The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • 1

Good afternoon The Newspaper for Southwest Michigan SPORTS Decatur keeps rolling Raiders win quarterfinal baseball matchup against Reading PagotB WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2002 SO cents mcoM OKs water Playoff road ends for I Township will buy water from St Joseph if city agrees to 3-year pullout clause looking at building their own water plant or buying water from Lake Town-ship instead of St, Joseph. However, Gillette several times has said the township first choice is to' reach a new agreement with St. Joseph, St. Joseph City Manager Frank Walsh after the meeting said he will only remain "cautiously optimistic" that an agreement is close until he sees the actual language proposed by the township, "I don't wish to make any public comment until 1 see the language discussed but not provided," Walsh said. "However, if it just merely three years and out, we're very amenable to that.

"If there no assumed debt, we feel that's already in the contract. If they wish to clear up the language, that fine, we'll talk about it, If there is a debt cleared up. The resolution approved by the board says the township wants the agreement to have "language permitting the township to unilaterally terminate the agreement for any reason upon three years advanced written notice to the city," If the city does not agree to that, the township is willing to submit the agreement to a mediator, the resolution says. "The current proposal only addresses our getting out if there's a capital expenditure obligation," Supervisor Kevin Gillette said, "It doesn't allow for any other reason to get out," The township wants to' be able to withdraw from, the agreement for "whatever reason the Township Board is choosing Gillette said, Lincoln Township officials have been that is agreed to by all parties, then absolutely we want to ensure that all parties are there for the duration of the contract," Lincoln Township is a member of the Lake Michigan Shoreline Water and Sewage Treatment Authority, The authority previous 30-year contract with St. Joseph expired in 1999, and talks on a new agreement have been going on for nearly five years.

Among other authority members, St, Joseph and Royalton townships have approved the proposed agreement. The Shoreham Village Council meets tonight, and the Stevensvillo Village Council meets Thursday. The Authority meets Thursday night. Please see WATER, page 8A Close to a compromise What Lincoln gave up: A demand tor a specific rate-set-. ting formula in the proposed water contract -with St.

Joseph, What Lincoln wants: Specific language allowing the township to pull out of the agreement for any mason with three years notice, What the proposed contract offers: Lincoln can pull out with three years notice if the authority decides to Incur capital improvement debt that Lincoln doesn't support. What St. Joseph Is offering: City Manager Frank Walsh said the city would be "very amenable" to simple threa-yt'rtis and-out clause. By WILLIAM F. AST III H-P Staff Writer STEVENSV1LLE The Lincoln Township Board on Tuesday agreed to sign a water service agreement with St.

Joseph if the language that allows it to pull out of the agreement is St. Joseph Bears lose to Lake Odessa-Lakewood In baseball Page 1B Twin Cities Berrien County Phone line problem disrupts 911 service s-1 I iiiiiT 3w, I 4 3 IF" i cr Lskcshore Lancer softball team falls to Byron Center Page 1B 1 i-a-i-iV i I 5i nil. Don Campbell H-P tff BRIDGES CARRYING Interstate 94 over Michigan 139 are being replaced. M-139 will be closed for one -day June 20 whon crows Install a massive beam. Officials say two major road construction projects In the Twin Cities are on schedule.

River Vslley Mustangs beaten In baseball by Grandvllle Calvin Christian Page 2B SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN Summer Job Teen-agers have to look harder this year Page 1C By DANIEL PULLIAM H-P Staff Writer Emergency 911 and long-distance telephone service in Berrien County was interrupted Tuesduy afternoon for about three hours after a fiber optic cable was cut between Watervliet and Benton An Ameritech official said the interruption did not lead to any serious problems, The interruption lasted from about 3:30 to 6:30 The phone company said it was investigating how the cable was cut, Berrien County sheriff's Lt, Bill Tucker said as soon as a sheriff's dispatcher noticed the 911 service was out, the department notified local media of an alternate emergency phone number that residents could use, "The 91 1 calls were sporadic. They were working in some pluccs but not in others," Tucker said, "We could not predict when and where they would work." Tucker said because of the interruption, there was no reliable of contacting police or fire emergency service by telephone. "A huge percentage of people had no access to telephone emergency service," he said. The sheriff's department called volunteer firefighters to their stations during the phone interruption, "I want to give a special pat on the back to the volunteer fire departments for volunteering their time," Tucker people ore there just because they want to be. They do not get a lot of thanks, and they do a lot of good work." Ameritech spokeswoman Denise Jtoenig said Berrien County residents could call within their calling area, But they could not make or receive long-distance calls.

"When customers tried to cull 91 1 ail they would get is a busy signal," Kocnig said. Kocnig said repairing fiber optic cables is easier than repairing regular copper cables, because there is special equipment to splice the fiberoptic cables Please see 81 1 page 8A Highway projects on schedule Project: M-63 reconstruction In St. JosephDenton Harbor Statue: On schedule Effect on motorists: Road will be open to traffic In three "WMt87 lows Business Loop 94 and Paw Paw Avenue through Benton Harbor, St, Joseph City Manager Frank Walsh saul the closing has been inconvenient, hui ihc. public hus been understanding, "However, we are looking with much to -the reopening "It's difficult for the neighborhood aiul Whirlpool employees," Whirlpool Corp, headquarters and oilier company offices ure. located on 61 Mention Township north of the construction one Fmployees must use the detour to navel between the offices and St, Joseph.

The added travel time probably diMnuupes some Whirlpool employees from goinn to Si Joseph for lunch, and Walsh said thai li.n Inn i restuurunts and other businesses. But the temporary problems aie nii weighed by the long-term benefits, he anl WEATHER Tonight clouds Benton Township, The work began in early spring and is on target for completion in November, Ramos said, Lane restrictions result in delays, but much work is to be done at night to minimize the problem, M-139 is to be closed for one day June 20 to-ttllow a turge beam to Deiut in-pluce, M-63 project The M-63 project, a cooperative effort of MOOT, Benton Harbor, St, Joseph and Cornerstone Alliance, began in lute 2000 with the of un obsolete, bridge. It wus replaced with a 300-foot span, This year, the (Clock Road interchange is being removed. It will he replaced with a grade-level crossing controlled by a traffic light, M-63 was open during the winter but wus closed in early spring as work resumed on the north end of the project area, The detour fol By SCOTT AIKEN Writer There's light at the end of the tunnel for detour-weary motorists. The two-year, $16 million rebuilding project from the Blossomtand Bridge north for about a mile on Michigan 63 is on schedule, and the road will be open to traffic in about three weeks, state officials said.

One traffic lane will open in each direction by July 4, and the project is scheduled for completion in October, said Lucio Ramos, resident engineer at the Michigan Department of Transportation office in Colnmu. "Work is progressing really well," Ramos said. "Concrete paving started last Saturday." Also on schedule is the continuing $10 million repair of a a section of Interstate 94 from the St, Joseph River to Interstate 196, The work involves building two new bridges to carry the freeway over Michigun 139 in Low 54 Project: I-94M-139 bridge replacement Status: On Effect on motorists; M-139 will be closed at I-94 to all traffic for one day on June I'O. Similar closing are scheduled later In the project. Thursday Sow storms Zj i High 70 Low 04 Please see ROAD WORK, puijH HA Details on page 8A Read their lips: No new taxes To compete, Ameritech lowers some phone rates Lawmakers who made no-tax pledge won't compromise amid budget crisis INDEX 6C Classifieds 4C Crossword r.

FitnessHealth 1D Obituaries 7A Sports 1B SW Michigan 1C Television ....................30 Weather www.twf8ldpalSadium.com (hose Miii.iiiK'is now are i in plans that capihe iiunilief local culls thut cun be iii.hIi wiilioni extra charge's, "Anictnertr jhrr it utlcrnng lor the first time plans that include unlimited local lull ii uiiii. of SBC C'om-niuniciiion-. Iik h.ned Sun Antonio is ilie leading provider of local tt-K jiln iu vice in Michigan, Illinois. Imli.iii.i i lino and Wisconsin, SIX spiit A.non Sclioenherr said tin' ih.iiii'cs help the company coinpeic wiih iilrt't local phone compunii tii.t i.iking iiway their 1 1 1 cents to $1: Philip llnffmun of llorton, Joel Gougeon of Bay City, George McMunus of Traverse ity upd Glenn Steil of Grand Rapids. All are term-limited, so none ure running for re-eection this year, Gougeon sponsored the bill, which was defeated May 30 in the Senate 29-8.

It would have raised about million in the current iscal year, and about $163 million in the next. Steil said his vole probably, goes against the no-tux pledge, but that he voied for the cigarette tax as part of an agreement. In return for his vote to raise the cigarette lax, (he Senate took up his bill to continue next year's 0.1 percent. single business lux cut even if lawmakers use most of the state's rainy day fund to help Please see TAXES, page 8A scheduled for Jan. 1,2003.

Delaying the tax cuts would mean about $250 million in additional income tax revenue and just over $80 million more from in single business tax revenue for the 2003 fiscal year, according, to state budget director Donald Gilmer. Although bills have been introduced to pause the 2003 tax cuts and rescind drops in the two taxes that took effect earlier this year, the measures have not come up for a vote. Some lawmakers who have signed the no-tax pledge said they don't think the pledge to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes" applies to a cigarette tax increase, however. They said they would vote for such a measure after cutting state spending. Four Republican state senators who signed the no-tax pledge recently voted to increase the tax on cigarettes from 75 (AP) SBC Ameritech says is cutung local and toll call telephone charges for most of Us 2 2 mil-Tioii "MfchigarCcuslomers beginning" Monday.

Once a monopoly, Ameritech now is competing with more1 thun 40 other companies, among them MCI and TDS Metrocoin, for local telephone Among other moves, the company said it automatically will switch more than 75 percent of its Michigan residential customers to unlimited local calls at no additional charge. A local call is within 15 miles. The changes will save customers about $26 million a year, the Detroit lice Piess and The Detroit News reported in Wednesday's editions By AMY FRANKLIN Associated Press Writer LANSING A pledge by 24 Republican lawmakers to oppose any tax increase is limiting legislative options for resolving the state's budget deficit. Nearly all of the 1 0 senators and 1 4 representatives who signed the no-tax pledge from the Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform said Tuesday they won't support delaying the cuts in the single business and income taxes 1 1 nest. -p.

ic i- fOHIIMg because a 1 un'iiMiiive market right RATES, page 8A WW.