The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana • 25

-W 1 'V '(nyrT 'j JMETRO rSoulh Bend Tribune Thursday, January 30, 1992rC3 METRO Ethiopian woman describes airlift United Way contributors I list priorities making a 15-day nationwide tour to thank Americans for help in the resettlement. Along with visiting the U.S., she will be reunited with two of her children who have been living in Montreal for five years. If all the paperwork is completed, the reunion is scheduled for sometime today in Chicago. Mamu. 44.

is a nurse, and her husband, who remains in Ethiopia, is an auditor for the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. He will join us in a few months," she said. Mamu said life is not easy for her husband alone, but she speaks to him monthly. She said that life is good for them in Israel now. Others, who did not live in the city prior to their arrivial in Israel, are having a more difficult time.

But they are adapting and eventually will be comfortable, she predicted. "We are now living in freedom and for that we want to thank you," she said. Debra Brief, a campaign associate with the United Jewish Appeal, was accompanying Mamu. Brief said bringing the immigrants to the U.S. is a way to personalize the stories.

By KATHY BORLIK Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND Tidalu Mamu last saw her homeland of Ethiopia in May of 1991. She was one of 14,400 Jews who fled the country for Israel. She was on the last plane to leave the country during the dramatic airlift from oppression to freedom. She waited as long as she could, waiting for her husband to return from a work trip. When she realized she could not wait any'longer.

she grabbed her two children, locked the house, and took the key and the dog to the neighbors. On the bus to the airplane, she said, her children cried and asked where was their father. All she could say to them was, He will come." Mamu recounted the trip and the resettlement with her two children in Israel, as she spoke during a small luncheon Tuesday at Temple Beth-EI for the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley. In addition to telling about her new country, she said she came to thank the federation for its financial support for the airlift.

Mamu is one of 40 Soviet and Ethiopian emigrants who will be Tidalu Mamu speaks about her dramatic exodus from Ethiopia to Israel during a luncheon Wednesday at Temple Beth-EI. help fund roads Lottery profits to By GREG SWIERCZ Tribune Stall Writer SOUTH BEND Child abuse and neglect, chemical abuse and teen pregnancy are problems in St. Joseph County that United Way contributors said need the most attention. The results of a contributor survey were released last week as part of a multi-level research project that will guide United Way thtough the next three years. The effort also establishes goals thjjt United Way hopes to achieve by 1995.

In addition to outlining its funding goals. United Way plans to expand its volunteer program and to bolster the in-kind and donated goods offered to member programs by individuals and corporations. Rick Strickland, vice president of the community planning division for United Way. said the investor surveys and other program studies in the community mark a new approach for United Way. By looking at what investors view as urgent community issues.

Strickland said. United Way can be in a position to react with its resources. We are going through a significant change in mindset in our attempt to be a problem-solving organization. Strickland said. Gone are the priority ratings.

The United Way board has set up target percentages for funding, estimated volunteer support and donated goods for each identified community problem. Annual household income now is the key to identifying needs in the county and the people most in need of help. As implemented over the next three years, this key criteria will impact not only the target population United Way will serve, but also the programs it will support and the problems it will address." United Way said in its action plan. Strickland said the future funding and resource plan used several factors in its design, including the investors' perceptions of the problem. extent of the problem and the impact any resources would have.

During the next three years. United Way allocations for child abuse and neglect programs will increase from 7.24 percent in 1992 to 10 percent of the total 1995 campaign amount raised. (Using the 1992 campaign goal of about $3.5 million for comparison. 1 percent of this year's total represents about $35,000 in funding. Campaign goals are set by a volunteer board the summer prior to the calendar year.) Funding for teen parenting programs will increase from 1 percent to 3 percent over the period, while programs addressing chemical abuse and dependency will vie for 2 percent of the 1995 total, up from 0.9 percent.

Two program areas in the three-year plan AIDScommunicable diseases and hungerhomelessness are earmarked for funding for the first time. Strickland said investors gave high ratings to these two problems. People affected by the problems fall within the income criteria identified in the action plan, he added. The largest problem slated for less emphasis in United Way funding by 1995 is human service access and coordination. The division includes programs involving transportation and the divisions of United Way.

While about 25 percent of total 1992 funding will go into this category, United Way hopes to trim administrative costs and other areas within the problem to about 21.5 percent of the total campaign dollars by 1995. Other divisions that may be trimmed include those that deal with developmental disabilities, the denial of equal opportunity, accidental death and injury. The percentages devoted to each community problem through 1995 will stay the same. Each years campaign goal will determine exactly how many dollars will go into each problem area. Strickland pointed out that factors such as availability of other funding sources can have a bearing on United Way funding.

Problems that will receive less funding by 1995 often have more options with funding. Also, the community might be facing the problems with other similar programs. Strickland also said that it is the mission of United Way to find the most efficient use of funding and other resources. Kris Ohlson, manager for the community marketing division, said the volunteer program is not new. but volunteers will be more actively sought and placed with member agencies for specific program goals.

United Way officials will discuss, the three-year plan at a public meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 19 at St. Joseph's Medical Center. will choose the projects for the townships in their districts.

His own district includes all of Clay and German and parts of Harris and Warren. The stipulation that the money be spent equally among the townships means only $75,000 in lottery funds would be available for widening Cleveland. The county has to come up with 25 percent of the project cost, with the federal government covering the rest. It won't even come close to covering the county's share, which is something like $500,000 or $600,000, said Larrison. The county will continue to buy right of way this year for the widening and some construction could widening of Cleveland Road between U.S.

33 and Ironwood Road. Other uses of it will be made as well. Cleveland Road is definitely a major project that needs some funding, said Larrison. It will help with the right of way purchase." The money comes with some stipulations from the state. It must be used equally $75,000 each in Clay.

German, Harris and Warren townships. Because the county is responsible for road maintenance in the townships, the county com-missioners and not township officials will determine how the money is spent. Larrison said the commissioners By DAVE RUMBACH Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND Money from the state's Build Indiana fund derived from Hoosier Lottery profits is making its way into the St. Joseph County budget. Under a bill.

$300,000 in lottery profits would be placed into the Board of Commissioners' budget for use on road projects of their choice in four designated townships. The Board of Commissioners Wednesday endorsed the measure and sent it to the County Council for final consideration. Commissioner Richard Larrison, D-District 1, said the allocation will help the county move ahead on the Fugitive gives up in marijuana case Safely board approves policemans suspension get started in 1993. he said. The Build Indiana fund is controlled by the State Budget Committee, which is chaired by Rep.

B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend. It determines when funds are released to approved projects around the state. The $300,000 allocation will come to the county as a reimbursable grant, said John Lentz, the chief deputy auditor. The county will pay for the work from its available cash flow and then the state will pay the county back after the work is done.

The allocation will be the first money that county government has received from the Build Indiana fund, said Lentz. Tribune Photo PAUL RAKESTRAW Association, and a former member of the Indiana Collegiate Officials Association, working several college games a year. He retired from teaching about three years ago and had been living in Culver when he was charged with the forgeries, both Class felonies. Court documents show that he used a relatives name and credit information in April 1990 and September 1990 to obtain credit cards. I A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Feb.

12 and a plea date is set for March 20. By ERIC CRUZ Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND The South Bend Board of Public Safety Wednesday approved the 45-day suspension without pay of Cpl. Bruce Villwock for taking three days of funeral leave and using the time to fish in Michigan. Police Chief Ronald G. Marciniak.

said Villwock. a 12-year veteran and member of the juvenile aid bureau, submitted an officer's report on July 14. 1991. asking funeral leave July 15-17. with pay.

for his grandmother's funeral. Actually, the board was told. Villwock's grandmother had died several years earlier. Marciniak said Villwock could not produce a copy of his grandmother's obituaiy, and later acknowledged he had lied. In other action: The board accepted the retirements of South Bend police Sgt.

Larry J. Verash and Lt. Robert Sam'' Walsh. Verash served 22 vears on the department, and Walsh 21'-. The board presented Walsh with a special commendation for service with the Crime Stoppers program, which now serves 12 area counties.

The board also accepted the retirement of South Bend Fire Capt. Ralph Rakowski. after 33 years of service. The board accepted for employ- amount of assests obtained with profits of drug sales. Judge Robert L.

Miller Jr. set sentencing for April 3. Mahers lawyer. Stuart Stein of Sante Fe, N.M.. noted that he had been working with his client to arrange the surrender for some months.

Maher formerly had resided in the Pacific Northwest, and even attended a junior college while a fugitive, Stein said after the hearing. More recently Maher was traveling around, living out of his truck at times. Maher was taken into custody when he surrendered here in South Bend on Tuesday. He will be held at the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago until sentencing. Stein indicated his client remained a fugitive for a long time because he feared a long jail term.

Hickey. McCarthy and the others were accused of participating in an operation that sold more than $100 million of marijuana between 1979 and 1986 in the Michiana'area. A construction company was set up as a front for the operation and built the pole barn where semitruckloads of marijuana were regularly delivered for distribution, according to information revealed in prior court hearings. About 25 people in Indiana and Michigan have been convicted for their roles in the operation. Hickey.

35, of Mishawaka, was using a phony identity when he was arrested a year ago at the house he was renting on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. He pleaded guilty last year to five charges and received a 20-year prison sentence. He also forfeited $1.5 million in assets obtained from the proceeds of illegal drug dealing. McCarthy. 37.

formerly of Niles and South Bend, was arrested a year ago at his home in Oak Bay. a town outside Victoria. British Columbia. Canada. He.

his wife and daughter had lived under assumed names while he was a fugitive. He returned to the United States in August and is in custody awaiting sentencing late in February on his guilty plea to five charges. on service to society The keynote speaker will be Rev. William Byron, the president of the Catholic University of America. He will speak at 8 p.m.

Friday. The Saturday schedule will include discussion and a general Bv MARTI GOODLAD HELINE Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH BEND The last defendant in a five-year drug conspiracy case entered a guilty plea today in U.S. District Court. After being a fugitive for about 5-'2 years. J.

Todd Maher surrendered to federal authorities here Tuesday. Authorities said he had been traveling and living in his truck the last few months. Maher. 38. formerly of South Bend, entered a guilty plea this morning to one of the five counts against him in the 1986 indictment charging him with participating in a multi-million dollar marijuana distribution operation with headquarters at a Niles pole bam.

He was one of the participants in the marijuana operation coordinated by Thomas Paul Hickey and William Charles McCarthy. The two ringleaders. Maher and several others were indicted in November 1986 by a federal grand jury. Hickey and McCarthy were fugitives until a year ago when they were featured on the television show. Unsolved Mysteries." Maher today admitted to a charge accusing him of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

He said that in the spring of 1984 he unloaded, weighed, processed and delivered bales of marijuana from one of the semi-truckloads delivered to the pole bam on U.S. 12 east of Niles. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Grimmer noted that the case accuses Maher of possession with intent to deliver more than 15.000 pounds of marijuana. The plea agreement calls for Maher to receive a sentence no greater than 10 years in prison, although the maximum term is 15 years.

The maximum fine is $125,000. The government also has agreed to dismiss four other charges against Maher and not to file additional drug charges in this district. The plea agreement does not include offenses Maher may have committed elsewhere. The agreement also calls for Maher to forfeit an unspecified N.D. session to focus SOUTH BEND The National Association of Students at Catholic Colleges and Universities will have its conference this weekend at the University of Notre Dame.

The theme for the weekend will be Service in Society: The Role of the Catholic College and ment Robert Personette and Steven Kerckhove to the fire department. Commendations were presented to South Bend paramedics James Luccki, Nicholas Kowalski and William Reasor for actions regarding an attempted purse snatch on Dec. 29. 1991. Luccki was at the Memorial Hospital emergency room parking lot when he saw a man take the purse from a 66-year-old woman.

Police were summoned and the thief was captured by Kowalski and Reasor. who heard the dispatch and saw the robber fleeing. The board also presented special commendations to police Lt. Robert A. Sharpe and Cpl.

Eugene Mikolajewski for their assistance to an elderly woman on Dec. 14. 1991. The officers were summoned to the home by Donald Widowski. a mailman, who noticed the mail and newspapers accumulating outside the home.

Widowski told the officers he had not seen the woman for several days. While investigating, the officers heard the woman yelling and forced open the front door to find her lying on the floor. She said she had fallen three days earlier but was unable to get up and call for help. The woman was taken to a local hospital where it was learned she suffered a broken hip. was driving east on Indiana 120 about 2-' 2 miles west of Bristol when he crossed the center line.

His vehicle struck a westbound car driven by Joseph C. Osowski. 37. of 30137 Fox Run Trail, Granger. Osowski suffered a broken upper arm and foot.

Two of his sons who were riding with him also were hurt. Arthur S. Osowski. 14. suffered a broken leg.

and Jacob J. Osowski. 8. suffered internal injuries and a bruised leg. Joseph and Arthur Osowski were listed in fair condition this morning in Elkhart General Hospital.

Jacob Osowski was released Wednesday from the hospital. Sewer line Workers with Woodruff Sons Construction Co. of Michigan City use a crane to assemble sections of a new sanitary sewer mam near the Veterans Memorial Park boat landing on North-side Boulevard on South Bend's east side. The main, slated to serve the southeast side, will be laid in a trench being dug in the St. Joseph River.

Former teacher charged in forgery case PLYMOUTH A former Valley Athletic Officials Intoxication caused fatal crash South Bend Adams High School teacher was charged Wednesday in Marshall Superior Court with two counts of forgery. Robert Reed. 61. of 2710 Hartzer South Bend, is alleged to have used a relative's name to obtain two credit cards. He is accused of using the cards to charge goods worth more than $20,000 in late 1991.

A preliminary plea of innocent was entered Wednesday by Judge Eugene Chipman in Superior I. Reed, a long-time basketball and football official, is also a past president of the St. Joseph Obituary on Page C5 BRISTOL An Elkhart man who died in a traffic accident Tuesday night was intoxicated, according to Elkhart County Coroner Carl Yoder. Injured in the accident were three members of a Granger family who were in another vehicle. Christopher W.

Lamb. 24. of 1905 N. Scarlet Maple Lane. Elkhart, the driver of one vehicle, died of a crushed chest and internal injuries.

Yoder said Lamb's blood alcohol level was .30 percent three times the legal limit. Yoder said there will be no autopsy on the body. Elkhart County police said Lamb.