Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 6

LOOM INSIDE: Section Obituaries, Page 7 Michigan Dateline, Page 7 Call City Desk, 222-6600 REAL ESTATE: A list of recent home sales and prices in your neighborhood, Page 6 -1 Hctroil Jfim Stress PYJHav Fphniarv 11. 1994 A liMUJ I I Susan SURVIVOR'S STORY JVjf WATSON Please Mr. Mayor, nudge the buses Saunders tells how she foiled attacker Oil spill closes river intake Pipe spewed more than 10,000 gallons ri friend Maria wanted some help writing a letter. Writing isn her strong suit; hard work is. Maria has worked hard I PH.

V. If jer-l 1 by Janet Wilson Free Press Staff Writer Darlene Saunders relaxed when she saw her friend Tony on Woodward Avenue on a cold night in late 1991. She had a razor tucked in each hand while they hugged, but when he asked if she had something to smoke crack cocaine with and told her to come in out of the wind, she let down her guard. Seconds later inside an abandoned restaurant, Saunders was stunned when Tony ripped her parka off her back, grabbed her in a choke hold, and began tearing off the rest of her clothes. "If you want some sex, I'll give it to you," Saunders told him.

"Shut up, bitch This is the way I like it," she said he told her. Then he forced her down on the broken glass and debris in the abandoned restaurant and raped her twice. Police believe Saunders is the sole survivor of Benjamin Atkins' killing spree. He is charged with raping and strangling 11 other women in Highland Park and Detroit during an eight-month See TRIAL, Page 2B 1 RICHARD LEEDetroit Free Press the prosecutor's office, to show how she says by pulling her parka down. Darlene Saunders, right, uses Dana Nessel, an intern in Benjamin Atkins immobilized her with a choke hold and all of her life.

When I met her, she was, in today's parlance, a maintenance engineer. Back then we called her a cleaning lady. She vacuumed the floors, scrubbed the carpets, washed the windows, cleaned the desks, emptied the trash, scrubbed the toilets and watered the plants. Basically, she did the things at work that I do at home. Maria has few complaints.

She gets angry, hurt is more like it, when she sees the little guy being taken advantage of. Sometimes she asks why everyone can't just get along. That's a hard one to answer. Most of the time, though, Maria is upbeat and full of spunky energy. She'll walk up to anyone, from a president to a panhandler, and tell them what's on her mind.

Usually, she's preoccupied with the ordinary stuff utility bills, noisy neighbors, bad manners that can make life decent or dreary. When Maria contacted me, she wanted to let Mayor Dennis Archer know about a serious problem in her life. "If he can't fix it, who can?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders and throwing up her hands. Now mind you, it is not an earth-shattering problem. Solving it won't change the city's financial future or erase crime.

But the problem is real. And Maria isn't the only one facing it. A night-time ride You see, Mr. Mayor, Maria doesn't drive, so she has to take the bus to her cleaning job in a downtown office building. She has be at work before daybreak, usually by 5 a.m., sometimes earlier.

When she has to get there before 5, she takes the 12:16 a.m. bus near her Detroit home and gets to work around 1:30 a.m. She gets there early because she doesn't have a choice: the bus stops running at 12:16 and doesn't start again until almost two hours after she's due at work. Maria doesn't complain about the schedule. She doesn't complain about trudging through the streets or standing at the bus stop in the middle of the night.

"My friends say, 'Ain't you I say, 'Who the hell has time io be scared when you got to go there and go to I have to work. This is my job. I just put my head down and walk. I don't see anybody. I don't see the junkies or anything.

I'm in my own world. I have to work so I can pay my taxes." The only time she complains is when the buses run late or don't run at all. Last week, on one of the coldest nights of the year, she waited more than half an hour. Finally, she gave up and caught a cab downtown. The cost: $13.50.

This is a huge chunk of money for a woman who walks six blocks in the middle of the night so she can save $1.50 in cab fare. On the early shift again A few days ago, Marie was on the early shift again. She said she checked to see if the buses were running on time before she left the house. "They're on schedule," she recalls Moon to mark beginning of holy month By Mike Williams Free Press Environment Writer Detroit shut off its water intake at Fighting Island on Thursday, after thousands of gallons of fuel oil spilled into the Detroit River at the Mis-tersky Power Plant. But the city has two other intakes, and water from them should keep customers from being affected by the shutdown, said Kathleen Leavey, the department's deputy director.

The Fighting Island intake was closed because a water department computer program that predicts the route of spills in the river indicated some of the oil might reach that intake, Leavey said. Water from that intake goes mostly to Downriver communities. The other two intakes are in Port Huron and at Belle Isle. "We know for sure we will be safe turning it back on" today, Leavey said. The spill was discovered around 11 p.m.

Wednesday at the power plant, about 10 blocks downriver from the Ambassador Bridge. Between 10,000 and 30,000 gallons of oil leaked from a corroded valve on a pipe that carried fuel to a tank at the power station. The oil ran into a storm drain and then emptied into the river, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. "It's a major spill," said Lt.

John Koster. "It's been a while since we've had something of this size." Cleanup efforts were hampered by river ice, making it hard to estimate how quickly the spill was moving toward Lake Erie and how much oil was headed there. "With a heavier oil like this, it probably won't evaporate," Koster said. "Expect to see some tar balls somewhere along the way downstream." It was unclear Thursday what effect the spill might have on aquatic wildlife. The Mistersky station is owned by Detroit and generates electricity for streetlights, stoplights, public schools, city offices and other buildings, plant manager Edwin Corr said.

He said the spill did not interrupt service. The faulty pipe is about 10 inches around and carried the fuel from a tank about 100 feet to the power station. The pipe has been repaired, the Coast Guard said. The spill was No. 6 fuel oil, the same type that spilled from a damaged barge off San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Jan.

7, according to the Coast Guard. That spill has fouled beaches in the tourist region. Crews still are cleaning up globs and slicks. 1 Staff Writer Jeanne May and the Associated Press contributed to this report. IN THIS SECTION Muslim to fast, reflect on life If skies are clear tonight, the observance of Ramadan will begin.

It is a time for introspection, reflection and charity. in African and Asian countries, including Lebanon, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran and Indonesia. The Detroit area has about 20 mosques. It is believed that during a new moon in the 7th Century, Allah began telling to the Prophet Muhammad portions of the Koran, Islam's sacred book. If Muslims see the new moon tonight, they will begin 30 days of observance.

If skies are cloudy, observance will begin as soon as the moon is visible. During the month, Muslims fast and reflect on how their lives have been in the previous year and how jthey can make them better. By Christopher Cook Free Press Staff Writer Last winter, on a cold day in early March, a taxi driver carrying a passenger from downtown Detroit to Metro Airport spotted a beggar at a busy intersection. As he pulled up to others waiting at a traffic light, the cabbie with a $5 bill in his hand rolled down his window and beckoned the beggar from across the street. Cars honked and drivers yelled as the man in rags made his way cautiously into the intersection and took the money.

"You take care," the cab driver said. "Hey, thanks man!" the man in rags called out as the cabbie rolled up his window, turned to the passenger and said, "Sorry for the delay, but it's Ramadan." If skies are clear tonight, the Muslim high holy month of Ramadan will begin. It is a time for introspection, reflection and charity, i During the month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The Detroit area is home to more than 50,000 Muslims whose roots are i -I'IjM By Roddy Ray Look out, Lou Gehrig a meeting in Franken-muth, Bob Urquhart, a phone company district manager, told his management team he was going to 4 i A loose with rain, thunder cracked and lightning made it seem like day. "What are you thinking of?" yelled a man standing in a doorway.

"The finish line," Bob yelled as he kept running. This winter's weather has made for one rough stretch. But Wednesday, Bob, retired from Michigan Bell, marked his consecutive day of running at least four miles. March 6 will be five years. Every night, Bob goes to bed knowing he's accomplished something.

He notes the New York Yankees' Lou Gehrig holds a record for playing in 2,130 consecutive baseball games. After Bob's five-year mark next month, he's going to aim for that number, just for the heck of it. Early mornings, sub-zero ones included, you can find Bob, 66, in his Adidas Oregon Classics, running through the Somerset Park pmplex in Troy. 1 being told. They weren't.

She waited 15 minutes, then another 15. As she stood on the corner, a young man stopped his car, got out to use a nearby pay phone and began staring at her. Scared and cold, she turned around, ran back home and stayed there. She missed a day's work. When Maria works the 5 a.m.

shift, she has no choice but to take a cab $4.50 to get to the nearest line where the buses are running. Then she has to pay bus fare. Then she walks those final six blocks to work. An official with the city's transportation department said an inspector would check on the bus line. "Make sure you let me know if the situation improves," she said.

As for my friend, even if the buses start running closer to schedule, she's still going to be waiting and looking for a part-time job cleaning house so she can pay the money to get to work. This is the letter my friend wanted me to write. She hopes you get it, Mr. Mayor. So do all the other folks like her, who brave the darkened streets alone so they can to work.

run for exercise every day for a month, without missing a day. They restrained themselves. He might be 61, but he was the boss. He already had a few days under his belt. Minimum, four miles a day.

So he ran, and he ran, and when he reached 30 days, it felt good, and he told himself, 30 more. And then, 30 more. The more days he ran, the more reason to keep going. If he had to catch a plane to Chicago at 6 a.m., he'd set out from his Troy apartment at 3 a.m. He knew if he let it go till evening he could find a dozen excuses not to run.

As he completed his run one morning at Somerset Park apartments, he suddenly was blinded by the headlights of several cars, their horns honking. His managers were GEORGE WALDMANDetrolt Free Press Bob Urquhart of Troy runs every day, chasing a baseball record. Large haul A Genesee County raid seizes drugs, cash and property worth $750,000. Page 3B. Sour notes Republican House leaders are upset with ex-colleague Guy Vander Jagt, who formed a fund-raising group with a name very similar to theirs.

Page 3B. there to congratulate him on one year. They broke out the vodka at 6:30 a.m.; he gave them the day off. He kept running. Sometimes eight, 10 miles a day.

Sickness couldn't stop hira. On vacation in Mexico he got diarrhea, but he timed the intervals and calculated he had 45 minutes to get his four miles in. Bad weather was never an obstacle. One night in Troy he heard the distant rumble of thunder as he lay in bed, and he figured he'd get up and run before the storm came. But as he ran, the dark sky cut GOT A REAL LIFE STORY? CALL (313) 222-2659 ANYTIME.