The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana • 16

I 5J (D4 South Bend Tribune Ml AREAu; Wednesday, March 6, 2 miCHIGflNBriefs Cass girl saved from kidnapping Benton Twp. police seeking suspect Tribune Staff Report the Ramada Inn, 798 Ferguson Drive, according to statement from the Benton Township Police Department The girl and her parents were in the pool area when the girl left that area to retrieve some- ly left the building, the release said. The gill returned to the pool area and notified family members who notified police. The suspect was reported to be a white male in his mid- 30s, heavy set, around 275 pounds or more, and having height ranging from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet The suspect has dark hair cut short over the ears, and was last seen wearing a blue and white plaid shirt Anyone with information about the incident should call Benton Township police at (616) 925-1135 or Crime Stoppers at (800) an elevator blocking her path. The man then allegedly seized the girl, covered her mouth with his hand, and picked her up off the floor, the release said.

He took her into the elevator and redirected it to the basement The girl tried to resist the abductors attempts by fighting and yelling, the release said. The man tried to shush the girl during the incident police said. He released her when the elevator got to the basement floor The suspect told the gill the incident wras just a joke and that he did not intend to scare her. He re- entered the elevator and most like Suspect BENTON HARBOR A 10-year-old Cass County girls fighting and screaming apparently saved her from being kidnapped from a Benton Township hotel on Friday. Police are still searching for the white male suspect, who later claimed the incident was a joke.

The incident happened at 10:45 at thing from the familys room on the second floor authorities said. The gill took the stairs to the second floor and attempted to walk past the suspect, who was standing near History comes to life RIGHT: Moran Elementary fifth-grader Nick Higbee stands atop milk crates to achieve something closer to Abraham Lincolns stature as he reads the Gettysburg Address to his classmates Tuesday as part of living history events at the Northern Indiana Center for History BELOW: Civil War re-enactor Tim Stergios talks about the elements of his Union uniform during a living history presentation for grade-schoolers Tuesday at the Northern Indiana Center for History in South Bend. The pupils are from Moran Elementary School in Osceola. More students will visit the history center Thursday and Friday as the Civil War program continues. Tribune PhotrVHARBARA AUISON ANN ARBOR IR1 experiments with worm composting The University of Michigan has some new partners in the its recycling efforts: w'orms.

University recycling coordinator Sarah Archer has established a pilot program in vermicom-posting composting with worms at the Department of Waste Managements Dean Road facility. We already send kitchen waste, like potato peels, from five residence halls and Pierpont Commons to the Ann Arbor composting facility, Archer said. Were just redirecting some of that waste to our worm bin. The program was launched last fall after Jason Smerdon, a doctoral candidate in the Applied Physics Program, and other students wTote a proposal in April. As landfill space becomes more scarce and as runoff from landfills becomes more of a problem, communities across the nation are going to need to find ways to convert significant parts of their waste to compost Smerdon said.

Worms may not be the complete answer, but they certainly can contribute to the solution. Michigans 6-by-8-foot worm box is stocked with 50 pounds of composting worms. Theyre kept under a layer of paper to maintain the right balance of nitrogen and carbon in a 60- to 65-degree environment. The worms chow down on kitchen waste and produce vermi-compost that Archer said the universitys grounds department will use in the spring. WESTLAND Program seeks school science improvement A network that would link Michigan schools with science experts is designed to help improve the teaching of science to state schoolchildren.

The program is sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association and paid for with a $207,000 grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation. Called Building a Presence for Science, the program will aim to connect every public and private school in Michigan through a network of contacts and science specialists. Through e-mail and other means, teachers will be able to stay current with state and national science standards, material that WIRE REPORTS appears on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests. The Detroit News reported Tuesday The bottom line is to improve student achievement in science, said LaMoine Motz, a science education consultant with Oakland Schools. It really will help with the emphasis and need for children and all our citizenry to be lit-, erate in science and math.

The network also will let teachers know about professional-development opportunities such as classes, seminars, speakers and other resources. The program began last week at Stevenson Middle School in West-land, Mich. The National Science Teachers Association began the Building a Presence program in 1996, and has since spread to 20 states. RICHMOND School bus slides on ice, hit by SUV Seventeen students were treated for cuts and bruises Monday morning when a school bus slid on ice into an intersection and was hit by a sport utility vehicle. The bus was carrying 42 middle school students.

Seventeen were taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Clinton Township, and the SUVs driver was taken to Mount Clemens General HospitaL They all had cuts and bruises. Three of the students also were treated for other minor injuries, Macomb County Sheriffs Capt. Dave Teske told The Detroit Free Press. Authorities plan to cite the 43-year-old bus driver with failure to stop within a safe, clear distance, Teske said.

COLDWATER MDOT planning 1-69 reconstruction project The Michigan Department of Transportation is sponsoring an open house Monday to discuss its $11.2 million rehabilitation of Interstate 69 in Branch County The open house is from 4 p.m. to 6 pm. at the Coldwater Municipal Building, 28 Chicago St. The 3.2-mile project will be from south of U.S. 12 to State Street in Coldwater, and will include rehabilitation of six bridges, traffic signal installation and Park-and-Ride lot expansion.

-f I Jt Suspect convicted in federal murder trial Mother said she felt slain daughters presence in courtroom afternoon and returned their verdict Tuesday morning after deliberating a total of- about four hours. Gabrion displayed no emotion when the jury foreman read the verdict Honoring an earlier request by US. District Chief Judge Robert Holmes fore to teSHfy in a sexual-assault case she Md filed against GabrionrShe had accused him of repeatedly raping her in August 1996 on the night they met at a card party Timmerman, weighted-down body could not po' sibly have floated between the private and public-portions of the murky weed-laden lake Rachel Timmerman and her baby lived with Tim Timmerman, the '-i-ViE Wednesday's RffftS. Tribune Puzzle Page By JAMES PRICHARD Associated Press Writer a single mother was last seen with her 11-month-old daughter Shannon VerHage, who has never been found. Death-penalty trials are rare in Michigan, which in 1846 became the first state to abolish capital punishment.

The federal court in Grand Rapids had never before tried a death-penalty case. About half of Oxford Lake which prosecutors described as 1 to 2 feet of water sitting on about 90 feet of muck is on private property Bell Instructed jurors during the trial that they must be convinced the killing occurred on federal property otherwise they must acquit Gabrion. If acquitted in federal court, Gabrion would have been tried in state court But with their verdict jurors accepted the prosecutions argument that Timmermans bound and victims father and Velda Timmermans ex-husband. He showed no emotion when the verdict was announced and declined to comment after court was adjourned. The victims brother said he was extremely anxious before learning Gabrions fate and was "relieved afterward.

We were concerned that they would come back with a not guilty (verdict), because you never know, said Shane Timmerman, 25, of Kentwood, Mich. Gabrion had no friends or relatives in court Tuesday His ailing mother, Elaine Gabrion of White Cloud, had attended much of the trial, which started Feb. 25. Lawyers for both sides declined to talk with reporters about the case. U.S.

Attorney Margaret Chlara said her office will not publicly discuss tt until after the sentencing hearing. Bell, courtroom visitors remained quiet when the verdict was read. After the jurors left the courtroom. Bell discussed some legal issues with the cases lawyers, then asked Gabrion if he was feeling all right Yeah, Fm doing OK, yeah, Gabrion answered. God is still on my side The body of Rachel Timmerman, 19, a resident of the Cedar Springs, Mich, area, was found in July 1997 floating in a shallow, 20-acre lake in northeastern Newaygo County Federal prosecutors had jurisdiction in the case because Timmermans body was discovered in a portion of the lake that is on US.

government property within the Manistee National Forest An autopsy concluded that she probably drowned. A major contention of the prosecution was that she was still alive when her body was dumped into Oxford Lake The body was discovered handcuffed and bound with chains padlocked to two cement blocks, with duct tape covering her eyes and mouth. Timmerman had disappeared about a month earlier two days be GRAND RAPIDS Velda Timmerman said she felt her daughters presence in the courtroom throughout the federal murder trial of the man convicted Tuesday of killing Rachel Timmerman. "I sensed that I wasnt alone, an emotional Velda Timmerman, of Howard City, said after a member jury convicted Marvin Charles Gabrion II in the death-penal- ty case. I always feel my daughters presence Until she can rest shell al- ways be with me until this is re- solved.

For Velda Timmerman, that will be after the jury in the case sentences Gabrion, who was convicted on a charge of murder on federal property At a hearing to begin jurors will decide whether Gabrion should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison. Jurors received the case Monday Womens History Month: Elizabeth Barret Browning The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was bora on March 6, 1806, to Durham, England. Elizabeth was an accomplished child who had read a number of Shakespcrian plays, parts of Popes Homeric translations, passages from Paradise Lost, and the histories of England, Greece, and Rome before the age of lea. By the age of twelve she had written an epic poem with four books of rfayming couplets. Her 1844 volume titled Poems made her one of the most popular writers to England and inspired the famous poet Robert Browning to write ber, telling her bow much he admired her work.

A mutual friend arranged for Browning to meet Elizabeth in May 1845. This meeting began one of the most famous courtships aid marriages in literature. Sadly, as early as 1321 Elizabeth was diagnosed by a doctor with a nervdus disorder. It is still unclear what sort of affliction she had. However, shesuffered from this disorder for the rest of her life.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning died to ha husbands arms on June 29, 1861. Use the library or the basnet to find an example of Elizabeth Baoctt Browning1! poetry. Writes paragraph dcscriiing the poem. Is it romantic? Are here descriptions ofnature? Does fcsoemtobe wrinentoone person? Then finds story a piaureinthe newspaper fot inspires you Write poem based on that story or picture: Certified 01) USED VEHICLES 4 in Utr Battles PONTIAC 2000 W. Fronkfin $1 On lha West Stdt tf Ckhart 274-2444 80S 294-2644 Find the words in the puzzle, Nov Ycza '4 Todd and Diana Woodworth of Mldtflebary said: We love our Raber Ratio Enclosure Room! We use it the time and often have friends over and serve breakfast in it Ali rvo -j 11' 5' I Mri i i3 ,1 1 i.JI I I I UoFbndw EumSuaSttJ States At Sc-s Styite Routes 10 U-n i i i LsffltemeS, Pens Iljstefs.

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