The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana • 23

i. SECTION Mishawaka C4 Obituaries C6 Classified C7 SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1994 OTTB betting parlor could be built here Tribune Graphic Cuts may end recreation programs By HOWARD DUKES Tribune Stall Writer SOUTH BEND The South Bend Recreation Commission has seen its budget cut in previous years. However, the possibility of losing support from the South Bend Community School Corp. threatens the existence of the commission and its programs, said Tom Schalliol, director. In 1993, the commissions budget was reduced $20,000 by the SBCSC and $24,000 by the city.

Schalliol said the SBCSC provided $278,045 to the commission, with the remainder of the nearly $500,000 budget being provided by the city. The commission generated $36,000 in revenue that was returned to the school corporation. The recreation commission's longstanding relationship with the SBCSC could end if the school board decides to stop funding the agency as it addresses its own $3 million deficit The school board will make that decision on April 18. The trustees have invited the public to comment on the proposed changes and to oner alternatives. Schalliol said he hopes the many people who take part in the commissions programs attend those meetings.

Many programs could be eliminated if funding is cut Schalliol said his salaiy and the salaries of the other three full-time administrators are paid by the SBCSC. Salaries for up to 275 part-time employees also are paid by the school corporation. Without those employees, programs such as the swimming lessons, aqua aerobics, winter indoor recreation, community, education, summer high school basketball and adult softball could be eliminated. Everything is pretty muddy, Schalliol said. I spoke with some school board members and some people on the city side and they all say its pretty serious, and that we need to get the word out to the people who use our programs.

Schalliol said that message also was conveyed by Superintendent Virginia Calvin when she told him that school funding to the commission could be cut Schalliol said there may be some confusion among the public and some school board members regarding the role of the recreation commission. The commission was created nearly 40 years ago through a special state law that allowed the agency to receive funding from the city and the school system. That situation is unique in the state. Most park and recreation departments fall under the direction of city or county governments. Schalliol said talk of combining all county and city park and recreation activities would solve the problem.

City and county officials have discussed the matter, and a study completed last year strongly recommended the move, Schalliol said. However, the plan is not final, and it would take at least four years to make it a reality, he said. The plan does have advantages. It would create a paric system that encompasses all park and recreation activities in South Bend and St Joseph County. The agency would have its own taxing authority.

The problem is that it could not be done in time to continue commission programs if the school board votes to cut funding to the agency, Schalliol said. where possible, according to license application. Salaries range from $60,000 for the facility general manager to $15,000 for a mailroommessenger. But some local officials were more worried this week about the Bv SUSAN DILLMAN Tribune Indianapolis Bureau INDIANAPOLIS South Bend could have its own off-track betting parlor if a Carmel-based horse track developer gets its way. The city is one of five locations Sagamore Park targeted in applications filed Wednesday at the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.

The other four sites are Indianapolis, Merrillville, Evansville and Clarksville. A competing track, Churchill Downs, based in Louisville, opted for onty Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Jeffersonville and Merrillville. We did look at South Bend, said Karl F. Schmitt Churchill Downs vice president for corporate communications. But the law allows each track a maximum of four off-track facilities.

The other cities offered better overall prospects, such as proximity to people with an understanding of pari-mutuel betting and a propensity for interest in wagering Schmitt explained. Plus, it was hard enough to prepare four applications, let alone a fifth, said Churchill Downs attorney Alex Waldrop. We were very impressed with South Bend, and it was a very close decision, Schmitt said. And, if some time down the road the law changes or if for some reason the commission finds fault with one of the sites weve chosen, Churchill may reconsider South Bend. Sagamore Park attorney Judy Ripley said she couldnt explain why South Bend was chosen over other sites.

The firm, which has yet to say for certain that it will build a horse-racing track in Indiana, offered five possibilities, hoping the commission will permit it the four-site maximum. Sagamore Parks ultimate offtrack betting locations likely will weigh heavily in its decision to proceed. Tracks rely on parlor revenue to support operations. The firm has until July 15 to determine whether it will build a track near Shelbyvilie. Churchill Downs expects to open its Hoosier Park track, near Anderson, by Sept.

1. In South Bend, Sagamore Park planned to spend more than $2.1 million to acquire about four acres of land at Old Cleveland Road and Bendix Drive, then construct a building that also will offer full-service dining. Multiple screens would broadcast horse races from Indiana and around the country every day but Christinas. The facility would employ more than 150 full- and part-time workers, including higher paid managers who will be recruited locally Tribune PbotoPAUL RAKESTRAW Jonathan Sanders delivers a speech in the character of Abraham Lincoln during a Pathways to Freedom program presented Wednesday by Lincoln School students at Century Center in South Bend. Children play roles of civil rights heroes undesirable effects of off-track betting.

South Bend officials, once enamored of satellite wagering facilities after a meeting with Churchill Downs representatives in January, are balking at the proposal after visiting a parlor operated by another company in downtown Chicago. What we saw was a lot of poor people betting what looked like more money than they had, and it was very depressing, said Carter Wolf executive director of Center City Associates, a non-profit development agency. Its like building a nice bar and then moving the homeless center in there and saying, Have a good time. Wolf and Greg Purcell, chief of staff for Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Heimke, each said Tuesday they believe the states horse-racing legislation, crafted in 1989, unfairly excludes local communities from the off-track licensing process. At this point, said Purcell, the only controls we have would be zoning.

We just dont have much to say about it The commission will welcome input from local governments, business leaders and residents at the June public hearings and will consider that input in deciding which communities receive parlors, said Joe Gorajec, the racing commissions executive director. We think we go to sufficient length with regard to public input, he said. Brown denounces sexual accusations still learning to appreciate our differences, the children recited. Impassioned performances throughout the hour-long program enforced its message. Jonathan Payton was convincing a black child in the role of Abraham Lincoln.

And Sandy Archer, who is white, gave a compelling performance of a black slave girl intensely in fear of her master. Diana Carey, writer-director and fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln, intentionally cast the production without regard for race or sex. We should be in each others shoes. What those people did affects all of us, so we should accept their roles universally, Carey said. Carey wrote Pathways to Freedom four years ago and invited James Kapsa, the school corporations elementaiy education director, to Lincoln to see her class perform it.

It was fantastic and deserved a better forum, Kapsa said. I was almost in tears. One of the more touching moments is the singing of Abraham, Martin and John, in which sixth-grade soloist, Cindy Nemeth, captivated the audience with a strong and provocative voice. Kapsa asked Carey to take the production to Bendix Theatre two years ago for See PATHWAYSPage C2 By MARY BAT BEAL Tribune Correspondent SOUTH BEND elcome to your life. Theres no turning back.

Out of the mouths of children, the message was for the children. And it placed responsibility on 2,800 laps in Century Centers Bendix Theatre. The program was a journey through time from the 1860s to 1994: a history lesson and a mission statement in drama, poetry and music titled Pathways to Freedom: From the Civil War to Civil Rights. Lincoln School fifth- and sixth-graders gave four performances Wednesday and today for other fifth- and sixth-graders from the South Bend Community School Corp. Children took the parts of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, John F.

Kennedy, Martin Luther King and many more freedom, fighters to honor men and women who through their beliefs in all mankind all colors spoke up for freedom. We must remember to be brothers in our hearts and lives. We, must remember to honor those peqple who spoke their beliefs and gave their lives while fighting for civil rights. And we must remember that in 1994, we are still struggling for civil rights in our country, in our world. We are The Associated Press contributed to this story.

By MICHAEL FLAM Associated Press Writer INDIANAPOLIS Indiana Supreme Court Clerk Dwayne Brown suspects allegations of sexual harassment by four women who worked in his office are politically motivated. With his wife to the right and his parents to the left, Brown consistently denied the charges during a news conference in his Statehouse office Wednesday afternoon. Brown, 32, who is running against Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr. in the May 3 Democratic primary, was accused of having a fixation on fondling feet and making inappropriate comments and actions toward the women.

While denying the charges and calling them ridiculous and ludicrous, he refused to speculate on who might be behind the complaints which were first re- Eirted in Thursday editions of The Indianapolis News. did question why the charges would arise now, with the primary just over a month away. Im not going into any of the motivation or the ra- See BROWNPage C2 Girlfriend pleads innocent in death SOUTH BEND Judge William H. Albright entered a preliminary innocent plea Wednesday in Superior Court on behalf of Debra Wat-tley, 31, of 914 Sancome Ave. Wattley is charged with murder in connection with the Sunday night stabbing death of her live-in boyfriend, Brian Merchant, 39.

He died of a stab wound in the chest. Albright found Wattley eligible for the services of a public defender and told her to return to court next Wednesday with her lawyer to receive a tnal date. She remains in the county jail without bond Meijer plans to open Grape Road store on April 19 Wontons, offering Chinese food the Pizza Pan and Freds American Grill. An ice cream shop, called the Purple Cow, is in that same loca-. tion.

The Grape Road Meijer is said to be one of the first five Meijer stores with this sort of food court One-stop shopping is a goal for Meijer, Zimmerman said This will save you from going to five, six different shops. Everything is under one Zimmerman said Already the curious can be seen driving around the new lot asking employees when the store will open. But the only folks allowed in at the Grape Road store are Meijer employees, who now number about 700 people, according to Zimmerman. They are currently training for their new jobs as well as stocking shelves. While 650 people would be adequate to staff the store, Zimmerman said Meijer still is hiring at the Grape Road site, because the company usually staffs its stores with 650 to 850 people in an attempt to adapt to its employees Grape Road store, Meijer officials hope to hire at least 100 more people.

Experience is great, but its not necessaiy, Zimmerman said He said the company has not had a difficult time hiring here specifically because northern Indiana residents seem to be better acquainted with the Grand Rapids, Mefjer company than Indianapolis-area residents. Four Meijer stores will open throughout the Indianapolis area between May and August. Two Fort Wayne-area Meijer stores should be open, for business by July, Zimmerman said Zimmerman said another Mishawaka Meijer store along Indiana 331, near the US. 20 Bypass, could open by early 1995. While thaw are plans to open a fourth Meijer in the local area off of US.

33 between Elkhart and Goshen Zimmerman could not say when that store would open. The company has not started constructing either of the latter two area Mega stores, although some site preparation work has taken place at the southern Mishawaka location. He estimated about 100 positions still are open at the Grape Meyer store. All of the positions are non-union. That also will be the case for the other Mejier stores in Indiana, although all the companys Ohio stores and some of its Michigan stores have union representation.

About 40 percent of MejjeFs store employees are full time, according to Zimmerman, who said part-timers also receive health coverage and other benefits. Other stores soon to be opening throughout the state include one at 52800 Portage Avenue to Smith Bend to mid-May, Zimmerman said Company officials have been taking applications and interviewing prospective employees at that site for toe last two months, about as long as at the Grape Road stive, he said Were not having a problem with recruiting, Zimmerman said, adding that company officials are satisfied with the employees they are hiring at both the Smith Bend and Mishawaka stives. About 700 people have been hired at the Portage store, but hke the By MARILYN HUGHES Tribune Stall Writer MISHAWAKA The first Meijer store in Indiana is tentatively set to open April 19 along Grape Road, according to John Zimmerman, director of communications for Meijer Inc Meijer (which is pronounced Myer) currently has 76 stores open throughout Ohio and Michigan, Zimmerman said The Mishawaka store, to be located at the northeast corner of Grape and Edison Lakes Parkway, will be the companys 77th retail facility. As with most Meijer facilities, the Grape Road store took 10 months to build It will have entrance points off of Grape as well as Main Street More than 100,000 different items will be for sale within the confines of the 220.000-square-foot store. The items indude groceries, pots, pans, furniture, electronics, garden supplies, auto repair supplies.

Coral arrangements, shoes, clothing, sporting goods and jewelry. The grocery area will make up about 19 parent of the store. The 43 different departments will include a pharmacy, bakery, video Tnbur PHoblMALVN HUGHES Betty Skelton of Mishawaka, and Pam Contos of South Bend check stock at foe new Meijer store on Grape Road. rental and a one-hour photo de-' fields, will be a relatively new con-velopment center. cept for Meijer the Grand Food Also within the store, which Fair.

Patrons will be able to choose measures the length of 31 football among three restaurants:.