Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 79

DATELINE Greektown investors get green light STATEWIDE Judge blocks drug-test program Gaming board says group is qualified; 1 more vote to come ichigan's drug-testing Mi program for welfare By TINA LAM FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER recipients will remain sino will have plenty. The casinQ( will have 1,350 customer spaces, available before 5 p.m. and 1,925 after 5 p.m., the number it estimates it will need at peak times. It is also negotiating for other space and may build a garage. MotorCity, MGM Grand and Casino Windsor each have free parking garages with space for 3,000 cars.

Board chairman Thomas Den-omme said he thinks Greektown Casino will find that parking will be troublesome. "I think parking is going to be tight and it will challenge you competitively," he said. "But the city has signed off on this plan." Contact TINA LAM at 313-223-4407 or lam because it will be stretched financially and because of "serious conflicts and divisions in the tribe that need to be resolved." The tribe owns 90 percent of the casino. Blanchard said some tribal members raised serious allegations about tribal operations that are still being investigated. "We've directed the board staff to look further" at those charges, she said.

In their initial examination of the tribe, board investigators were convinced that there were no serious problems. "I was not convinced," she said. "Every board member must follow his or her own judgment." In public testimony before the board last month, five tribal members accused the tribe of fraud in a June election, extortion against a tribal member's business and other questionable dealings, some dating back years. The tribal chairman barely won re-election to his fourth term in June. The tribe has denied any wrongdoing.

It refused comment Tuesday. The tribe, which originally owned half the casino, bought the 40-percent stake of former partners Ted and Maria Gatzaros and Jim and Viola Papas last month for $265 million after the two couples were found by board investigators to have financial problems in their backgrounds. William Paulos, a senior executive of Millennium Management, which is to operate the casino, told gaming board members concerned about parking that the ca The owners said they expect the $200-million temporary casino to open to the public Nov. 10, with an invitation-only, black-tie charity event Nov. 8.

Whether the casino actually opens as planned is up to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which must vote to issue a license before the casino can open. That vote would take place when the casino notifies the board that it's ready to open, said Nelson Westrin, executive director of the gaming board. After months of delays, the new owners were pleased. "This is a great day for Greektown and a great day for the city," said owner Marvin Beatty, former Detroit fire commissioner. Blanchard said she voted no on suitability for the casino group The Sault Ste.

Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and a group of black Detroit investors won approval as expected Tuesday to operate the Greektown Casino. However, Michigan Gaming Control Board member Paula Blanchard cast a vote against the owners' suitability to operate a casino, the first time a board member has voted against casino owners during the two-step licensing process. )PWW' 1 ffV 'iT I I i wiaC it, i J2 DETROIT ALIililMCo Detroit assassin Leon Czolgosz shot Presi dent William McKinley on Sept. 6, 1901, in Buffalo, N.Y. McKinley died eight days later.1' Czolgosz was executed 29.

He proclaimed he shot the president "because he was the enemy of the good people the working people." Czolgosz (pronounced ZOL-gus) was an anarchist who hated rich people. The Free Press quoted a former Detroit neighbor who said Czolgosz, as, a child, "was a terror to man; age and gave evidence of a perverted nature." The Czolgosz family had a home on Benton Street. They also were said to have lived in Alpena and Posen. Buy the book! The Detroit Almanac with more than 600 pages of facts and photos will be available in mid-October for $24.95. Place advance orders for just $19.95 at 800-245-5082 orwww.freep.com bookstore.

PArHIClA BtlIVUetroit res Prasd A man makes it across Main Street in Royal Oak safely Tuesday. According to a transportation group's study, pedestrians in southeast Michigan are more likely to be killed than those in New York. WALKI Study sees hope for future WALIC AND WATCH OUT The Flint, Detroit and Jackson areas were the most dangerous for Michigan pedestrians in 1997-98, according to an analysis of federal traffic accident data. Metro area Percentage Percentage of Pedestrian pedestrian fatalities of total commuters danger 1997-1998 traffic deaths walking to work index Flint 19 13.3 1.8 56.7 Detroit 181 19.3 1.9 51.1 Jackson 7 9 3 2.1 51.0 SaginawBay CityMidland 14 11.6 2.3 36.3 Benton Harbor 9 .13.2 4.1 32.7: Grand RapidsMuskegonHolland 28 10.7 2.8 23.6 KalamazooBattle Creek 12 9.4 4.6 14.8 Lansing 8 8.2 5.7 75 Ann Arbor 9 5.8 6.6, 6.1 on hold. U.S.

District Judge Victoria Roberts issued a preliminary injunction Friday, replacing a temporary restraining order she issued last year barring the Family Independence Agency from running the drug tests. That means the program is on hold indefinitely. Last fall, Michigan became the first state in the country to require that welfare recipients take a drug test as a condition of getting public assistance. In a month, 8 percent of the 258 tests came back positive, with marijuana being the most common drug. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the program.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Kary Moss, executive director of the ACLU, said, "The judge reaffirmed the important constitutional principle that all people are entitled to the same privacy rights and that a person's financial status should make no difference." FIA spokeswoman Karen Smith said her agency received the order Tuesday and will have to study it carefully before deciding whether to appeal. By Wendy Wendland-Bowyer STATEWIDE High bidders get old stadium signs Four Tiger Stadium road signs, which once directed drivers to the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, will have new homes. Four Michigan residents staked their claim to the signs on the State of Michigan's newest auction Web site, MiBid, after 11 days of bidding. The site can be accessed from the state site at www.state.mi.us. The biggest sign, a 22-by-6-joot, 400-pound green and white sign that reads Rosa Blvd.Tiger Stadium, ivent to a Port Huron resident for $1,001.59.

A 15-by-5-foot sign that Tiger StadiumExit went for $2,139.15 the Jnost of all signs to a Plymouth resident. The smallest sign went to a Grandville res-Went for $1,558.80, while the Tiger StadiumNext 3 Right Exits sign went to Grand Ha- yen resident for $1,149. A part of the proceeds will "go to the charity of the buyer's choice. The buyer must pick up the 'sign at the state Department fpf Transportation office in Au-Jburn Hills or arrange for its shipping. By Mary Owen Statewide Bush, Gore plan Campaign visits Republican presidential Inominee George W.

Bush and Democratic presidential hope-Jful Al Gore will visit the state this week. Both were just in 'Michigan on Labor Day weekend. I Bush is scheduled to visit I.Wayne County on Thursday fas a part of a four-state tour the Midwest to highlight veterans issues, according to people familiar with the GOP -plans. The Texas governor will be "joined at a VFW hall in Western Wayne County by Colin "Powell, former head of the chiefs of staff, they said. I Gore, already scheduled to Jattend a pair of Democratic jNational Committee fund-rais-ers at the Fox Theatre today, Jmay also squeeze in another stop, according to people close Ito the campaign.

That would Jbe either participating in the J70th anniversary celebration Metro Airport or dropping "in on the Detroit Tigers base-Iball game. Both candidates visited the on Labor Day weekend, 'which is regarded as the big "final push for attracting vot-ers before November. By Darci McConnell and Dawson Bell -j Metropolitan ttitlcal arraa, defined by U.S. Cerau Bureau. (Detroit, for Include Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monro, Lapeer and St.

Clair countlaa) Source: Surface Transportation Policy Project, Washington, O.C. Detroit Free Press safety issue." Southeast Michigan builders are also building more sidewalks, said Nancy Rosen, spokeswoman for the Building Industry Association in Farmington Hills. Some builders are finding that sidewalks become a major selling point, Rosen said. There are other signs of a grassroots groundswell. At least 47 southeast Michigan communities have taken advantage of a new program, Toward Walkable Communities, sponsored by the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).

The program offers lity audits." A national expert evaluates the walker-friendliness and makes recommendations to local communities. "You can tell the economic vibrancy of a community by the number of people walking its streets," said Carmine Palombo, SEMCOG director of transportation planning. "People feel safe and secure." Michigan towns such as Royal Oak and Reed City have incorporated pedestrian walkways and streetscapes into their downtowns. And Oakland County recently approved a plan to front $7.6 million to Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills to buy a stretch of abandoned railway for a tri-county nature trail. Petoskey, located north of Traverse City on Lake Michigan, has spent $500,000 on new sidewalks, $7 million on pedestrian-friendly, street-narrowing projects and $700,000 on a waterfront tunnel and bike trail linking its downtown with Lake Michigan developments.

City planners even have purchased a trolley for shoppers. "We wanted to promote a walkable community," said Allen Hansen, Petoskey director of parks and recreation. "We wanted to get back to our roots." Contact SHERYL JAMES at 810-227-8009 or From Page IB ans in Cincinnati, New York, Cleveland or Philadelphia, according to the index. Within Michigan, Flint was the No. 1 pedestrian danger zone, followed by metro Detroit, Jackson, the Saginaw-Bay City-Midland region and Benton Harbor.

Seniors, children and Latinos are particularly at risk, STPP reports. All three groups are disproportionately dependent on walking, the study said. In 1998, for example, 1,500 pedestrians younger than 18 were killed. Michigan ranks 12th nationally in the rate of child pedestrian Stranded by development The overall numbers reflect communities that for more than 50 years have been designed for cars, not people said Michelle Garland, an analyst at STPP. Suburban subdivisions are often isolated from each other and shopping districts; they have no linking sidewalks or bike paths.

Older downtowns reflect a different era and community philosophy; they are full of sidewalks. Traverse City, for example, has 75 miles of sidewalks in its city center's 8 square miles, said Kelly Thayer, transportation project coordinator at the Michigan Land Institute in Benzonia. But the 28 square miles of surrounding area, with newer residential and retail development, has less than one mile of sidewalk. Most metro areas "are places where sprawling development has often left pedestrians stranded," STPP reports. "Wide roads have been built without sidewalks or frequent crosswalks, and high-speed traffic makes these roadways particularly deadly." STPP's analysis shows that up to 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur in areas where there are no street-crossing aids.

"As we built our roads, we pretty much forgot about the pe- "forgotten modes" of transportation. The U.S. Department of Transportation's policy that year began urging planners to consider bikes and walkers in community designs. Congress approved new funding for bicycling and walking projects in 1991. Spending increased from $6 million in 1990 to $238 million in 1997.

And by 1991, most states, including Michigan, were offering money to communities for pedestrian enhancement programs. "We're coming around," said Bob Parsons, communication representative for the Michigan Department of Transportation. MDOT makes sure to use every federal dime it gets for pedestrian-bike path projects, said Wyckoff of the Planning Zoning Center. "That's one thing about" Gov. John Engler.

"If the money gets to Michigan, it's not going back. They've been clear about that from Day One. Pve been in lots of meetings with MDOT officials. They're quick to say: We may have some resources." Sidewalks make a comeback Sidewalks, meanwhile, are returning across the country, said Gopal Ahluwalia, director of research at the National Association of Home Builders. "There's no question about it.

In a lot of cases, local authorities are insisting on it. Secondly, it's a child destrian," said Mark Wyckoff, president of the Planning Zoning Center Inc. in Lansing. "There aren't very many places in the country that are doing a very good job" of serving pedestrians. "The ability to walk from home to where you work or shop is rare," Thayer said.

"There's a government-fed mind-set that new and wider roads are a solution to congestion. And it's wrong. You build another road to relieve congestion, and it fills much faster than the state projects." Funding pedestrian projects On average, STPP reports, states spend 55 cents per person of available federal funds on pedestrian projects compared to $72 per person on highways. In Michigan, $8.7 million this year is budgeted for nonmotor-ized pedestrian and bicycle projects; another $16 million will go toward other pedestrian enhancements such as beautifica-tion projects. Spending on Michigan roads and bridges, by comparison, was $1.39 billion in 1999, the last year for which figures are available.

Funding for pedestrian projects may be paltry compared to highway costs, but it has improved markedly since 1990, when then-Federal Highway Administrator Dr. Tom Larson called bicycling and walking the SUSPECT I He says he i was victim in school From Page IB stepbrother about how many times this had happened. Both said, "a lot," according to the police report. Gayles was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct but pleaded guilty in July 1996 tQ second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Gayles' mother told a court official that her son "did not mean to hurt anyone.

He states he knew it was wrong, but he did not know why he did it." In August 1996, Juvenile Court referee Mary Anne Quinn placed Gayles on probation and ordered that he undergo specialized group counseling for sex offenders at the court's clinic for child study. But Gayles' mother missed an appointment with the clinic and Gayles was too late to sign up for the group therapy. He began counseling at what was then Sinai Hospital and then at the Chil dren's Center of Wayne County. In October 1996, while speaking to the counselor at Sinai, Gayles-Washington said that her son had been suspended that month from Hutchins Middle School for fondling a girl in his special education class, according to court records. By September 1997, Gayles was attending all therapy sessions and there were no further reports of him being in trouble at school or with police.

His probation ended in July 1998. Detroit police said Tuesday that Gayles is a possible suspect ia other sexual assaults. Officials said Gayles may havt been following rape-slaying victitt J'nai for more than two weeks, although he never approached her before Thursday's attack. Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223 4M4 or kresnak Sfreepress.com. WATER I Detroit's controversial utility chief to leave and Sewerage Department has an annual budget of $475 million and 1,343 employees.

City Councilwoman Brenda Scott, who raised concerns when she learned of Gorden's actions with contractors three years ago, said Tuesday that she hopes his departure means a fresh start. "This opens the door for the Water and Sewerage Department to look into some new directions and improve the service they provide to our citizens," Scott said. But Cliff Montgomery, a consultant for Westin Engineering who assisted the department with its technology upgrades, said Gorden's departure is the city's loss. "I like Steve Gorden. I think he was good for the department," said Montgomery, who worked with the department for 12 years.

"I think there was a change of attitude while he was there." Contact DARCI McCONNELL at 313-222-6678 or mceonneU freepress.com. court case found that the city failed to replace antiquated facilities and equipment; was too slow to buy and make available needed parts; failed to adequately staff the plant, and didn't provide proper training. The report also found that there was "a serious lack of accountability at all levels." The department provides water to nearly 4 million customers in 124 southeast Michigan communities; 78 communities also receive sewer service. The Water From Page IB ceived a public and private admonishment from Archer. A recently approved city ethics ordinance prohibits gifts that are intended to influence decisions.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge John Feikens appointed Archer as special administrator for the department to prevent its wastewater treatment plant from dumping waste into the Detroit River. A report done as part of the.