn't his job to recommend that," said Anthony Pallotta, one of the two council members who voted not to oust Bacon. The vote was 5-2 to fire him. "Maybe it was just some people's egos that got to them," Pallotta said in reference to other council members. At least four council members expressed surprise about the move to oust Bacon, despite months-long rumblings about his performance. Tom Kaszubski and Henry Allemon, who supported the ouster, said they were i ciyni mile Ferndala City claims to have observed 'R 1 i Memorial Dav for the Al- me- Innnocttimo in motrn m-- VT Hand Detroit, since at least rf I i 1919- 17 mr Detroit: Between 6 (Mileand7Mile The Dt'irtlt first mile of concrete I iLj.

ty I highway in the world, I T1 -J -paved in 1909. U-V 81 By BRIAN BALLOU FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Woodward Avenue, metro Detroit's main drag, may get a top-to-bottom face-lift in the new millennium as a way to attract more tourists, county and state road officials said Tuesday. 'Jim DeSana, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, said he hopes to have a landscape architect draw up plans that would give Woodward "some sense of consistency" or a continuous identity to link it from Detroit to Pontiac. He made the comments during the unveiling of a sign that will label the famed avenue a Michigan Heritage Road. The storied 28-mile stretch of road might be outfitted with unified light poles, benches or landscaping.

"We're hoping to attract tourists, but we also want to attract people to the communities that line Woodward," DeSana said. On Woodward, there are more than 350 historic and cultural sites and major events, as well as 42 historic churches. "Woodward is important from a historical perspective, but now we have to look to the future to continue to make Woodward a tourist destination," said Paul Tajt, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. The ceremony, attended by the mayors of four cities along Woodward, MDOT officials and Wdodward Dream Cruise repre- sentatives, was held yards from Woodward Avenue at Memorial Park in Pleasant Ridge. -Five roads in the state have been named Michigan Heritage owtes.

Woodward is the first ilSJan road to be named. An application for the title was filed last December and Gov. John Engler made it official this year. Woodward will be listed as a Michigan Heritage Road on all state maps. L.

Jn October, Congress des-. ignated Woodward as a National Automotive Heritage Area along with a handful of other historic automotive-related sites in southeast Michigan. latest designation gives Woodward the inside track on federal grant money, said Russell Lewis of the Oakland County Planning and Development Department. rankings," Lewis said. "We re- cently applied for a national scenic highway grant.

Our chances to get it improves with this distinction." Department director Jeff Kaczmarek recalled squealing his tires on Woodward in Royal Oak as a teen. "This is just the beginning of the process. We have to work National Shrine, a distinction given to the church last September by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. 0 Detroit Most Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. The Norman Gothic structure at Belmont was completed In 1915 and was the site of a September 1987 visit by Pope John Paul II.

Lisa Brzezinski works on directional signs Tuesday at the sign shop of the Royal Oak Department of Public Service. The signs are being prepared for the Woodward Dream Cruise later this month. A total of 64 signs will be placed by the city on Woodward between 8 Mile and 16 Mile. BECKDetroit Free Press The Dream Cruise, billed as the largest classic car cruise in the world, will be held on Woodward on Aug. 2L BRIAN BALLOU can be reached at 248-586-2617 or balloufreepress.com.

Notable sites along Woodward Avenue, now a Michigan Heritage Road: Bloomfield Hills 1 In 1904, George and Ellen Booth purchased a rundown farm which they named Cranbrook, now home to the Cranbrook Institute of Science. Highland Park: Ford plant opened in 1910 when Henry Ford began production of the Model T. together to keep Woodward a strong and viable corridor in the future," he said. DeSana said the 2-mile stretch of Wide Track in Pontiac that used to be part of Woodward will once again be Famous lefties President Bill Clinton Former President George Bush Ludwig van Beethoven 4 Pablo Picasso Oprah Winfrey LJ f. Source: Free Press research 't I lv, tontiac Hills I Fourteen Mile Twelve ff er ers WHAT'S NEXT The Troy City Council's dis- missal Monday of City Manager James Bacon leaves the city government lacking i day-to-day leadership at a piv- otal point.

The city is making decisions, among others, about how to develop a 1 24- acre civic center with stores, an arts theater and other amenities. The council is expected to call a meeting this week to appoint an interim manager i while it searches for a replace- I ment. The council must vote I publicly to approve a new hire. shocked when John Stevens initiated the' vote at the end of an otherwise sleepy council meeting. "There were four votes ahead of me in favor of the vote, so I just said Kaszubski said.

"I don't believe a manager can manage with that kind of split." Pallotta said Bacon was earning about $115,000 a yearThe council, in firing Bacon on Monday night, agreed to give him six months' worth of pay. The city is in the process of deciding the future of major projects, including the building of a community center and development of a 124-acre civic center Please see TROY, Page 4B checked. The best advice for swimmers? "Use your senses your eyes, your nose to make an informed decision," Robert Long, the health division's chief of special services, suggested Tuesday. "If anything looks irregular, don't use it." Those willing to take on a little leg work may also collect water samples and submit them to a county lab for a free analysis. Wayne, Macomb and St.

Clair counties test their beaches at least once a week through Labor Day, but Oakland County has too many beaches for that, Long said The only way the county manages to test its beaches at all is by Please see BEACH, Page 3B ed world are real, and often pain ful. Goldsmith, 43, counts himself among the positive thinkers. Lefties, he says, "are capable of doing anything." Registration for the weekend is not -necessary, but for more information, call 248-615-2500 or visit the Left Hand Publishing Web site at www.lefthandpublishing.com. JULIE EDGAR can be reached at 248- BRIAN DICKERSON'S COLUMN WILL RETURN Jv i County finishes tests at beaches PATRICIA known as Woodward Avenue. Angela Brown-Wilson, a representative of Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, said the mayor is known for talking about building bridges, but Woodward "bridges together communities." Leonardo da Vinci Paul McCartney Marilyn Monroe Ringo Starr Larry Bird Martina Navratilova Swimmers left to gauge safety with their senses By ERIN LEE MARTIN FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Finding a beach in Oakland County is easy, but making sure its water is bacteria-free will be a lot harder this month.

The Oakland County Health Division wrapped up its summer beach testing program Tuesday, leaving residents to figure out for themselves whether dozens of swimming areas are safe to use. The county will test the season's worst offenders a few more times, administrators said, but the bulk of 350 public and private swimming areas will go un alley and, for many, bask in total acceptance. Aside from the baseball game Aug. 13 seats are in left field the clinics will be free. "I jokingly say you can't get 10 left-handers in a room unless you have 90 right-handers in the way," said Jeff Goldsmith of Far-mington-based Left Hand Publishing, sponsor of the event.

Goldsmith, who has written two books on left-handedness and puts out a quarterly newsletter, lacks the militancy of other lefthanders who contend that business and government ought to make special concessions for the nation's estimated 30 million lefthanders. But he says the tribulations of being left-handed in a right-hand LEFTY FACTS AND FAMOUS SOUTHPAWS Southpaws won't be left out u- 1 1 to 1 3 percent of Americans and Europeans are left-handed. Asians and Hispanics are less likely to be left-handed than whites, blacks or Native Americans. 7 Men are likelier than women to be left-nanaea. Gilbert and 11 yvysockt, 1992 study of 1 .7 million U.S.

citizens. National convention coming Aug. 13-14 By JULIE EDGAR FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER No more stray elbows in the ribs and banishment to Siberia at the end of the table. For one weekend, at least, lefties won't be subject to such indignities. Throngs of southpaws will converge Aug.

13-14 in metro Detroit for the 24th annual International Left-Handers Day. They'll get tips on golfing, baseball, tennis and handwriting, take in a Tigers game, compete on the football field and at the bowling I mi Babe Ruth Steve Young 1 v- 4.