Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 137

iron tec Thursday, March 29, 1S34 MS CENTER LINE EAST DETROIT FRASER ROSEVILLE STERLING HEIGHTS WARREN oundation for Exceptional Children befriends parents while caring for kidsPage 5A. Fourteen women runners reign in sports dynasty at Macomb Community CollegePage 1B. For these enterprising entrepreneurs, the object is to bring the work homePage 3B. i 'Jill' niniyi, ii i Who pays high cost of car thefts? Macomb County By JUDITH MALONE Free Press Staff Writer Needy can turn on the heat Low-income families can get help on a one-time basis to help pay high fuel bills through a grant from the Michigan Department of Labor. The deadline for applying is Fridav.

"7 To be eligible, fuel costs for home owners 1 -J' must be at least 12 percent of the family's gross annual income. For renters, whose rent includes heat, rent costs must be 60 percent or more of gross family income. Payments will go directly to the utility providing the primary heat source for a family. The maximum amount of help is set at $200. Federal income guidelines are: Family of one Two: three, four, five, six, $17,100.

For families of more than six, $2,175 will be added for each additional member. Applications are being taken at these centers of the Macomb County Community Services Agency Thursday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Central Action Center, 37661 South Gratiot, Clinton Township; South Action Center, 13428 Eleven Mile Road, Warren; Council on Aging, 21885 Dunham Road, Mt. Clemens. Appointments will be made for walk-ins, but it's advisable to call for an appointment between 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m.: Warren, 756-6570; Mt.

ClemensClinton Township, 463-6313; and Council on Aging 469-6313. frco Press Pholo bv JOHN A. STANO Romeo's rodeo rider They're getting better all the time as well as smarter, better organized and more brazen. Auto thieves are hard at work. They've generated a $3.5 billion auto theft industry nationwide, according to law enforcement officials, while creating a need for the $715-million industry that provides automobile security devices.

These days, "three minutes is a long time to steal a car," says one law enforcement authority. "(Anti-theft) devices will slow them down, but it doesn't really matter. One guy told me he's driven a (stolen) car down the street with the alarm going off." The cost is becoming astronomical. In Michigan last year, insurance companies paid $200 million to compensate for losses due to auto theft, one official says. The consumer pays the price.

Paul Austin of the Automobile Club of Michigan (AAA) says that on the average, theft coverage is now up to about 15 percent of a car owner's total insurance premium (collision plus comprehensive). In Macomb County, the number of car thefts averaged about 4,400 a year between 1980 and 1982, according to Michigan State Police reports. County totals aren't yet available for 1983, but in the county's four largest communities, thefts were the same or higher in 1983 compared to '82: Warren: 1,653 (1982); 1,650 (1983); St. Clair Shores: 234 ('82); 271 ('83); Clinton Township: 288 ('82); 308 ('83); Sterling Heights: 384 ('82); 479 ('83). In which areas of Macomb County and the Grosse Pointes are thieves more active? The Automobile Club of Michigan (AAA) has some profiles based on a statistic called "cost of theft claim per vehicle insured." That's how much was paid for each theft claim.

Austin says the higher the amount paid per vehicle, the more cars AAA assumes are stolen in that area. In the Pointes, it's Grosse Pointe Park, where the average paid is $60. In the other Pointes and Harper Woods, the average paid on a claim is $32. In Macomb County, the lowest average paid on theft claims is $40 for areas north of Fourteen Mile Road. In the middle range, where the average paid is between $45 and $48, are St.

Clair Shores, East Detroit, and the areas between Ten Mile and Fourteen Brian Agnew is casual around the bull pen. Shucks, this Macomb County-bred cowboy almost lives on bulls. Why just last year, he rode a bull 1 32 times in 132 different rodeos all over the United States and Canada with the International Rodeo Association circuit. About 70 percent of the time he stayed on his bull for eight seconds, the other 30 percent well thump! Agnew finished last season as the third highest moneymaker in bull riding. For more on the rodeo rider, see Page IB.

Town meetings still happening By BOB CAMPBELL Free Press Staff Writer Harrison in Macomb County, must have annual budget reviews but not annual meetings. General law townships with more than 5,000 residents can decide by popular vote whether to discontinue the annual meetings, though none in Macomb County has used this option. James Pollard, supervisor of Chesterfield Township, said annual meetings are "a waste of time under today's standards. "You look at the population and percentage of people who come out. It's pathetic," he said, citing typical attendance in his township at fewer than 50.

See MEETINGS, Page 2A But as townships have grown in population, most powers of the annual meeting "electors" have been legislated away, on the theory that it's not fair to give the minority who attend the meeting control of township business. Electors used to establish budgets and pass ordinances. Today, the "people power" is limited mostly to persuasion and the major decision making has been turned over to township boards. THE ANNUAL MEETING is a requirement for general law townships (those without charters), which make up about 94 percent of Michigan's 1,243 townships. Chartered townships, such as Shelby and It's time again for Michigan's emasculated version of the old New England town meeting, where everyone who shows up gets to be a politician.

Once a year, usually on the last Saturday in March or June, most townships hold a meeting at which registered voters can decide, usually by a show of hands or voice vote, issues such as pay raises for elected officials. "In the first days of township government, it was probably the greatest day of the year," said Alvin Kukuk, Macomb Township supervisor and a local history buff. Rosevillo $106,000 award in injury A federal court jury Monday awarded $106,000 to a Grand Trunk Western Railroad Co. employe who was injured on job nearly three years ago. Richard Newman, 43, of Roseville, filed suit against the railroad in U.S.

District Court in Detroit. According to his attorney, James Brescoll, the former brakeman injured his right little finger in a mishap at the Chevrolet Gear and Axle Plant. It happened in an area which was owned and maintained by the railroad. Though Newman underwent surgery, he told Brescoll he could no longer grip a ladder firmly enough return to his brakeman job. Newman had to take a lower-paying position bleeding air from the train's brake lines.

Brescoll said the six-member jury originally awarded Newman $118,000, but reduced the award by 10 percent because of what it termed Newman's own negligence. See THEFT, Page 2A 19 Offbeat home for new music By CAROL PEARSON Free Press Stall Writer Tuning in Piano teacher Viola Meredith (right) has been teaching aspiring pianists for more than 30 years. Here she gives some point-' ers to Dianne Hevel-horst of Detroit. Most of the children Meredith used to teach have grown and left her Harper Woods neighborhood. Now, she teaches youngsters around the metropolitan Detroit area as well as their parents, housewives, retirees and business- men.

For more on piano teachers, see Page 5A. 7 II It I Warren Be there in a crisis The Macomb County Crisis Center needs volunteers to handle phone calls from people who need emergency help with their problems. The volunteers will be trained to listen to callers, providing them with emotional support and reassurance. Training sessions lasting 44 hours are held throughout the year at the Crisis Center, a non-profit organization of Macomb County Community Mental Health Services. Interested individuals should call the center's seven-day, 24-hour number (573-8700) and request a volunteer application.

'1 0 mum mmmi Free Press Pholo by JOHN A. STANO Warren Free health tests Volunteers from South Macomb Hospital urill nrmiHp frpp hpalth srrppninp tpsts ffr "We're daring to go out on a limb and be different," she said. WLBS METAMORPHOSIS from small-town station featuring Sinatra-like tunes to avant-garde showcase began nearly six years ago, when New York-based Inner City Broadcast Corp. turned its sights on Detroit. The corporation, started in 1971 by former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, bought what was then WBRB, located off Gratiot in Clinton Township.

The call letters were changed and output eventually was increased from 17,000 to 50,000 watts. Under the direction of Janie Washington, deejays hit the airwaves with disco music. Later, the station switched its sound to urban contemporary, a rhythm-and-blues format that had been phenomenally successful for WBLS, the company's New York station. But the Arbitron ratings, that yardstick for advertisers, were disappointing. At one point, the rating peaked at a respectable 3.7 nearly four percent of the metro area listening audience.

But WLBS could not sustain that support because of competition from stations with similar formats, said Washington. See RADIO, Page 8A The "new music" that sometimes coy, often outrageous, mix of frenetic dance tunes revving up the music industry has found a niche in Macomb County. WLBS, 102.7 FM, Mt. Clemens, has pegged its hopes for survival to the likes of Culture Club's Boy George and the Eurythmics' Annie Lennox. But despite its reputation as the Detroit area's only commercial "new music" station, WLBS has only a toehold in this rough-and-tumble market.

And it took a spirited protest from listeners to save the format from death earlier this month. The station's innovativeness has, drawn raves from some quarters. "WLBS is about the only station where, if a record is good enough, they'll put it on the air right away," said Ron Counts, promotions manager for Atlantic Records in Detroit. "Other stations play safe radio. Nobody wants to take a chance.

Nobody wants to step out on something new." "We don't just play the hits," agreed WLBS general manager Ja-nie Washington, who prefers to call the format "progressive top 40." A bone to pick in Sterling Hts. By LORI GILL Tree Press Special Writer auyUUC age iu aim vtu hi uit iiirapnui a health center during Project Health-O-Rama on April 5 and 6, from 3 to 8:30 p.m. South Macomb Hospital, located at Twelve Mile and Hoover roads, is offering ten free tests, including blood pressure, vision, glaucoma, hearing and pulmonary function. Those who wish to have the comprehensive blood chemistry test, which costs $7, should not eat or drink anything but water, black coffee or tea for four hours before the test. Free parking is available in the outpatient lot on the southeast side of the hospital.

For further Health-O-Rama sites, see -Jage5A: primarily for tracking, but were also trained to attack in emergency situations. Two dogs were retired last month, one for age and another for health reasons. That left Hai and Koz on duty and that's when their problems started. In February, the two handlers for Hai and Koz, officers Chris Trikes and Thomas Dettloff, were told by the department to cut in half the dogs' weekly eight-hour training sessions. The dogs' schedule had been to spend four days a week See DOGS, Page 4A Man's best friend has become a bone of contention between Sterling Heights city officials and the police department.

While the two sides argue, two German Shepherds that were part of the now-disbanded police canine unit wait patiently for a decision on their futures. The canine unit, which was started about 10 years ago, originally had four dogs. They had been used i.