Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • 10

Local $State 2B Wednesday, January 1, 2003 Lansing State Journal www.lsj.com Man charged with killing wife with ax New laws: 'Amber alert' to be established Couple's son asleep near mother during Southfield slaying Associated Press SOUTHFIELD A man was charged Tuesday with killing his estranged wife with an ax as their 2-year-old son slept inches away in her bed. Christopher Howard, 36, was arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Marie M. Irons, 41, a Pontiac school ad ministrator, police Sgt. Matt Collins said. Howard was ordered held without bond after he was arraigned via video hookup at the Oakland County Jail.

A court-appointed attorney was to be assigned to him Thursday, and his next court appearance was scheduled for Jan. 6, county Prosecutor David Gorcyca said. Police found Irons dead in her bed Sunday, her head nearly severed. Two-year-old Christopher Howard Jr. was asleep beside her.

Neither he nor Irons' 13-year-old son from a previous marriage, who also was in the house at the time, was physically hurt. Irons received a personal protection order against Howard on Dec. 23. "I am afraid his mental state will cause him to harm me," she wrote. "It appears he struck her twice in the neck," Assistant Prosecutor James Halushka said.

"It appears he attacked her in her sleep. I can't imagine a more cold-blooded murder." Howard faces automatic life in prison without parole if convicted as charged. Halushka said Howard called 911 and hung up from a room at a Romulus hotel on Sundav morn her husband had been hospitalized for a mental disorder and that he had threatened her and the children. Irons was director of technology for the Pontiac schools. Southfield police Chief Joseph Thomas called the killing senseless.

"I want the people to know that we do have programs in place" to help people who fear domestic violence, Thomas said. "But we can't put a cop in every home or every bedroom." Collins said he believed the children were staying with their relatives. ing. Investigators checked the room and found Howard bleeding from his wrists. His wounds were not life-threatening.

Police found the ax hidden between the mattress and box spring of the bed in Howard's room, Halushka said. They also saw the protection order in the room and called Southfield police to ask that they check on Irons' welfare, Halushka said. "The 13-year-old let police into the house and said his mother was bleeding from the neck," the prosecutor said. In her application for the protection order, Irons wrote that Cedar Springs man finds love interest Snow emergency may be windfall for Ann Arbor budget Continued From IB Committee. "For jurors whose employers pay them their regular salary, it is not a hardship, but for the unemployed and others it can be a hardship." Also increasing Jan.

1 is the fee paid by people who request a trial by jury in a civil case. In circuit court, jury demand fees will increase to $85 from $60; in district court, the fee will be $50 instead of $40. Also taking effect are new laws to: Require members of the clergy to report any cases of suspected child abuse. The legislation would hold clergy to the same law that requires health-care workers, social workers and educators to tell police about suspected sexual abuse. Establish an "Amber alert" plan to pair state police with television and radio stations to provide information about missing children to the public.

Such a plan already is in place in states such as California. Make legislative, judicial and executive-office employees eligible for early retirement if their age and years of service total 75. Employees had until Tuesday to apply for early retirement and until mid-January to change their minds. They must leave office by the end of January. Cut the state budget by $63.7 million, part of a package to save $460 million this fiscal year and balance the budget.

Allow auto dealers to charge up to $160 for document preparation, up from $40. City could collect $74,500 in fines for illegal parking Associated Press ANN ARBOR Hundreds who parked on the wrong side of the street during a snow emergency found themselves on the wrong side of the law. And the city's crackdown isn't being warmly received among all of them. A Christmas Day storm dumped seven inches of snow on Ann Arbor. Under the snow emergency declared at 12:01 a.m.

the next day, parking is prohibited on the side of the street with odd-numbered addresses on odd-numbered dates. The opposite holds for even-numbered dates. The emergency was canceled at 8 p.m. Thursday, but not before 596 people were cited for parking on the wrong side of the street. If the city collects on all 596 tickets, it would receive 574,500.

One of them was Jo Ann Berg, who said she took pictures showing a blue sky and exposed pavement that day. She plans to fight the S125 ticket in court, saying it was unjustly issued. "I think they created a false emergency and capitalized on it," Berg said. "It wasn't even a snow storm. People in Buffalo and St.

Paul would laugh at this. Is city hall filled with people from Mississippi? Are we wimps?" Plows cleared most of the snow by noon Thursday, but had to return to many streets to clean up around cars parked on the street during the first plowing, street maintenance foreman Tim Towles said. Residents' confusion is understandable but avoidable, City Coun-cilwoman Jean Carlberg said. "What is clear to me is that the public does not understand that they should not park on the streets while the snow emergency is in effect except by the prescribed method," she said. "It seems perfectly logical to people that if the street appears to be cleared to the curb, you should be able to park there.

But the policy is you can't do that. They may have to come back through and plow for those cars that weren't moved." The city notifies several newspapers and radio stations upon the declaration of a snow emergency, Towles said. Amanda Smith said word of last week's snow emergency fell on deaf ears in her neighborhood, where 25 to 30 people received parking tickets. "This is really unfair," she said. "They targeted a little neighborhood that usually never gets plowed.

We weren't watching TV or listening to the radio. Why would anyone think we were expected to on Christmas Day?" LANCE WYNNAssociated Press Off the market: Steve Horowitz poses next to a large, portable sign in November. He placed the "WIFE WANTED" sign in the bed of an old pickup and left it in front of his Cedar Springs home. But after hearing from about 60 women and going out with three, the 53-year-old says ail he's looking for now is a second date with one. So the sign has come down, and the retired educator says his plan worked well and thinks "this really could be the one." 'Wife Wanted' sign nets man first date in 8 years Capitol Question Its a bizarre way to meet somebody, but I never would have met this woman otherwise" Steve Horowitz owner of 'wife wanted' sign Ex-lawmaker James O'Neill of Saginaw dies at age 73 Retired educator known for humor draws 60 responses Associ ated Press CEDAR SPRINGS Steve Horowitz's quest for a wife is no secret.

For the past few months, it has been advertised on a large, portable sign simply reading "WIFE WANTED" in an old pickup in front of his western Michigan home. But after hearing from about 60 women and going out with three, the 53-year-old says all he's looking for now is a second date with one. So the sign has come down. Horowitz says he was so taken with one woman after their lunch date that he presented her with a video of his friends' testimonials on his behalf. The woman, who declines to be identified pending future Term limits revisited The Michigan Legislature convenes Jan.

8 with 29 new senators and 53 new representatives. Opponents of term limits believe the influx of freshman lawmakers during trying budget times will move voters to extend legislative terms to 12 years. Now, senators serve two four-year terms and representatives can serve three two-year terms. Would you support such a change? Why or why not? Please respond by Thursday and include a telephone number for verification. Responses must be verified to run.

Results are published Sunday. You can: Call 485-5463 and press 8978 to leave a voice-mail message. Mail it to Capitol Question, 120 E. Lenawee Lansing, Ml 48919. Fax to 377-1298.

E-mail candrews (3 lsj.com. dates, says she is "intrigued" by Horowitz. She describes herself as about a decade younger than her suitor, college-educated, childless and never married. She says she's "open to the Idea of a relationship." But Horowitz is a bit bolder in his assessment: "I think this really could be the one." Horowitz's dating methodology didn't come as a big surprise to many in his hometown of Cedar Springs. They know the retired teacher for his sense of humor, eclectic tastes and admitted eccentricities such as sleeping in his living room on a pair of mattresses stacked atop a dining room table.

Married years ago for just six months, Horowitz says that until that fateful lunch, he hadn't had a date since 1994. So why not put up a sign? Some of the 60 women from around the state who responded to his plea for a partner wrote eloquent letters, he says. One arrived at his post office addressed only "To the man who wants to get married; Cedar Springs, Michigan." "It's a bizarre way to meet somebody," Horowitz said, "but I never would have met this woman otherwise." They were expected to meet for their second date on New Year's Eve. Associ ated Press SAGINAW Former state Rep. James E.

O'Neill, a Saginaw Democrat who specialized in education funding, has died at the age of 73. O'Neill died Monday at Saginaw's Saint Mary's Medical Center. Family members attributed his death to complications from open-heart surgery' about a month ago at the Cleveland Clinic. O'Neill served 28 years in the state House, focusing on education and school funding in Michigan. He was a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee.

He also was a major supporter of Saginaw Valley State University in the legislature, helping procure money for the university's expansion. Family members said Tuesday that funeral arrangements for O'Neill were incomplete. Annual list urges purging of most-offending phrases mnmm press Classified Ads Appearing For The First Time Today 4 s'or lr call 377-1111 Weapons of mass destruction? Defuse it, said Shibley. "It's certainly being overused," he said. "Every time a politician opens his mouth these days, it seems to come out.

It about becomes trivialized." "Homeland security," the sprawling layer of federal bureaucracy created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, earned a mention. "A new and improved buzzword. With billions of dollars at stake, perhaps 'national security' is just plain blase," the banished words barons said. What about Must-See TV? "Must find remote.

Must change channel," sighed a banished word nominator from Colorado, in one of 3,000 nominations Shibley helped sort through to compile this year's 23-phrase list. Some words should have been banished years ago, Shibley said. "Extreme," for instance, seemingly has lingered longer than the median age of the snowboarder crowd coveted by marketers. "Razors aren't extreme. Neither are deodorants or cheeseburgers," a Florida contributor scoffed.

On the Web www.lssu.edubanished Shibley blames the media, lawyers, marketers, the military and politicians for most of the verbal offenses, many of which make no sense, if speakers would pause to think before uttering. Phrases such as "untimely death," "reverse discrimination," "mental mistake" and "make no mistake about it" fall in that category, as does "peel-and-eat shrimp," listmakers say. "Do they think that, if the name did not contain instructions, we would peel-and-throw-on-the-floor?" asked a Florida list contributor. "I think the important thing here is, we're not trying to tell anybody what not to say," Shibley said. "We'd like people to slow down and think what they're saying." Perhaps they can try it in an undisclosed, secret location, described by listmakers as a "redundant stacking of adjectives often used to described Vice President Cheney's location." Associated Press TRAVERSE CITY Now, more than ever, it's a good thing to munch peel-and-eat shrimp in an undisclosed, secret location and watch Must-See TV while mulling the issues of homeland security and weapons of mass destruction.

Gibberish, you say? That's the point, to the extreme, say the language watchdogs at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, whose 28th annual list of banished words is rife with annoying military-speak, wannabe hipster jargon and redundant Madison Avenue blather. "It's an unpopularity contest," said John Shibley, a Lake Superior State spokesman and co-compiler of the banished words list, which includes previously dismissed terms such as "totally awesome" and "basically." The 2003 version doesn't boast edgy offerings like last year's jettison of "nine-eleven" as a description of the terror attacks on New York and Washington, Shibley said. Instead, it's more of a clean-out-the-closet list. Hot off the pss Hot Press Hot off the Press 90FORDF350 CHEVY LUMINA APV 1994 7 GEO PRISM 1996 ONE TON VAN passenger Modular seating.

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